mybigadventures.com

Mery Christmas

Another, grand house, another Christmas. Today we went to Christmas at Castle Howard, after stopping nearby at the rather fabulous Durham Ox. When it came to it, we decided that Castle Howard was a little better than Chatsworth.

The decorations and rooms seemed a bit more emersive, there was a particularly crazy room with an upside down Christmas Tree. The weather remained much better today and we had a good walk about outside with some blue sky and sunshine before heading on to mums to finish off the long weekend. All in all nice way to get started with Christmas!

We found ourselves with a three day weekend just before Christmas and decided to make the most of it with a trip north. The plan was a drive up to Derbyshire on Thursday night before visiting Christmas at Chatsworth. We bought our tickets a few weeks ago and the drive up was fairly straightforward. We were booked into a Permier inn, which is only about 10 mins away from the house, making the journey in the morning pretty easy.

We arrived for opening just before 11 and were suprised to see how busy it already was with the main car park already close to full. There were a lot of people about, we think perhaps there were earlier tours before the pblished opening time of the house? Our tickets were timed for 11.30 so we started to head in, before being asked to check the camera bag. The cloakroom is fairly straightforward with lockers taking a £1 deposit, so we dropped off the bag and headed back towards the entrance.

There was a short queue to get in, but  the tented area in which we were waiting was decorated up with model planes and hot air balloons, so there was plenty to look at. The theme this year was "around the world in 80 days" and as travelled between each of the rooms in the house, they were decorated to represrnt a different country. The decorations were very impressive and emmersive, with particular highlights including the Moroccan room and the Chinese and Japenese rooms. There were some really pretty decorations which we had hoped to find in the shop, but although they stocked some, they didn't have some of our favourites. We managed to have a bit of a walk around the outside, down to the bottom of the lake to see the house and fountain and through the grotto. The weather initially was nice with some blue sky and sunshine, although as we started to get back towards the house, it did start to rain a little.

We stopped in the cafe for a bit to eat and a drink before heading off towards our next stop, just outside York for a visit to Castle Howard tomorrow. We're stopping in a place called The Durham Ox, which is really nice, we have a nice little room that forms part of the old barn, but is only marginally smaller than you might expect a holiday let to be. We took advantage of the large selection of te and coffee and had a little scoff of the free Yorkie bar. We had a very nice dinner in the restaurant before calling it a night. We woke up very early this morning (5am) to were ready for bed by 9pm.   

As part of our planned days out this week, we had booked tickets for Windsor Castle online so after a bit of a lie in and some breakfast, we set off. Windsor actually isn't that far away, and only took 40 mins or so to drive. We managed to find a space in the long stay car park about 10 minutes walk from the castle, and paid enough to take us through to just after 5. There was a bit of a queue to get in, but after a quick check, we again found we could skip the queue having booked online. We collected our tickets and went through security and then we were in.

We picked up the free audio guides to take us around. After a consult of the map it turned out you could visit the different parts of the castle in any order, we decided to see the state rooms first. It was all very impressive with the Waterloo room a real highlight. There was also an exhibition about the recent wedding of Harry and Megan, and their outfits from the day were out to look at including the outfits of the page boys and bridesmaids.

From the staterooms, we visited St George's Chapel, it has a pretty spectacular ceiling and is where many past members of the Royal family are buried including Charles I and Henry VIII. It was starting to get dark as we left, and after a quick snack at Starbucks, we had time for a quick wander around the town before heading home. We ended the evening at Pizza Express, using our taste card to get 241 and gift cards to pay. A pretty cheap night out really. We're going to take the decorations down tomorrow and then its my birthday on Saturday! 

Today, we headed into London town. Having bought a voucher on Groupon for a deal at 'Fatburger' in Camden, we went directly there to have lunch. We hadn't been to Camden for a long while and it was quite busy when we arrived. But it was only a short walk to the restaurant and it was decidedly quieter there, so we settled in for our burgers. The burgers were fairly good, with a good meat-bread ratio and some nice pickle additions. But the chips made it - I had Cajun curly fries and they were really crisp and spicy! Yum! We were full up pretty quickly, so we went for a gander about Camden, wandering into the market to have a mosey about. I don't think we'd been into the actual market before - at least, not for many years - but there were some interesting items on sale and a lively atmosphere. We also stood on the bridge watching a couple navigate the locks on the canal which was quite exciting!

From there we went into Wetherspoons for a tea, as it was quite cold and we needed a pick-me-up. We sat nursing hot drinks for a while and then made our way across town. It was very busy out and about - so many tourists wandering about! We ended up going to the Natural History Museum, and we had a little look at the ice-skating out the front, and the pretty lights! We then thought we'd go in - there was a couple of hours until closing - and we hadn't seen the newest addition of the blue whale skeleton hanging in the main hall. Plus, there's the dinsoaurs... 

As usual, everything was pretty awesome - the building is a work of art in itself! We wandered a bit, looking at the blue whale from all different angles, and also at a huge segment from an ancient sequoia tree, dated as 380 million years old... Pretty impressive! From there, we headed into the dinosaur exhibit, taking in all the fossils and information. It was still pretty busy everywhere and we were getting tired, so we headed out - it was closing time anyway. We looked round a bit more, taking in the lights and atmosphere, before heading to the tube and making our way home.  

We had booked tickets to visit St Paul's cathedral today, so, after a cheeky Eggs Benedict for breakfast, we set off for the station. It was an easy journey on the Met line, getting off at Barbican and then walking for about 10 mins. When we arrived, we were a little concerned by the snaking queue, but Ben joined the queue while I went to check out the business with tickets and lo and behold, we could skip it! We pretty much went straight in and wandered from there, looking at all the churchy decor and then we embarked on the journey upward... And it was quite a journey! About 259 steps upwards and it got steadily narrower and higher. We stopped first at the 'whispering gallery', then up to the 'Stone gallery', ending up on the 'Golden gallery' and looking out at the spectacular views across the city. 

From there, we went right into the depths of the cathedral, into the crypt, where we had a very welcome cup of tea in the cafe. Then we drifted into the crypt, admiring all the tombs of famous people - Wellington, Nelson, Wren, Turner et al. Quite a celebratory gathering! We then had a little wander in the area surrounding the cathedral, up towards the Millenium Bridge, and Ben took lots of photos of the buildings as the light was lovely - gathering darkness but with sunlight beaming through. 

To make the most of the afternoon, we went to visit the Museum of London, having passed it on our way in to town earlier. And it was free entry! And a surprising tardis of a museum, with room after room of exhibits! We drifted around for a while before heading home on the Met line, stopping at Sainsburys for a few essentials for our turkey pie dinner!  

The turkey dinner went down well with everybody on Christmas day, but it wasn't just the family that were tucking in to dinner, in the garden the squirrels and birds have been busy stuffing their little faces with fatballs and seeds. Over the last couple of days the feeders have been very popular with squirrels performing their usual gymnastic tricks to pour seeds into their mouths.

It is quite funny how they creep in stealth mode along the fence stopping occasionally frozen on the spot when they think someone is looking! The feeders have also been frequented by a range of tits including coal, blue and long-tailed and also a pair of robins and a pair of nut hatches. It's all given me quite a few opportunities to try out my new camera lens so all good!

Today we went to the cinema to see the new "Mary Poppins returns" film, it really was rather good and seemed to fit very well with the original, I would definitely recommend if you haven't had a chance to watch it yet. Back home in the evening, we continued to use up the contents of the fridge, and with this in mind, we "had" to make chocolate ice-cream to use up the left over cream that was on it's expiry date. What a nightmare eh!?!   

Merry Christmas everybody. I hope you've all had a wonderful day and are having a nice relaxing evening.

Merry Christmas everyone, we hosted this year so had Dani's family and my mum down for the last couple of days. It was a fairly busy day with eggs benedict for breakfast and the usual turkey and trimmings for mid-afternoon dinner followed by presents and Lego building - the dream! I hope everyone had as much fun as we did. The 24 days of Lego are now over (although I have a few still to post here), but I'll leave you with a special Christmas Lego scene and wish you a very happy holidays. 

Day 10 - Fun in the snow

Day 9 - Quality Control

Day 8 - Meanwhile in the North Pole...

Day 7 - Winter Treats

Day 6 - Building Frosty

Day 5 - Carol Singers

Day 4 - Turning on the Christmas lights

Christmas Wish List

Here we have day 2 of this years Lego advent - Buying the Christmas Tree.

To celebrate the start of December this year, I have decided to create a series of Chritstmas Lego photos. So to mark the 1st of December, here we have Day 1 - #letscelebrate

We're on the last part of our Christmas journey around the country with a few days in Nottingham. We've been coming here at Christmas for the last few years to stretch out the Christmas holidays before we return to normality. Its been a pretty wintery few days with some cold weather and fog although we did manage to get some sunshine on Thursday. We made a trip out to Newark to see Kelham hall and whilst nearby dropped in to see the quite magnificent Southwell Minster. On the way back into Nottingham we decided to head up and have a look at Green's Mill and science centre. It's located in Sneinton which is about a mile outside the city centre and can be seen from a number of places across the city. The sun was just setting as we arrived and it was closing time at the windmill and science centre so we just had a quick look at the outside. It is a great example of working mill and definitely worth a revisit next time we're in town.

Last night we headed up to Georges Great British Kitchen, fish and chip restaurant on Queen Street. We've been a couple of times before and it's always worth a visit. It's a great atmosphere and tasty meal. We had the sharer desert consisting of ice-cream, donuts, dipping sauces and candy floss. It's a lot of fun but probably more suitable for 3 or 4 people as I think we only managed about half.

Had a catch up with Darren and Helen today which was a little long overdue, but great to see them both and then had a wander around the shops. I've added a few new photo's to the Christmas album linked below. 

We arrived in Coventry on Christmas day after a quick trip down the M1, just as Mum and Dad were sitting down to their non-Christmas dinner of Boeuf Wellington. Perfect timing! (although perhaps not, as we were still rather full from our first Christmas lunch...) Instead, we sat quietly on the sofa while they ate!

So, Boxing Day commenced in a suitably celebratory fashion with Eggs Benedict for breakfast, with Greg joining us for our 'second' Christmas day. We all went for a walk - just around the local area - to get a bit of air and walk off a few of the Christmas calories. Then Dad and I started the preparations for the feast! Pigs in blankets, bacon wrapped prunes, tiny chipolatas, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, sprouts, seasoned pudding (a family recipe for stuffing) and the jewel in the crown - the turkey! A few hours later and we were sitting down to a veritable banquet. Delicious!

We took a break from feasting to open some pressies - one of the many highlights was Ben's new 'cookie train' (a three-part biscuit tin containing chocolatey goodness!) amongst many books, vouchers and other exciting goodies! A piece of Christmas pudding later, and we were ready to call it a day.

Waking up to a frosty morning, we decided to get some fresh air, visiting Hanbury Hall near Worcestershire - a lovely stately home. We pottered through the gardens, watching some robins bouncing around in the gardens and orchards, and then explored the house, which was decorated for Christmas in an 18th century turn-of-the-century style. A very serene afternoon!

What a festive few days! 

He's been! After a bit of a lie in we were up and about. We had a bit of bacon for breakfast and got stuck in to opening presents. Lots of nice things to take home including our newest addition Murphy - a rather nice black scotty dog door stop. After presents it was time to get things ready for lunch. 

We had turkey and all the trimmings including a special of sprouts and chorizo. Dinner was lovely but very filling. After a bit of a rest it was time to hit the road for Christmas part 2 with Dani's family.

Happy Christmas everybody. I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Have a very merry Christmas everyone!

The Christmas holidays have now begun for us. We had the school Christmas party on Friday and then met up with Tamara, Fiona, Chris and Rebecca for dinner and a few drinks. It was great to catch up with everyone, just need to try and do it a bit more often. 

Today we got around to the annual tradition of making Christmas cards. We seem to be leaving it later every year but I think we're in time for the Christmas post so all is good. We're really pleased with the designs this year, if you get one, look out for little bit of red glitter, its not the most obvious part of the design but is my favourite!

I've added a few more photo's to the Christmas album of the card making and will perhaps put in a picture of the final design once everyone getting one, has had a chance to see it first. 

. . . he's checking it twice! Christmas is nearly here and we have begun the Christmas travels. Today we went to Baddesley Clinton a National Trust house and gardens to admire their Christmas decorations which were rather nice. They had small decorations for each of the twelve days of Christmas dotted around the house.

Dani took advantage of the chance to make her own Christmas decorations and we generally had a nice potter about. Only two more get-ups!

I am now officially googleable - or indexed for the more technical amongst you. Try it yourself - google 'mybigadventures' and there I am! Sadly not all that many people out there are likely to google 'mybigadventures' so I'm not expecting a sudden influx of visitors. I have however looked at my recent stats and I seem to have had many more visitors than before and they're not all from Eastleigh or Nottingham so its not just me!!! I'll stick the pie chart up soon so you can have a look, but for now - its time to get back to work.