What a beautiful sunny week end it has been in England, the sort of week end you want to be outside making the most of it, not sat in front of a TV. So at 9.30am we were off out on an adventure. We visited Stoneywell a National Trust property, its a small place and you have to book in advance if you want to visit. I thought perhaps due to a certain event taking place in Windsor, that Stoneywell would be quiet. No!! Apparently they were fully booked for the whole day. We had a wonderful few hours, first we did the house tour, its a wonderfully quirky place. The house is built into the side of a hill, so when you go inside one side of the building is actually rock. As you make your way through the house and move up too the higher levels, you still find yourself looking out at ground level due to being on the side of a hill. The last owner of the house only moved out a few years ago when he was in his mid-80's. I really don't know how he coped with the damp or the steep stairs! Paul and I love visiting though and try to go once a year. When we left the house we stopped for tea and cake in their small but sweet tea room, who can resist lime and coconut cake! The gardens were looking pretty spectacular with all the flowers in full bloom. I think this year we picked the best week end to visit! We also had a lovely walk through the woods, no teddy bears to be found sadly. We had hoped to stumble upon the famous picnic!!
After leaving Stoneywell we stopped at a local pub called the Copt Oak for lunch, the pub was very quiet so we had a delicious meal and excellent service! I loved the fact that there were no TV's in the pub, and it was quiet. What a lovely day! Its been nice to stay a little nearer to home these last couple of week ends.
On Sunday we headed into Ashby quite early to visit the Farmers Market. Its only a small market, but still nice to look around on a warm sunny morning. We did buy a variety of flowers which I look forward to seeing in our garden. We had breakfast in the pub (very disappointing, I think I'll give that a miss in future!) and then headed off towards Castle Donnington. There were two reasons for this little trip, firstly to try an alternative route to the airport. Not sure this is going to be viable, some of the roads are unnamed and way too easy to miss. We missed one left turn which had us going way past where we should have been. Not being familiar with these country roads I' not sure I would want to do this on the day we fly! However, as we're travelling the week end of Download (very unfortunate) who know what way we'll end up going! The second reason for this little strip to visit Available Cars, a huge car supermarket. On my god - so many cars!! We wondered up and down the aisles, sitting in some of the cars to get a feel for them. My favourite from a colour point of view was the Skoda Citigo - the most awesome shade of green! On a practical level, I think my favourites were the Kia Picanto (yes, I know that's what I have now!!) and the Nissan Micra. But it was just a looking expedition, so I had to wave farewell to the lovely green car!
Our afternoon was spent at home, it was such a beautiful day. Washing dried, a pleasant evening stroll and drinks in the garden. I think we're totally onto something - rhubarb gin and rose lemonade!! The perfect combination for a sunny evening. I'm always left wondering though, why do week ends fly by so fast!!
Ten una buena semana.
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