Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. -Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)
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| What you didn't know!! |
Sorry missed your call. Chloe dropped by after work to pick up answer phone messages and yours was one. Haven't had much time to take a breath since arriving! Had a very enjoyable evening at Chloe's this week. Good to catch up with Steve and Myah, Lisa and Shaun, Rhona and Lawrie and to meet Rhona's mum who is here from Scotland.
We are hoping to take a breather this week. We have to go over to Krissy's bosses place tomorrow afternoon for a get together. Some sort of going away party for his daughter. I have been instructed to make something to take! Gayle wants to take the open high speed whale watching boat this week from GI and we plan on taking a few hikes. We are away with the kids to Vancouver Island over the weekend including Porter but won't have time to go to Nanoose Bay to visit Steve and Linda. We plan on taking the float plane over at a later date to see them.
Mark is off today but Krissy is working. We have just finished breakfast so heading off to Mark's to take the dog for a hike. They have plans this evening so we said we would dog sit for them! Gayle is at the door urging me to get going so best do as she says! Greetings to all Derek
Hi JWo!
Guess you are now foot-loose and fancy free! Just to set the record straight, I'm actually the one who sent you the e-card! (Also to your iCloud email address as I wasn't sure about your work address accepting such a message.) Cora Lee's appears on the JL subscription but the correspondent is most often me, Coriandre too, too busy reading, watching soaps on BBC or Power Shopping!
Have had such a wonderfully busy time with Ayn here, this past week that I'm desperately behind in my correspondence and diary keeping. Have almost lost track of what day of the week it is but here are a few snippets from this past Wednesday:
Was up at 6:50 am on Saturday morning and enjoyed my java and keyboard until around 8:00 am when Coriandre and Spudnik, both complaining loudly, shattered my time alone. After the Forlorn Feline's breakfast needs were met, Coramandel proceeded to finish off her potatoe dish so that it would be oven-ready upon our return, issuing, at one and the same time in Sisterhood multi-tasking fashion, all manner of commands for the countless things so I had to accomplish before we left. Making for the shower she scowled and I leaped up from my chair to do her bidding lest I incurred her scathing wrath! We were off to Lanhdyrock, a stately home near Bodmin, after collecting the Alvertonoids, and then back to Sydney house to prepare for our guests for dinner that night, Maureen and Bill.
Having been here for almost a week, Ayn had put herself in charge of vacuuming so after she'd swabbed the bathrooms and toilettes she proceeded to hoover while I took out garbage and recycling. Cora Lee took over hoovering when I went to take a quick shower myself. House neat and tidy, food pre-prepared to the extent it could be, we said goodbye to Spudnik and made for Truro and the Alverton. Picked up the landed gentry at just before 11:00 and we soon whizzing along the A30 towards Bodmin. Were in the parking lot of this National Trust site by around noon and it was a busy place. Grand day for an outing and many other holidayers were taking advantage of the spectacular weather.
On the way to the house and grounds we walked past a large marquee where a church fete was to be held in a few hours so we thought we'd stop by later. At the entrance Cora Lee and I used the NT passes generously left for us by Gayle/Derek while the others who had had to fork over cold cash earlier, showed their tickets. Cannot say how impressed we were with the site. From Wikipedia:
Lanhydrock (Cornish: Lannhedrek, meaning "church enclosure of St Hydrock") is a civil parish centred on a country estate and mansion.The great house stands in extensive grounds (360 hectares or 890 acres) above the River Fowey and it has been owned and managed by the National Trust since 1953. Much of the present house dates back to Victorian times but some sections date from the 1620s. The hill behind the house is planted with a fine selection of shrubs and trees.
Lanhydrock estate belonged to the Augustinian priory of St Petroc at Bodmin but the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the 1530s saw it pass into private hands. In 1620 wealthy merchant Sir Richard Robartes acquired the estate and began building Lanhydrock House, designed to a four-sided layout around a central courtyard and constructed of grey granite.
The Robartes family declined significantly during the First World War, including the heir Thomas Agar-Robartes MP, who was killed during the Battle of Loos, in France, trying to rescue a colleague from no-man's land. Only one descendant survives, living in a cottage on the estate.
Most of the current building dates from late Victorian times. The second Lord Robartes (later the 6th Viscount Clifden) rebuilt the house to meet the needs of his large family, appointing local architect Richard Coad to design and supervise most of the work. Coad had previously (1857) worked as assistant to George Gilbert Scott on earlier work at Lanhydrock.
In 1953 the house and approximately 160 hectares (400 acres) of parkland were given to the National Trust by the 7th Viscount Clifden. The public tour is one of the longest of any National Trust house and takes in the service rooms as well as the main reception rooms and family bedrooms.
Hard to put into words this impossibly attractive, elegantly proportioned estate, from the buildings and outbuildings and embankment walls themselves, to their interior architecture, phenomenal wall paneling, ceilings and remarkable period furnishings, (In fact most of the furniture, household items and the like, are not original to the house but we acquired by one of the modern-day wardens of the church which sits slightly above the great house itself.), but all I can say is that it was almost like having Alice Pleasance Liddell take us on a self-guided tour of this essentially, quintessentially Victorian home. I could go on forever but suffice it to say that aside from everything else, one really has a sense of what life must well have been like to live then, in such extended comfort. And comfort is, I think, the right word for the furnishings suggest livability and intimacy rather than the opulence and stark, cold beauty of other larger stately homes/castles we've visited.
For me, one of the real treats of the site was being able to climb to the third floor, using the stone steps of the servants' staircase, to see the nurseries and some of the servant's bedrooms. The kitchen was a delight beyond compare and I was at Downtown Abbey with Mrs Patmore for the entire time I spent inspecting the fantastic grilling fireplace, large enough to roast an ox, let alone the shining array of copper pots and pans and the rest of the implements displayed in situ. The service rooms, here, went on and on and on, from bakery, to meat and cheese larder to chilling room where dishes were refrigerated by placing them atop large square pipes, plumbed to carry cold water, set into ledges around the room. Virtual time travel through monied Victorian times but what an enlightening journey. Kmnow that I'd return in a heartbeat, (Thanks for saying, Sarge!), but would try, if possible, to time visit for a less busy seaason. Bit of a crush with other amazed gawkers, at times, but nothing could spoil the wonder, the magnificence of the place and its living artifacts.
Outside to refresh ourselves at the Stable Cafe, sitting in stalls which once housed horses, enjoying soup and fresh bread fro Ayn.Coriandre and I, Cornish pasties for the aliens from Mill Hill Broadway! Stroll through the lovely, lovely gardens afterwards and then a sad adieu as nobody really wanted to leave. On way back to the car we stopped off at the Lanhydrock Village Fête, in support of some Memorial Hall or other, and delighted in the fun-filled gathering: silly lawn games for children, a Bottle Table, a Treasure Hunt, (pin a pin on a map of Cornwall), and scads of delicious looking baked goods, vegetable and flower arrangements. We helped pay for a brick or two. I bought a small Teddy Bear, (asking 50 p but Big Spender I, gave a pound, declining change), Cora Lee and Ayn found some attractive necklaces, three of them, (£2.50 for the lot), and Madcap Mike bought a jar of home-made gooseberry jam for £3, at auction, (He was sole bidder and in order to get item on the block he said he had a plane to catch!), something he hadn't been able to find at any of the various site shops we'd visited over the last days!
Everyone more than pleased with the truly wondrous outing, we piled back into the car and made for Truro. We needed a few last minute items for dinner and once we'd hit Sainsbury's we raced home. Spudnik was waiting for us as we walked up the garden path, complaing about being left alone for almost eight hours! Inside, made Penny a cup of tea and she and Cora Lee rested in the Reception Lounge while Mike freshened up, Ayn feverishly posted on facebook and I readied a large tray of cheese, crackers and olives and washed mushrooms and asparagus. Kitchen duty discharged I opened one of the alcoholic ginger beers I'd picked up when we stopped at Sainsbury's and went to have a shower.
By the time I was out Maureen and Bill were upstairs chatting with Michaelo and Penelope while Coriandre put together a tomatoe, fresh mozzarella and basil salad and Ayn had the coals of all three grills glowing nicely. More wine and beer and nibbles while we hosts popped in and out of the kitchen, checking on dishes and washing some. We had timed vegetables so that once steaks were ready, we gathered in the formal dining room and sat down to feast the evening away. While the steaks were juicy and done poifectly I think Cora lee's Feta potatoes were the hit of the meal as all our guests kept asking for more until we gave up and simply told them to help themselves.
Loads of fun and stories. Bill and Mike, both being East Enders had loads of yarns about many common experiences and we almost died laughing hearing about their Teddy Boy days! For dessert, Cora Lee had planned fried bananas, using precious Macallan, topped off with nothing but Sainsbury's finest vanilla ice cream. More choking laughter as the tales of Mods and Rockers continued and I managed to stop coughing long enough to rescue some of the Macallan! By midnight the neighbours started to complain so Cora Lee called a cab and sent Madcap Mod and his bird back to Truro. As soon as I said goodnight to Maureen and Bill I hurriedly brushed and flossed and literally fell into bed, only to wake at 2:30 am to find Cora Lee's bedside lamp still on, her reading glasses clutched in one hand, her book in the other! Shaking my head, I removed both and turned out the light, thinking that at least I knew when to go to sleep! What a grand, grand day, nevertheless, as I'm sure everyone would attest.
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