Sleeping Accomodation...

I woke up quite early and remembered that the clocks had moved forward one hour. I wondered if anyone else had remembered as it had not been mentioned the previous evening before we all went to bed.

It turned out that everyone had forgotten…

Eventually everyone surfaced. Mr C and I kept out of the way whilst the two young boys of the lady of  the house prepared a mother’s day breakfast for their mum. When the boys had finished their preparations we all enjoyed breakfast sitting and chatting at the kitchen table.

All too soon it was time for us to leave and make our way back home in time to prepare an evening meal for mother’s day. The traffic was kind to us and we had a good journey home.

When we got home we prepared the meal in advance ready to cook at our leisure so that we could relax with our guests (two mums and a dad) when they arrived. It was then time to freshen up and relax after our long journey.

I washed my hair and whilst I was drying it, Mr C had a shower. Then I ran a bath so that I could linger just long enough to be ready in time for our guests. I had only just got into the bath when my mother rang, my brother wanted to bring her round half an hour earlier than we had arranged!! We had, had a different lift arrangement for my mum but my brother had insisted that he would bring her round for the appropriate time so that he could pop his head in and say hello.

The early arrival meant I had to leap out of the bath and rush around to get ready, my brother left before I had a chance to properly say hello to him. This untimely arrival left me flustered and off kilter for the rest of the evening…

The evening menu (sorry no photos):

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pinwheels on Blinis

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Boulangere Potatoes and vegetables

Grilled Peach topped with a dark chocolate square  and Creme Fraiche and Brown Sugar and/or Profiteroles

I good evening was had by all ;-)

12 Comments CherryPie on Apr 5th 2017

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We got up early and had tea, toast and orange juice for breakfast before setting out for Leeds Castle with my Brother in Law and family. The day was lovely and sunny, but a little windy making the air quite bracing in exposed places.

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We walked through the parkland towards the castle in glorious sunshine, spring flowers lining the grassy lawns with ducks and geese preening themselves in the sunny glow. We enjoyed a tour of the castle before stopping off for lunch time refreshments in the cafe. I enjoyed a little bit of cake indulgence;  ginger and marmalade cake. It was delicious ;-)

After lunch Mr C and I failed miserably to find the centre of the maze before time ran out and we had to get back to the ranch for nephews and nieces to do their homework before they needed to depart for a birthday celebration. This left us to have a board gaming afternoon, followed by an early dinner to accommodate two young boys.

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After the boys had gone to bed, we retired to the sitting room to watch a film and the cheese board came out…

8 Comments CherryPie on Apr 4th 2017

Taste Temptation

We had a good run down to kent stopping off for lunch at Cherwell Valley service station. For a motorway service station it has a rather good selection of food options. We both had a Turkey and Stuffing roll off the carvery bar. We arrived in Lenholm around 3pm where we quickly popped into the medieval town to pick up some flowers for our hostess. When then retraced the short distance to  my brother in laws house which was our destination for the weekend.

We unloaded our bags from the car and had a tour of the house then took a short walk into Lenholm for coffee and cakes. In my case it was Elderflower water and Lemon Polenta cake which was delicious. We were then given a brief tour of the quaint village before returning to the house for the evening. Not long afterwards my niece and nephew arrived followed a little later by our hostess and her two boys.

With a glass of pre dinner gin in hand we sat and chatted whilst the evening meal was being prepared. After dinner the youngsters went to bed leaving the older generation to sit and chat a while before it was time to retire for the night.

PS:I am getting ahead of myself, the services we stopped in on our journey down south where Beaconsfield. It was Cherwell Valley on the way back ;-)

13 Comments CherryPie on Apr 3rd 2017

Who sees all beings in his own self, and his self in all beings, loses all fear.

Isa Upanishad

Beauty in the Garden

24 Comments CherryPie on Apr 2nd 2017

East Front Stairs

View from the East Front Terrace

East Front Stairs

East Front Stairs

8 Comments CherryPie on Mar 31st 2017

East Front Entrance

The east front entrance to Powis Castle has been closed to the public since the castle was donated to  the National Trust in 1952. In more recent years the stairs had started to crumble and one of the retaining walls in the terrace was in danger of collapse which could have undermined the structural stability of the entire east side of the castle.

In 2015 the National Trust launched a public appeal try and raise funds so that repair work could be undertaken. It hoped that £300,00 of the £500,00 needed for the project would be raised and that grants could be arranged for the remainder of the funding. In the event all the funding that was needed for the project was raised from the appeal. In addition the National Trust applied for additional funding from conservation trusts.

East Front Entrance

Following the completion of the conservation work, the donors were invited to an opening ceremony that took place today. Inviting donors was a first and Powis Castle was pleased to be able to do so.

East Front Entrance

East Front Entrance

Guests assembled at the top of the east front stairs where the property manager, Emma Thompson, explained about the project and pointed out key members of the restoration project team who were present for the opening ceremony. Following her address the ribbon was cut by one of the donors allowing members of the public to walk on the steps and stand on the terrace for the first time in more than 50 years.

The east front entrance has seen King George V, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria (as Princess Victoria) walk up the grand staircase and stand on the high terrace to enjoy the magnificent view over the Breidden hills.

After the opening ceremony, afternoon tea was served inside the castle. We were treated to daintily portioned cakes and scones with jam and cream, topped with strawberries, all accompanied by a glass of bucks fizz; what a delight!

East Front Entrance

A few years ago in December 2013 when the castle was only partially open to visitors, the door to the east front which was not normally open, was opened for visitors to step through to enjoy the view over the staircase and terrace to the Breidden hills beyond. I took some photos which I share with you so that you can see the extent of the repair work’s transformation.

East Front Entrance

10 Comments CherryPie on Mar 29th 2017

…after a weekend away

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The few photos I took are organised and ready but I don’t want to start posting about the weekend until after another expedition that we are due to go on tomorrow. More on that later…

PS: there is also a blog post pending on this mornings unsatisfactory attempt to fix the shoddy workmanship on our backdoor :-(

12 Comments CherryPie on Mar 28th 2017

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