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| HOWICK HALL IN NORTHUMBERLAND . |
Suddenly after forty years of sixteen hour days without a single day off for illness or holidays and completely ignoring the existence of my wife and children, I bought myself a cheap digital camera, joined the National Trust and discovered, possibly only just in time, that there are beautiful places to visit !
Today I got up at six, not because I was desperate to work but because my two year old grandson Daniel has given me his cold and at dawn the first torrent of snot overflowed after filling my gasping mouth, ran down my cheeks, around my neck and soaked into my pillow ! I awoke in terror, choking and staggered downstairs for a cup of sweet tea !
Thankfully, Shirley, who is the lightest sleeper in the world and who, according to the reports she gives me each morning, rarely sleeps for more than three minutes a night only to be woken by a flea coughing in New Zealand, must have fallen asleep just before my attack as she didn't stir a muscle !
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| HOWICKS' MAP MAKERS HAVE ACTUALLY PRINTED THEIR BROCHURE UPSIDE DOWN, WITH SOUTH AT THE TOP! I HOPE THAT THEY WILL CONSIDER USING THIS PHOTO TO ADD TO THE CONFUSION ! |
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| GO ON THEN ! EXPLAIN THE LOGIC OF AN UPSIDE DOWN MAP ! |
When she did finally wake at ten we decided that as the weather forecaster had promised us a day full of bright sunshine, we would head thirty miles north to the little-known and rarely visited Howick Gardens.
We got in the car as the first large grey clouds started to hide the sun and getting to the end of our road noticed black clouds forming over what would turn out to be Howick !
Still, Shirley never goes back, ever, under any circumstances in any situation, and despite my wishing I was in hospital on a drip as my sniffle turned into full-blown man-flu, I put on a brave face, preparing to say that I felt fine, had she asked, which she didn't and drove on !
We arrived in a torrential downpour which thankfully only lasted an hour, ate our sandwiches overlooking the North Sea, had a little walk and decided to go home !
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| MY RED-HOT-POKERS FLOWER IN JUNE ! |
But then the sky lightened up and we went ahead with what turned out to be a marvellous few hours, which although not in much sun, turned out to be a revelation !
So much so that we have taken out membership of Howick as well as the National Trust and all I have to do now is balance those two with Ardwell House and the static caravan in Dumfries and Galloway, my three children, my two grandchildren, work and my market !
And in a fortnight I've got to go to Egypt for a week's babysitting for my horrible grandchildren whilst Shirley relaxes at home, undisturbed by my foul habits and free to follow not only every move Josh Groban makes but now Ben Forster and the crew of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Her laptop will probably suffer meltdown as there are several million reviews on JCS and she tries to read them all !
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| THE SUN DID EVENTUALLY PEEK THROUGH AND IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT ! |
She's actually probably hoping that that Icelandic volcano erupts again like it did when I last went to Egypt and couldn't get home for a few days but this time permanently, so that she can report my desertion or more likely make a false death claim on my Life Insurance Policy !
Anyway, here are some great photos which show just how splendid the place can be even without much sun.
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| PEOPLE KEEP ASKING ME WHAT PROFESSIONAL CAMERA I USE ! THE ANSWER IS PENTAX OPTIO M90 ! |
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| STUNNING ? I'D SAY SO ! |
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| NORTHUMBERLAND ? YEP ! |
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| FRANKLY A MASTER-LESSON IN PHOTOGRAPHY ! |
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| YOU MAY FEEL THE URGE TO GO AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES ! I HOPE YOU DO ! |
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| SNOWBERRIES . |
And then we took tea in the restaurant and for those of you who don't know, one former owner was Earl Grey of Earl Grey Tea !
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| NO COMMENT NECESSARY ! |
Well done everyone who works at Howick ! We can't wait to come back time and again !
And now, 20th October and two weeks later we've been back and no-one in the restaurant knew about the Blog ! So I gave them the information and hope they've read it !
Now staff, here's a question for you. What tree produced these incredible fruit ?
Answers please through the 'comments' at the end of the Blog or on my email..davidnash@live.co.uk !
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| WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS ? |
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| WOW! |
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| UH? |
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| AND THESE WONDERFUL TOADIES ! |
WHAT A PLACE YOU WORK IN !
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