So the next day we all awoke at various times - although Papa and I didn't get much sleep as our beautifully furnished room was so darn hot... We were up till the small hours desperately trying to work out how the thermostat on the radiator worked. It was one of those new electric heaters and we were flummoxed!
We woke up and I drew the curtains and there, just behind them was a small switch with the word 'heater' above it and the words 'on' and 'off' above and below it... great.
Then there was a banging at the door, The Sprog needed the toilet. "Can't you use the one in your room?" I asked. 'Granny is in the shower,' came the reply. The Sprog and Granny were sharing the room next door and TJ was on a put-you-up bed in our room. "Come on in," I said and The Sprog went into our bathroom, commenting that our room was very hot as he walked through.
Then there was another knock. This time it was my sister who seemed to be wearing someone else's clothes - I know that as I had seen the very same clothes on the Best Man the morning before at breakfast.. my mind was racing, it was all turning into a 'Bold and the Beautiful" type of wedding where the bride had decided at the last minute to rush off with the Best Man... although that wasn't likely - and there were two Best Men, which would have just added to the confusion.
"Have you got my suitcase?" she asked, "I left it in the hall at Mum's for it to be brought here." (If you recall I was helping the cab drivers loads all the clothes and cases and packs for the bridesmaids and their entourage on the big day itself.) "I think I took everything," I said. My sister looked crest fallen. "Then I don't have anything to wear,"she said, "Everything is in that bag."
I decided to see what we could do - after breakfast of course!
So after a lovely communal breakfast of sausages and eggs and all the trimmings form the estate itself I made the journey back to my Mum's house for the fourth time in 3 days. At least this time we had the keys. We also took Mum with us in case the case had been lost and then my sister could borrow some clothes. So 25 minutes later we arrived and there was my sister's case by the front door. We went back again, stopping off at the local farm shop to get supplies for that evening's dinner and the next morning's breakfast. Two hours later we got back to the cottages again. Papa had taken the children out on a nature walk and was playing frisbee with them, everyone else had gone out on a three mile hike - except my Nan who was happily reading her Kindle in the living room of our cottage.
I got in the door and decided that I wanted to go out with the kids and Papa - it really felt like I had barely seen them all weekend, so off we went on the walk again - only this time the kids could show me where we had to go. They had a great time exploring and finding 'dens' down by the lakeside. Sometimes we forget how beautiful the UK can be - then it started to rain and we remembered why we don't holiday here... but the kids didn't care and just carried on playing. Papa on the other hand grumbled about the British weather and went inside to make Nan a cup of tea.
By now the others were arriving back and we all sat down to a hearty meal of chilli, bread, carrots and wedding cake (which everyone seemed to enjoy - one lady who told me she knew 'a lot about cake' said it was honestly the best wedding cake she had ever had - I beamed! I asked the groom's mother who this lady was, was she a culinary expert? a top notch patissierre? "She goes to a lot of weddings and eats a lot of cake" came the reply - but I didn't care, I will take the compliment!) - all was washed down with the champagne from my car, the driving had all been worth it - fantastic! We then spent an hour or so playing family games - although pretty soon everyone started drifting off to their beds.
The next morning we all had a final breakfast and then said our goodbyes, I took the chief bridesmaid, or I suppose she was the Matron of honour as she is married, and her husband and new born baby to the local railway station before Papa and I loaded the kids back into our car and we headed off back down the motorway after what had been a fantastic and memorable weekend!
We woke up and I drew the curtains and there, just behind them was a small switch with the word 'heater' above it and the words 'on' and 'off' above and below it... great.
Then there was a banging at the door, The Sprog needed the toilet. "Can't you use the one in your room?" I asked. 'Granny is in the shower,' came the reply. The Sprog and Granny were sharing the room next door and TJ was on a put-you-up bed in our room. "Come on in," I said and The Sprog went into our bathroom, commenting that our room was very hot as he walked through.
Then there was another knock. This time it was my sister who seemed to be wearing someone else's clothes - I know that as I had seen the very same clothes on the Best Man the morning before at breakfast.. my mind was racing, it was all turning into a 'Bold and the Beautiful" type of wedding where the bride had decided at the last minute to rush off with the Best Man... although that wasn't likely - and there were two Best Men, which would have just added to the confusion.
"Have you got my suitcase?" she asked, "I left it in the hall at Mum's for it to be brought here." (If you recall I was helping the cab drivers loads all the clothes and cases and packs for the bridesmaids and their entourage on the big day itself.) "I think I took everything," I said. My sister looked crest fallen. "Then I don't have anything to wear,"she said, "Everything is in that bag."
I decided to see what we could do - after breakfast of course!
So after a lovely communal breakfast of sausages and eggs and all the trimmings form the estate itself I made the journey back to my Mum's house for the fourth time in 3 days. At least this time we had the keys. We also took Mum with us in case the case had been lost and then my sister could borrow some clothes. So 25 minutes later we arrived and there was my sister's case by the front door. We went back again, stopping off at the local farm shop to get supplies for that evening's dinner and the next morning's breakfast. Two hours later we got back to the cottages again. Papa had taken the children out on a nature walk and was playing frisbee with them, everyone else had gone out on a three mile hike - except my Nan who was happily reading her Kindle in the living room of our cottage.
I got in the door and decided that I wanted to go out with the kids and Papa - it really felt like I had barely seen them all weekend, so off we went on the walk again - only this time the kids could show me where we had to go. They had a great time exploring and finding 'dens' down by the lakeside. Sometimes we forget how beautiful the UK can be - then it started to rain and we remembered why we don't holiday here... but the kids didn't care and just carried on playing. Papa on the other hand grumbled about the British weather and went inside to make Nan a cup of tea.
By now the others were arriving back and we all sat down to a hearty meal of chilli, bread, carrots and wedding cake (which everyone seemed to enjoy - one lady who told me she knew 'a lot about cake' said it was honestly the best wedding cake she had ever had - I beamed! I asked the groom's mother who this lady was, was she a culinary expert? a top notch patissierre? "She goes to a lot of weddings and eats a lot of cake" came the reply - but I didn't care, I will take the compliment!) - all was washed down with the champagne from my car, the driving had all been worth it - fantastic! We then spent an hour or so playing family games - although pretty soon everyone started drifting off to their beds.
The next morning we all had a final breakfast and then said our goodbyes, I took the chief bridesmaid, or I suppose she was the Matron of honour as she is married, and her husband and new born baby to the local railway station before Papa and I loaded the kids back into our car and we headed off back down the motorway after what had been a fantastic and memorable weekend!
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