Monday 23 March 2009

Mothering Sunday

A picture heavy post today. I hope you don't mind. I hope you all enjoyed Mothering Sunday. I was certainly treated to a wonderful day, spent in the company of my two favourite boys, Mr Funky and our gorgeous teenager, Josh. Both Mr Funky and Josh send me a card on Mother's Day.






And I also had two great presents, a decorative candle and a book I've been wanting to read since I saw it over at Sal's Snippets (thanks Sal).



Best of all, I was taken out for the day. It's that time of year when the National Trust begins to re-open its properties and it gives us the opportunity for some relaxing days out. Josh is at the age where he is beginning to find walking around old houses a bit boring, but he behaved really well. (No complaining about wanting to be on the Xbox, or wanting to go out with friends). So we packed a picnic and made our way into Warwickshire to Packwood House.

It was a bit difficult taking photographs as most of the house was covered in scaffolding due to roofing repairs but I do have these for you.











These sundials, unusually on the walls of the house look superb.








Packwood is also famous for its yew trees. They are said to represent the Sermon on the Mount.





And the rest of the garden doesn't look so bad either.








Not content with visiting one house, we visited two! Two miles down the road from Packwood is Baddesely Clinton, a moated mediaeval manor house, famous for its connection with the Catholic faith and its priests hiding holes. I wish I could show you the interiors of both of these houses but photography isn't allowed for perfectly understandable reasons.











Just about time to show you the garden before closing time I think.







And a quick visit to the church before we make our way back home.

Thanks Rob and Josh for such a wonderful day.

13 comments:

Sal said...

I loved that book..but it was Nich who read it first, then passed it on to me! He'd visited that bookshop last year!
I hope you enjoy it!!
Glad you had a wonderful day ;-)

Simone said...

I like the cards you received. Particularly the wording on the Mother's Day card!!! The places you visited look really interesting. As I am getting older I really appreciate architecture and the skill involved in creating these old buildings. The gardens look fine indeed too.

MelMel said...

Lovely to meet a fellow NT fan!
I really enjoyed your post....what a stunning place...OOoohh I'm so excited the season is up and away!

We are going to the Easter egg hunt thing at dunham Massey...we take our niece, secretly we enjoy it more than her and do the quiz as well!
hehehehehheh!

Glad you had such a wonderful weekend!xxxx

{Love, Love, Love} said...

Wow...great places! x

Kitty said...

Wow - lovely photos! I especially like that round turret-y window, it's beautiful. Glad you had a lovely day, shame about the footie, eh? :-( x

Country Cottage Chic said...

Lovely photos! So glad to read that you had a great day.

LissyLou said...

Glad you had a nice day, it looks lovely. x

The Fairy Glade said...

Hi there love the card you received and how true. By the time I had seen my Mum on Friday, done lunch for man person's parents on the Saturday, (not to mention all the extra cleaning in the nooks and crannies that are generally left to their own devices), come the day itself I was worn out!! My little girl did me proud though. Dev X

Ali @ Betty and Violet said...

This looks like a wonderful day out. I love exploring NT properties ~ especially the smaller lesser known ones. The places you have photographed look really lovely ~ and the weather was kind!
Glad that you had a lovely Mother's Day!

Anonymous said...

Your cards are lovely. One of my favourite NT places is Baddesley Clinton - our kids really liked it when they were younger too. They loved that it was surrounded by water and always enjoyed the story of the dark stain in one of the rooms! You sound like you had a lovely day.

MelMel said...

Thank you hun...I'm keeping my cjin up....just!xxx

Louise said...

I could quite easily live in the mediaeval manor house, what a place! A fantastic day you must have had visiting both of these historic homes and gardens. Lovely photos as always. x

Cowboys and Custard Mercantile said...

I did enjoy this Mother's Day outing of yours.. and just love those yew trees..
I must make a note of these places if we are ever in that neck of the woods.
We are off to one of our local NT houses this weekend...I love to see how the other half once lived.


Michelexx