Holkham Beach

Holkham Beach at Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast is a fair drive from Bury St Edmunds, but on what was likely to be the hottest and sunniest Sunday of the year, it was just the place to go. But look what happened as we walked along the beach to pick our spot...

The sea mist rolled in! But it unlike the North East coast, where I grew up, it didn't get cold and a couple of hours later it had all boiled off.

Even though it was possibly the busiest day of the year, there was still plenty of room on the beach. The dunes here were deserted. (Well OK, maybe there are some people hiding over the tops).

The sea was lovely and warm and these two stayed in it for ages.

Yes we had a great day on the beach and everyone slept well that night.

Brandon Country Park - Revisited

It was a lovely hot sunny day today and we just had to get out for a walk this afternoon, Brandon Country Park is a favourite place to go when we've got a couple of hours or so. It's not too far from Bury St Edmunds (up the B1106 past Centerparcs here - just before you get to Brandon) and has plenty of variety of walking. The Visitor Centre and Tearoom are excellent and open 7 days a week.

They were running a bit low on ice-creams by the time we left, though!

I love the walled garden, which used to be the kitchen garden for the house, but is now full of flowers. It has a well in the middle...

It is not far to walk to the lake and picnic area in front of the house (which is now a nursing home).

But today the Missus wanted to walk on the heath to get some sun.

It's a good job we brought our water bottles with us. And even after the icecream from the visitor centre, someone still needed extra cooling when they got back home...

"I am the king of the water", he sang.

Dudmaston Hall

Now it's the school holidays and the kids will soon be coming back to The Barn for a few days. One place we will be visiting again is Dudmaston Hall, a 17th Century Country House which was acquired by the National Trust in 1978.

It is just off the A442 between Bridgnorth and Kiddereminster at Quatt (here). We went there last summer but didn't get to visit the house as it is only open between 2-5pm on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday. (The grounds are open from 12-6 on Mondays as well as the days he house is open). But it's worth visiting just for the gardens...

What's happened here? Has somebody shrunk the kids?

No it's just the giant Gunnara leaves. There is also a slope in the lawn which is excellent for doing roly-polys down...

I rather liked these steps, overgrown with chamomile...

Looking at my pictures of the place again, I'm starting to feel in holiday mood already... Rats I've another week and a bit to go.

Crazy Kids Cereal

It's the end of term and Little Miss has brought some of her school work home with her. One thing I particularly enjoyed seeing was the cereal box she had made and decorated...

A bit pricy, perhaps, and some funny spelling, but good attention to detail, I thought, with its barcode, ingredients, allergy list, buy one get 1 free offer and recycling symbol. Out of curiousity, I looked up the website www.crazykids.com and yes it really exists! A pity it doesn't sell cereal, though. Best before 7th September - interesting choice of date. That wouldn't happen to be someone's birthday, would it?

BoH at West Stow

On Saturday afternoon we went for a favourite walk at West Stow. As we arrived we saw lots of cars and some tents and signs sating "BoH". What was all that about? "There must be something on", I said. We looked at the noticeboards, and didn't see anything advertised. But as we walked passed the outside of the Anglo-Saxon Village, we saw lots of people there, many dressed up in costume...

And then we saw a fluffy microphone and could hear someone shout "Cut". Someone was making a movie in the Anglo-Saxon Village! A bit of Googling this evening found me the answer. BoH stands for Born of Hope "A Lord of the Rings Fan Film. Well fancy that!

Ice Skating

So I'm back in Shropshire again.... Now one thing Telford has that Bury St Edmunds hasn't, is an Ice Rink.

So last summer, when the kids came to The Barn, I took them ice-skating one day. Big Miss, as a roller-blader, took to it like a duck to water (or should that be like a penguin to an ice floe?).

After a bit, Little Miss was confident enough to leave the side...

But Little W wasn't so sure...

After some cajoling, though, he was finally persuaded to get out into the middle of the ice...

Ah! That's what big sisters are for!

Needham Market - Needham Lake

It's only 20 minutes down the A14 towards Ipswich from Bury St. Edmunds, but we had never been to Needham Market. Yesterday morning we changed that. We parked in the Mill Meadow car park at Needham Lake - one of several along the River Gipping Valley created from old gravel pits.

Here's the Missus with the little ones sporting their new hats from Dallas as we set off.

On a Sunday morning, the lake is home for the Gipping Valley Model Boat Club.

I could have sat and watched them for a while, but we had a walk to get on with. There is a 27 acre nature reserve surrounding the lake and, as advertised in the leaflet we got from the Information Room, we saw lots of pyramidal orchids.

The lake and nature reserve are just across the railway line from the town centre, so we took a stroll down the High St. Here's some impressive Suffolk plasterwork...

I rather liked this shop at no 77.

The sign says

Roy Arnold at Number 77 in the High Street Needham Market Suffolk buy and sell all sorts of Carpenters Joyners & Coopers Tools where Collectors Artificers & Others may be furnished with Greater or Lesser Quantities at reasonable Rates

Artificers - now there's a word you don't hear to often these days.

We recrossed the railway line and continued our walk through Kings Meadow and Station Field to finish our circumnavigation of the lake and a celebratory ice-cream in the car park. What an excellent place for a walk - I'm sure we'll be back sooner than later - maybe to do some of the River Gipping walk.

Trumpet Exam

No Violin Lesson today, because it's the day of the Music Exams at KEGS. Inside this room was Big Miss, doing her warm up for her Grade 2 Trumpet. I sat in the famous Ed's place, where I saw many familiar faces from the usual Saturday Music School while she did her stuff. She says she didn't play her pieces as well as she could. "It's Mum's fault for making me practise too much this morning", she said. How did she get on? Well, we'll have to wait for the results.

Dallas

This is the Westin hotel I was staying in on my business trip to Dallas this week. From the view from the roof of the hotel, I can report that this part of Texas, at least, is flatter than East Anglia! We didn't get out much, but we did get to see the Dealey Plaza, site of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

This view shows the Texas School Book Repository, now housing a museum, the building from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired. Well I'm not going to go into the theories about what really happened - you could do worse than start here to find out.

Just the next block along from the Book Repository, and visible in the picture if you click on it, is Morton's Steakhouse, where we gorged ourselves on the most enormous steaks. Yummy.

So what else is Dallas famous for? Well there's the famous eponymous TV Drama, but we didn't get a chance to visit Southfork. The next time we did get out was the following evening, where we ate at the Cool River Cafe.

I don't know why but, like Morton's, inside it was so dimly lit I could hardly see. Outside was a sign for the modern era..

This Facility is Not Smoke Free

I've never seen one of those before.

Our final escape was on the way back to the airport - we stopped at the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop.

Here is Little Miss modelling the hat I got her...

I think she likes it. She wore it all day today.

Are We There Yet?

All the way through my plane trip I watched the map showing where we were rather than any of the entertainment. Jackie, the stewardess who was looking after me thought it was quite funny that I took photos, even though I explained it was for the kids to see when I got home. So every time she went past, she asked me "Are we there yet?"

Coincidentally, I spotted this in the book shop Oxburgh Hall on Sunday...

Answer: Yes We Are! Posted from Westin Hotel in Dallas.

Off again...

Last week France, this week the USA. After 15 months with the company going nowhere further than Worthing, I've been sent abroad twice in 2 weeks! Off to Dallas today for a couple of days' meetings. We met up here at Jurys Inn Heathrow last night as we are flying out this morning. I can report that it is quite comfortable and the double glazing is good. A quick breakfast and off we go!

Terminal 4 is like any other. No point in shopping here, so it's off to the business lounge and its work area.

You can get online anywhere these days...

So I did.

Oxburgh Hall

As I'm going to be in Shropshire this coming week, today was a chance to have a family day out. When I dug into my archives I was surprised to find it was 4 years since we had visited Oxburgh Hall. About time we went back then. It is not too far - only about 45 minutes drive from Bury St. Edmunds; up he A134 past Thetford and then turning right just past Stoke Ferry - here on the map. It is quite an impressive building surrounded by a moat.

The kitchen garden is well stocked with an interesting variety of plants, and the herbaceous border up against the orchard wall is a spectacular array of colours.

As you can see the kids have their clipboards to hand to do the wildlife and picture quiz trails.

It was just as well we had an early picnic lunch; there are tables on the lawn by the car park. We had only just finished eating when the heavens opened and we had to take shelter in the car.

The hall is open for visiting from 1pm, and features a priests hole, secret doorways and a good view from the roof of the tower.

There is a also a woodland walk, which we were determined to do even if we got a bit wet.

We had a great time; it is well worth the trip. You can see more pictures from our day out here on Flickr.

Harold Bonnett Garden

We parked in the Ram Meadow car park on our way to the Shoppers Prom so we could walk through the Abbey Gardens before and after the concert. They looked a picture with the flowers perked up by a shower of rain.

On the way back we visited one of my favourite corners of the gardens - the Harold Bonnett Sensory garden...

... created in 2003 from a bequest to help the visually impaired and wheelchair users to enjoy the plantings. The smells form the wet plants in the sunshine, especially the lavender, was lovely.

Bury St Edmunds Shoppers Prom

So where is Little Miss striding to so purposefully with her violin? It's off to the Corn Exchange we go to the previously advertised Suffolk County Music School Bury St Edmunds Shoppers Prom in the Corn Exchange. Here is the programme...

The place was packed out with all the Mums and Dads, brothers etc.

(Yes Little W was there, but Big Miss failed to get herself ready in time so was left to tidy the house). So here are the Cygnets String Orchestra in action.

If you can spot her in there your eyesight is better than mine; 5th desk 2nd violin is somewhere near the back.

Then, after the Junior String Orchestra did their stuff on their own, forces were combined for Vivaldi Comes to Town...

... a special arrangement featuring solos for Matt and Ben who had helped out so magnificently all year. And if you are really keen, you can see a video of the performance here. Well done to all concerned, it was a great morning's entertainment!

Dancing Boy

After our trip to the Tostock Gardeners Arms I put the Pasadena Roof Orchestra CD on in the living room and Little W took the walking stick from the umbrella stand in the hall and started to dance...


Where did he get that from? He just shrugged his shoulders. Little Miss suggested that it was from watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She might be right. A bit of Dick Van Dyck in there, I think.

Gardeners Arms Tostock

The Missus had taken the kids to have their hair cut after she got back from school. I wasn't sure when they would be back so hadn't started cooking an evening meal. "I fancy going out to a country pub for a meal", she announced when they arrived, earlier than expected. Who am I to argue? So we did. "Where do you want to go?", I asked as we headed to the end of our road. She waved her right hand so we headed in a vaguely easterly direction to the sounds of the Pasadena Roof Orchestra (aka PRO) on my car's CD player. We ended up in Tostock, start of my Mid-Suffolk Cycle Ride some time back, at the Gardeners Arms where the Missus regularly goes from school. (Ah, now I know where she goes when she says she is working late).

The building dates from the 14th century and has great character. We were warmly greeted and found plenty of room in the dining area.

The food was great and everything got eaten up. Why don't they do that with my cooking, I wonder? (No don't answer that). After a pint and a half of Abbot ale, the Missus was well merry and regaled us with her vocal accompaniment to the PRO's "That's My Weakness Now" all the way home. And I didn't have any cooking or washing up to do. Yippee.

TechnoVision Masterclass

I've been to France! I got to stay at the lovely Chateau Montvillargene hotel near Chantilly. Here is the view as you approach...

The chateau was commissioned to be built by Baroness Jeanne de Rothschild in 1900. It was occupied by the Germans during the war, became a novitiate and boarding school and then, in 1969, a hotel school. In 1985 it became a hotel proper and got its 4th star in 2003.

The impact of regional and foreign styles on its architecture can be easily noticed through Norman half-timbering, Württemberg roofing and Béarn balcony style

...says the hotel website.

I wasn't just there to enjoy the ambience and cuisine, but to take part in a 2-day "Masterclass" on TechnoVision. I will say no more on that - if you work for Capgemini you should know all about it, and if you don't, I probably shouldn't tell you! Here we are about to start work.

We did get outside in the lovely sunshine a bit - for both lunchtime and evening meals; and mighty fine meals they were too...

...although it wasn't all to everyone's taste - one of my US colleagues put his ear to his rather rare steak to hear if it had stopped mooing.

At the end of our 2 days we had a group photo. See if you can spot me.

Then it was straight back to Charles de Gaulle airport to get back to Shropshire. But what a super place to work for a couple of days.