mybigadventures.com

Today was 'red squirrel day'.

We didn't have a firm plan or destination for the day, so we thought we would set off in pursuit of red squirrels, a rarity in the area and only seen in small colonies in certain places. We set off to Dodd Wood near Keswick, a place mum and dad have been to many times, where red squirrels are being carefully nurtured and where ospreys can also be seen over Bassenthwaite Lake, at the base of the wood. We walked up towards the first osprey viewing platform where the squirrels can also be seen and it was quite an uphill walk! Once we got there we looked and we looked... but not a single squirrel to be seen!

Not to be dispirited, we continued up the hill - an unexpected mountain climb - towards the second osprey viewing platform. There weren't many signs so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind, but we got there eventually. It wasn't quite what we expected - we had anticipated a hide but it was an exposed picnic table with a small fence to prevent any unsuspecting visitors from plummeting down the mountain. We sat for a bit and looked out over Bassenthwaite. The views were glorious and you could see a long way - the weather was fair although overcast so visibility was good, with some cloud just nestling on the peaks. So, we were sitting and looking - but to no avail.

We gave it a bit of time, but decided to give in and set off back down the mountain, planning on calling at the lower viewing spot again, just in case. And it was a good job we did! Two little red ones crept out of the undergrowth to feed at the feeding station! It was awesome! A lady there had said that she's put some food out for them a bit earlier in the day and it was nearly all gone. And the squirrels were really brave, coming pretty close and feeding from the tree stumps nearby. We stood and watched for about 30 minutes, completely absorbed by their activity.

We made it down to the car park again, just before our pay and display ran out. We sat in the car, eating our picnic before heading off towards Grasmere, where we were aiming for Allan Bank, an unknown (to me) National Trust property, also known for red squirrels. We made it there for about 4pm - not giving us long, but we didn't really know what to expect. We were surprised to find a bit more than we expected - it isn't a conventional historic house, and (although we didn't go in) the house is set up very much as a family home to relax in. The gardens, which we did explore, seemed quite expansive, rising up into the landscape behind the house. We toiled up, for a while, admiring the lovely views as we went, and also trying to spy out the red squirrels. But no such luck. 

However, that quickly changed as we descended to the lawned area behind the grass. We saw at least 6 squirrels, dashing and scampering and chasing each other through the trees! It was truly awesome! We speculated that they might be siblings, as there was a lot of chattering and bickering going on. And they came quite close, feeding from the stashes of nuts that had been left about. We stood and watched them - even past closing time! It was at least 5.10pm by the time we felt we ought to move on and the property had closed at 5. Ben got lots of photos, although these squirrels were quite a lot livelier than the previous ones. 

From now on, this day is to be red squirrel day. A day not to be forgotten.

Today we decided to branch out and go to the other side of Lake Windermere! So far, our adventures have focused on the northern part of Windermere, but today we explored the southern end - well, at least a bit of it!

We set off for Hill Top, the historic home of Beatrix Potter, creator of the Peter Rabbit tales. It was a pleasant drive there, and we even made an impromptu stop to photograph a bouquet of pheasants (I've just found out that this is a collective noun for them!). The males were being quite temperamental and squabbling a lot, but the colours of their plumage looked beautiful against the bracken. When we arrived, we managed to park our little car in a cheeky corner spot and headed to the ticket office, securing entry to the house for 20mins time. We 'pottered' in Beatrix Potter's garden for a bit, watching some birds and admiring the autumn colours, and having a quick look in the shop. From there, we went in the house. It was quite dark inside, quite typical for the National Trust, but lots of interesting things to look at, including a lot of original art by Potter's brother. There weren't a huge number of rooms to look at however, so we weren't there very long.

From there, we went to Claife viewing station, a castle-style tower, constructed to offer lovely views over Windermere, with coloured panes of glass to look through. Apparently, it was linked to the Picturesque movement - as it offered perfectly composed views of the lake. However, it was risky to offer the public such views as they might be overcome by the perfect beauty and faint... Risky business, looking at views... Getting peckish after all the perfect views, we decided to have lunch in the cafe. We shared a ploughan's sausage roll picnic lunch (with some cheese, cherry tomatoes and chutneys) and a scone with jam and cream. 

Then, we decided to head to Grasmere - mainly on a quest for Grasmere gingerbread. It took about 30 mins to drive, with only a couple of near misses on the narrow and winding roads! Found a place to park easily enough and then wandered into the town centre, trying to recall where the gingerbread shop was. And we found it! And the queue that streamed from it! Hmm... We didn't have to wait long through, and got some gingerbread! We then carried on wandering, seeing some nice bits and bobs in the local shops but only buying a couple of books from the local bookshop. Had a little piece of gingerbread in the car before setting off back to the cottage, stopping at Booths in Windermere for some more food.  

We made the most of the sunshine today with a trip out to National Trust Packwood house and gardens. Given the nice weather we decided to give the house a miss and spend the time wandering around the garden.

The sun was out, the sky was blue and the flowers were in full bloom, making for a lovely day out. We spotted some dragon fly and butterflies and even a hummingbird moth that zipped around a little too quickly for a decent photo. All in all, a nice day out, enjoy the photos!

We had another late start today but after a check on the MET office app, National Trust's Kingston Lacy seemed to be our best chance of avoiding the rain so that's where we headed, arriving just after 1. We had a cream tea each for lunch in the cafe - which was as ever overrrun and under-staffed (a common trait of National Trust properties we've found). The house has timed entry tickets and it was suggested online that we should have booked these in advance, fortunately they seemed to have plenty left for all of the timeslots (which are every 15 minutes), so after our cream tea, we went for a wander inside.

The house is pretty vast and is set over three floors with the usual grand rooms, although these seemed to be more dimly lit than usual so the guides were using torches to highlight things to the visitors. The real highlight has to be the bedrooms in the ceiling, these are described as tented bedrooms, decorated to look like the inside of a tent. The effect was amazing - I wonder if it would work in our top bedroom...

We decided to try the White Lion, which is a short walk away from the cottage, for tea. The restaurant was fully booked but we were able to order food and sit at a table in the bar area. The food was very good, Dani had a burger, whilst I had steak and kidney pie, both were served with huge chunk chips. It was very nice, but incredibly filling, so after a rather slow walk back to the cottage, we spent the rest of the evening slothed on the sofa, nursing a food baby before calling it a night. 

The weather has certainly been on show this bank holiday weekend, with soaring temperatures, blue skies and sunshine all weekend. We've tried to make the most of it with a day out at National Trust Cliveden on Saturday, and then some time tidying the garden over the last couple of days. Cliveden was looking lovely in the sunshine and has had its shiny gold guilded gates along the south terrace fitted since our last visit. We had a nice wander about in the sunshine, both catching the sun a bit and looking a little red by the time the evening came around.

Yesterday we went to B&Q to get a few new bits for the garden. We bought some new pots and a couple of really nice Acers which we've added to the border. We generally gave the border a tidy and cut the grass which has shot up a bit over the last few weeks. The border is looking a lot neater, the grass on the other hand isn't in quite such a good state having become quite mossy and developed a few bare patches, we've got some stuff to treat it, so hopefully we'll see some improvement. We bought a few more bits today including a water butt which I've installed at the back of the house and a shiny metal watering can. Finally we've had a BBQ for tea, the third BBQ this bank holiday #winning!

I hope you all had a great bank holiday too! 

The weather was a little grey to start with today after a spot of rain early in the morning. After a quick check on the weather for the day, we set off for Trelissick and the closer we got, the better the weather! It turned into a really warm and sunny day, which was great for walking around the garden. There was plenty to see, but also signs of damage caused by the recent bad weather.

We also managed to get ourselves on a house tour limited to 10 people for the day, giving a glimpse of the second floor and cellars that are normally closed to the public. It was intersting to see a few different bits including the rather grand billiards room and the quite extensive wine cellars.

In the evening we headed out for dinner to Pizza Express in St. Ives. We arrived a little early for the table we had booked, but this gave us a chance to see the RNLI lifeboat being towed back in. Dinner was nice, and on the walk back to the car, I took a few more night photos before calling it a night.  

Today, we made a last minute change of plan and headed for Trerice. We were originally heading to Truro and nearby Trelissick gardens, but the weather wasn't particularly clement, so we decided to go somewhere different and leave Trelissick for a sunnier day. After a bit of Googling, we settled on Trerice, an Elizabethan manor house and gardens. It didn't take long to get there and it was a little damp, but not really raining. We wandered around the house first, looking at all the antique furnishings and particularly the clocks, as there were many! We went to the cafe for lunch, using our handy giftcard to pay for it. Dani had a tuna jacket potato, and mum and I had a cream tea each. We then went in search of the much-anticipated lawnmower museum, but much to our disappointment, we were unable to find it. However, Dani did stumble upon the second hand bookshop, and - grinning from ear to ear - she came out clutching a new tome. We had a bit of a wander around the garden and were pleased to see a little bit of blue sky appear making for a few nice photos of the Elizabethan Manor.

On the way back to the cottage we stopped by Wheal Coates Tin mine. The first mine is a short walk from the car park, and a little further along, there is another, clinging to the edge of the cliff. The tide was in and there was quite a lot of fog making for quite a dramatic scene. It was a little chilly as there was quite a breeze coming in from the sea so we only stayed about half an hour.

We dropped by Tesco again on the way back to pick up a few bits for tea before heading in for the evening. I added a few more photos to the Cornwall album and whilst at it I tweaked the website code a bit. I didn't like the way that the album preview displayed below a blog was always the same so I made a change so that it now shows the most recent photos.

Exceeding all expectations we had sunshine again today! We decided to make the most of it and headed over to National Trust St Michael's Mount. It's only a short drive away from the cottage, and is accessed from the town of Marazion. The tide times are a bit useless this time of year with low tide early in the morning and late in the afternoon / evening so the causeway wasn't an option for crossing, so we made our way by boat. As the weather was so nice, the water was very calm making for an easy crossing, plus it saved our legs a bit for the climb on the otherside. We were taken across by one of the island residents who pointed out his bathroom window in the cottages that sit at the bottom of the the rock on which the castle sits.

The climb up follows a winding path of uneven cobbles and stepped rock sections, and was no easy feat. It took a little while, but we all got there in the end. There are some terrific views from the top of the boats ferrying people below and the surrounding coast. We had a bit of a sit in the sunshine on the rocks just outside the castle entrance and Dani managed to spot a seal in the sea below! After a bit of a rest, we headed into the castle to wander around the historic rooms, it was all very insteresting, and although there was a steady stream of people, it wasn't exactly busy.   

Feeling quite hungry on the journey back down, we headed for the cafe where we had some tasty toasted sandwiches followed a little laster by ice-cream. We dropped by Tesco on the way back for a few essentials (clotted cream and scones) before heading back to the cottage for a bit of rest and relaxation. Splendid! 

The last month or so has been really busy with the usual revision sessions, coursework marking and general stress that tend to come with May as a teacher. Fortunately it's about that time that things start to calm down, so today we headed out for the day to Waddesdon Manor, which is a National Trust property in Aylesbury. We hadn't realised until we arrived, but Waddesdon was having a Feast festival this weekend featuring a range of food outlets, craft events and entertainers. The weather was glorious with blue skies and sunshine and there were plenty of people about enjoying the festivities. Arriving shortly after opening we managed to get tickets for the house, although they do recommend booking in advance which a lot of people seemed to have done. The house was previously owned by the Rothschild family before being gifted to the National Trust, it remains under management by the Rothschild foundation however and there is a supplement of £4.50 (£5 gift aid) for National Trust members. The house is contains an extensive collection of fine furniture and decorative arts. It is set over three floor and there is a huge amount to see, including an impresive ornate clockwork Elephant automaton. 

The front gardens looked fantastic setup for the feast with long tables running down the middle of the garden and a large number of food, drink and craft stalls lined the sides. There was bunting, flowers and performers dotted through the spaces and lots of room for lounging on the grass. We tried food from a few places including a pizza that took 90 seconds to cook (superb!), a duck wrap and some triple cooked fries. The food we had was amazing but there were so many other places I would have loved to try. We watched some of acrobats performing using huge jenga blocks and even spotted the red arrows and a couple of other RAF planes fly by on the way to an airshow we assumed! I was very excited when I saw the red arrows, I don' think I've seen them since I was a kid but sadly they were abit too quick for me to get a picture.

Headed home late afternoon after a pretty long day out. Dani dropped by one of the stalls on the way out and picked up a fancy new jug/varse which is now sitting on the table holding some flowers she received from one of her year 11 students yesterday. We had a fantastic day and highly recommend the place for a visit - aparently they have a similar market layout at Christmas so one to bear in mind for the winter too! Enjoy the photos.   

Today, we continued our adventures in the local area (and a little further afield). We started off at Runnymede, a small area of landscape by the Thames, owned by the National Trust. It is regarded as the birthplace of democracy as it marks the spot where King John first placed his seal on the Magna Carter, marking the beginning of democracy. It was quite a small area of parkland, with two different memorials - one to JF Kennedy, a memorial following his assassination, and one to the Magna Carter itself. Both were surrounded by woodland, so we wandered in the area for a little bit, enjoying the bluebells and spotting a few bunny rabbits darting into the bushes. We had a mosey around for about 40 minutes, although it was quite cool in the shade compared to our previous days out. We walked back to the car park along the river, and made our way to the tea room by the car park for some lunch. Just for a change, we were served immediately in the cafe, and the server even went to make our sandwiches while we dithered about drinks. Such efficiency!

From there we made a short-ish journey to Ham House for a return visit. When we went last time, it was in January 2016, so it was a little different this time, with a good show of tulips in the kitchen garden and a spectacular display of wisteria against the Orangery (tea room). The gardens are certainly well-manicured - lots of topiary carefully shaped and 'coiffured'. There was a partiularly symmetrical arrangement of spheres of lavender and curry plant in one part of the garden, divided neatly into sections by box hedges and cones. We managed to get into the house just before 'last entry' and were suitably impressed - it's all fairly original (so we were told!) and very luxurious, with quite a range of styles and furnishings. Had to speed round a little bit towards the end as they were due to close, but just about saw everything!

We treated ourselves to an ice cream (well, I had a coffee and his lordship had an ice cream) and sat next to the wisteria, enjoying the fine fragrance! Then we ambled slowly back to the car, along the Thames again (a different part this time) and then made our way home.

The weather remained great again today so we had planned to make the most of it, this time heading for National Trust, Wimpole Estate. I think we're gettiing value on the cards now! It seemed that lots of other people had the same idea and arriving just after 12 put us in the overflow car park. The estate was pretty busy with lots of families out enjoying the sunshine.

There was lots to see including home farm, the house, gardens and a folly. There were thousands of daffodils lining the walkways around the park and lots of colourful flowers out in the walled garden. There were some new piglets in the farm to visit and some Shetland ponies, and Shire horses.

In the end we didn't have time to see the house, instead having a long walk around the parklands out towards the folly. It was a great day out, and definitely worth a return visit. Enjoy the photos! 

The weather today was fantastic, you might even have believed it was summer. I was in school this morning but given the weather we decided to head out for the afternoon. Having had a quick browse for ideas on the Internet, we decided to head for RSPB Church Wood. There wasn't much information about what was there but figured it was worth a shot. In the end we're not sure if we made it to the right place, we did go walking in some woods next to a church where the satnav had directed us to, but there wasn't anything to suggest it was the right place. We did see the start of a sweep of blue bells that were mentioned in the decription we had read, but think we're just a little too early as only a few of them were in flower. Undeterred, we had a bit of a wander around and then decided to head on to something else nearby. After a quick check on the national trust app, we were headed to Cliveden which was only 10 minutes away.

Cliveden was lovely and definitely worth a visit. The garden is divided into a number of smaller gardens, the first of which is the water garden. The water garden had an oriental feel with large carp in one of the lakes and giant stepping stones to walk across the water. We didn't go in the Cliveden house, which is having some work done at the moment. There was a sign up to explain that work had just started as they had been waiting for the hibernating bats to wake up and move out. The house is open for tours on the bottom floor but is also a hotel. We walked up the steps on the outside to admire the view down the garden, which must go down well with the visitors to the hotel. 

The weather stayed nice all afternoon with warm sunshine, we even found time for a cheeky icecream in the cafe before heading back! Enjoy the photos

Mum is visiting for the bank holiday weekend, so we decided to make use of the National Trust cards today and headed out to High Wycombe to visit Hughenden Manor. It was home to Benjamin Disraeli, a close friend of Queen Victoria, and the Earl of Beconsfield. He served as both Prime Minster and as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Despite the heavy rain on the way there, we managed to mostly dodge the rain and had a fantastic time.

The house has rooms set up from the time Benjamin Disreali lived there and some rooms set up to show the role of the manor during wartime, when it's codename was Operation Hillside. It's definitely worth a visit and I suspect I may return with Dani another time. There are a few photos from the day linked below.

This week was half term and unlike previous years we hadn't made any plans to go for a short city break. Our tenants at the house had given us notice so we had decided to have a look at the house in Leeds and get some estate agents around to value it for a possible sale. We managed to fit quite a lot in on Monday, getting three agents around and doing some gardening whilst there. So the short story is, we've decided to sell. Just a few bits to sort out and and then it'll be hitting the market.

In other news, I've added a few new albums to the site. We've been out to a couple of places over the last month, visiting Ham House and Hampton Court Palace. Both trips were pretty grey days in terms of the weather with plenty of cloud cover but thankfully the rain held off.

We visited Ham House on a weekend in the middle of January. It is National Trust so the cards came in handy for free entry. We spent a couple of hours in the gardens but didn't get into the main house as there were only limited tours and we didn't fancy waiting an extra hour at the end of the day - maybe next time. The gardens were nice although obviously not a huge amount to see for the time of year. The sun was warm when it came out from behind the clouds but it was otherwise quite a cold day. 

We managed to get half price tickets for Hampton Court Palace at the beginning of February costing £8.25 each instead of the usual £16. It was quite a cold day when we visited, so we stuck to the state rooms and other parts of the house's interior. It is quite a vast estate and the signs didn't seem to be the most helpul in getting you from place to place. We did have a free audio tour and I suspect if we had followed it more closely, navigation around might have been a little less haphazard. We had lunch at the cafe and stayed until about 4.30pm when everything was starting to pack up. The wind had picked up quite a bit by this point and had blown a few of the trees outside the orangery over. The gardens looked nice from inside and I think it will be well worth a visit another (warmer) time.

This week after sorting the house out, we had a day out and about around the capital so I've added a few more of the usual sites, Tower Bridge etc, into a new album.

We were there until dark but some of the lights on Tower Bridge didn't seem to be working. London Bridge was lit up in bright orange though which I don't think we've seen before. I think I'll leave it there for now. Cheerio ta ta!

Just got back from our camping trip to Kent. We had great weather right up until it came time to leave when it decided to pour down. So a bit of a soggy end to a fantastic break in the Kent countryside. Whilst there we visited the White Cliffs and the newly opened Fan Bay deep shelter.

We also visted Dover Castle and Canterbury Cathedral. Enjoy the photos!