One Year (and One Day)

It's exactly a year (and a day) since we moved from the Bright Lights, Big City to the Not So Many Lights, Small Village. And we don't regret it for one moment. We love living here in our little village in the far south of Somerset. We live in the midst of beautiful countryside and we're just a 30-minute drive from the coast. We can also get to Bristol in an hour, if we need the big shops (which I often do, being a bit of a window-shopaholic), or a big dose of culture (although we've not felt the need for that yet.) Exeter is even closer (although the traffic is awful); Bath is also not that far away; and even Reading, from whence we came (by way of Bristol, Wigan and Henley), can be reached in a couple of hours (if you drive like I do...)

We moved from a town with a high street that looks like this


to a village with a high street that looks like thisFrom a house with a back garden like this

to one like thisA house that looks like this from the frontto one that looks (or looked, when the building work was just starting), like this. Admittedly, I do miss the features of the Victorian house we used to live in, compared to the 1970s-ness of this one, but what we gave up in character, we got back in square foot.Here's a slightly more recent photo of the front garden, although since this photo was taken we've removed that big bush to the right of the front door and hubby has planted a little 'cottage garden' in the bed to the left.Compared to the front garden we had before which led out onto a road with four lanes of traffic...And the front garden which now leads out onto a little village road.A couple more shots of the lovely village And, in the year since we've lived here we've also renovated our house and turned it from thisTo this
Not bad for a year's hard work!

Heading North

I'm super-excited because this evening Family W are heading north. We're stopping off in Wigan for the night, then hubby and I will be leaving DC for some quality time with Grandma and Grandad while we hot foot it to Edinburgh. Ahh, lovely, lovely Edinburgh. Hubby has to go for a two-day work thing, and I get to tag along and go shopping, sightseeing, shopping, people-watching, coffee drinking, wandering, shopping, reading, sightseeing and did I mention, shopping?

We LURVE Edinburgh. It is high on our list of places we would happily move to (although the weather does put me off a bit), so I am very much looking forward to going back for a few days. My plans revolve around a visit to the Morningside district (and in particular Loopy Lorna's Tea House) and a little bit of a wander round the Old Town and Prince's Street areas. And that's about it. Nice and relaxing. I've packed four books and five magazines. Over optimistic? Moi?

Barrington Court

If it's a Bank Holiday weekend then it must be time to a) visit a DIY store (check); b) go to the supermarket and panic-buy because the shops might be closed for several hours and we might run out of essential things like olives and scouring pads (no check); c) get the wet weather gear out or stay indoors and batten down the hatches (check); d) visit a National Trust property (check). In this post I will be mostly talking about (d), since we've already talked about (a) in the last post, we didn't do (b), and (c) doesnt really warrant a blog post.

We'd been checking the weather keenly all weekend and had decided in advance that if Easter Sunday dawned bright(ish) and/or sunny we'd be heading out to Barrington Court, which is just about a five mile drive away. Had it been rainy, DC and hubby would have headed for the swimming baths while Granny and I had the fun task of cleaning the house. Whoop whoop for blue(ish) skies.

But of course, before we could head out with all the other Easter crowds, we had to unwrap our Easter eggs! DC was he lucky recipient of a Peppa Pig egg, a Smarties egg and an Easter chick chocolate lollipop. He also had the remnants of an Easter egg hunt we'd had in the house and garden the day before with DC's friend Johnny. Lucky chap.

As DC was tucking into his first egg, hubby asked if he could have a piece of the chocolate. As you can see, DC's generosity knows no bounds...



After the choc-fest, it was time to head to Barrington Court, get ourselves out in the fresh air and walk off a few calories (until we got to the Tea Room and put a few calories back into our systems.)

First stop was the fabulous walled kitchen garden. Unfortunately none of us got to fully appreciate it (and I didn't get to snap any photos) as DC headed straight for the pond in the middle (as we feared he would if past performance was anything to go by, but then again we also hoped the rhubarb plants or apple trees or any other of the things to look at in the garden might distract him) and spent the entire time until we dragged him unceremoniously away threatening to throw a badge (if not his entire self) into the water. When we finally got him away from the pond he was in such a strop that he went stomping off across the vegetable beds (lucky ones that had black weed control fabric across them and not actual crops - but still, that's not the point) and refused to come back, but instead decided to lie down in the middle and demonstrate to all and sundry what terrible parents we are with no control over our child. Good start to our visit, non? Anyhoo, once that little episode was dealt with, we hastily made out way out of the kitchen garden and headed through the grounds.

Having been here before, we decided to give the house a miss this time. It was owned and restored in the 1920s by the Lyle family of Tate & Lyle fame, and even has a fancy sprung dancefloor in the ballroom (last time we were here DC had lots of fun running back across it, making lots of noise...); it's a lovely house, but is empty of furniture and effects. So, while the architecture is impressive, there's not much to give a sense of how the house might once have looked/been used. Although, on the plus side it does mean that taking a toddler in there isn't the heart attack-inducing, white knuckle ride it could be - "Don't touch the Ming vase", "Don't stand on the Persian rug"; "Get off the Louis XIV chair", you get my drift. The other advantage of such a large, empty space is that from the end of April through until August the house will play host to Anthony Gormley's "Field for the British Isles" clay figures.

(Photo courtesy of Studio International)

And who thought living in the countryside meant no chance to be a culture vulture?!

Anyway, instead of traipsing through the house we stuck to the grounds and, in particular the Dragon Swing which DC thought was fantastic. He sat on there with all three of us, and shouted out "Again, Daddy, again, again" while hubby pushed us higher and higher. We finally persuaded DC that enough was enough with the Dragon swing, but his luck was in as we headed through to the grounds to the other side (not sure if this was the front of rear?) of the house and found an empty swing seat where we sat while DC ate his picnic lunch. Once he was full of Wotsits, raisins and banana (healthy, balanced diet), we headed for the tea room (with a short stop at the lovely National Trust shop along the way) where the grown ups among us fortified ourselves with coffee and cake before heading home to eat more Easter chocolate.

Barrington Court also has some lovely craft shops which we also didn't visit this time, although we had on a previous trip, hence these photos. The craft shops are housed in what look to be the old stables (or possibly workshops?)and include a fabric and stitchy-goodness shop called Barrington Patchwork.

A pottery -Barrington PotteryA wood carver (sorry, no photos of that one)

And The Muddy Dog Company(photo courtesy of the company's own website)

A very pleasant day out!

Ooo-arrrr, Zider

Making the most of the sunny weather that we enjoyed during the first half of the Easter weekend, family W and Granny made an impromptu visit to Perry's Cider Mill in the nearby, and extremely picturesque, village of Dowlish Wake. We had set out solely to visit the Bank Holiday mecca that is B&Q; we were fully prepared for a nightmare scenario of dodgems in the car park while trying to find that elusive parking space, mile-long queues at the check-out and sharp elbows in the aisles. However, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that none of these fears became a reality, and we had a productive and fairly speedy trip (weed control fabric purchased, sheds/summerhouses inspected, unwanted weedkiller spray bottle returned). Thus, with a warmhearted glow all around us we decided to make a slight detour on the way home and check out the Cider Mill. And were we glad we made the effort. It was absolutely lovely. Perry's make their cider on-site but this time round we didn't get to look at the cider mill; instead we were more interested in enjoying the sunshine in the garden, having a bite to eat (this is the Perry's Platter that we shared - it featured five different cheeses and three different meats, including smoked duck, venison and beef - a rather fancy version of a ploughman's lunch!)(and this is the child's platter that DC tucked into.)and pottering round the shop. Look at all those bottles of cider. No wonder the photo's a bit blurry...In the corner there's also a cider-tasting area. Take your pick from sweet, medium, dry, vintage, and some in between. Have a little snifter, decide which is your favouritethen decide which of the empty containers you'd like filled up - small, medium, large... or perhaps one of the extra large bags-in-a-box...Then watch as your chosen tipple is decanted from one of the kegs.

















But, would you believe, we went to a cider mill and came away without buying any? Still, it is just down the road (in fact we drive past on the way to/from DC's nursery), so we can always pop in and stock up when the urge takes us. Oooo-arrrrr.

A Day Out and Getting Into the Spirit

Last week we had a family/work outing to Bournemouth. Hubby had to go there for a meeting, so DC, Granny & I took the opportunity to do a bit of car-pooling and went along for the ride.

Our first stop, after dropping hubby off for his day-long meeting, was at my aunt and uncle's house - handy! We spent several hours there chatting, admiring Aunty E's "Buckingham Palace" shed, drinking coffee, eating teacakes and entertaining DC (hide and seek was a hit...)Then Uncle B pulled out the big guns and presented DC with his very own go-kart - and that went down very well indeed (as long as we were all fast enough to get out of his way as he hurtled along the driveway.)Then it was time to bid farewell to the rellies and head into the centre of Bournemouth. We parked right next to the Gardens and took a little stroll. We walked all through the Gardens and down to the beach, stopping to pick up an ice-cream (also known as a lick-lick, a term coined by DC to distinguish from ice-cream that is served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon, obviously...) It was amaaaazingly hot and we weren't particularly well prepared for time on the sand, so we just had a little wander and then headed back through the Gardens. By this time DC was getting tired and crochety and Granny and I were in desparate need of a coffee, so we plonked DC in his pram and headed for the shops, whereupon we found a Costa inside Waterstones - result. A quick coffee later and we were fully refreshed. We then drove over to John Lewis for a spot of browsing and a bite to eat. I'm pretty sure DC must think he's related to "John Lewis" since he hear's the name mentioned so much in our house. If only he were, wouldn't life be grand?

While Granny and I had a lovely time admiring the delights that Mr J.L. had to offer, DC had a high old time rearranging this selection of wooden bird ornaments and tealight holders and pretending to put on a magic show. Indeed. Still, it kept him amused for ages, so who were we to argue? And while DC was absorbed in his Paul Daniel's impersonation, I spent a while pondering over which was the best way to "Get Into the Spirit" of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics. In the end I decided that biscuits and coffee were the way forward because, quite honestly, how can you go wrong with food and drink? So, please be upstanding for Her Majesty the Biscuit Tin... Isn't she marvellous. Courtesy of Emma Bridgewater, by way of Mr J.L.And, in order to celebrate the Olympics being held in London this year, I picked up this little beauty for just £4. We already have enough mugs to open our own tea shop, but I thought one more wouldn't hurt and it means I shall now be able to watch a few of the Olympic events while sipping my coffee from a relevant vessel and dunking my biscuits from my royal tin. And I shall, indeed, be In The Spirit.