half-term hols

The school half term break was great.  Lots of people called by ~ friends and family and I managed to see all of both families ~ yay! ~ despite Kezia and Jago being both deep into G.C.S.E revision.  Some for a couple of hours and coffee and cake, some for longer with games in the garden and some over-nighters with meals, hot choc and bedtime stories. 


All three of the Pips stayed one night and, after dropping Dpip off with Frankie and collecting Cl, we headed off to Belton House.  This lovely National Trust was where the children's 'Moondial' series was filmed back in 1988 and also where we joined the NT in the first place.   

It's a really good adaptation of the book by Helen Cresswell.  We were all hooked when our girls were small and I recently bought it on DVD so that we could look at it before we visited.  The Pips all loved it and so did I ~ it's a time travel book.  


We took a picnic, had a good walk around the grounds ~ with L spotting all the relevant locations ~ and then took a tour of the house (although the action takes place mainly in the grounds).  When we went first all those years ago (at Stella's insistence as she loved the story so much) you could actually touch the moondial ~ which is the gateway to the past ~ as shown in the DVD cover but now it is all roped off.   Here are some photos of our day:

The house and the walk

Moondial ~ Eros and Cronos








 





Cl, Kpip and L larking about

Vista!






Then it was the long drive home with the girls chatting away, dinner, Cl collected by Stella and bedtime for the Girly Pips.

Last week has been busy busy busy.  

Back soon

Po x