Beautiful Gertrude Jekyll Inspired Gardens

We visited Barrington Court last week. It's another National Trust property, so entry is free because we are members. Barrington Court is about a 1/2 hour drive away. You would think we would be sick of looking at these old houses and gardens by now, (sorry if you are sick of hearing about them!) but we're not!! It's just a fun way to spend the morning or afternoon with the kids really. Especially on a nice day - which we are having so many of at the moment.  They enjoy running around in the different gardens and just like to be out and about I think... and so do we! (And it's now free entertainment.... can't beat that!)

The gardens here, once again were magnificent. The best thing about looking at gardens is that they are never the same! 

This one was influenced by Gertrude Jekyll.  Not sure if you have heard of her before but you can read a little about her on the link above. 

This is part of the working stone-walled kitchen garden which produces a variety of wonderful fruit and vegetables, which can be enjoyed in the restaurant.  

How would you like that in your back yard huh!!? There was a big area for your spuds too Dad!

The local primary school has its own area here in the kitchen garden where they plant, tend and harvest their own produce! 

This is where the restaurant is, this is the Strode House, which is separate from the Court house, and in my opinion much nicer!  Just a few chimneys!

No more spring daffodils or tulips, but now we have beautiful irises! (and so much more) I just love how each flower has it's own little time to pop up and show what it can do!

Most of the lilac wisterias have come and gone but the white ones are in full bloom. I love them!

The first few roses are opening, which will soon surround this wall with 4 or so secret little windows!

Play time.... jump.... jump..... jumping! There are just so many ways to entertain children in a garden!

More then happy to smile for the camera!

Before the walled garden existed, the ground was used as a farmyard - maybe that's why everything grows so well!!! This stable look-a-like building was actually called  a buss-stall, but it didn't house buses but calf's!! Apparently the word 'buss' is an old somerset word for 'calf'! Great background isn't it.

Don't know what this one is, but it kinda reminds me of Hawaii!

Looking for.... anything really.... in the pond!

Front view of the Strode House. This was a great little place to run around in and feel free..... until you go inside and realise all these windows are occupied by diners in the restaurant... and probably saw Emily holding her skirt up trying to look at her undies...

...which happened right after she was being so sweet and innocent picking daisies! 

This is the Court House. (The main house).

It is now an empty building and the National Trust are trying to decide what to do with it. When they first took over the place in 1907 it was a run down mess. Some of the floors, walls and ceilings had completely gone. The house had pretty much been used as a storage place for cider and chickens!! An extensive refurbishment was needed but became too expensive for the National Trust. Eventually Colonel Arthur Lyle took over and leased the property to display his vast collection of wooden panelling and other decorative items. 

Most of Barrington Court as you see it today is a product of the time, effort and money that the Lyle family put into it after 1920.

Barrington Court has housed many families and even became a boarding school during World War 2. Forty boys were evacuated to Barrington Court for the duration of the war, and adapted quite well to  country life, despite the Home Guard drilling in the squash court and the Headmaster patrolling the grounds with a rifle!

Five hundred years ago this huge fireplace was cooking up a storm for a  Tudor lord and that meant meat!! A whole deer or boar hunted on the estate would be roasted on a spit above the fire, turned by 'spit boys'. These boys could shelter from the intense heat of the fire in the alcoves you can see either side of the main fireplace. So remember these little 'spit boys' next time you are complaining cause your kitchen is hot from the oven going!! 

The building of Barrington Court commenced around 1538 and took about 22 years to complete - by 2 owners. The newly promoted Earl of Bridgewater started it, wanting to show his newly found status. Didn't help him much though as he died in 1548 and at the time had fallen from grace and left bankrupt! 

The next owners, the Strode Family stayed here until 1745, but then the property was passed through many hands and no record has been found of the many families who called Barrington Court home. Which then brings you to the 20th century when the National Trust took over.

Enjoying some ice cream on the lawn in the 4 o'clock sun! 

Emily loves her daddy! And daddy loves his Emily!

Emily giving Lani the little back and head rub... 'You okay Lani?'

So just recently I found out that we didn't really have many decent photos of the 2 girls together... hard to believe really but it's true! So my aim is to try and get a few shots of them together now! This is the start....

Lani doing Marcel Marceau, not sure when she met him, but it's clear she did at some point!!!

'Just take one more like this'.... 

'and this.... I have my arm around my imaginary friend' (yes she really said that!)

And this is her giving 'the friend' a cuddle! She really cracks me up this girl!

Running with Angels

My first 'me day' was spent reading this book... (I finished it a few days ago)

I'm so glad I read this book and  I would recommend it to anyone.  Pam has inspired me, and helped me to realise that we have the power to overcome anything.

The back of the book reads:

'On a beautiful April morning in 2001, Pamela Hansen decided to do something she hadn't done for a very long time. She decided to take a walk. Though fearful that she would not be able to take more than a few steps with her morbidly obese body, she was desperate to focus her attention on something other than the tragedies of her life - the death of an infant daughter, the cruel and debilitating autoimmune diseases that had attacked two other children, and finally the stillbirth of a son just a few weeks earlier.

That first walk, which lasted just ten minutes was the beginning of an amazing year-long journey that ultimately led to a 100-lb. weight loss and the fulfillment of Pamela's dream to run a marathon.

... She candidly describes the pain of living life as an obese person and the hopelessness that accompanies it. More importantly, she offers practical suggestions for anyone trying to reach a goal, particularly a weight-loss goal, and shows how small steps over time make it possible to achieve even a seemingly impossible dream.'

I had tears just after a few pages, but once the tears dry up you are left with an amazing story of the journey of an ever inspiring woman. 

My New Life!

Last week was a very exciting week for us. I had a taste of my new life!! 

Every child aged 3 & 4 in England gets 12.5 hours of free child care a week! There are heaps of different types of child care - Nurseries, pre-school, children's centres - it was all a bit overwhelming at first and I didn't really know what was what. We aren't 100% sure yet if we qualify for the free hours, and I didn't even know if I was going to bother - but everyone I spoke to was like 'so where if Leilani going to Nursery?' 'Is she in Nursery' etc. It's like the done thing here that if you are 3 you have at least some sort of 'pre-schooling/childcare'. 

The more I thought about it all and the more time we spend here away from family and friends the more I realised that I did need to get the girls in somewhere. And if Leilani is free then why wouldn't you!!? We have to pay for Emily but I decided it was worth sending her too - the girls will settle better if they have each other and Emily needs 'other kid contact' just as much as Lani.

We found Hollies Children's Centre - and it is fantastic! After a couple of weeks of 'settling in' (they came here for a home visit and then we had 2 x 2hr sessions there) it was time to take them in and not collect them again for 4 hours!! Yes, you read correctly - 4 hours in the afternoon (1pm - 5.00pm) 2 days a week! 

Here they are trudging off to their first session... they were so happy!

And if you think they missed me... then you are WRONG!! They loved every minute of it, and didn't even care when I left! It's a fantastic place - with a huge out door area with cubbies, slides, climbing frames, bikes, sand and everything else you can think of! Inside has pretty much everything you can think of too! 

They have a singing time and do lots of different activities together. The carers are all really nice and have no more then about 20 kids there at a time (including babies in the baby room). 

After 4 hours of non-stop play the girls still didn't want to leave! After the 2nd session Lani was introducing me to her 2 new friends, Phoebe and Maddison. And one of the little boys there does swimming with her also, so that was kinda nice. 

When I asked 'Did you miss me?' the reply (from Leilani was) 'No... but I still love you!!' 

At first I kinda felt guilty for leaving them there - it's not like I have a job or anything, but I now know we are doing the right thing, especially for Leilani because she starts school next year, and she needs that interaction with other kids before she goes (as we are not there for her to do pre-kinder). 

I'm excited for the girls, they love it and I'm sure they are going to learn lots of new things - things which I can't really give them on my own. (Some of which will probably be bad... but I guess that's the way it goes). 

I'm excited for me!! I know I will be a happier Mum with some 'me time', some of which will be spent on me - and some catching up on the 'home-maker' duties - which will then in turn give me more quality time to be with the kids'. 

We miss our family and friends - especially during the week, when you just wanna get out for a while and drop in and say hello to someone for a minute! It's been very different (as you would expect) and the kids have missed being able to say 'can we have a sleep over at Locke & Jenna's tonight?, or 'can we go down and see Meea and Grace?' or 'can Charlotte come over to play?' etc etc ( I could go on here forever!!!) 

We have met some wonderful new friends here though, and Leilani has already said 'When we go back to Tasmania, I am going to miss Adelphi' (one of her friends from church)! We get together and see them a bit, and have spent some lovely days together, but it's just different I guess. 

So anyway... now I spend Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday dreaming about what I am going to do on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons!!!! Aren't I lucky!!!! I may even have to look for a job!! 

a Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for leaving comments on here. I really appreciate them - especially being so far away. It's nice to get little messages when you wake up in the morning - even if they have nothing to do with the blog post - it's just a nice way to let me know you are there and say hello! I know sometimes it's a hassle leaving comments and often you don't even know what to say.  I don't expect people to leave comments all the time, even though a lot of you do, so thank you! 

Emily's Turn

Emily doesn't do swimming lessons, because with her age group an adult has to go in with them - so we couldn't really do that because there would be no one to look after Lani. So we try and take Emily swimming as much as possible because she loves it - and does such a good job sitting and watching Lani go in every week without complaining. 

Last week she got some new bathers (Lani's old ones!) so I thought we had better get some pictures of her before we went swimming on Saturday. She looks different with her hair up huh!

White Board

When we moved into this place we found a big white board in one of the rooms. The kids used it for a while and then I packed it away. But I have been doing lots of cleaning and moving things around this past week so the white board came back out and I have finally found somewhere for it to stay  (where it is safe, and won't get knocked over). When I went to see what the girls were doing  a few days ago I found Lani practicing her writing..... I think this was every letter and number she could remember at the time... as I have said before she just loves to write and draw. 

Another creation I found, but this time by Emily (her picture is on the left).

It is funny watching/listening to Emily draw... today she was drawing a face and I could hear her saying 'one hair, one hair, one hair...' 

The Plan of Salvation

Last night while preparing for my Sunday School lesson (I teach the youth) I came across this statement by President Boyd K. Packer, it puts everything into perspective, I have read it over and over and feel very blessed to know where I came from, why I am here and where I am going.... it gives life a purpose.

"There are three parts to the plan (talking about the Plan of Salvation). You are in the second or the middle part, the one in which you will be tested by temptation, by trials, perhaps by tragedy...

Remember this! The line 'And they lived happily ever after' is never written into the second act (of a play). That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right...

Until you have a broad perspective of the eternal nature of [the plan], you won't make much sense out of the inequities in life. Some are born with so little and others with so much. Some are born in poverty, with handicaps, with pain, with suffering. Some experience premature death, even innocent children. There are brutal, unforgiving forces of nature and the brutality of man to man.

Do not suppose that God willfully causes that which, for His own purposes, he permits. When you know the plan and the purpose of it all, even these things will manifest a loving Father in Heaven" (The Play and the Plan May 1995).

Sleep

Don't you just love SLEEP!? I do... it's great!! 

Here are the girls all tucked in and fast alseep after a busy day of playing!

They are pretty good sleepers and go to bed well. Lani is usually asleep within minutes of laying down, but we often hear Emily singing to herself before she falls asleep. Mick took these photos a few nights ago - it's so cute to see them sleeping with their dollys!