Hello again:
We are both back at work now after a week's holiday.
We had a nice time, we didn't go away but had some "days out" visiting places not too far away. On Good Friday we went spent the day on Exmoor, just walking on the moors and exploring the forests. The moors were full of bright yellow gorse bushes and from Dunkery Hill which is the highest point the views were really lovely. Needless to say Judy thought it was a great place to go. We laughed at her running in the heather - she must have liked feeling of it as she kept springing up and down then running out and rushing back in again.
Another day we drove to Wimborne and took the small roads towards Shaftesbury across Cranborne Chase. Do you know this part of Dorset? It's really beautiful. You can see for miles across quite unspoiled countryside, it makes you think that it hasn't changed for hundreds of years. The Chase is quite a large area on a high plateau - 150,000 acres spread over three counties - Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It used to be a ancient royal hunting ground which is where it got its name I suppose.
Last Wednesday we had offered to take a friend to Hurn Airport near Bournemouth so after we had dropped her off we went on to the New Forest - lots more walking and a very happy dog !
On Friday we visited a National Trust property near Exmouth - it's called "a la Ronde" and it's a fascinating house Here's a picture.
It has 16 sides and was built in the 18th century for two spinster cousins, Jane and Mary Parminter, on their return from a grand tour of Europe. They continued to travel and the house is packed with things that they brought back over the years. There are boxes and boxes of shells from all over the world, each little box carefully labelled, as well as paintings, books, little dolls, china. In one room there are little dolls carved by Eskimos. The house has always been owned by women having been always passed down through the female line. It was lived in until 1991 and the family still come to visit. |
This all sounds like a travel brochure !! Anyway, we had a very pleasant week. And fortunately the weather wasn't too bad, a little rain but quite a lot of sun. Today it's strange here - snowing first thing, then very sunny so the snow melted, now the sky is getting very grey and it looks as if it will snow again. Looks as if we are getting all the seasons in one day.
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