Stourhead

Stourhead is one of the most beautiful properties in England. A friend of our suggested that we take Debbie and Bryan there and I never expected it to be so grand. I felt like I was walking through a Jane Austen novel. This was my Pemberley. The library was the library of my dreams. You could tell that this was a very loved property. It has been with the national trust since the late 40's and they have done a magnificent job in keeping it up.

Here are a few pictures. I'll post more on FB if it will let me......

Happy Birthday Mardy

Happy Birthday Mardy!

Here are a few facts about Mardy (from Raven's perspective)

How old is daddy? 7

What color are his eyes? Brown

Daddy's favourite food? Crust from toast

Daddy's favourite thing to do? Lift things up with his strong bones

Raven's favourite thing to do with Daddy- snuggle him (play the fish game)

What does daddy do at home? everything, clean, protect our home "he's a protector, I love you my cutie"

If you could give daddy any present what would you give him? A picture she colored of a sheep

Who does Daddy love? Raven and mommy

What do you love most about Daddy? Pushing me on my boat I made........but he SO won't. He keeps our house clean and rescues me from spiders.

To Daddy here is a song that Raven wrote for you its sort of to the tune of rocka bye baby

If you have a birthday cake then you will sing happy birthday too with your family and if you have a happy birthday then you will be two and if i was ever tone deaf then i would still be the sweetest kid and if I was a Raven I will still be the sweetest kid ever and I will have my cute mommy and she's typing right now to you my daddy my sweet bumble bee and you will still be the sweetest daddy and if you try to warn me off and I will still have you to play in the park and you will still be the sweetest daddy and if i run out on my own then you will search everywhere for Raven and if I really run off to play then i will still be the smartest baby and then I will stop right there where I was before. I will still be the sweetest kid ever and when i run off to play again then you will search everybody to play and you will search in the house and I will be and I will go left to play or right to play or left I don't know what i might do, I might play in my house and when you go off to play yourself then you will get into big trouble but when you say we are going I will see if you are still going and if you run out to play with me then we mustn't leave mommy behind because she will be so bored so we must do it with her and then we must have a birthday cake and I had a birthday and I had a birthday last year and then you had a birthday my sweet mommy and now its daddy's turn to have a birthday and I will be still be the sweetest kid.

From your most loved Raven ever in the whole wide world

Sherborne Castle Country Fair

There was so much to see and do at the Sherborne Castle Country Fair but unfortunately it was raining....a lot.... Anyway we still had lots of fun.

One of my childhood dreams was to be a trick rider so when I saw a team there I felt as giddy as a kid again.

I loved that these guys were just playing some irish folk tunes in the middle of a crowded tent. If you look closely at that one guy with the beard I'm sure you would be very impressed.

At Sherborne Castle we were running low on money so Raven and I left Mardy in the rain while we went to explore. Sherborne Castle has been in the same family since 1617. It was turned into a hospital briefly during the first world war and during the second world war it was used as the headquarters for the commandos involved in the D-Day landings.
Down at the lake we briefly watched the dragon boat races. It would have been a lot better if it wasn't so rainy but I'm sure they are use to that here.
The orangery at the castle. Mardy learned a little about the orangery in school last year. The windows alone at this place are crazy expensive its no wonder they need tourism to help pay for the costs of upkeep.
Oh my word! how cute is that!!!! Raven on a donkey named Silver. She went on a 3 minute ride for £3 but it was so worth it. I mentioned to her that she could go for a ride and she was so happy about it. I thought for sure that there was no way that she would want to go so I was really surprised when she did.
Here are the bagpipers but the irish singers around the corner were singing "Whiskey in the jar", perhaps its not a Metallica original after all.
These poor people were doing traditional english dancing in the rain. They looked so cold.

of course Raven loves puddle jumping so I took her to the smallest puddle I could find and we were both happy.