Slow news week

Its not been a particularly slow news week here at Heartshaped towers, but nothing blogworthy has happened, so I thought I would share this amazing You Tube clip that my daughter showed me, and what an imaginative use for your old margarine cartons!
Check out their other clips too - truly beautiful.

New Years Day Walk

On discovering a day without rain clouds, we decided to make the most of our last holiday day.  I have to say that one of my most  favourite things in the world is getting up without the aid of an alarm clock! We didn't venture far but were highly delighted  to discover that you can now enter freely into the stable yard at Wentworth Woodhouse where a chap has a coffee van (weekends only at the moment I think).  Hot Chocolate was exceptionally nice!

 This gave me a perfect excuse to nosey about the place and press my nose up at windows etc!

 There is a heck of a lot of work to be done here, but it has such potential.

 There was a lot of evidence from when the house was leased to Sheffield Polytechnic and became Lady Mabel College.

 One thing puzzled us - we could not decide how the horses would have gotten into the stables.  I'll have to ask on my next visit.

 The village itself was heaving with walkers - so great to see on a lovely afternoon.

I've not been able to make the most of the outdoors over Christmas - the rain has been a pain, and one walk in the pouring down stuff was enough!  But today it felt really good to be outdoors and knowing that although we potentially have some more wintry weather to come, we are heading in the right direction for Spring.

2012 has been a year of extreme highs and lows for our family.  We have had some wonderful, great times, and reading back through my blog helps me to remember these.  We unexpectedly  lost a dear family member and an equally dear friend.  Dreadfully sad times, but we surprisingly found moments of extreme positivity in both of these losses too.   And life goes on. So we say farewell to 2012 and store up the memories, and saunter into 2013 ready to tackle whatever lies ahead, and looking forward to savouring the good times once more.

Here's wishing you all many days of happiness and good times in 2013.

Have a very happy, healthy and safe New Year xxxxx

So that was it then! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly it is all over.

I hate the way that Boxing Day has been hi jacked by the retail sector.  My poor daughter has had to work Boxing Day the last few years and it does take the shine off Christmas.  I cannot comprehend why people cannot wait just one more day before they have to hit the shops again.  

We have had a lovely time here at the Heartshaped House.  We all enjoyed our Christmas Day lunch - even though I forgot to cook the sprouts!

I had a bit of a shock on Christmas Eve at a hospital appointment that I thought was going to be just routine - and turned out not to be.  I have a bit of a health issue that I am having looked at (turns out you can go shopping between Christmas and New Year, but you can't get your health sorted out! ).  Posting might be a bit intermittent for a while, but I will still get chance to read yours hopefully.

Merry Christmas

Well, I think everything is ready (however I have just found some cards that I though had been posted!!).  I'm spent up, shopped out and ready to flop in front of the TV with "Its a Wonderful Life". mince pie and glass of sherry.  

For the first time in years, it will only be the four of us for Christmas lunch, so we may not even get out of our jammies!  We are planning a very relaxing day.

I hope that you have a Happy Christmas, and enjoy whatever you have planned.
Many thanks for stopping by and leaving comments - you make my day and I appreciate each and every one of them.
Lots of Love
from
Di
xxx

At last!

Long time readers will know just how long I have been hankering after this day. 

 We live less than a mile away from Wentworth Woodhouse, a fascinating and extremely large, still privately owned country house.  A unique and very very special place.  It has been home to 2 UK Prime minister's, has seen Anna Pavlova provide after dinner entertainment for visiting Kings & Queens, and has many many secrets still to reveal.  

It was rumoured that the current owner - one Mr Clifford Newbould(an ex Architect) - was a recluse, but it turns out that this was a false rumour.  He actually has very ambitious plans for the place.  I believe that the Fitzwilliam family still have some kind of control over the house, but they must have given their blessing to Mr Newbould as he is keen to save the house from decline.

 And so, he has opened up the house for guided tours.  And today, hubby and I took our turn on the 11am tour.  I was a bit overwhelmed.  Sadly, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the house.

 I was amazed though how warm the house felt - they have newly installed heating! And I was amazed at just how good a condition it was in.  Its true, they have a huge amount of work to undertake, but it really has been quite well preserved.

 From the mid 1950's it was hired out to West Riding Education Authority as "Lady Mabel PE College".  Our tour guide explained that whilst some damage had been done original wall paintings etc by the students and staff, the fact that they wanted to rent it stopped it being ripped to pieces and sold off. meaning all the fireplaces, door frames, ceilings etc are original.

 We only saw a few of the rooms . It is reputed to have 365 rooms in total - 25 of which are of historical, architectural importance (Buckingham Palace has only 10 rooms of importance!).  The plans are to keep some rooms as a museum, turn one wing into a hotel, and the servants wing into a function room.  As it has its own chapel, they hope to host weddings too.

 They have lots of events planned for the coming year including hosting the "Antiques Roadshow" and a Game Fair.

It was a real privilege to take a peep inside this glorious place and I can't wait to see what they do with it.
Something else ticked off the Bucket List!

Stamford Lincolnshire

On our drive up from London, we decided to use the A1 and stopped off at Stamford in Lincolnshire for our brunch.  Hubby had never been here before, and I had only called in briefly when I was a lot younger and had relatives living nearby.

It seems to have remained a quaint little old town, but with plenty going on.

 We happened upon a craft fair whilst we were walking around.

 We have never stayed around this area, and its not too far from home, so we might look at staying around here for a weekend in the near future.  I'll have to look what else is around here.