Chatsworth revisited and other news

I missed Mosaic Monday last week because of a prior engagement namely my birthday, one of those with a nought on the end.

We celebrated quietly at home, just me the Senior Partner and M'selle Fleur our beautiful German Shepherd.
There was cake, champagne, flowers and a delicious supper of poached salmon and assorted salads for two, delivered by our local Sticky Fig delicatessen.

My lovely sister and her family gifted me a "Friends of Chatsworth" annual pass for two and the very next day we headed to Chatsworth Estate, which is only a five minute drive from our home, to take a  walk with Fleur through the gardens there.

The Victorian Rock Garden

The gravity fed Emperor Fountain and Canal Pond

The gardens are spread over 105 acres, far too much to see on one visit so we contented ourselves with walking through the Sensory, Cottage and Kitchen Gardens before wandering over to the base of the 300 year old Cascade water feature.
Here we stopped to take in the amazing view of Lancelot "Capability" Brown's magnificent landscaped grounds which surround the House and Garden.

The Victorian Rock Garden

The Display Glasshouse

The SP and Fleur enjoy a quiet moment in the Sensory Garden

A stunning view of the Capability Brown landscape 

The 300 year old Cascade water feature
was not open when we visited

Strolling through the Victorian Rock Garden with it's amazing rock formations and beautiful plants sent my camera into overdrive.

The Victorian Rock Garden

After the Rock Garden came the Maze which like the Glasshouses is currently still closed to the public, we'll save that for next time hopefully.

The Cottage Garden

The Victorian Rock Garden

Chatsworth House is not yet allowing visitors and the shops and restaurants in the Orangery and Stables are still closed but hopefully it won't be long before we'll be enjoying them as well.
In the meantime we'll content ourselves with frequent walks through the grounds, gardens and glasshouses because really how could we ever tire of those views?

Linking to Mosaic Monday # 86 

with Angie @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

virtual vacation

At this time of year the SP and I are usually on a trip to a hot and sunny part of the world.
We like to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries by relaxing in the sun and enjoying time away together.
Our plans to head down to Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, this month had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
Luckily, we were able to secure a refund from the airline and cancel the hotel without penalties.
Airline travel and vacations to foreign lands are going to look an awful lot different from now on and to be honest I'm not sure we'll be making these sort of trips in the future.
Recently we've been reminiscing about the trip we took to Fuerteventura in October last year, a place we hadn't visited before, to mark the occasion of our 40th wedding anniversary.

Fuerteventura is the second largest island in the Canaries, a Spanish controlled archipelago situated just 62 miles to the west of North Africa, with beautiful weather all year round and pristine white sand beaches it has long been a favourite destination for Northern Europeans.
Come and take a look...…………………….

Are you making plans to travel this year, staycation or vacation?
What will it be?

Joining Angie @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf 

(who has her own travel story to tell this week)

 for Mosaic Monday # 84

things that happened this week

Before I launch into what happened on Darley Moor this week I think I'd better explain about the bread crusts and curly hair reference in last week's post.

Lorrie @ Fabric, Paper and Thread  and Sallie@ A Full Time Life  both told me that they had heard this tall tale too whilst some other visitors were puzzled and wanted to know more.

When my sister and I were growing up during the 1950's our Mother always encouraged us to eat the crusts on our sandwiches. She told us that if we did our hair would grow curly but I think I figured out quite early on that that old wives tale just wasn't true! 

It was just something that mothers would say to make English kids finish the meal.

Now for a little roundup of some nice things that happened this week despite the rain and not being able to go out into the garden or take more than a quick walk down the lane very often.

Monday was the SP's birthday. I had hoped that we might drive up the road a little bit and visit the gardens of Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire but after considering the pros and cons we decided to avoid any possible crowds and stay home instead.

I did have one small surprise for him though, a gift from Peak Brewery @ Chatsworth Estate.

A case of their finest ales was delivered by a chauffeur driving a Mercedes just before lunch and was very well received by the birthday boy.

Another thing to celebrate this week although on a much smaller scale was the delivery of an item of furniture which we ordered way back in January but which had been delayed because of lockdown.

We have sofa in the family room at last!

And finally, Friday was National Fish and Chips Day in the UK. and we enjoyed this favourite British meal that evening, with many thanks to the Darley Dale Fish Bar.

So, how was your week?

Linking to Mosaic Monday # 83

with Angie 

@ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf