Testing.....

I use Twitterfeed to post my blogs to Facebook and Twitter, and just recently it's been playing up. Done some tweaks and this is a bit of a test post to see if it works. So, here's a picture of the Great Hall at Chatsworth I managed to take on preview day, without anyone else in view. Pretty impressive ceiling!

And there was a rather nice display of botanical paintings:

One last picture, we were allowed up the tower, where you get a view of some of the gardens that aren't normally open to the public:

OK, off to test if this has worked...

Wet Horse Trials

This weekend its the International Horse Trials at Chatsworth, and yesterday we went for the day. Last year's was cancelled because of the bad weather, and I suspect they were hoping for a nice hot weekend this year. Well, thy didn't get it. When we got there it was freezing. And then it started to rain. Having watched Eddie Izzard do a hilarious routine about dressage on Friday night (think trying to reverse a horse into a cupboard), I wanted to see some, but it really was very wet!

We managed to get very close to the falconry display, but the Barn Owl was very bedraggled, and didn't feel much like flying.

One of the harris hawks flew into a nearby tree, which was slightly confusing to her as she was a young one, and had never been in a tree before:

Luckily, she was hungry enough to fly down to the bits of baby chick being offered to her.

It was a shame about the rain, but we wandered round the trade stalls, craft tents, and food stalls, and just as we were leaving the sun came out, so we went down to the water jump (usually known as Queen Mary's Bower) to watch some of the cross country event. This is much more exciting I think.

Enjoyable day, despite the weather. I did feel I was lacking three things though. Brown wellies, a barbour jacket, and a dog.

Camping again...

It's the first May Bank Holiday - so it's our first camping weekend. Last year we had ice on the tent, but we were hoping for something a bit warmer this year! A new campsite  - Upper Hurst Farm near Hartington. A brand new site, only opened last year, and it was lovely. Small, with a facilities block with underfloor heating. Luxury!

Arrived Friday afternoon, had the usual tussle with the tent given it was the first time we'd had to put it up for six months, but got there in the end!

I love our tent - just the right size and very cozy.
Just one disaster - I'd bought a box of fruit for the weekend. But Stuart ran over it.

There was quite a group of us this weekend - 3 tents, 3 camper vans and a gazebo, and eventually everyone was there and set up, so after drinks and nibbles we walked to the nearest pub, The Manifold Inn, for a meal. Back for some nightcaps in the gazebo, and then to bed. Halfway through the night we realised there was something seriously wrong with our airbed - it obviously had a leak!

Saturday morning was a communal breakfast, and then a walk along Beresford Dale.

Half way along we reached Pike Pool so called, according to Charles Cotton, who spent much time fishing in the river here, because of its grey monolith or pike that rises out of the water.

Beautiful walk, and we were treated to all of the kids climbing a steep hill on the way, completely unnecessary, and they would have moaned like mad if we'd made them do it.

Lunch was in the lovely village of Hartington, and then we had a wander round the shops, and called into the famous cheese shop.

Also found a fab Buddha's head in an antique shop, but didn't think it would be sensible to carry it back. After an ice cream by the huge duck pond, and a visit to another pub, we set off back for a shortish walk to the campsite. Some of the stiles were a little narrow for some of the party....

In fact, they were Lily sized:

Back at the campsite the kids played football and ran around a lot, and the grown ups had a civilised rest  - together with some frozen lager:

Then a BBQ, with lots of good food - kebabs, burgers, gammon, sausages, salad, jacket potatoes. In the gazebo someone thought it would be a good idea to make Vampire WooWoos. Not sure entirely what was in them, but they had a layer of black vodka floating on top:

Next morning, with a slightly thick head, we had another communal breakfast and set off on another walk, this time to Whetton for lunch, and then quite a long walk along the Manifold Valley, past Thor's Cave

Past a very welcome ice cream van

and through a disused railway tunnel

Finally we got back to the Manifold Inn  for a welcome pint about 5pm. About 8miles in total, and not bad for our five year old grandaughter to finish. Back to the campsite where the kids were entertained by rides round the site!

Another BBQ, another set of nightcaps in the gazebo, and off to our flat airbed. Next morning was sunny, and we had a lazy breakfast and packed everything away. Our car is packed to the roof, and the tent always goes in first.  We then quickly slam the boot down and slam the doors, hoping they shut.

Normally we would then drive off, but this time we couldn't find the car keys. Till we realised they were still in the tent.  Oops. So, everything unpacked, and guess whose job it was to crawl into the unrolled tent?

Found them, so we eventually set off, and stopped in Hartington where I got my Buddha, and it's now sitting happily in my garden.

Great weekend - some good food, walks, sunshine and smashing company.

Rome

Last week I was lucky enough to spend some time in Rome, as I was at a conference held near there. Never having been there before, nor to anywhere in Italy, I didn't know quite what to expect. So, here's some observations and pictures of where we went.

There's lots of ruins. Everywhere

At first I was excited, then you get a bit blasé about another roman pillar. Some of them are amazingly well preserved. The best has to be the Panthenon. A pagan temple originally, converted to a Christian church it's amazing. Completely preserved, circular, with an oculus (aka hole) in the dome letting light stream through. Apparently it's quite spectacular when raining or snowing as well.

Pasta is a staple part of the diet. Much more variety than over here, and so much nicer. I ate it once a day, sometimes twice. So how come young Italian women are so small.

The Coliseum is also spectacular. We saw it in the evening when the sun was setting and the light was really good. So big, and difficult to imagine what it must have been like when filled with 60,000 spectators watching gladiators, animal shows, and even reconstructions of sea battles. It was a day out, with wine, picnics and even BBQs on the seats. I was fascinated by the series of corridors, cages and hoists for the animals and scenery under the stage.

The Forum and Palatine Hill was huge, most not as well preserved, but I bough a great book called Rome Reconstructed which overlaid images of what buildings would have looked like with how they are now. We saw temples, the Palace of the Vestal Virgins, a garden and shops and markets.

Lots of street performers. Gladiators, some of them arguing loudly.

Buddhists (?) seemingly perking impossible feats of endurance. Until you realised they were everywhere and how it was done.....

The Trevi Fountain was beautiful and better than expected. Also very crowded. And I did throw three coins in it. I also had some Italian Gelato there, which was excellent.

The Spanish Steps also crowded, it worth seeing, and we did climb to the top to see the church and the view.

The Vatican is very rich!! I've never seen so much wealth n such a small space. St Peter's Square is dominated by the Basicila, which is spectacular inside.

We visited the museums, and luckily bought a ticket in advance as the queues were easily 2 hours long. At 20E a person, I reckon they were making about 200,000E a day. But, there is some amazing stuff in there.
Raphael's Transfiguration was particularly spectacular.

At every turn there was another Michael Angelo, Caravaggio, or another priceless piece of art.
My favourite was the map room with its amazing ceiling.

The Sistine Chapel was worth seeing, but a bit dark, and the guards constantly shouting at you to be quiet and not take photos were a bit off putting. I did get some photos though :-)

Apart from the ruins, the art and the lovely streets, the other observation is the wisteria - it was everywhere, and smelt beautiful.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Great Yorkshire Brewery Tour

I love Christmas, and this weekend we had a great reminder of it - we'd been given a Red Letter day experience which was a brewery tour, and we used it in Cropton, North Yorkshire. We set off early Saturday morning, and got to the pub in time for coffee - a lovely pub, The New Inn.

And then set off to the brewery, which had begun in the pub cellar but now occupied a couple of buildings close by. It was also undergoing a rebranding from Cropton Brewery, to The Great Yorkshire Brewery which was considered to be abetter brand for the international market.

As a former member of CAMRA, and a lifelong believer and drinker of cask ale, I was surprised to see some kegs outside

But our very entertaining tour guide Karl explained. The brewery produces some very fine beer which is put into casks and bottles, but they also produce some beer which is "craft kegged". This is for a couple of reasons - they are selling into international markets and cask beer doesn't travel, but also because they are producing lager, which needs to be kegged.  The brewery tour was excellent, and more informative than many others I've been on.  At the end we could choose three beers to sample, and I went for quite a mixture. The one in the middle is a red lager. very hoppy, and very much to my liking - I prefer hoppy, bitter beers to sweeter ones. The one on the left is flavoured with nutmeg and cinnamon, which I wasn't keen on and the other is a pale ale which was very nice!

 Of course, it would have been rude to only have one, so we forced another one down with lunch, but I went for the red lager again as it was so good. Having made the very sensible decision not to drive home after sampling 5 different beers, we checked into a room at the pub and had a lovely walk round the village. The sun was actually shining, and it was warm!  Got back to the room in time to watch the Grand National but no luck in the office sweepstake!  Great steak and ale pie in the pub for dinner, cooked in their beer of course!

Sunday breakfast was very fresh eggs on toast, then we drove to Helmsley for a coffee. But, we got seduced by the shops and didn't have time for a coffee. Then to Nunnington Hall, a National Trust property. A lovely house and garden:

and not over-restored. Very much left as it has been when it was last lived in between the wars. I like to get inspiration for my dolls house, and loved this dining room.

One of the attractions for me was a collection of miniature rooms, painstakingly recreated in many different styles. This is one of them - a Palladian Hall

The gardens had a ribbon tree, where children ere encouraged to tie and ribbon and make a wish, and it added some colour to the place - many spring flowers not yet out because of the very cold recent weather. There was also a peacock and peahen. He decided to display to here, and opened and shook his tail feathers - a beautiful sight, but she was not in the slightest bit interested, only going near him to pick up crumbs on the grass.

I did mange to get close enough to take this picture though, which shows the amazing detail and colour on his head and tail

Back home by 4, in time to cook Sunday lunch. A lovely couple of days, and thanks a lot to Tom and Fiona for treating us.