Family Holiday to Holsworthy - Part Three

OK yesterday I left you at the Eden Project. In the evening we chilled out back at the Stone Barn and as we sat there I noticed all the bats flying outside and then a flash of white. So me and one of my daughters went and sat quietly outside on a bench. There we watched the bats - which we later discovered were Long Eared Bats and then the flash of white were two Barn Owls! Wow I have never seen owls so close up. It was truly wonderful. Then one owl decided to perch above our heads on a telegraph wire. So my daughter decided to move and try and get a picture - well the owl sounded a huge screech at her! Quite scarey if you didn't know what was making the noise.

Well this was the best picture either of us got of the owl - I know it won't win any competition, but we will never forget seeing them.

Day Seven
Time to say goodbye :(  The babies decided they too did not want to leave either and on the morning that we needed to be out of the barn by 10am was the time they decided to play up! The plan was for the parents to leave with the babies and the non baby part of the family would clear up. But the babies finally left at 09:05 and I was still in my dressing gown and no packing done! Needless to say the rest of us flew into action and desperately tried to pack up and clear up our belongings. Usually we try to leave things looking as best as we can for the owners but this time we had to fly out of the door leaving rubbish still in the bins! So apologies to the lovely owners who were so generous in many different ways. After our final farewells. No 1 and hubby were spending a weekend at another place and Mr P and I opted to stay one more night in a bed and breakfast. With the weather dodgy the four of us headed off to a National Trust Jacobean house called Lanhydrock. This proved to be a good move as all day the weather alternated from brilliant sunshine to down pours!

One of the great things, these days, with national trust places is the wonderful cafes! All those delicious home made scones etc!

I really enjoy seeing the kitchen - they had so many different rooms. One was for making the butter and cheese, another one for butchery, another one to cool the cooking, one for baking etc etc. Can you imagine having separate rooms to prepare your dinner! I think this is the largest spit I ever seen - but can you imagine the mess of all the fat splattering on the floor etc. I bet it was the job of some poor maid to clean it all up!

                   Oh I would love one of these ovens to bake bread and pizzas in!

This moose reminded me of a scene in Fawlty Towers - BBC television programme. Click here to see one of my favourite episodes involving a moose!

The family seemed to have rather a lot of dead animals around - shows the difference, I guess, in our thinking since those days.

This was the bed of the lady of the house, occasionally the  master would share it with her but would always be back in his own bed before the servants were up! Apparently this separation of couples from their bed together continued till the 1960's!

Oh such a cute nursery - I could visualise the twins and Rowan sleeping in here! Perhaps we could hire this house for our next family holiday - hee hee! Sure the national trust wouldn't mind?

There was one room set aside for bedpans!

Then we entered into this huge gallery area with a grand piano at one end. On it was an invitation to play. I was soooo proud of my hubby as he played an excerpt from the film The Piano and a bit of Beethoven. The piano sounded wonderful in this space - it was juts one of those special moments and I gleamed with pride. Visitors stopped to applaud him.

The next picture is for my friend Mrs A - as she loves making things with small hexigans. This was the nanny's bedroom. Hard to imagine that she had the time to make this quilt.

Outside was the picturesque family church.

More lovely flowers to see in the gardens.

After a lovely day it was time to head for the venue where my daughter and hubby were staying. It was to say the least rather difficult to find. The sat nav insisted on taking us down roads where the bushes were hitting both sides of the car and grass growing in the middle of the road! Also at this time the rain decided to throw down in buckets! Almost tropical conditions. After much studying of instructions and a local taking pity on us throughout all this rain we eventually found their accommodation. Oh it was not a disappointment. Just look.

Welcome to Hercules! You can see more details on this website.

The cinema seats are so cute. The van is made from an old farm cart that has been adapted with bits from a train etc.

Sorry this picture doesn't do the cute bed any justice.

The picnic basket with blankets, quilts and hot water bottles.

The lovely wood burner. Have to say an hour later and we were all roasting and had to open the windows to breathe again!

Mr P making himself at home - not long after I took this picture he was fast asleep!

I like the way they decorated the kitchen units.

This is the door to the bathroom.



























No wifi, no television, no telephone. Just a radio, some magazines, a few games and lots of lovely books to read. What a wonderful place to escape from life.

I was very envious of my daughter and son in law - but they deserved the peace and after all it was her birthday the next day. After dinner Mr P and I headed back to our B & B - Headdons B & B.

Having collected the key early in the morning we felt like naughty school children creeping into someone elses home at 22:20! Thankfully nothing creaked and we were able to get into bed without disturbing anyone. We awoke to a wonderful aroma of bacon etc wafting up the stairs and when we went to breakfast our hostess and husband were delightful and soon put us at ease. Thank you to them for kindly letting us stay just one night. It must have been a lot of work for them to have to change our bedding and towels etc. Well if you've got this far in reading this blog - well done. I've finished the holiday - ta dah!