A little bit of Waldorf at Lyme!

We were wonderfully surprised to find 'Crow Park Playscape' at Lyme Park. It was such an exciting, nature based and muddy playground for the kids to explore. It was so well liked by the children and their parents. I thought it would be so fitting if I was to find this at our Steiner school at home. On the outskirts of the area kids were playing on fallen tree trunks, exploring the stream and dads were helping build huts out of the tree debris with their kids. L-O-V-E loved it! Plus there was a gorgeous Timber Yard with café and shops with the most stunning tulips (my fav) for sale next to it. Too much to do and see and so little time.

A day out at Mr Darcy's house

Today we went to another National Trust Park (they are brilliant) called Lyme Park. It is set on a whooping 1,400 acres! We went into the Edwardian house (mansion) that was a home to the Legh family for over 600 years but after the war things went downhill and in the 1940s the house was handed over to the National Trust. It is such a blessing that everyone has access to this wonderful place. The house was very grand with a room with a stage that used to be dedicated to theatrical performances 3 evenings a week for the family and their friends. The dining room was also breathtaking all set up for the next meal with the most exquisite tableware and heirlooms. The art throughout the house was also incredible. Even the hallways are so grand. It is no wonder this place was home to Mr Darcy (Pemberley) in Pride and Prejudice. There was a gift shop with white t-shirts saying 'I love Mr Darcy' which were quite tempting to be honest. Come on Colin Firth ladies!!! Anyhow... clearly the cost of the upkeep of the house is huge with more work still required in some areas of the home. Anyway we couldn't take photos of the interior but I have some from the beautiful gardens surrounding the house. After this we also ventured back out into the park which is free for the public to access anytime and found the most incredible playground. More about that on the next blog. I forgot to mention today was Mothers Day here and also day light savings started today so mother nature really turned everything on and gave us a fine 19 degree day. So everyone came out to play and by the time we left there were people everywhere enjoying the outdoors with their loved ones. Such a heart warming sight.

 

On Thursday the kids and I had the car so off we set on another adventure. This time we headed to Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate which is an 18th century working cotton mill. Very fascinating to see the mill in action. The gardens are extensive and the kids were given tracker packs with binoculars, compasses and magnifying glasses which they enjoyed as you can see. Corey was so well behaved...phew. We even had a civilized lunch at the café. Yay!!! They had kids lunch boxes which was awesome. It is so brilliant when these places cater for the kids.

Some things I don't like so far...
:-( Trying to book accommodation for a family of 5. Most places cater just for 4. I think this is the case worldwide though. Guess we will be camping in Edinburgh and London.
:-( The roads here are crap...so many pot holes and bumps and the lines desperately need repainting everywhere that it is sooo confusing.

Have I mentioned that Air New Zealand was terrible. The stewards were rude, no manners and were not understanding at all. I was quite disgusted with their service. I will be emailing them don't you worry.

Until next time...

More breathing than doing.

I have put my neck/back out this week so we haven't done much. The weather hasn't been great either but we did venture out for a walk as the sun broke out yesterday afternoon. Here are some of my likes so far...
:-)Drivers are courteous, thankful and patient. Makes me happy as I drive around this place.
:-)There are millions of daffodils everywhere on every roadside in every garden rural and town. It is so pretty and uplifting on such grey Cheshire days.
:-)My kitchen here is lovely (my home kitchen is falling to bits) it is pleasure to cook in as well as clean. I know!!!
:-)The bakery's, tea rooms and cafe's here sell real food. Home made and fresh and delicious. I don't think there are any left in NZ like this anymore.

For the kids

On the weekend we opened our wallet deeply for our dear children and went to Lego Discovery Centre. The kids adored it. We felt it was a rip off like more tourist attractions but that doesn't matter what the adults think. I took more photos of all the miniture cities but I couldn't upload sorry. This was at the Trafford Shopping Centre which was the main reason Rich and I went however our kids are allergic to shopping so we entered only one of the million or so shops in this spectacular, marble decorated, glass elevatored etc shopping haven before a reaction occurred. #Happythatourkidsarehappytoday.

Adventures together.

Although we have many conflicts being together all day every day we also have precious moments like these. "You are not my best friend anymore." I hear one say to the other and it makes me think how nice that 2 minutes ago you were best friends with your sibling.

Slowing down

Lessons are everywhere, everyday and in everything and this little journey of ours to the other side of the world is certainly turning out to be a big life lesson for me. After a rough first week where I was already starting to count down how much longer we are here for I started to ask why am I here? I have my three kids with me 24/7 and we are limited with transport and money and this house and yard is very confined space compared to what we are used to at home in NZ so what the heck am I doing here??? Then I had an aha moment. I have nothing to do and nowhere to go...no timetables...no housework (well limited to dishes, laundry)...no friends to meet...no extra curricular activities so what can I do??? I can just be...be with my kids...be with myself. We can live a slow life for a while compared to the fast paced world in NZ. So here is a diary of our days doing very little and some snapshots to keep the Grandparents and Aunty's happy.

Il Dolce Far Niente...The sweetness of doing nothing.