garden – The Vanninis' Manoeuvres

A new pet

We have a pet to look out for whilst we are housesitting, his name is Remington, he’s very well behaved, hardly needs any attention, feeds & waters himself and doesn’t need walking. Who is he? Is he a dog? A cat? Horse? Sheep? Goat? Budgie? No….meet Remington.

Remington is the automatic lawnmower who comes out every day at 11am and he puts himself to bed at 6pm. If he’s hungry aka needs charging, then he returns to his base to top up with energy and then he’s back out where he left off.

His daily movements are totally random he never goes over the same track, sometimes working in a spiral, other times back and forth or round and round. Peter tells us that the hardest part of setting him up initially was laying the wires throughout the lawn area as they have to be dug in and laid around trees, around the perimeter, and back to base. I could imagine it would take some considerable time to set him up however once that’s done, no more lawn mowing.

What is even more amazing is that he can be managed via phone so during a spell of particularly heavy rain, from the other side of the world, Peter could put Remington to bed for a couple of days!!! Once things have dried out a little he will resume his daily duties however finding that spell of dry weather is proving to be very difficult.

Down to Downe to visit Down House

Barry & Matt invited Roy and I along with them to visit Down House, the home of Charles Darwin. We were picked up first thing and went on the 30min car journey to Downe (yes, the town has an ‘e’ but the house does not) but before we visit the house we have a late breakfast at the Spitfire Cafe in Biggin Hill which is not far away from Downe.

Spitfire Café, the inside is full of memorabilia of all kinds.

After a hearty breakfast we were off to Down House for a self guided tour. Down House belonged to Charles Darwin, who lived here for 40 years until his death in 1882. Darwin was a naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for contributing to the understanding of evolutionary biology. After moving to the house in 1842, Darwin and his wife, Emma, remodelled the house and its extensive gardens, which Darwin used as an open-air laboratory. It was here that Darwin developed his theory of evolution by natural selection and wrote his groundbreaking work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859).

Barry walking across the lawns at the back of the house, looking for the worm experiments that Darwin initiated.

We spent a good few hours wandering through the house listening to the audio commentary. Darwin was certainly a very interesting man who formed great scientific theories as well as being a very attentive and caring husband and father of 10, he was a hands-on father which was most unusual for these times.

Looking at the house from the Sandwalk path. Darwin’s daily walk of several circuits of this path served both for exercise and for uninterrupted thinking. He set up a number of small stones at one point on the walk so that he could kick a stone to the side each time he passed, so that he did not have to interrupt his thoughts by consciously counting the number of circuits he had made that day.

The gardens include a very large greenhouse which Darwin used to cultivate orchids, carnivorous plants and many more which he used for his theses and experiments. There are also very large vegetable, herb and flower gardens, which are tended to by expert gardeners who are using plants grown from original cultivars so for example there will be a place marker with “Cauliflower 1764”, indicating the year that that particular variety was originally cultivated.

It was a fascinating visit to this property, Darwin was not only a very clever man and scholar with extensive knowledge and views but a very caring gentle man and humanitarian who displayed many, many talents.

Many thanks to Barry & Matt for an excellent day out, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Bath

The historic city of Bath is just a short 20minute train ride from Bristol so that was today’s activity. We packed ourselves up with what we may need for the day out and walked to the train station where we caught the train to Bath.

Once in Bath, we found a local map and walked into the city for a look around. As you probably know Bath is famous and named for its Roman Baths which are located right in the centre of the city as well as the Abbey. I have to admit that we balked at the admittance price to view the baths so decided to spend our money elsewhere.

And the view from the other end of the circle

Parade Gardens looking up to the back of the Abbey

Pulteney Bridge and weir completed in 1774, with shops built across its span on both sides which reminded me of Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Pulteney Bridge viewed from North Parade bridge downstream on the River Avon.

We had a lovely day out in Bath returning late afternoon to Bristol on the train. We walked home through some of the gardens and parks before stopping for a bit of light refreshment.

someone found this statue in the gardens

The Llandoger Trow (1664). The pub is said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write of the Admiral Benbow Inn in Treasure Island and Daniel Defoe supposedly met Alexander Selkirk there, his inspiration for Robinson Crusoe. In the above picture Alex, Ian and Callum are in the doorway and Roy at the base of the steps.

Back home again for a cuppa and a cuddle – Alex & Callum

I had found a very exciting sounding restaurant just around the corner that we thought would be a treat on our last night in Bristol. Alex Ian & Callum were going to head off to find a child friendly pub for themselves but more on all that in the next exciting instalment!

Beamish – a living museum

Wednesday 14th September: Beamish is a living, open-air museum just a 20minute drive into the countryside from Durham. We set off at a good time to get there for opening time, and already the car parks were nearly full and people were lining up to go in.

The museum’s guiding principle is to preserve an example of everyday life in urban and rural North East England at the climax of industrialisation in the early 20th century. Much of the restoration and interpretation is specific to the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, together with portions of countryside under the influence of the Industrial Revolution from 1825. On its 350 acres (140 ha) estate it uses a mixture of translocated, original and replica buildings, a large collection of artifacts, working vehicles and equipment, as well as livestock and costumed interpreters

To think that originally it was all farmland and a coal mine, its transformation to what it is today is remarkable and impressive.

Whole buildings have been moved brick by brick, along with cobbles to line the streets, tram lines, vehicles, houses and all manner of machinery. In some instance whole streets have been moved on site. It really is a magnificent achievement. Every area is recreated in such a manner that it seems as though it has been there forever. Together with a host of people dressed appropriately serving in shops, bakeries, chemists and garages it really feels as though you have stepped back in time.

Various modes of transport, and yes, we sampled them all.

We wandered the streets, reminisced about items that were on display that we knew from our childhood (are we really that old?), especially the 1950’s town.

1950’s street, pantry, bakery and what’s that sign? Kia Ora is a Māori greeting not orange juice.

Street with various businesses and shops, everything from sweet shops to newsagents, dentists and solicitors and the large Co-op department store, hardware store and garage. You would think it had all been there for ever.

Looking down onto the pit village, going past the fairground and a warning sign.

The coal mine, train track and deep shaft mine.

We had to try an ice-cream, in this case it was Cinder Toffee flavoured ice-cream (similar to what in NZ is called Hokey Pokey).

The extensive vegetable garden outside one of the miners cottages. There were ducks and chickens in another front garden, and one with fruit trees.

Mail box from Victoria‘s reign , now of course there will be new ones replacing ER with CR.

This is only a small selection of what is on display, we really enjoyed wandering throughout the whole complex, listening to the tales being told about the people who lived in the houses, working in the various occupations and they brought everything to life.

After spending all day wandering around the estate, wearing ourselves out and walking for miles, it was time for us to leave and head back into Durham. But I did have a bit of a brainwave and called Harry to see if we could drop their car back to them, then if one of them could drop us back to our hotel it would save us meeting up again in the morning to do the car exchange before we catch our train. Sure enough that was a good plan as they had other things planned for the morning so it would work out well.

The car was returned, we bade fond farewells before returning to our hotel in town for the evening. All in all a fantastic few days in Durham and spending time with Kim, Harry & family, now it’s time for us to return to London. Thank you to the family for their time and patience, we look forward to our next encounter.

The great escape

Harry picked us up mid morning and said we were heading out to Lumley Castle where we were meeting Kim and the children for a look around the stately home.

Lumley castle was built in 1389 by Sir Ralph Lumley. It then experienced a checkered history of being confiscated, executions, plots made and ever changing ownership until it was passed back into the hands of Sir Lumley’s grandson in 1421 for the next few decades. Again, the castle was sold, altered and had various uses until management of the property was passed to a hotel chain in the 1970’s which it remains today as a hotel with function rooms, banquet rooms, café and restaurant.

The castle is probably best known for hosting international cricket teams when they play at the nearby Chester-Le-street cricket ground. Apparently some members of the 2000 West Indian team were so unnerved by ‘nocturnal activities’ three of the team members left the hotel in the middle of the night to stay elsewhere. Then in 2002 the Indian cricket team were staying there and were spooked by strange goings on. An Australian team in 2005 also tell tales of strange goings on with team members ending up sharing rooms after seeing and hearing unusual things. It is after all a medieval castle with dark narrow corridors, squeaky doors, and spooky atmosphere.

Corner of the castle from the cricket green

We had a wander throughout the castles publics rooms before having a morning tea in the café. It was here that Harry & Kim asked us if we were ok in small spaces, and did we want to visit the dungeons? The children were in on the action too asking us questions. What is going on? we asked. Surprise! they had booked us in to do the Escape Room in the cellars! We’ve never done an Escape Room before but sure, why not, we love puzzles and quizzes so excitedly off we went.

We were met by the staff where it was explained to us how it all worked and what we should expect. We were escorted into the first room to begin the adventure of solving the mystery puzzles. The next hour went by so very quickly, we started off all too enthusiastically with everyone going about it all in their own manner, however, we soon figured out what was going to work by slowing down and working together as a team. Everyone contributed to solving the different puzzles and clues, individual strengths came to the fore in different types of puzzles with some better at logic, others cryptic, word, cypher, numerical and more. The children were amazing at how they quickly clicked on what to do at differing levels and I was forever grateful that they could crawl through the small hatch to open the large door to let us into the next room. It wasn’t too long before we got through all the rooms solving everything along the way after figuring out we had wasted the first 25minutes sorting ourselves out!

Finished, with 49 seconds left on the clock!

Photo taken outside in front of the well which was an integral part of the story.

What a brilliant time it was, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and it was a fabulous thing to do to suit all our ages and skills. We would definitely be up to doing another one.

Afterwards we meandered through the gardens and went back to the cars, yes, two cars, as Harry had picked us up in one vehicle with Kim and the children meeting us there in the other. Harry & Kim were letting us borrow one of their cars so we could take ourselves off to explore further around Durham over the next day or two. But before that, we all needed something to eat, a very late lunch at a local pub was in order.

Another brilliant meal at the local pub which we enjoyed spending a good couple of hours. The conversation flowed, the food was lovely and all in all a fabulous end to the excitement of the day. Soon it was time for us to head off in our separate directions with me driving the Volvo back to the city (yes, I was insured and listed to drive the car). By the time we returned and found the parking building it was time for us to relax for the evening. Tomorrow we are off to somewhere I have wanted to visit for a number of years .

Around and about

There’s a bit of a joke going on with our UK family about the fact that Roy and I have never been to a Weatherspoons pub or a Greggs café, remarkable really considering the numerous times we have been in the UK. We will see how that plays out over our remaining time here.

We needed to get a few chores done so we headed off into Bexleyheath, spotted both said establishments and just had to take a photo of them both and tease the family that we may venture inside one or both venues.

No, we didn’t go into either of them, however I’m sure we will at some stage though. Whilst we were meandering through the Main Street we heard a little voice calling our names. Really? Are we hearing things? Who could it be? We eventually saw who it was, it was Beth, Ian’s niece who was in town with her grandparents and sister.

Top: Roy, Chris, Beth & Olivia, bottom: Bernice and Barry

We had a cuppa and a chat with them all before we headed off on our separate journeys to complete the days shopping. It’s a small world!

Another day and Roy goes out with Alex & Callum, along with Sam Beth & Olivia to Mudchute Farm. As I’d been here just a few weeks ago, I stayed at home catching up on a few things whilst the others went out for the day.

Left: Beth Olivia and Callum on the DLR train, top tight: Callum with grandads hat, bottom right: lunch at the pub

Another day, and an another outing this time to Swanley Park with its playgrounds, miniature train, lakes with pedals boats and more.

Tomorrow we are taking Callum out for the day on a big adventure with grandma and grandad, but you’ll have to wait for the next exciting episode to read about that!

Have we got a Deal for you?

After a very busy weekend, Ian, Alex and Callum along with Roy & I were off for a few days away and where are we heading to? We are off to Deal. Oh and if you hadn’t already realised it’s back to Bernice as “I”.

It’s a certain daughters birthday on the 9th August therefore an opportunity to get away for a few days and celebrate. We headed off Monday morning with the car packed with people and possessions, on the motorway we ventured. We weren’t going straight to our accommodation though as our first visit was to be to Walmer Castle very near to our destination.

Walmer Castle was built during the reign of Henry VIII as a response to the perceived threat of invasion from Europe. While no such invasion ever came, the castle did later see action when it was besieged by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil Wars.

Over the centuries, the castle’s military use slowly declined, and it was gradually transformed into the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The Cinque Ports are a series of major ports on the south-east coast of England. They are Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Hastings. Notable Lords Warden include William Pitt the Younger, the Duke of Wellington, W H Smith and the Queen Mother. The Duke of Wellington died at Walmer Castle.

We had pre booked our tickets and headed on inside.

Callum thought that these cannons were fun.

Checking out the beach front the top of the castle

This is the Queen mothers garden, a garden gifted to her on the occasion of her 95th birthday. This photo was taken from inside the shaded summer house with views looking down over the pond.

The castle with the extensive kitchen gardens in front.

Someone thought this was a great game, get Grandad to come and look at the garden when the sprinkler was about to shower them with water.

Espaliered fruit trees lined the kitchen garden, with the said sprinkler to the left and a glimpse of where we were getting showered through the espaliered trees.

Flower garden with flowers suitable for cut flowers & drying

And the adventure play area constructed from tree stump remains.

Alex and Callum seated in a stone chair beneath the battlements.

Photography wasn’t permitted inside the castle itself however we did enjoy our wander though the rooms where displays were set up with different Lord Wardens furniture, art works and other memorabilia. There were at least three rooms dedicated to The Duke of Wellington, including a display of the famous boots named after him.

We really enjoyed our time here, especially the gardens where there are areas set aside where we could have had a picnic under beautiful large specimen trees as many families were doing. Instead we enjoyed lunch at the café in the castle but we know for next time.

Time for us to head off, pick up some groceries, book into our accommodation and sort out what we are doing for the next few days.

Newcastle

We have been very surprised with our visit to Newcastle, it’s a lovely clean, tidy and vibrant city although I’m not sure what we were really expecting. With major rejuvenation work sprucing up its Victorian buildings, industrial heritage and docks, add in contemporary architecture, and it has given the city back its buzz. Couple that with the friendliest and most helpful folk, you can understand why we felt comfortable here.

To gain our bearings we took a Toon Tour bus, a hop on hop off bus tour of the city. I did remember to take some photos, I know, shocking isn’t it? So I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Baltic Contemporary Art Centre, note the abseilers installing the sign.

A different view of the Millenium Bridge

Grey’s monument at the top of Grey Street in Grainger town, Grainger was the architect of many building in the area. Grey’s monument was erected in 1838 to commemorate the Reform Act of 1832, drafted during Earl Grey’s time as Prime Minister. He’s also famous for having a tea named after him.

Just at the top of Grey Street is the Market where Marks & Spencer’s famous penny bazaar started.

Stephenson monument. Below the main bronze statue of George Stephenson on the corners of the sandstone plinth are 4 further statues representing the areas of his achievements: as a miner, a locomotive engineer, a blacksmith and bridge builder.

One of the impressive buildings in the Helix complex.

The helix complex is, according to their blurb……It’s a 24-acre testbed and collaborative ecosystem for public and private bodies that’s unlike anything else in the UK. Hundreds of innovators, businesses and progressive homeowners living and working side by side, along with great food, drink and entertainment venues. Businesses who co-locate here benefit profoundly from being in the centre of one of the most important innovation hubs in Europe. It certainly looked a vibrant place to be, with student accommodation also housed within the complex.

Entrance to Exhibition Park, named for the Royal Jubilee Mining, Engineering and Industrial Exhibition in 1887

After getting a good overview of the city we knew where we would like to head back to get a closer look. After we returned to our hotel we decided to walk back into town to get a bite to eat, this requires a walk up a very long steep street where we found this sign near the top of the street.

I thought it meant that you said Amen as soon as you had made it to the top of the hill (I certainly said something appropriate!) but apparently this is where local clergy would end their prayers when walking from the nearby cathedral.

Here, there and everywhere

We’ve been to playgrounds, parks, markets and woods, here, there and everywhere it seems. The week starts with Monday Club – Callum goes to Ian’s parents on a Monday, as well, Ian’s brother Hen goes along with his youngest Beth for the days outing and now we tag along as well.

Callum at the playground at Danson Park on an outing with the Monday Club

Looking out across Danson Park from the main house and café.

Alex and I went out one afternoon and we left Callum at home with Grandad, we came back to find them having a lot of fun with grandad having sorted out some paints and doing a bit of artwork.

Callum and Grandad showing off their art work

One late afternoon after Ian & Alex finished work we all headed off to the local playground to give Callum a run around before dinner.

Alex and Callum at the playground near their home

Another day and it was sports day at Callum’s nursery so we went along to watch the teachers trying to ~~herd kittens~~ organise the children into some semblance of order.

Callum after receiving his certificate and medal at his nursery’s sports day.

Monday Club rolled around again, this time both Alex and Ian joined in as they both had the day off work. We met up with Chris & Barry, Hen & Beth for a walk, play and picnic at Shorne Park which is about a 25 minute drive away .

Roy and Alex help Beth on the agility course

Ian supervising with the rest of the family in the background

Someone thought this machinery in the car park was the best

A few more projects have been completed around the house with shelving units built for the garden shed along with wardrobe shelves being built and installed and the under-stairs shelving also completed.

Helping granddad and mum make shelving units for the storage shed

We have managed to keep an eye on what’s happening back in NZ and even watched the All Blacks play Ireland.

Watching the All Blacks play Ireland….this was the first game, less said about the second game the better!

Bedside tables have been installed on the wall in Alex & Ian’s room and other little jobs are done so we decided it was time to head out for a bit. Alex, Roy and I went out for a nice lunch in Eynsford to a lovely pub which looked out over a small stream. We had lunchtime entertainment provided by a group of school children out for a picnic beside the stream.

This was my pathetic attempt at a selfie!! Sorry about the blurriness….or maybe it’s just your eyesight 😜.

Sunday rolled around and another market, this time at Lesnes Abbey just a short bus ride from here.

Seen at the market, a black cab converted to become a stall selling pie, mash and liquor.

I hope you have noticed the abundance of clear blue skies in the photos? I must say that it’s very warm which is reminiscent of our last visit in 2019 when temperatures again soared. Do you think we can claim that we bring the hot weather with us?

Now it’s time to spread our wings a little and travel further afield but that’s a subject for another blog.

First few days

It takes me a couple of days to get my body clock sorted, it’s usually the day after we land that fatigue really hits but then I’m all good to go. To help, I don’t know if they really work or not but I always chew on the No Jet Lag tablets on our flights. It seems to help me as the one time I didn’t take them I felt quite ill with nausea, light headedness and dizziness for a day or two. Now I don’t risk it and just take them. For those that don’t know what they are, No Jet Lag tablets are a NZ product but are available in many countries, they are completely natural and don’t have any contraindications. They work for me.

As well, my Doctor prescribed some melatonin tablets to take for the first few days, again, just as a precautionary measure. Bernice is not a happy chappy if she doesn’t get a decent nights sleep. But this time apart from being very tired the first day, there has been no jet lag experienced.

The worst thing about this particular trip was the wearing of masks continually for 2 days…my ears became sore!

The first few days we spent getting ourselves sorted with SIM cards, Oyster cards for travel, sorting our UK bank card, and general stuff. Roy needed a new pair of reading glass as he cannot find his (last seen on the plane), but as he just needs magnifying ones for reading then the pound shop versions work just fine.

Alex & Ian had a large tree in their garden removed a couple of days after we landed, it made a huge difference to the space and light coming in and now we can plan their garden landscaping! Callum just loved watching the men up the tree with chainsaws then dragging the waste through to the chipper at the front of the house.

Callum wore himself out running from the back of the house to the front repeatedly over the next hour or two. It was all very exciting for the wee man.

Watching the chipper from the front window

The workmen did a great job and there wasn’t too much mess to clean up afterwards. Roy did get out the old vacuum to clean up the lawn…well, the artificial grass lawn! A concept very foreign to these kiwis where artificial lawn is just not a thing at all, but very common here in the UK so it seems.

We are slowly getting our bearings, we now know which bus to catch to the train station and next week we are planning a trip into Borough Market – warn the cheese shops now 😉.