I went on a little holiday (part 2)

 So the other day in part 1 of my little holiday recap, I finished up with the 1000 piece puzzle-worthy cottages near Cambridge.

When I woke up bright and early the next morning, I took a little walk down the road and saw my first ever in real life robin singing in a tree. I watched it for a minute or so and listened to it chirping or tweeting or whatever but instead thinking of anything profound or intellectual, it was very much along the lines of "omg this is freaking awesome. A real life Robin in real life on a branch up there!!!"

And as soon as I thought to take a photo, it flew away, because of course it did.

We packed the car and headed off to our next stop.

We were in England for a reason but added different things to our list of 'things to see and do' and this was one of them.

To the Bear, this next stop wasn't of significance. I showed him a little clip on youtube while I explained why we needed to stop there. He shrugged and said 'ok' in the way of fellas who are humouring their better halves but shortly after arriving, he found his favourite part of the trip so far...

For a bloke who chops wood for 'fun', has installed no less than 3 woodfires around our place and spends most of the year adding to his wood collection, this was a glorious sight.

This lumbiferous assemblage was located at Lyme Park just 20 miles south of Manchester. (see how quickly I shook off the shackles of the metric system?)

If you've never heard of Lyme Park but are an avid watcher of anything Colin Firth related then this might help...

Yep. 

I was on the other side of the camera looking like this...

The outside of the mansion at Lyme Park was used as the exterior of 'Pemberly Manor' in the 1995 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.

And meanwhile the Bear is plodding about saying boy stuff like, "Wow it's pretty bloody big isn't it?" while I hiss at him, "shut up shut up! I'm trying to have an Elizabeth Bennet MOMENT!!!" to which he said, "Oh that was that show you tried to make me watch last night." and probably rolled his eyes but I had already selectively blocked him out while I continued to look like this:

The grounds around Lyme Park were amazing. It was lightly drizzling through much of the day but it only enhanced the beauty of the property.

Bleeding Hearts in the woods.

Walking toward the Orangery.

The red tulips were almost finished but were still vibrant against the lawns.

The inside of the mansion was not used for filming P&P but is quite impressive. We tromped up and down wide staircases, gawped at immense paintings...

I think this beautiful bedspread is actually older than the colonisation of Australia...

I am a sucker for stained glass windows and this was just beautiful.

We marvelled at all the carvings. 

A short but energetic walk away was this castley thing called the Cage.

According to the helpful and informative volunteers inside, the Cage was originally built in 1580 as a hunting lodge. The ladies would watch and wait at the lodge for their fellas while they hunted for deer. Then they would all feast on the 1st floor of the lodge.

It stands atop a hill with 360 degree views and later was used as a jail for poachers and as the gamekeepers residence.

I will probably say this alot over the next couple of posts but England is so GREEN. Greener than green! The greenest. 

Manchester was just half an hour away, however we were soon headed off towards our main destination...

And that dear friends is Part 2 of our little jaunt to a place far, far away.  How many parts are there? I'm not sure yet. Disappointingly there were no visible squirrels at Pemberly, I mean Lyme Park. 

I was told there were at least 2 decent deer families but they usually hid in the woods during the day. I would too if tourists were hanging around to gawk at me.

And next Liverpool....

Louise

🦌 Red Haired Amazona 🦌