Days out

As promised here are my photos of the time we spent with our friends recently for those of you who enjoy a tour round the beautiful West Country countryside. I hope you are sitting comfortably as there are quite a few of them but I will try to keep the text brief so it shouldn't take you too long to accompany us!

Friday 11th - since our friends had expressed an interest in visiting Salisbury we couldn't not go to Stonehenge could we? I remember this when you could actually walk amongst the stones but now it is a matter of joining a throng of tourists to walk round the perimeter cordon which keeps everyone well away from the actual stones. Not the same at all but never mind.

Next stop Salisbury - I have shown you many photos of this before here so won't bore you with them again except this couple.

The water meadows at Salisbury

And an interesting sculpture in Salisbury Cathedral which attempts to reconcile two opposed elements - the thorns hard and cruel and the flowers soft and embracing are linked by the circular base which speaks of their fundamental unity (you will have realised that these are not my own words perhaps?!) - for more information check this website where you can listen to an interview with the sculptor. http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/news.inthenews.php?id=76 I thought the sculpture really great and loved her idea of unity and peace.

Those Brits amonst you will recognise this view from the Hovis ads no doubt but of course all that meant nothing to our friends who go to the boulangerie for their bread! It is a lovely place though isn't it? Shaftesbury was en route for home so we stopped off here for a wander round in the early evening sunshine.

On Saturday 12th we went to Forde Abbey and then on to Lyme Regis.

We hadn't been to Forde Abbey before and were suitably impressed and will definitely go again - the house wasn't open when we were there but if it is anything like as good as the gardens it will be well worth a visit.

They weren't short of lettuce here! Peter Rabbit would have enjoyed this lovely walled garden.



This fountain is powered by a pump once used in the irrigation of strawberries once grown here for the supermarkets - it is apparently the highest powered fountain in England/Uk/Europe? I forget which!!

This lovely border was in the walled vegetable garden.

After a delicous lunch in the cafeteria at Forde Abbey we continued to Lyme Regis.

I don't normally include photos of people in my posts but couldn't resist this one - I wondered if her husband might ask my friend to step back a bit further!! (Actually it wouldn't have mattered if he had as it was slope and not a drop)

Making our way back up the hill to the car park I turned back for another look at the sea. For more pics of Lyme Regis see here

On Sunday 13th we decided to go to Barrington Court to look at the gardens (have you realised by now that they like gardens?!) We arrived too early and they weren't due to open for about 10 minutes so we wandered back into the village to while away the time - isn't it pretty?

By now the gardens were open - I have shown you some photos of Barrington several times before so will be brief

After a couple of hours meandering round Barrington we set off for East Lambrook where we hoped to have lunch and visit the gardens there. Sadly the cafe at East Lambrook only served cups of tea so we adjourned to the pub across the road for lunch before returning to the gardens.

This was a totally different type of garden and much more natural and one might almost say in places overgrown! I wouldn't want to visit after rain as the paths meandered between the greenery and in some places all but disappeared - however we were lucky and it was a sunny afternoon so we kept dry!

Monday 14th was their last day and as we were due for an early start the following morning we stayed close to home and went to Sherborne - see my earlier post and after lunch on those tractor stools we went to Montacute and climbed St Michael's Hill (again see previous posts for more photos of Montacute)

We did find plenty of time in the evenings to relax together as well and one evening we took them to the Rose and Crown at Trent for a meal just to show them that pubs are not all beer and loud mothed youths getting drunk! They were impressed with the quality of the food as I knew they would be.

Tuesday morning at 4.15 am(!) saw us coming together for a quick breakfast and then the drive to the airport at Bristol in time for their flight home. We'd enjoyed a few really lovely days and visited places which we had enjoyed as well as our guests. Come back soon!

And to top it off they got back to France to pouring rain and cold whilst we continued to enjoy the sunshine here in England - so now they know it doesn't always rain here and my friend e-mailed to say she wished they were back in England "where the sun shines"!! So I think they went home impressed by the gardens, the weather and the food and hopefully by the hospitality chez nous as well!

In case you've had more than enough of all that touring here is a bit of crafting to finish up with. Jill at Third Age Musings posted some wonderful photos of the sea recently and they cried out to me to be used as some sort of textile art. Here is my first attempt - a little tapestry. It wasn't what I had intended at all but as I have said before my crafting does seem to have a life of its own and it decides, not me, what I am to do. I had intended using torn silks and stitching them to a background but lo and behold this is what I am doing!!

Sculptured pencils

Take a look at this - brings a whole new meaning to office boredom!! http://naindejardin.blogs.marieclaireidees.com/archive/2010/06/21/crayons-japonais-ou-l-art-de-sculpter-au-bureau.html Anyone fancy giving it a go? Now where did I put my penknife?!!

Back soon with my outing photos.

Nostalgia

Our French friends went home on Tuesday morning and our next lot of visitors arrive tomorrow though only for one night this time. We did enjoy the few days our French friends were here and we were lucky with the weather and able to show them our neck of the woods at its best. On Monday we decided to stay close to home and so we went to Sherborne (this was on their list of places they wanted to visit having perused the leaflets I'd taken over when I visited them back in March)

They liked gardens so we visited this garden created in 2005 on what was the tennis courts of my school back in the mists of time.

The building across the road covered in scaffolding and tarpaulins was where I went to school and I was sorry we weren't able to show our friends this lovely building. But it can be viewed here for those of you who are interested. We couldn't make out what the sculptures were meant to represent and I think the coloured flags were some sort of installation depicting Hope! You can just make out our husbands waiting by the gate - I think they were hungry!

These buildings next door to the school house the council offices.






The gardens are very peaceful and tranquil and I'm sure I could hear the ghost voices of the girls who used to use these courts for tennis in the summer months and netball in the winter! I could hear the thwack of the balls across the net in summer and feel the chill of frozen fingers on the netball in winter (not that I was very good at netball so hardly ever had the ball in my hands!)

We decided to have a snack lunch in the Town Mill Bakery on The Green in Sherborne where we sat on these weird but strangely comfortable seats and were served our soup and bread on wooden platters. Delicious and something quite different for our visitors!

We also visited the Abbey of course - sorry no photos - and I was taken back to school services there such as Carols at Christmas etc. And on to the Methodist church which is on the main street and where I used to go every Sunday morning dressed in my Sunday best - I remember well a new navy coat and a yellow pill box hat (similar to one Princess Alexandra wore at the time) and gloves - even in summer we wore gloves to Church!




I must be getting old since my memories of those days are fresh and clear but I often can't remember what I did yesterday (or even today sometimes!)

I have more photos of some of the other places we showed our visitors and will post those later when our friends who arrive tomorrow have gone and I am back to some semblance of what passes for normal here! (I have made the Marmalade cake for tomorrow Lesley and will let you know if it tastes good when we have tried it)

Thank you for your kind comments on my previous post - maybe Helsie is right and we should make a book of toilets in England! To those who wondered what the other lady thought when I took out my camera - that other lady was my French friend and she already knows I am a little eccentric anyway!

Toilets!

I haven't been around Blogland much this past week as we have had friends visiting. I have lots of photos to sort through if you would like to see some of the places we visited but for now here are a few toilets!

We came across this sign at Salisbury Cathedral! Not only the lady who has lost her head this time Lesley!

When I took this photo I didn't know it was the back of the toilets at Ford Abbey! Lovely eh?

The entrance to the Gents is under the wisteria somewhere!

Here is the Ladies - I love gates and doors and this one really took my fancy!

The view from inside the Ladies - good isn't it?

And here is one I inadvertently took of me taking a photo of the lovely tiles in the washbasin area!

I hope to find time between now and when our next visitors arrive at the weekend to edit my other photos so let me know if you'd like to join me on our outings.

Green swap

I received my swap package (swap organised by Emma and Rachael at That little bit greener) from my partner Emilie over at The French Frog Touch last week - and this is what it contained:

A lovely selection of goodies including a CD - Emilie is obviously a talented singer too!

Such a pretty sachet tied with crochet lace and wooden beads and containing a piece of the rose striped fabric for me to use in my patchwork.

Another pretty printed sachet.

A recycled paper notebook - the sheets are squared in the way French notbooks always are and which seems so much nice than boring lines as ours are! And such a pretty card with my name on it - I love the French script especially the J and will frame this and hang it on my wall.

And as I had just made a cup of tea when the postman arrived these lovely biscuits were opened and sampled at once!

Thank you so much Emilie.

Must dash now as I can hear my visitors are surfacing and will be wanting some breakfast - hope to catch up with you all again before too long!

Bank Holiday Monday

I know I said I wouldn't be at the computer as often but just wanted to share with you some pictures taken on a walk I did yesterday with my sister-in-law. We went to Montacute house from where we did a walk to St Michael's Hill which is topped with a tower which we climbed.

Montacute is a pretty village about 4 miles from where I live with lots of lovely yellow Hamstone cottages and houses.

The path went through the village and then across a field and up the slope of the hill.

UP, up, puff puff! Good job I wanted to take photos as it gave me an excuse to stop!

From the tower atop the hill.

On the way down again now...

Back to the village via a different route.

Plenty of photo opportunities in this village!

This is where we came in..

We then wended our way into the NT property for a coffee and a slice of lovely cake and to the shop where we purchased a couple of plants before setting off home for lunch - memo to self: must stop eating between meals as I am now heavier than I have ever been apart from when pregnant!

I am still popping in now and again to see what you are all up to and came across this post on Sue's blog Mouse at http://mousenotebook.blogspot.com/2010/05/moments-of-stillness.html Seems such a simple idea and one I intend to incorporate into my day - perhaps using some of the moments saved by not being on the computer so much!