The REAL Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle)

On September 10th I was privileged to visit Highclere Castle, more commonly known as Downton Abbey. It was the last day of the visiting season. I booked this visit clear back in February! The place is so popular, you have to book that far in advance. I have been wanting to go for a few years now and kept missing the opportunity because I was going online to book too late. Well, I finally got it right and the big day finally arrived....



I am a BIG fan of the show so seeing the real thing was so exciting. According to Google maps, it is only 1 hour 39 minutes from our house. Standing out in front of the house waiting to go in was surreal because I was standing where all the servants and family stand when they greet or say goodbye to their guests on the show. I have seen it so many times throughout all the seasons that it seemed strange for little ol' me to be standing in the same place...  



Here is a view of the side of the building 

The surrounding countryside was gorgeous! The estate is impressively large.

We had the most perfect weather that day too. It made the whole adventure even more perfect.

This area of brown is a wild flower garden in the spring. I have seen pictures and they look stunning. Too bad we could not have seen them all in bloom.

The trees surrounding the building (and all over the estate) were beautiful and breath-taking. I am sure many were 100s of years old.

This is a shot taken from the gardens.

Love this picture.

After touring the building, we had a lovely hot, lunch with roast potatoes and your classic English Sunday roast. 

Seeing the rooms inside was so much fun. I liked seeing the actual layout of the rooms downstairs. I loved the library with its wall to wall old hard bound books. They also had a desk and chair bought from Napoleon. Pretty impressive.

When we toured upstairs they had the various rooms labelled so you knew who's room was who's from the show. I found that quite interesting. However, they don't actually film in the bedrooms because even though they are quite spacious there is still not enough room for the cameras, crew and equipment. So that and the basement (servants quarters) is all done in studio. The bits on the main floor are filmed on location though. Of course, as I looked through the house, I couldn't help but recall specific episodes of when certain things happened in certain rooms.

The gardens were lovely. It was a perfect day out!









 

Crafty Days of Summer

The girls love doing crafts. So a couple of days this summer we set aside for "craft days." The first craft day, the girls painted these welly boot planters. They turned out really cute!  

Alex tried to do a giant snail walking across her boot. This is the face she would make if she saw that snail for real.



Here is Abby busily painting her gold boot.



Abby was going for a Cath Kidston look. It is all the rage here in the UK.

We then decoupage'd little trays for the girls hot chocolate mugs. They were very proud. Abby actually made Sammy hot chocolate a few days later and served it to her with her hot chocolate mug on a lovely doily on the little tray and a biscuit. It was so sweet. 

Here are all three welly planters and trays.

 

On a different day, we invited a few friends and all painted animal rocks.

Alex made a dog sitting in a lovely flower garden.

Sammy did a frog sitting in a pond on a lily pad catching a fly on the his tongue.

Abby did a pig sitting in the mud (but I didn't get a picture of it in the "mud"). Always good times when we do crafts.

 

Summer past times....

We had many funerals at our house this past summer. It was a very dark time for us with lots of loud weeping. The new trampoline pads came in this box and it was immediately transformed into a coffin. Zombies, Count Dracula, and Werewolves lifted the lid and rose from the dead many times. I recorded many of them as proof to new comers that these parts of England are not safe....

The top of the lid reads "You Are Dead" and "Time to Die" with tombstones, flowers, swirls, zombies and dogs decorating the outside.

Every time I finish a gi-normous bag of nappies, Alex turns it into a bag for sack races. She races herself around the house.

This little one just started walking on September 12th.

Her favourite pastime, like all those who came before her, is cleaning out the cupboards.

Pushing the shopping trolley around the house

Little sister works hard pushing lazy big sister who plays the Leap Pad while being pushed around in her doll stroller. That is one strong baby girl!

First Day of Secondary School

Abby's first day of secondary school is today. She is going to an all girls school. This school is junior high and high school all in one. She will be at this school until she graduates. There are only two other girls from her primary school going to this school with her and they are not any of her close friends. They are just acquaintances. She feels very lonely and scared. All summer we have been thinking about her new school and I know she has been very worried. I thought that I would try and take away as many needless worries as possible by getting her all the correct school items and uniform etc that she needs. We went and got her uniform and bought everything that they recommended because of course, I don't know otherwise so it is just better to have everything even if she doesn't end up really needing some things. Anyway, all said and done, it was £268 ($408). Wow! Pretty expensive but I wasn't expecting it to be cheap. The only thing we didn't buy was shoes since I had just bought her some black school shoes not long ago and she could use the same ones for secondary school. I made a special effort to make sure she had the right stationary pack and lunches paid for etc. (At her school, you use your thumb print to pay for lunch and then it just deducts it from an account I add money to.)

Last night, she was worried about everything. It is her first time taking the bus to school. She was worried if she had a grumpy bus driver and who she would sit with etc. She was worried about who she would sit by at lunch and if she would like the food. She was worried that she would have to dress for P.E. and do running.  The list goes on. The big day (today) finally arrives. She got up and got dressed but was lingering in her room. I had the distinct feeling to go see her. Sure enough, I walked in and she began crying. More comforting, more consoling. Big breath and she goes downstairs for a lovely breakfast prepared by Daddy of sausages and baked beans (her request - my children are becoming so British in more ways than one).

The time is approaching for Charles to take her to the bus. She runs up brushes her teeth and comes back down to get her shoes on. Shoes? Where are her shoes? We cannot find them anywhere. I told her a few days ago to try on her shoes and make sure they were still ok to wear this year. She didn't want to and said they were fine so I didn't think much of it and didn't push it. We look all over the house and then remember that on the last day of school (big long story) they were left in a friend's car and we never got them back because said friend left for Pakistan a few days later and we never saw her again. Bad news, friend is still in Pakistan. First morning of school and Abby has no shoes! How could this happen? I was so careful about trying to think of everything to make sure she was completely ready and to be sure she only had the usual stresses and nerves and not any needless additional ones. WHHHHHYYYYYY!!!???

She ended up wearing some old black cloth shoes that she had been running around in all summer with almost a hole in the toe.  These she wore with her navy blue blazer, light blue blouse and pleated skirt, short white socks and flimsy old worn out shoes! Other girls are were wearing navy blue nylons or tights with smart leather slip on shoes with their uniforms. Poor thing! I felt terrible!  Now not only is she going to be stressing about who she will sit by and if she will make any friends but how ridiculous she looks in her old summer shoes.....  I am so upset about it all that you would think I was the one at school with old shoes hiding them under my chair so none of the other girls would hopefully notice them.....Well, I guess I am off to the shops to buy shoes. I pray I can find her size this late.....Happy first day of secondary school!
I will post a picture of Abby in her proper school uniform soon....