Tyntesfield

A couple of weekends ago, my friend, S, and I met up at the National Trust property Tyntesfield. Tyntesfield is a Victorian Gothic Revival house in North Somerset. Bought by William Gibbs in 1844 as a family home, he had the exterior remodeled and the interior decorated by the country's leading craftsmen. He also commissioned the building of a chapel there in 1873. As well as the stunning buildings, Tyntesfield also has spectacular views, gardens and parkland ....... and, most importantly, a very nice tearoom! 

Here are some photos of our day out:

The Cow Barn Restaurant. You could sit inside in one of the beautifully furnished cow stalls, or outside in the March sunshine.

 The back of the chapel:

 The main entrance with the chapel off to the right:

 The library:

I loved the rocking horse:

 Dining Room:

 The Butler's Room. Sadly, we weren't allowed access to the kitchens which are usually one of my favourite places to visit in an NT property:

 Part of the gardens. My favourite bits were the kitchen gardens, although there wasn't much to see at the end of March. There were perfectly positioned benches everywhere though and we pottered slowly from one to the next!

 Other recent happies:

Learning how to do foundation piecing:

 Making 'proper' bread again - ie. not with the breadmaker:

On Saturday, I was on my hands and knees weeding my veggie patch (inspired by the perfect ones at Tyntesfield!), when I looked up and L and E were standing there. They had come on a surprise visit for Mother's Day and you could probably have heard my squeals of delight in Oxford! It was such a wonderful surprise. R had been in on the secret and had managed not to give the game away.

Someone was a very happy bunny: 

 We went for a Japanese meal on the Saturday, then on Sunday we went bowling:

 ..... and took a picnic to our local lake for a walk:

 

Their presence would have been more than enough, but they also bought me a new travel wallet to replace the one that was stolen in Seville (now all I need is a new passport!), and a new mug as my precious Mummy mug had been broken in the dishwasher recently. I had been so upset. R managed to glue it, but I thought there would probably come a point when I would be left holding just a handle and wearing the tea. I've put it aside, along with a broken robin mug, in case I ever try my hand at candle making.

Anyway, that's me all caught up. I'm off to peg the washing out and then I need to pop into town for a few errands. Wishing you all a happy week.

Toodle pip for now. x