Another Spring jaunt . . .

Normally on Bank Holidays, I prefer to stay at home having a lazy day and catching up on some of the household chores. I'm not keen on crowds and past experience has shown that usually not just the roads but anywhere of interest is busy, busy, busy on Bank Holiday Monday, especially if the sun is shining.

Nevertheless, it seemed such a shame to waste the sunshine on Monday so we set off for a little jaunt to Clandon Park. It's not that far away from us, traffic was fine and, although the car park was filling up, we arrived in time to find a spot easily.

The house, now owned by the National Trust, is well worth a visit and we were impressed to see how well-preserved everything looked.

Two things make this property a little different from other English country houses.

Firstly, the Maori meeting house, brought over from New Zealand in 1982 by the fourth Earl of Onslow who was a Governor of New Zealand at the time, and which now looks splendid in its new location in the gardens behind the house.

And, secondly, the West Clandon parish church of St Peter and St Paul. This lovely old church which stands at the boundary of the property has many interesting memorials. It is obviously well-cared for by the parish.

I enjoy wandering round old churches and there is something special about a church as old as this (late 12th/early 13th Century) which is obviously still in regular use. You can imagine the generations of people who have worshipped in this spot. If those stones walls could only talk what tales they could tell!

What day is it? . . .

I know I'm not the only one who finds Bank Holidays quite disorientating. It usually takes me until the Friday of the week following a Bank Holiday Monday to realise which day it is. Add to that the change of month and the end of the Summer holidays for the schools and I'm fast approaching chaos.

It's amazing how just turning the calendar over a page can make such a difference. August has passed at a wonderfully leisurely pace on the whole but today was busy, busy, busy; beginning with the extra traffic on the roads this morning.

I had wanted to write a few lines about some of the recent feast days but I'm afraid I've missed the boat.

Mac over at Mulier Fortis has an interesting post on Saint Anne Line whom she has taken as her Patron Saint.

It always makes me smile when I read in the ordo ' Sts Margaret Clitherow and Anne Line, married women . . . . , Martyrs.' It's almost as if being a married woman is a cause for canonisation and even martyrdom. I know sometimes some of us married women might agree with the sentiment! (Just joking, Dearest).

Belated Bank Holiday post . . .

I've been really struggling with our Internet connection lately hence the tardiness of this post which I began on Monday!

I thought as I'd given myself such a tough time putting together the slide show, I was going to inflict it on you anyway even though it is old news.

It was a lovely day as it turned out although we had decided that we'd go and visit Nymans regardless of the weather. 'Have kagoule, will travel' is one of my many mottos.

I know the soundtrack is rather 'cheesy' but I was having such a struggle uploading the slide show for some reason, I gave up trawling through my music library for a better choice.

Hope you enjoy the 'bootiful' flowers anyway.

Bank Holidays . . .

Today had all the ingredients for a very enjoyable Bank Holiday . . . Does anyone else find it hard not to say 'Bank Holiday Monday'? I've been confused all week as to what day of the week it is. Because of Christmas and New Year falling they way they have done this year, I've actually ended up working alternate days which is very disorientating.

The day started in the best possible way with a little lie-in as Mass was not until midday today - a real luxury. The Pater Familias had dropped Number One Son at the station to catch the train to Victoria and then on to St James', Spanish Place for the LMS Mass so we were on our own most of the day.

After a lovely Mass in the parish which was very well attended we went for a walk across The Downs stopping for coffee and cakes before making the return trip home.

A very relaxed late afternoon; a spot of ironing so now the basket is empty for a while (hooray!) and time for a spot of blogging before settling down in front of the TV for Agatha Christie - an ideal way to wind down after a lovely day.

The photo above shows how how cold it was - the greens on the golf course we passed were still frozen.