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Crumbfest!

 Yesterday, His Lordship Malarkey and I met up in ACTUAL person with Heather and Ollie for the first time in MONTHS! There is something quite lovely about one of your adult children deciding to take charge of a situation, and Heather had done just that by very kindly purchasing for us annual passes to Blenheim Palace. This is Blenheim Palace...


...a massive stately pile in massive grounds, famed for being the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Heather chose it because it is equidistant between her and Ollie in Kent, and me and Andy in Shropshire - just over two hours of car travelling from each end. ‘We can meet up at regular times during the year,’ said she. ‘You know, for days out. Picnics. Stuff like that.’ 

Isn’t that a grand idea? Blenheim Palace has a comprehensive programme of events during the year (zombie apocalypse aside) including various markets, fayres and jousting events. Its grounds are ENORMOUS! Plenty of space for walking, picnics, playing and admiring the landscape gardening of Capability Brown. It has many eating places, too, and a quite magnificent gift shop. And a miniature railway. Chuck in over 300 years of historical malarkey to wade through and digest and I think we have entertainment aplenty for the next year of meet-ups! 

The weather tried to mess up the day by blessing us with, variously: grey clouds, rain, sunshine, gales, sleet and hail. It railed between freezing cold and tepid warmth. But did we let it bother us? No! Well, a tiny bit, but we decided we were BRITISH and therefore made of STERN stuff and have inbuilt RESILIENCE and so we walked many thousands of steps around the grounds, and admired the outside of the Palace itself (still closed) including a deranged looking lion statue which caused much hilarity. 

And when we became hungry for lunch, and our planned picnic on the lawn was stymied by a sudden attack of hailstones, we created the first ever ‘Crumbfest’ by piling into one car and surrounding ourselves with the foody contents of one large cool box and one medium sized picnic basket. We chose Andy’s car because he is, car valeting-wise, environmentally chaotic, whereas Ollie’s car is pristine and I could see the horror building in his face at the thought of picnic detritus being scattered on his upholstery. And we are rather fond of Ollie and don’t want to cause him untoward distress nor overheat his car vacuum cleaner.

The sun came out after lunch so we visited the gift shop, purchased ice-creams and set off around the lake for another walk. We tried to guess the statue inhabitant of the enormous column set high on a hill - one of the Dukes of Marlborough, maybe? Churchill in his slimmer youth? John Cleese? No - turned out it was the personification of ‘Victory.’ I would never have guessed that in a decade of charades. 

Very much looking forward to more happy meet -ups at Blenheim Palace during the coming year.

‘Swallow Fest’ is occurring in the laundry. This morning I saw at least four swooping in and out. I wonder if they are battling for supremacy of the existing nest, or if they will build another alongside and live in companionable harmony for the Summer. I wonder if these are the siblings born in the laundry last year. Or their parents. Anyway, they are a joy to watch, and yesterday one of them even brushed my hair as I went to  put the cool box back in its storage space. Well, I had to check that it was a hair brush and not a poo...although it is supposed to be lucky to be pooped on by a bird...

It’s Andy’s birthday on 11th. Until last weekend I was feeling overwhelmed by what to give him as a present. I wanted something special because it’s the big (sssshhhhh.....) 5..0.....and I had whittled down my choices to Option 1, Option 2, Option 3 and Option 4. The trouble is that each Option had various Sub-sets and it was the Sub-sets that were causing me to feel overwhelmed. One can do too much research, you know, and read too many conflicting reviews. So I decided to meditate on the conundrum last Sunday and listen to my Inner Voice which always serves me well when I shut up and give it voice. Within the hour I had made The Decision, pressed the Order button and Option 2 was delivered on Tuesday! And on Monday I had another Inner Voice Inspiration, and Option 5 (previously unconsidered) was delivered on Friday. And on Wednesday I had ANOTHER Inner Voice Inspiration which I am VERY pleased with because it is unique, one of a kind and never to be repeated Inspiration, and Option 6 will be arriving some time this week!! 

The Big 50 is sorted! I am no longer overwhelmed. 

Peace and calm reigns...




Comments

Anonymous said…
What an excellent idea with an annual pass and a fantastic way to meet up. I like the description of Andy’s car, fits mine perfectly. 😂
KJ
4 May 2021 at 19:06
Denise said…
I’m looking forward to more outings to Blenheim. As for Andy’s car - least said, soonest forgotten!!
7 May 2021 at 22:45
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