Motissfont - national trust

Our trip this weekend took us an hour and a half to find. With the sat nav guiding us to the front door of Mottisfont.
Mottisfont is part of the National trust and can be found just outside Romsey in Hampshire.

The grounds are lovely with a secret garden hidden behind walls, a fast flowing river hidden far beyond the fields that belong to Mottisfont.
The breathtaking scenery as far as the eye can see is beautiful.

Bearing in mind that Saturday had been non stop rain all day and night, we still decided to venture to the grounds.

When walking in the grounds the first thing we saw was a young boy around the age of 12 covered head to toe in mud. He said he'd slipped over playing tag with his friends in one of the play area's.

Taking the dogs along the path next to the stream we came across a wooden play area that was surrounded by mud. This had to of been where the young boy had fallen. The trail was arranged in a circular pattern with various obstacles to scale and balance along, which would've been great fun for TJ if it hadn't of been so wet and slippery. Within five minutes he'd had enough of doing the splits on numerous obstacles.

The next stop was where the river splits and causes an over flow point. Now this area is fantastic for the kids. There's an area that feeds of so the kids can pump the water into a trough with different levels. Each level has a barrier which can be raised to allow water to pass through.

The river falls across a smooth stone based area in which if anyone is feeling brave can walk across before it approaches the small waterfall area.

Continuing around the grounds there is an old fishing Hut which has been perfectly preserved with decorations for the keenest of fishermen/women. The stables which is also where the bathrooms are located and a restaurant. Although the price are a little expensive it's no different to any other national trust site.

The main house has 3 different levels which can be accessed via different areas. Ground floor can be accessed through the side of the building. Around the at the maids entrance towards the back you can find a small door which leads upstairs to the first floor.
Ive not visited the second floor but have been told it is trickier to find as you need to ask a staff member to visit it because of the very small staircase. Here you can find an alligator in the bath tub. (A former member of the household once kept one in the tub, and so the tradition is kept going with this stuffed reptile).

Knotts Berry Farm was deserted which worked out amazing for us..

When visiting somewhere for the first time you expect it to be daunting. Honestly because of the time of the year that we went it was quiet which made visiting Knott's Berry Farm Theme Park such an amazing choice.

The musical part of the park wasn't the best I've heard and the actors and actresses seemed a little bored of the act. Saying this the guy that was chosen from the audience did throw a few curve balls towards the actress which made the show a little more entertaining.

When walking around the park it was like a ghost town, being in a ghost town has it's advantages.

For example walking straight on to the roller coasters. I did three coasters within 15 minutes including walking from one coaster to the next.

The view from the front of the queue is always awesome when there's only you and at the most 100 other people in the park. 

The mine train was a little dated for the adults but for the children who were on the train they enjoyed being on it.

The park is the oldest theme park in the US which began as a farm in the 1920's. The Knotts family specialised in boysenberry's. Selling jams, drinks and pies a restaurant was born. 

With all the history that is involved in Knotts Berry Farm and an area that is dedicated to the Old West when the ghost town was built in the 1940's. The buildings are authentic. The mine and log ride were purchased and added to the numerous attractions in the 1960's.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

My Dad posing with a few of the locals.

The coaster rides are amazing my favorite being the Xcelerator. Be prepared to sit in a hot rod seat that smashes 82 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds. Racing up 205 feet into the air before plummeting back down towards the ground at a 90 degree angle  this ride is a must for any thrill seeker. 

 There are so many amazing rides to choose from including the rides for the children at camp snoopy. The show for me was a little bit on the young side so we left it early. All the children were clapping and singing with the songs and joining in. 

Viva las vegas!

After a long and very stressful 2 weeks I'm finally off to Las Vegas.
The trip to the airport and check in went really quickly as for the plane journey 10 hours without much leg room (and I'm short) and the middle seat of three.
Have to hand it to virgin staff they were lovely throughout the flight. Very friendly, helpful and up for a quick talk whenever they could.
The inflight programmes were very good and it just so happened the book I've been reading the last few months was one of the inflight movies. So of course I finished my book off and watched the movie. Every second of the movie had me enthralled. And I fell in love again with the main rodeo rider. The movie by the way was "the last ride".
The flight continued and I watched "Spy" which while I found Jason Statham to be hilarious the rest of the movie wasn't that good.
On the descent to Las Vegas airport the sights of the Grand Canyon were fenominal and I could see it out of both windows. The views definitely made up for the boredom on the flight.

Thorpe park

Out of all the theme parks and places I've visited over the last few months, I have to admit that thorpe park has by far been the best.

From the rides to the (although rather quiet) atmosphere from other visitors. Our day was perfect, we got to the park when it opened and managed to get on several bigger roller coasters without any queue's.

That was until there was a power cut although I'm glad I was waiting in the queue for a ride. I'm glad I was not on it.

Colossus has got to be one of the most mind boggling rides with all the corkscrews near the end making the day and ride one of my favourite roller coasters.

I won't give to much away but yes definitely worth the money and yes I will be going back to thorpe park unlike Chessington, fun was had by all the family!

Warwick castle

An almost 3 hour journey from home took my mom, TJ and myself to many adventures in Warwick yesterday.
From amazing countryside (not that I don't see it everyday) to tudor houses.
For myself I love architecture and how over the years it evolved.
Warwick Castle in itself full of pleasant surprises with various collections of furniture dating 100's of years. One of my favourite pieces being the child's suit of armour although this would not have been used on the battlefield, it was amazing to see how tiny the 6 yr old suit was.

Whilst one half of the castle was decorated for medieval times , the other half was decorated early 1800's with models in each room displaying the various clothing that would have been worn. 

I found whilst walking around the castle there were very few notices about the building or information to read about who, why, what, and when it was made. Although there was a time tower which was a little informative on how the castle was passed down from person to person and for what purpose it was made.

It's been a while .... I'm sorry!

Over the past few months I've been stuck in a rut. Missing certain elements from my past and that's all it is memories playing in the back of my mind constantly.
I am truly grateful for these memories as without them I would not be the person I am today.
Who better to bring me out of this rut but one of my oldest and dearest friends. Distance is now an issue as she lives 5 hours away with her husband and 2 absolutely fantastic little girls.
Today we met up for the first time in about a year took Tj and the girls to the local park. We talked the kids ran around playing and the dog well, she ended up in the algae filled lake :/ .
Whilst the kids fed the ducks and met a puppy labrador in training to be a guide dog, my friend and I slowly wandered behind chatting about the kids and how much things have changed since she was here almost 10 years ago.

Between running around waving at the passengers in the park train a strange thought suddenly came to me, Tj is no longer a child but a young man.

I was so glad to see my friend after so long and I wish it could be more often.
I had an amazing time and such a good catch up.

Tj and her eldest J. Are so cute together holding hands and walking the dog. They both looked beyond a doubt like a couple on a date.

Corfe Castle falconry display

This weekend TJ and I attended a local falconry display at corfe castle.

Walking from the National Trust car park, we entered a small shop that sells rocks and fossils. The lady behind the desk, was lovely as we were looking around it started to rain. Me being me I forgot to pack the rain jackets in the car. The lovely lady offered to lend us her umbrella. which I graciously accepted.

The site itself is breathtaking and to be able to walk around in the history and imagine what happened inside the walls is incredible. 
If you'd like to read more then have a look on the webiste  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/corfe-castle/history/ . 

. The falconry display was amazing. Watching the birds flying around listening to the man tell the audience how they train the birds so they don't fly away was interesting.

The birds flew around in front of crowds with such grace and with what seemed very little effort.

Once the hawk had its prey in sight, it homed in and dived in at such a speed if you blinked you would have missed it! 

Chessington - not what I expected

Last weekend I took Tj to the chessington ' s world of adventure.
Honestly it was dreadful. Maybe it's because I compare any theme park to disney ( #1 fan) or maybe my standards are higher then other peoples I'm not entirely sure.
The best part about the day was the cheesy dibbles show. It starred the Madagascar penguins.
The crowd entertainers were fantastic and kept the kids entertained before the show really did their jobs.
Whilst looking around the animal enclosure they had the cutest little baby monkeys.

The bad side was that the park was infested with rodents. Especially around the animal pens.
The amount of litter around the park was ridiculous so I'm not surprised that I saw so many.
When riding the monorail every rider has a birds eye view of the park. Which on rooftops shows every piece of litter, every untidy rooftop and every animal pen on the route as it takes you around the park.

When looking around the sealife part of the park there was a small meet and greet with cleaner shrimp, where you can put your fingers in the tank and the little fellas will attempt to clean you. BE WARNED THEY TICKLE!
The next part we went through was the penguins enclosure which has recently been updated so that the penguins can intermingle with humans. 

Although it is mating season atm so not a lot of penguins are wanting to join the humans in the human enclosure.

For the love of colors

I've been so busy lately that I forgot to take a minute a breathe in all the glorious colors of my garden. Well of anywhere if I'm honest.

From green grass to yellow lupin bushes. White cherry tree blossom and pink sweet smelling roses. How could I forget to take a moment and enjoy the spring?

Have you spent anytime outside?
If you haven't then stop and just relax. Go to the beach or gardens, maybe even the local tea rooms with a garden.
Whatever you do outside savour it.

A visit to Bucklers Hard

I decided that our day out would be to Bucklers Hard. An 18th century village where warships for Nelsons navy were built. Set in an idealistic village, surrounded by Beautiful scenery on the Beaulieu river.

The Maritime museum has items dating back to Admiral Nelson and his crew members, as well as many other boats that were made at Beaulieu. 

Ships built at Beaulieu

With open houses to wonder around life in 18th century was definitely hard. Reading the information provided and listening to the guided tour. I can imagine how hard life was back in the 18th century when listening to the historian.

Guided tour 

  To look around the little village and the museum it took us around 2 hours.

Outside the museum

Costing £6.50 an adult and £4.50 a child.
There's is an option to upgrade the ticket to an unlimited yearly pass which was only £10 a person.
This did not include the additional price of the river boat cruise.

Shipwrights cottage and St. Mary's Church 

Along the houses on the left there are two houses in which you can look around. the shipwrights cottage and St. Mary's Chapel which holds a hidden room.
As you progress down the hill towards the waterfront there is a pub and grill area. with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

Shipwrights School

The building in the background at the waters edge has just been re- built with 150 year old oak wood. Provided by the Beaulieu forest.