We went over the border to England to celebrate something pretty special at the weekend, and as the dogs already had to be in kennels we thought it was a brilliant opportunity to treat ourselves to a night away before the celebrations kicked off.
So we travelled first to Lyme in Cheshire and had a lovely few hours looking round Lyme house, making good use of our National Trust membership.
As always I whizzed through the main 'fancy' rooms and headed for the servants areas.
There's so much more I find interesting in the nitty gritty behind the scenes look at daily life.
I loved this old range in the Butlers pantry.
Crocks on the window sill, a simple but charming 'still life' ...
... so much better than the still lifes depicting dead deer and hunting trophies upstairs!!
We had a wonderful afternoon, rounded it off with shortbread and coffee and then we headed along the road to Derbyshire and our hotel for the night.
It was lovely at The Old Hall Inn, our room was the white window and doorway you see to the left of the photograph on the first floor (and third roof level). We had a little outdoor area with a table and chairs., where we sat with cider and newspapers until the cooling evening air drew us back in to the cosy bedroom.
It was so relaxing to be away for a couple of days, but now it's back to normality, cleaning out the chickens, cutting the grass and doing lots of little jobs until it's time to go and pick up the dogs from the kennels.
It seems Ginger wasn't all alone while we were away ... he had a little friend round!!
When we got back we found a blue cat collar on the back doormat. We rang the phone number contained in the little canister on the collar and Eric's mum called round yesterday to pick it up. She had been searching all over for his collar, thinking he had lost it in their garden .... now she knows how far he roams to visit friends. No wonder Ginger wasn't that desperate for our company when we arrived home, after walking over to greet the car he made straight for the woods and carried on with whatever it was he was up to.
It's nice to get away for a night but it's always lovely to get home ..... even if the reception we get is very perfunctory ;-)
Sue xx
Ha ha, got to love fickle cats!
ReplyDeleteHalf of us wants to think our animals can't manage without us, the other half wants them to be happy when we desert them for the day. They can't win really, can they?
ReplyDeleteYour hotel looks perfect for that break.
I always spend ages in the kitchen of whatever historical house we're in. I invariably have to go and track down the rest of the family in the coffee shop because they've got bored of waiting for me :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sue. Have you ever to Dunham Massey which is another National Trust property in Cheshire. It is well worth a visit especially in Spring when the daffodils are out. Glad you had a lovely weekend! Pauline xx
ReplyDeleteYes I have been, but it's years since I did. It was way back when I lived in Manchester and my eldest son was small. We were only talking about visiting there and Quarry Bank Mill when we were on our way home on Sunday. A good suggestion for another day out over the Summer :-)
DeleteThere's a beautiful museum here called Simon van Gijn Museum which is a similar setup of Lyme House. While the rooms are beautiful, I also enjoy poking around the servants areas and the old kitchen/laundry setups!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful fun time. I love pictures of all the English houses and countryside.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo diary! I am wondering what the pipes are for between the two boxes of the old range?
ReplyDeleteIf you mean the horizontal ones in the middle, I think they are just the slats for holding the burning wood and coal in place, no doubt because they are so chunky the heat they will pick up by doing so would have warmed the ovens and hot plates at either side too.
DeleteLovely photos. I recently read a novel in which one of the characters came from Lyme...These pictures put rather a different face on the place. Thanks!
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