Gilt Trip

Lots of little things to confuse or amuse us:

The water maze at Hever Castle was a maze to walk around on pavers erected on the pond. At various points you would be walking around it and get a big surprise with a decent squirt of cold water. You could stop it by firmly placing your feet on the paver but not before you had a bit of a shower!

Taps did not necessarily turn righty-tighty / lefty-loosey. Some were righty-loosey and lefty-tighty which did cause some minor frustrations.

At the Lodge Cottage, Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) the toilet was in the upstairs bathroom. There was a raised trim at the back of the cistern. It just happened to coincide where the toilet seat rested when you lifted it up. This meant the seat, when put up, was leaning forward and would not stay up but crash down.
Doesn’t seem like much of a problem until you try to go. Men presumably only have to hold it up during the process. Women - well use your imagination. No matter how quickly you got prepared you couldn’t sit before the lid closed.

The BnB in Henley had a lovely outdoor area but we couldn’t open the door to go out. After contacting the host we were told not to push the handle down to open but to lift it up. Silly us!

Learned a couple of the backgrounds to sayings we all use.

We saw the world’s largest collection of ‘Dole Cupboards’ at Haddon Hall. These were conveniently placed for the workers and the poor to take excess food and leftover items left for them by the owners of the estates. It is thought to be where the modern term ‘on the dole’ (receiving assistance) came from.

‘Paint the town red’ is said to have become a popular term after a group of inebriated young men let loose with a can of red paint in a village which ended up with many red buildings.

‘Cost an arm and a leg’ is said to have come from a time when if you had a portrait painted it would cost considerably more to include arms and legs.

We have had many discussions with other hosts in Australia regarding whether to have a top sheet under the doona at the BnB. Only one out of the six BnB’s we stayed at in the UK had a top sheet. All the others only provided a doona. I think, at our BnB in Benalla, we will continue to offer doona only (with a top sheet available in the bedroom cupboard) unless we are aware the guests are elderly in which case we will make up with a top sheet.

We stayed at Adderbury in the Cotswolds which was near Aynho where Harry and Megan were staying. They have just moved back from the US. Shame we didn’t run into them.

The historic property, Newby Hall was a favourite with lovely gardens and interior. Apart from King Charle’s Highgrove it was the only other place we could not take photos inside. They had also run out of guide books as it was the end of their season. Bit disappointing and a great contrast to Sudeley Castle in the Cotswolds. Candice had pre-booked a tour at Sudely. When we arrived I did the normal thing and purchased a guidebook. At the end of our tour we were given a showbag each which contained a guidebook. Now we had three! Tried to offload in the cafe - one chap was a relative of the owners with a direct ancestral lineage to (I think) Edward VI and had plenty. Others had their own so we left 2 copies in the BnB.

I took a (Uniqlo) T shirt to wear when relaxing in the BnBs. We were shopping in Harrods for a new coffee mug for Bev when Candice realised the pattern on one mug was just like my T shirt. The T shirt became my ‘mug’ top as did any striped top I had!Les mer