Eternal Refuge

Well I decided to split the post into 2 ... so this set are the chapel (which you get to from the 1st floor), and the gardens -





( The Chapel )


( The Gradens )

We walked through some of the grounds, and then round Lacock Abbey itself - and amazing building ... and so much history.

Lacock Abbey, dedicated to St Mary and St Bernard, was founded in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, widow of William Longespee, an illegitimate son of Henry II.[2] Ela laid the abbey's first stone in Snail's Meadow, near the village of Lacock on 16 April 1232.

After the dissolution of the monestries it was privately owned, running through the Fox Talbot family.

During WWII it also had evacuees living here, then recently has been used by film studios, notably Harry Potter

Enjoy -










( enjoy the indoors, as well )

As I said, Brenda and I went to Tyntesfield ... and had a lovely walk round the grounds, as well as seeing a couple of the rooms








( And the stroll continues - )

I don't know why I posted these in reverse order ... I am sure it can't be a sign of impending old age, can it?

The first day Brenda & I went out was to Arlington Court in North Devon. It was owned by the Chichester family before it was given to The National Trust, and now houses the Carriage Collection in the stables.


























Illustrated Proverbs

Part of a Zepplin shot down in 1916 in Essex






Yes, we had rain, didn't we Brenda?









Tack room

On Day 2 of Brenda's visit we went to Buckland Abbey ... where Sir Francis Drake lived for a time.  Prior to Henry VIII it had been a monastic abbey.






Medieval barn

In front of a cider press








Celebrating the 400th anniversary of The Armada







Love this settle





Sea Chest

Great Hall, finished 1576



In the Chapel


Gardens







Self-Portrait ... Rembrandt van Rijn ... 1635 (1)

Elizabeth Sydenham, Lady Drake ... 1562 - 1598

Pocket Globe, 1800

Eight sixpenses, dated 1561 - 1583

14th Century Antiphonal ... Canticles for Christmas

Elizabethan Armour

Pamphlet celebrating The Armada, published Sept 1588

14th Century

The reason I went to Nick & Brenda's last weekend, other than to see them, was to celebrate my birthday.  Brenda & I always meet up regularily anyway, but always to celebrate our birthdays ... so this is a bit early for me, but it just means I have 10 days of Birthday (hopefully not get 10 years older though.

I hadn't been to Bath for agea, and although Brenda pops into the shops she hadn't actually done any sight-seeing for ages, so a win-win for us both.

Here are a few general pictures around the city








Brenda in front of Jane Austen's house



Sally Lunn's House - set up as a bakery in 1680  and still used for the same purpose (house built in 1482).






The Circus (a circular street of houses)





A Georgian garden in the back of one of the houses



The Crescent -








And there were quite a few street entertainers -

One of the locations we visited was the Roman Baths ... it has been adapted and changed over the years.  The tour is well organised, so nice to see 2000 years of history laid out ina clear way so we could see what all the various parts of the complex that have been excavated.










The Bath complex was part of a Temple complex to Sulis Minerva





The Victorian Gallery -









The hot spring ... and you could actually feel the warmth -







An original tile

One of the many rooms

Remains of a mosaic

Overflow channel

Tombstone

It was a lovely weekend ... especially in that we actually had some lovely weather to go with it.  As I type this it is pouring with rain.  Still, as someone who only has tubs ona patio the rain is good, after the warmth & sun!!

I had a lovely time with brenda, there will be photos to come, but haven't sorted them yet.  We had a great walk around the house, and a walk through the grounds.  Brenda was also able to have a chat about Nick, and know that I knew exactly what she was talking about.  Healthwise he is not doing well, and sadly he has always been someone who has never accepted help or advice from anyone.

I did watch The Eurovision Song Contest ... you have to live over in Europe to know how truly mad it is.  I started the evening by watching the 2 episodes of Dr Who and then I wasn't going to watch the song contest, but Brenda text me about the time it started and we "chatted" about the show.  I wanted the group who came 2nd, to win, so it wasn't completey mad in the end.

I am split on Dr Who ... thought the episodes were OK as traditional Dr Who stories, but really wasn't 100% pulled in by the new doctor, or his companion.

Sunday, was Sunday!  It was our pastor's 35th birthday, so he was in a very bouncy mode.

And, now it's today.

I have a sports massage appointment in a moment so it will be good to get my neck & shoulders sorted out again.  The rest of the day I shall maybe make some icons, sort out the photos from Saturday and basically be lazy.  I am woring tomorrow, 8 - 4, and then go straight to a fracture clinic appointment, so it's a long day ... then Wednesday I am working again ... so ...





13. It's World Cocktail Day and in 1934 Duke Ellington got to Number 1 with 'Cocktails for Two'. What's you've favourite cocktail?
Well, that is one of the better “theme days”. I think my favourite couple are a Moscow Mule and an Aperol Spritz

14. In 1643 an earthquake killed a third of the population of Santiago in Chile. Have you ever experienced an earthquake?
No

15. In 1878 Vaseline was granted a patent (U.S. Patent 127,568) - do you have uses for Vaseline?
When I first started playing the clarinet I used it on all the cork joints … I do now buy cork-grease as it’s less messy.



Right, I must get on otherwise I shall be late for my appointment.

Will post the photos later ... and catch up with you all soon x

As I said, Brenda and I had a couple of great days out, despite the weather.  This set of photos is of Saltram House ... a truly stunning place. The 2 main rooms are designed by Robert Adam, and there are a few Joshua Reynolds paintings ... Enjoy

... so here I am!  I also bring icons.

This set is made for round 23 of gen10in30 with a theme of summer.  So, yet again, these are alll from photos that I took, or they are photos of me ... enjoy some summer ...

1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10

As ever, all are snaggable, but credit would be appreciated. The credits are available over at my icon journal - d4s_icons






Well work has been busy, but good.

The funeral went better than I expected ... no one was injured during the will reading, but do wonder how close things got a couple of times.  Sadly it's often a stressful day, but with the past history in the family (meaning one of the daughters was not being left anything ... her husband had stolen a lot of money).  So, a hard and sad day, although at least 2 of the girls had an almost polite conversation, so that was a positive step ... the first time after over 8 years.

So I am working all weekend, and it will be Monday before I return.

Yesterday I had a chat with Brenda and she is coming for a visit when the schools break up ... in other words, soon.. In fact too soon when you see how untidy the house is ... that's one thing Mum always moaned about.  I, like Dad, tend to be untidy, and however much I try it doesn't ever last long.  Luckily next week I have a much quieter week so cleaning can be done then.

My only other spot of news is I went to Tim & Claires for dinner Wednesday night ... a fry up .... started with a jug of Pimms sitting on their patio.  A lovely day.

Right, as I said, I won't be around over the weekend, so -



8 – SCUD Day: SCUD Day stands for "Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama" Day, and encourages those of us whose lives might have a touch too much drama to step back, relax, and enjoy the funnier side of life. Is there too much drama in your life right now? Even if there isn't, what would you do to turn the drama down a bit and enjoy a good laugh instead?
Oh I always see the weird/odd/mad/funny side of everything

9 – Dimples Day: Only 20-30% of the entire world population has dimples. Are you one of these rare individuals? What type of dimple do you have -- dimple on both cheeks, chin dimple, one-sided cheek dimple, corner of the mouth dimple?
Used to have slight dimples on both cheeks ... but not so much now



Right, I will try and catch up with you all in a minute x