The first week of Summer vs Winter

We thought we'd have a look at the weather forecast for when we get home.  It's the first week of Winter.  Here in the UK it's the first week of Summer and the forecasts aren't all that different!

Seeya Winton's Folly!

Mick woke feeling a little under the weather this morning as a consequence of the late night and too much beer.  He made a couple of attempts to get up between about 8am and 10am, by which time Lynne, Marie and I had finished breakfast, showered, packed cars, tidied up.  In the end he only got up for the final time just as the girls were getting ready to go!  We had a last chat, thanking them for all their help over the last 21 months and waved them off.  Perhaps there will be a stopover in Melbourne on the next trip home to New Zealand!

It had to come eventually and today was the day.  We had to say a final farewell to Barry and Carol on nb Winton's Folly.  We had some things to take to give to them and return to them.  We left the barn to drive to Banbury where they were moored and arrived there just after midday.  How lovely it was to see them again!  We chatted, laughed, drank tea and coffee and Carol made sandwiches for lunch. 

I happened to glance out the window and recognized the bow of a boat I'd seen before.  It was nb Pem no.6 with Robert, Jayne and black lab, Bella aboard.  Mick hurried out to the stern to give them a wave.  They moored up ahead and we went to have a catch up and to see their boat.  They had come to see Parisien Star when we advertised her for sale.  It was nice to see them so happy to finally be afloat on their own boat.  They had such huge smiles on their faces.  It was also nice for us to see Bella, who must be one of the loveliest natured labs we've met. She's such a gentle and affectionate girl.

Robert and Jayne had a few hours cruising still ahead of them to reach their destination for the day so we waved them off and returned to Winton's Folly.  We were telling Barry and Carol that we wanted to visit the National Herb Centre after we left them today and asked if they wanted to come along.  It was a brilliant sunny day just perfect for an outing. 

We enjoyed the visit to the herb centre.  Lots of inspiration for what we want in our own garden when we get home.  Everyone enjoyed plucking a leaf from aromatic plants and discussing what we could use them for.  All too soon the afternoon was over and it was time to say goodbye to our dear friends.  We drove them back to Castle Quay where they were moored and said farewell until next year when they come to Australia to visit.  Guys, we're so glad to have met you both!

As we drove home we both said how strange it felt to be getting on other people's boats when we no longer own one ourselves.  It felt like we should be moored up behind Winton's Folly.  We are tired this evening with some sleep to catch up on.  Tomorrow is planned to be a quiet day of packing.  First we'll go and buy the biggest suitcase we can find!

A visit to Hidcote

I've always wanted to visit Hidcote to see the gardens at their best.  We really enjoyed the garden... just stunning.  It was an enjoyable couple of hours wandering around admiring the various areas.

We came back to the barn for lunch and then headed out again to collect the remainder of our stuff from the boat.  Mick was horrified to find it covered in cut grass.  He couldn't help himself, he gave that side of the boat a quick washdown.  It's such a strange feeling to be on the boat knowing she's not ours any more.

We had Lynne and her friend Marie coming for dinner and to say farewill.  On the way back from the boat we stopped to buy some goodies for dinner and arrived back just before they were due to arrive.  Good timing.

It was nice to see the girls one last time before we leave.  After dinner we heard an almighty racket from sheep coming through to the field behind our barn.  The ewes and lambs were frantically calling for each other as they milled about.  Goodness they were loud!  We stood out watching them for a while as they made their way into our field from the one further back.  Eventually mothers and babies were all reunited and peace returned.

It was enjoyable evening which included a spirited game of cards.  It was after midnight by the time we all went to bed.... a late night for us.

Return to the Midlands

We are all toured out after the last few days so decided to just head back to the Midlands and call in at Rose Narrowboats on the way to our accomodation.  We wanted to collect the things that we want to wash while staying in the cottage for the rest of our time in the UK.

By the time we got to Rose, did what we needed to do, had a chat with Anthony, checked into our accomodation, unpacked the mountain of stuff in the car (not sure how it's going to fit in two suitcases), drove to Warwick to buy groceries..... well, the day was gone.

We have a few things already lined up for our last 6 days. It's a scary thought that we have less than a week left.  Where, oh where, did more than 20 months disappear to?

So now we are tucked up in a converted barn on a farm.  The other self catering cottage is empty this week and the owners left us a note saying they're away until tomorrow night.  It feels so nice to be on our own here tonight.  Very peaceful.  

Beamish Museum

After a nice early breakfast we set off on the drive to our destination for today.... the Beamish Museum near Newcastle upon Tyne.  Someone had told me about it when we were going to the Black Country Museum in Birmingham and said if we liked the Black Country then we'd love Beamish.  They were right!

We arrived there about lunchtime and stopped at a motorway service centre for a sandwich as I'd read that the queues to buy food within the museum were usually ridiculously long.  We hoped with it being a weekday that it might not be too busy.  When we reached the carpark we couldn't believe how many cars were in there.

I had bought tickets online the night before so it was quick and easy at the ticket counter.  Most of the other people had probably arrived in the morning so there wasn't a wait to go in.  We loved it from the start.  There's several sections over a very large area of 300 acres..... lots of walking involved.  There are old trams and buses to get around but there was a crowd at every stop.  We just walked.  Map courtesy of the Beamish Museum website.

First there was Pockerly Old Hall which represents how a wealthy farmer would have lived in the 1820's.  This weekend there is a Georgian Fair.  There were stalls selling old style goodies, crafts, rides for kids and even a punch and judy show.  There were rooms in the old hall set out as they would have been.  Most rooms had someone in period costume to talk to.

We enjoyed looking in the shops of The Town which is based on the 1900's era.  It was the best presented series of repro shops we've seen.  Just fantastic.  It was pretty much impossible to buy anything much, especially food, as there were such crowds.  I did buy a book about samplers in one little store and a couple of pieces of fabric for my patchwork quilt.  The sweet shop had a queue snaking out the door.

Then there was a 1940's farm which was lovely.  There were cute little piglets, curious horses, lambs being fed.  There was lovely gardens, especially vegies.

Our final stop was the colliery and pit village.  The houses were interesting.  We kept seeing people eating hot chips in a newspaper cone so while Mick went to look at the coal mining I said I'd wait in the queue to get some.  They smelled good!  After standing for 15 minutes and watching just one family of 4 emerge with their fish and chips I peered around the people who were nearest the door (the queue had about a dozen people outside the door and who knows how many more inside).  There was a sign at the door saying the wait from that point was an hour!!  Sorry Mick, no chips.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon doing something we love.  We had booked a hotel nearby so now we're having a rest after all that walking.  It was lucky with the weather too.  We had rain a lot of the way as we drove but it stopped by the time we reached the museum and we even had the sun peek out.  What a great day it's been.

Lots of photos to remember today...