Posted by Originally posted 20 October 2017
Dear lovelies,
Some of this tale is true…
Once upon a time, there was a very young (not SO young) lady who lived in a busy, noisy and polluted city with her extremely young (not THAT young) husband and their three wonderful (totally true!) children. Sometimes, urban living got the better of them and the lady, being the boss of the family, decided that they needed to go out in search of fresh air, beauty and space.
One bright and warm summer’s day, the lady cried, “Aha! I know!”, as she hopped from one foot to the other in excitement, ignoring the fact that her pelvic floor muscles weren’t not what they used to be. “We shall pack our bags full of delicious snacks and raincoats because this is England, hop on the metal snake that winds it’s way westwards over the ground, walk alongside the sparkling river of Thames and we shall find ourselves at the National Trust’s House of Ham where we shall explore and peruse the stunning grounds and gardens to our heart’s content!”
Having listened attentively to every word the lady had spoken, the husband and two of the offspring (the teenage child was away with friends and they were missing her terribly) leapt up out of their breakfast seats and shouted, “Hurrah!” in unison. Off they rushed to get dressed, brush their teeth and be ready at the door without an argument or a complaint, or a “But I don’t want to wear this!” or a “But how far have we got to walk to get there?”.
They set off, looking forward to seeing all the beauty (the lady and her husband) and eating all the treats (the offspring) and before they knew it, they could see the stunning Ham House sitting proudly by the river…
The lady chatted ‘briefly’ to the staff at the gate, proudly showing off their membership cards and loudly stating that, “No, this isn’t our first visit”, “No thank you, we don’t need a map to find our way round”, “Yes, we do live in London” and in a gushing manner that, “Oh yes, I love the National Trust and it’s wonderful places, I tell everyone about it and I will definitely be ‘gramming’ and ‘blogging’ about our visit”. After feeling a few ‘gentle’ tugs on her sleeve and hearing a few ‘quiet’ sighs from the children, the lady reluctantly let the staff get on with their jobs and see to the other visitors in the queue that had built up behind them.
They decided to explore the gardens that day, starting with the games lawn…
Refreshments were purchased at the Orangery Café…
The kitchen garden with it’s beautiful flower borders was ‘ahhed’ and ‘wowed’ over…
And they lost the lady for a little while near the veggie patch…
Hide and seek was played in the wilderness garden…
The house was admired beyond the ‘Plats’ (the lawns south of the house), from the Wilderness garden…
And the south terrace was lingered in for a little while…
As was the cherry orchard…
‘The still house’ was exclaimed about and coveted after by the lady…
They made it as far as the kitchen…
…and the shop where the lady was thrilled to buy a ‘Ham House Veggie Bag’…
Then it was time to begin the journey home. Much fun and a good day out was had by all!
Well my lovelies, the lady hopes you have enjoyed her tale, thanks you immensely for indulging her silliness and informs you that you can read more about Ham House here. She also wishes you a pleasant weekend and bids you a fond farewell until next time.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lucylu dreams... 