Alnwick Garden

This is the last of our October holiday trips (the next post, I hope, will hold some signs of sewing.......fingers crossed!).  We had the best day out to Alnwick Garden.  I first heard of the gardens a number of years ago and was very intrigued.  They were planned and started from scratch within the last ten years.  It wouldn't suit someone looking for horticultural history or botanical impressiveness (although the poison garden is fascinating), rather it is a place to actively explore and engage with.
The site is small and very cleverly designed.  We all, from John's 81 year old parents to 1 year old Katie (although she isn't such a good judge yet), found something that appealed to us and often it was a something that we could enjoy together.

Water features, in the form of water features (sorry!), heavily in the garden.  And as regular readers may have noticed my children do like a little water.  As we set out I warned them to try to stay fairly dry until towards the end, and then they could get as wet as they liked.  After considering my request (and possibly wondering whether he really did have enough self control to comply with it) Angus asked if I had brought their swimsuits.  He was somewhat puzzled when I said I hadn't.  Then he asked, somewhat surprised, if they were to go in naked.  Well, no Angus, you can wear your waterproofs.  Oh, he said, so with no clothes underneath.  Actually, really, I think you'd be best to keep your clothes on too and just change if you get very wet.  And that was what they did!

 

A rare self-portrait of me and John - squinting into the sun!

They did their best to keep fairly dry, bless them, and then embraced the 'you can get wet now' instruction most enthusiastically!

 And best of all we can go again - we had our tickets validated which allows us to visit as often as we like over the next twelve months.  I think we will visit again and probably more than once as it is close enough for a day trip.  Maybe next time will be warm enough for shorts and t.shirts, even if not swimsuits.

In the meantime I'm hoping for a little quiet on the medical front.  It has all been a little hectic over the last few weeks.  I've had a course of antibiotics for another bout of mastitis which hit me while we were on holiday. Angus has had a scan at Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital to check out a cheek injury.  It is fine, just badly damaged tissue. Finn burnt his hand on Saturday and has some sore blisters, but they are healing well (experimenting with the cooker, I don't think he'll do that again).  Islay had an out of hours GP check, also on Saturday, for a very sore eye which she had poked with a stick (John and I had planned a rare night out to a party, John didn't make it at all and I went for a couple of hours - oh well!).  Her eye is also fine now after a course of cream to help it heal.  And today Islay is off school with a dreadful cold.  She has been sounding very wheezy so we popped up to the GP who is happy that her chest is relatively clear but suggests she should rest at home until next week. And I have a sore throat now but am choosing to try and ignore it in the hope that it will go away.  And, Katie, meanwhile has been fairly well this week for the first time in several weeks!

I hope to reappear soon with some sewing tales.