My Little Big Adventure....

Did not go completely to plan....

lets see where did we leave it at the end of Thursday... I had accomplished a fair chunk of chores so I had searched British Rail timetables and maps to see where I could get to and I decided on Dawlish Warren...

Now do you remember I mentioned that I had a headache... well I went to bed with that headache and I awoke with that headache... and it had worsened during the night.. so at 7:05 when Daniel came into our room announcing his need for the toilet... I dragged my thumping head from the pillow and came downstairs, Mr P had already gone to work and I had roused Jamie before seeing to Daniel... not that I have to do much but he's at that "you've got to be around" stage.. lol

Anyhow... the head was painful, I felt sick and I had a bad tummy so I curled up on the settee and pondered whether my adventure was cancelled... Jamie got herself sorted and off to catch her bus and Danny watched Cartoonito while I snoozed... by 10 the headache was waining and I was feeling a little better...

Now Mr P suggests (via email from work) that I might have stressed myself into the headache... and the sad thing is I think he might be right, I went to bed that night feeling guilty for planning a trip to the sea and leaving Daniel at my mums... I wondered if I would be lonely on my own with no-one to run after and supervise.... I have become "mum" and I no longer feel secure in being "Alex" does that sound strange?

Anyway feeling better I decided that I should take baby steps and visit somewhere that I had been to in the past and that I could drive to with Daniel as co-pilot... So I went online joined the National trust (just me and the children £40) and we headed to


Stourhead


Its only a short drive up the A303 so I felt secure in the knowledge that I could do it!
The last time I had been to Stourhead was probably 16 years ago when I attended the Fete Champetre dressed as a flower fairy with a huge picnic and candles to light the evening away...

I flashed my temporary pass at the lovely NT lady and started down the path towards the gardens with Daniel leading the way and I could feel the stresses and strains seeping away as I tuned my senses to listen to the birds, feel the breeze on my face and recognise the scents of wild garlic and rhododendrons...

We passed through the courtyard where tea's and ice cream would be purchased later and headed for the gardens...

The areas in red are the two places that we managed to visit... the first was the temple of Apollo... we trudged up a steep hill...

well I trudged Daniel ran!

and then we eventually reached the temple... whereupon Daniel announced he needed the toilet

So I quickly took some snaps of the breathtaking view...

and we came down the other side of the hill on the cobble path

to the spooky tunnel

and back to the quad for toilets and then refreshments...

we sat a while and enjoyed the sunshine and fed the ducks which stand at your feet and quack at you... and then we decided to go up to the house...


I had never been to the house and we had a lovely time looking at paintings and furniture and Daniel was wonderfully behaved which made me very proud... he asked questions and was really intrigued by the old things to be seen... the fact that the library was bigger the the ground print of our house was also quite amusing... Daniel made friends with an elderly gentleman who kept calling him Charlie and I chatted with his daughter who was trying to keep her dad active mentally and physically by taking him on day trips...

we then took a small stroll to the gardens behind the house

but it wasn't long before Daniel announced he was tired

and we found a shady spot on the lawns and looked at the back of the big house...

This was by no means the end of our day... we wandered back to visitors center via the walled garden and I have bagged my bench that I hope to return to and sit a while and crochet on...

we went over the road bridge

then back up the hill to the restaurant and shop...

that's the end of the photo's but while we sat and had a snack in the restaurant we discussed coming back again and how much we had enjoyed it... then we loaded up our shopping... well it would have been rude not to.. I even bought 2 planks of beech wood for £20 that had been felled from trees in the gardens... that will become my new windowsill in our kitchen... Mr P was really chuffed! lol

and I drove home listening to the radio and the contented silence of one tired little boy sleeping!

I was smiling by the time I arrived home and Mr P was pleased to see me cheery...
we had Chinese for tea and went to bed happily worn out..

If you have made it to the end well done and thank you for stopping by...
I do love it when you visit and share my stories
take care and have a splendid weekend, today I am off to mow an elderly friends lawns and trim her front hedge.. then back home to assist Mr P in the building of a china smash for next weekends school Fete... I also need to practice my face painting skills on Jamie as I will be the face painter at the fete, then tomorrow we are off to a Butterfly BBQ and village treasure hunt at Coat in Martock which is in aid of the Children's Hospice UK

a busy mix of chores and rewards, just as life should be!

Take care
x Alex