Taking advantage...

of Cheese Minor and family jetting off to sunnier climes, Wensleydale and I decided to do something similar. Well, a bit similar. They went to Tuscany, we went to Dorset. They had rain, we didn't, but it wasn't  warm enough here to sit by the pool, assuming our hotel had had a pool, which it didn't, and assuming I looked as good in a bikini as Mrs Cheese Minor, which I don't. Which is one reason I don't own a bikini.

Both holidays involved some ancient buildings however. Theirs were in Pisa, Florence and Sienna: ours weren't. (I may sound a little jealous, and indeed I am, but we had a good time, I hate flying, and their flight took about as long as our drive, which was door to door.)

We revisited Sherborne Abbey, which is a stunning building, with fan vaulting to rival King's College Chapel. It also had hands, with and without gloves.

















We also revisited this gentleman, who was a bit more visible than last year - perhaps he'd had a wash and brush up. 

















Last time we went west, we went to Montacute, but, to be honest I wasn't overwhelmed by it, and it was very busy, and we thought it would be worse this year because of the Wolf Hall connection. So we went to Barrington Court instead.

Two pieces of advice if you wish to follow in our footsteps:
1. Do not make the mistake of following the National Trust signed route off the A303, unless you enjoy driving along single track roads with high hedges, and maniacs and tractors driving the other way; and

2. Do not make the mistake of thinking Barrington Court does not have a Wolf Hall connection. It does. It appeared in many guises, including Thomas Cromwell's Privy Chamber and his stables. 

Unfortunately Mark Rylance was not in his Privy Chamber so Wensleydale stood sat in for him.

I also photographed a lot of other windows. Perhaps because there is very little furniture in the house, perhaps because the sun was shining, but mostly because they are lovely windows with lovely wonky glass. 

I also took a lot of flower photos, as the gardens are beautiful, but I will spare you those, as this post will be photo heavy enough anyway.

A new day, a new National Trust property, Lytes Cary Manor - got to get our money's worth from our memberships. This was my favourite of all the places we went. It's small, and cosy, with even more beautiful gardens than Barrington Manor. There was, unfortunately, what Worzel Gummidge described as 'fresh country air with a touch of pig', but I'm sure it's not permanent, and you couldn't smell it in the house. More garden photos, and more windows.







Finally, on the way home, we called in at Kingston Lacy for a cup of tea and a leg stretch. No windows this time, because we stayed outside. 

It was only when we got back to the car that I realised that the reason the car park was full and the gardens empty, was because on wet days, normal human beings go to N.T. properties to go round the house in the dry, not round the gardens in the rain. Well, it wasn't raining much, that came later... Along with traffic jams on the M3, but we managed to bypass those.

So, a good time, but as always, I'm glad to be home. I did manage to start some knitting, but I've just soaked it in white wine, so it's not photographable at the moment. (Not deliberately, obviously, it was a waste of good wine...)