Last week, we rented a holiday cottage, the "Old Estate Room", in the idyllic little village of Alstonfield in the Peak District.
Our cottage was part of a B&B called Alstonfield Manor. This was the manor house.
The village was tiny, consisting of not much besides an charming old pub and an old Parish Church.
Almost every morning we strapped Olive into the sling and walked down the valley to walk along the river Dove.
A sample of the local wildlife!
On the nicer days, we enjoyed many rambles in the lovely Derbyshire countryside although Olive didn't have to do much walking!
We worked up a real appetite!
We often stopped by the George for a bite to eat (and pints of Marstons bitter!), after wrapping the sling around Olive's waist a dozen times, she was able to join us at the table like a big girl! That lasted about 5 minutes!
On the 30th, Papa celebrated his Birthday and had a nice little cuddle! Olive would have baked him a yummy cake but we were a little limited in the kitchen. Instead he had a nice pint from the pub up the road, the George!
During the week, we had plenty of quality time for Olive Mum and Dad!
We also did a bit of exploring. There are several stately homes in the area but the grandest is Chatsworth House.
OK History lesson! Chatsworth is a beautiful old stately home originally built by the 1st Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish (1640-1707) on land awarded to him for his role in the accession of William of Orange to the throne of England in 1689. It was also the home of the Duchess of Devonshire as featured in that movie starring Kiera Spamface. But most importantly, it was the house name for Tom's class at Chiswick secondary school!!!
On one of the rainier days we drove to Castleton, a town famous for their Blue John mines. We did some spelunking in Treak Cliff Cavern and saw some VERY old stalactites and stalagmites.
All-in-all it was a wonderful holiday! The town, the cottage, the pub, the peaks!...All perfect!
Sunday, we braved the car journey and took a trip into London for Sunday lunch at the Chelsea Arts Club. Joining us there, were our friends Emma and Stewart and their handsome little son, Henry. (Note to self: I really must occationally point the camera at something other than babies!) We had a fab lunch and it was great to be back at the CAC. We have vowed to do this more often. It was particularly successful as we were able to lay a blanket on the ground and let the babies have a roll/thump about. Olive thumped, Henry rolled.
Clever boy!
Come on Olive! Don't look so coy. Get rolling!
Get Rolling? Who's that taking my picture I can't ruddy concentrate!
