Escaping the mess!

We've been away for the Bank Holiday weekend, mostly to escape the mess, but it was also good to see Granny and Big Grandad, Uncle M, Great Grandma and also (briefly) Uncle S & Megan (the girls' canine cousin).

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, but due to the really not good weather we didn't really do much.  On Sunday, Uncle M fitted a new (well reconditioned second-hand from ebay) cd player in our car, saving us about £500 compared to getting a new one from and fitted by the main dealer here!  Then we went for a walk with him and his time-share dog Emily (she belongs to friends of his, but he has her at weekends because they tend to be very busy then).  We went round the nature reserve where the girls had had a great time paddling last time we were down at my parents' - giving how much rain there had been the previous few days it's not surprising that it looked rather different.

The 'island' was about a quarter of the size!

K looking even taller than usual!

Granny is always very busy from about April until September, as she plays a lot of crown green bowls.  On Monday morning she took her to the green when there weren't any matches, so A, K, M and I could have a go.  We all enjoyed it, but it's really rather tricky!

K, M & Granny playing bowls.

The road to Granny's bowls club.

My favourite door in Alcester!

After that we popped up to see Great Grandma, who did a very good job of being surprised (my Dad had let slip that we were there). 

In the afternoon, the four of us went to Coughton Court.  The girls and I had been before, but it was A's first time there.  It was really busy, so it was a timed ticket entry to the house.  We had a couple of hours before our turn, so we had plenty of time to explore the outside first.  We went for a walk in what they call the Bluebell Wood first, although there were only a few stray late bluebells left.

There was this very cool sculpture though!

We also collected some sticks to have a few games of Pooh sticks afterwards.  After this we followed the riverside walk, and A talked to the girls about the river and how the water at the outside of a bend moves faster and how the path of the river changes gradually over time.  This led to a brief general conversation about geography (human and physical) and geology.

We visited the two churches, Roman Catholic and Church of England that are associated with the family from the house and the gardens and had a play with the quoits and croquet sets in the play area before it was time to visit the house. 

The house.

Coughton Court and the Throckmorton family are perfect to take a closer look at for the Tudor and Stuart period that we're about to move onto with the Usborne History of Britain books.  Part of the family remained Roman Catholic and part became Protestant and the fortunes of the different branches varied as you would expect at different times during the period of the Reformation.  It's just down the road from my parents and a National Trust property, so very convenient for us to return after we've done some more reading about the period.

There were First World War medals hidden around the house as part of the centenary of its beginning, which K & M looked for.  The girls have started to take more time rather than dashing around looking for this sort of thing now, which makes it more interesting both for A & me, as we get to look at things, and I hope for them.  One rather gruesome thing we found out, is that Walter Raleigh's wife (who he married in secret without permission from Elizabeth I) and who, after his execution, carried his head around with her in a bag, was a member of the Throckmorton family.

On Tuesday, Big Grandad took A to catch a train to London for work, but the girls and I stayed until after lunch.  In the morning, we went swimming with Granny, then after dropping her off at her bowls club, we went down the town and booked them onto a sewing workshop at a haberdashers in the summer.  They each made a needle case at one last summer and enjoyed it, so happy to have another go.  On the way back to Granny's, K & I (M wasn't interested) popped into the small town museum, which is mostly about Roman Alcester, as there have been archeological excavations in and around the town and they found quite a lot of things. 

Uncle S was there when we got back, and while we'd been at the museum, M had played her French horn for Uncle S and Granny (but in a different room with the door closed, because she wasn't sure if Megan would like it).  She also played for Uncle M on Sunday and practised a couple of times too.

After lunch, M wanted to play a game before we went home, so she and I had a game of Scrabble.  For the first time, M beat me.  She played a risky strategy of waiting for a particular letter, but it paid off and she played "quick" on a triple word square and scored 69, after which I was left unable to get back on terms and she won by a stretch.

Apart from that, the girls did a lot of listening to story cds, as our friend C had popped round on Friday with M's birthday present and on learning that we were now reading the Lemony Snicket series told her she had the whole lot on cd and then brought them round to lend them to the girls.  I also continued reading the one we're on (they're only listening to the ones we've already read), and A read them a Just William story too.

We're now home for a couple of days before the girls and I are off again, without A this time unfortunately, for our return trip to Ironbridge.