Happy New Year to you and yours!Throughout 2018, one thing was crystal clear, I absolutely write for me, and for me alone. That you, a reader, may have found something of interest is always a bonus. (I have a post about my thoughts on 10 years of blogging going live later this week.) Becoming more … Continue reading Blog Review | 2018
Two miles from beautiful Broadway lies Snowshill Manor. We visited recently (at our third attempt) and met up with my God Daughter and her family.I've only ever heard good things about Snowshill and it didn't disappoint. It's a sixteenth century country house, best known for its twentieth century owner, Charles Paget Wade, an eccentric man who … Continue reading Snowshill Manor
A few miles down the road from Stowe is Claydon House. It belonged to the Verney family for around 300 years (the current descendants still have a flat within the house) and passed to the National Trust in 1956.The exterior of the house hides a lavish interior filled with oddities, stunning carvings and Verney family … Continue reading Claydon House and Gardens
Stowe is home to an astonishing 250 acres of gardens and 750 acres of parkland. That's what you call gardening on the grandest scale. The mansion is now home to Stowe School which, thanks to the Stowe House Preservation Trust, is still open to the public. The last family to reside in the house had extravagant tastes … Continue reading Stowe Parkland and Gardens
October has been and gone in a blur of crisp and clear days, sunshine and chilly evenings. Let's see how the numbers look:15 pieces of Happy Mail sent. One black eye (and a whole host of other bumps and bruises). 330 lengths in the pool at the gym. £8.80 won on the Euros ... not … Continue reading Month in Numbers | October 2018
We returned recently to Greys Court in Oxfordshire to spend the day with our oldest friends. It seems that it's a perfect location, whatever the time of year. We all enjoyed touring the house, especially as there was an exhibition about Lady Brunner's childhood. I'd have liked to have met her, as it sounds as … Continue reading Greys Court in Autumn
With everyone back into their post-Summer routines, there's been space for me to build a spot of scrapbooking time back into the daylight hours. First up was a classic back-to-school layout.I followed that up with a page capturing an early morning shot-from-the-bus stop.I went back to a design by Shimelle from 2011 to make an … Continue reading Scrapping in 2018 #12
In mid-September, we made a return visit to Hughenden Manor for their 1940s Weekend. We'd gone there for two reasons: 1) we like it there and 2) dogs are welcome. But as luck would have it, Hughenden was hosting a 1940s Weekend. There were loads of people in vintage clothing - a lady who looked … Continue reading 1940s Weekend at Hughenden Manor
Sitting on a hill in a beautiful and tranquil part of Surrey is the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede.It commemorates more than 20,000 airmen and women who were lost in the Second World War during operations from bases in the United Kingdom and North and Western Europe who have no known grave. As you wander … Continue reading The Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede
My In-Laws gave me a family ticket to Heroes at Highclere as a birthday present. I'd never been to Highclere Castle, but like many millions of people around the world, felt as though I knew it intimately … who didn't love Downton Abbey? With the centenary of the end of the First World War looming, … Continue reading Heroes at Highclere Castle
