Girl In The Pretty Dress

Waddesdon Manor is a former Rothschild home located in Buckinghamshire. I've visited a lot of National Trust properties this year, but this has to be the most opulent of them all. It's so large I couldn't fit the entire building in one photograph, and it takes 15 minutes to walk from the car park to the property (they run a shuttle service for those less inclined to hike across the fields). It was designed by a French architect in the style of a french chateau and used as a weekend home. The family are still involved in the upkeep of the property and the charitable works associated with the estate (including the aviary which has a role in the conservation of endangered tropical birds). Inside the house is filled with all kinds of curiosities - including the Elephant Automatron I've included in this post. (It's also currently playing host to several art exhibitions/installations - my favourite of which were the paintings by Francesco Guardi, an artist who cap...

I have been dreaming of the perfect day out at Great Yorkshire Show for a while - and this week I got my wish. After missing out in recent years, I finally managed to get time off work to visit this annual celebration of all things rural and Yorkshire. I grew up in a rural community and love spending time in the great outdoors. I'm also very aware of where my food comes from - I always ensure my food is free-range and do my best to shop local. Events like this are pretty much paradise for a foodie like me, but they also support other local businesses and help to maintain/promote countryside traditions which might otherwise be lost. After a short journey I arrived at the show ground. The sun was beating down, there were ice cream vans everywhere, and white tents as far as the eye could see. I grabbed a quick mid-morning snack and settled down to watch the sheep shearing competition. It's safe to say I have no idea what the rules were - or even who the winner was - but it wa...

A couple of weeks ago I put my National Trust membership to use again and visited Dunham Massey . I'd never been before and I'm so glad I got to see it. The parkland and garden are just wonderful on a summer's day and the house is hosting an interesting exhibition on how it was used as a hospital during the First World War. I didn't spend too much time indoors however, as there's so much to see on the outside. Each of the blocks is inscribed with a patient number representing one  of the  men treated here during the First World War.

A couple of weeks ago we were blessed with a rare springtime blast of sunshine and warmth (you all know by now how much I love the sunshine!) so I decided to take myself off for the day to Lyme Park . I've visited it in the past but I was about 5 at the time and purely there to see Santa - and understandably I wasn't so fussed for the gardens or the house. Lyme Park is pretty recognisable as it's been used in dozens of films and TV programmes in the past (A rather soggy Colin Firth famously climbed out of the lake here, when he was playing Mr Darcy in the BBC's adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice') and luckily it's not too far from where I live. The house and grounds used to belong to an old aristocratic family but after the second world war it was sold to the National Trust - who now manage and maintain it. The National Trust is a charity I am very proud to support as they do a lot of work maintaining hundreds of sites of historic importance. I was so i...

"Red is the ultimate cure for sadness" - Bill Blass I don't know much about Bill Blass but that quote seems kinda sums up this week. Whenever I'm having a trying time of it at work I like to compensate for my lack of confidence in myself with an outfit that says otherwise. This one works a treat. I bought this Mango shirt in the January sales and it's one of those rare purchases - the kind where you wish you'd bought two just in case you wear the original out.  Shirt: Mango | Jeggings: Marks and Spencer (longer length) | Boots: Debenhams