Hardwick Hall Grounds, England

We enjoyed exploring the grounds of Hardwick Hall and were able to get some more of those 50 Things to Do Before You're 11 3/4 goals done. We visited the house (see yesterday's post) and were able to see much of the estate as well.

Hardwick Hall

The first goal was right by the house. Goal #4 is build a den. Plenty of sticks (and previously made dens) were by the garden wall. We tried our hand right away at this.

J gathers some sticks

Early stages of construction

We need more, MORE!

J and L enjoy their den

After touring the house we drove down to the Great Pond and the Miller's Pond. The view back to the house up on the hill was quite nice.

View from the lakes

The trees there were perfect for #1 on the 50 Things list--Climb a tree.

L and J start at a low spot

J continues his ascent

Happily perched in the tree

An obstacle course was set up by the National Trust folks since a lot of kids were walking along the edges of the parking lots. J did the course forwards and backwards! The only bad thing about it is that completing it is not one of the 50 Things.

Balancing carefully

Irish Geocaching

On our Ireland trip, we forgot to bring our GPS to go geocaching. The SatNav in the car has worked in a pinch before, so we tried that a couple of times so we could add Ireland to our list of countries in which we have cached.

The first attempt was in Ennis near the river. The cache we were going for is Cappucino, not named after a coffee shop or Cappuchin monks, but after the murky water in the neighborhood. The water didn't seem so murky to us, just overgrown.

Water not so muddy here, though the grass/weeds may be hiding it!

We searched to no avail around the mill wheel that still stands by the river.

The mill-less wheel

The wheel seems like it could be put back in use at some point, as a small wooden dam was all that prevented it from getting the water it needed to move. Of course, it is attached to nothing, so it wouldn't produce power for anything. Still, it might impress visitors. I know J and L would have stared in fascination.

Waiting for water

After looking more closely at the SatNav, we realized the cache was across the street and slightly up river from where we were. Also across the street was Public Works who may have been weeding the river on the other side of the bridge. We assumed the cache was inaccessible and hung our heads in defeat as we left Ennis.

We did find the Shannon River geocache in Athlone. It is, as one might imagine, along the river. We had a fine walk down the river from our hotel and found the rail road bridge under which the cache was hidden.

Approaching the cache

While I was checking among the trees, Mommy, J, and L were hanging around on the path. L asked when we would find the geocache. Two ladies were walking by and one of them immediately whipped around and said, "Are you geocaching?" Turns out her husband has been an avid cacher for ten years and she was delighted to run into another one of us in the wild. He hadn't come on the trip (she was with her sister), so she took a picture of us with the cache before saying goodbye. We did not return the photographic favor, however, so I can't show them to you.

J was ready for his close-up!

After carefully returning the cache, we headed back for more adventures, thankful that we could complete another of our 50 things to do before you're 11 3/4.

The train bridge and nearby tower

50 Before 11.75: Set Up a Snail Race

#17 of the 50 things to do before you're 11 3/4 is set up a snail race. Our back yard was host to another success.

The first step was to find contestants. The weather had been wet so it was easy to find some snails on the leafy bushes in the back garden.

Two contestants

Next, the kids prepared the race track. Having watched Cars and Cars 2 several times, they knew how to add excitement and adventure to the race. Having read on line about snail racing, my wife knew to wet down the track so it would be easier for the snails.

Preparing the way

L happy in her work

Gentlemen, start your engines!

The race was pretty exciting in the beginning, with the racers going neck-and-neck literally!

A tight race

At one point there was a crash, though actually it was more of a run-over. One snail went right over the other guy! I guess that's a good way to take the lead.

Up...

...on...

...and over!

This did not have the desired effect since one of the racers seems to have chosen his own track.

You're going the wrong way!

Go over the bridge, not under!!

So only one of them made it across the bridge.

Heading for a lead!

Oh no, another crash!

Maybe I should go under the bridge too!

We gave them another start and things worked out better for everyone involved.

L gets ready to give them the bridge

Headed for glory

A fun time was had by all, even if victory was had by none.

50 Before 11.75: Picking Blackberries and Eating Apples

As part of our ongoing mission to do 50 things before 11 3/4, we completed some of the food related things on the list. 

#21 is picking blackberries growing in the wild. L did this on a walk. Rather than eat them right then and there (though I'm sure she sampled some to check their quality), she brought them home to make some blackberry jam.

L with her spoils of walking

Thankfully, we have a bread-maker with a jam setting. Whipping out the cookbook, we followed the instructions on what ingredients to add in what order.

Blackberries in the bread pan

Helping the bread machine stir

L made another "quality check" on the blackberries at this point.

Tastes right to her

After much heating and stirring, we had a lot of jam. We divided the batch into two pots. One batch was strained, resulting in a straight jelly with no bits of blackberry in it. The other was the "chunky" jam. L preferred the jelly, and was her own satisfied customer!

The final quality check

The first of many satisfied customers

#9 of the 50 things to do is eating an apple straight from a tree. This was easy for us to accomplish because we have an apple tree in our back yard and it had a great yield this year.

Backyard Bonanza!

Also in our backyard, we had a snail race (#17), but that will be for another blog post!

Nunnington Hall Gardens, UK

The gardens of Nunnington Hall are quite evocative if not expansive. Elements of formal gardens and kitchen gardens and orchards are combined to provide a taste of everything.

The path from the parking leads across a small bridge. The bridge has a tub next to it with a sign explaining the sticks in it were poohsticks for racing on the river. Since that's one of the 50 things to do before you're 11 3/4, we had a go.

Bridge to the house

Running out of poohsticks!

Idyllic looking bridge

We did a race and L's stick was a bit faster on the waters of the River Rye (from which Ryedale gets its name). We then broke out our picnic lunch which we soon had to share with the local peacocks.

J protects his lunch box!

We who are about to eat salute you!

Why did the peacock cross the road? To get my lunch!!

Peacocks first came to Nunnington Hall with Susan and Peter Clive, who moved to the house in 1955. They haven't been able to get rid of them, probably because visitors keep sharing their lunches with the birds.

After touring the house, we went on a little walk through the gardens. The house staff helpfully provided a treasure hunt sheet for the children, so we were able to walk through all of the gardens and look for little signs.

Our first stop was the South Lawn. The lawn is sunken, which allowed the Clive family to flood it and create an ice skating rink in the winters. In the summers they used it for tennis and croquet.

View of the house from the South Lawn

The lawn is flanked by orchards which mostly have apple and pear trees.

L runs through the orchard looking for signs

#4 is a kangaroo!

The orchard wall had grapes growing when we visited!

One unusual tree in the orchard is the Wishing Tree, which has a small poem posted nearby:

In our orchard where apples grow,
and blossom blooms when Spring is here,
A Golden Pippin stands below
the open sky throughout the year.
As well as apples growing there,
There's something else that's twice as rare.

The ribbons tied upon the tree,
are hopes and dreams still yet to be.
If there's a wish you'd like to make,
find a ribbon that's free to take,
tie it here; make a wish or two,
and one day soon it may come true.

The Wishing Tree

Some formal gardens make for nice strolling.

The Iris Garden

Pretty flowers

An explosion of pink!

Roses in the Rose Garden

Further back is the Cutting Garden, where they are now growing fruit and vegetables for the Hall's tea shop as well as flowers to decorate the hall. The gardens are watched over by a scarecrow and his companion...or maybe wife?

Scarecrow

Mrs. Scarecrow?

One experiment they are trying is an Apothecary Bed, featuring various medicinal plants used before the advent of synthetic drugs.

Apothecary garden

More medicinal herbs

Nearby is a sign leading the children into the "mud pie kitchen," which was quite well stocked. J was able to make pies in a variety of flavors. He offered me vanilla, chocolate chip, and mixed (vanilla and chocolate, I think). I accepted them all.

A sign!

L mixes ingredients

L and J work together

On our way out of the garden we came across a lion! Luckily, L is good with animals and was able to tame him enough that she could ride him. Unfortunately, he was too tame and didn't go anywhere! Maybe next time...

L Lion-rider