A post-twins holiday
Dec. 10th, 2002 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lathanyThe weekend marked a much-anticipated holiday, my first this year. (The last holiday was in June 2001, when I fell down the stairs of our holiday home - a grade 1 listed building - the day I found out I was pregnant.)
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bateleur and I drove up to Cambridge and dumped Ryan and Beatrice with their doting grandparents then headed over to Suffolk for a long weekend.
The car journey was rather unpleasant. Getting from Feltham to the M4 took an hour (instead of the usual fifteen minutes), so after that we had the problems of the rush hour traffic. However the twins were great and did not complain throughout the three-and-a-half hour journey until we were within ten minutes of arriving at Harston (my parents' village).
On abandoning Ryan and Beatrice to a weekend of being spoilt, we carried on towards Suffolk. I already felt much lighter and more cheerful and just happy to be free of baby duty.
We found the hotel with no difficulty and were shown inside to our room. It was large, white and had a four-poster bed. Best of all, it had a big, deep bath with an endless supply of hot water (I think I had five long baths in three days). The sort of bath thatfloralaetifica and Alistair Jackson would approve of ! Also all of the hotel itself was kept warm - a great advantage when the temperature dropped to near freezing on the Sunday.
The resturant description (given on the website) was one of the main reasons for us chosing the hotel. Fortunately, we were not disappointed. My favourites included Broccoli and Roquefort Soup, Chocolate Brownies with Black Pepper Icecream and Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs (the last was from the extensive breakfast menu).
We spent Saturday walking around Long Melford. The village is roughly four miles long and has ten (or possibly more) antiques shops. It is also the sort of village which does not shrink from cliche when it comes to cottage names ! There is a pottery on the high street and I bought a green and pink vase (which I was assured was made on the premises). Neither of us could manage any lunch after the four-course meal and cooked breakfast so we settled for having coffee and a mince pie at a coffee shop (which was tucked away upstairs in an antiques shop).
Sunday morning we drove to Clare to look at the castle ruins there. The ruins were really just a wall, but the view was good despite the fog and haze which was around. Clare was very quiet, only a few pubs and the inevitable antiques shops were open; so after wandering around in the cold we returned to Long Melford. Sunday afternoon we walked up the drive to Kentwell Hall. The Hall itself was shut but we felt we had to take a look before we left, just to see where some of our friends (ie.floralaetifica and metame) had disappeared to each year !
Monday we travelled back to Cambridge to collect two cheerful twins and rescue an exhausted granny. It was sunny, which presented driving difficulties forbateleur, but meant that I could take a few photos without having a misty, foggy background.
This morning my life has returned to normal - I have rung the doctor and re-arranged the twins MMR jab for next week and, as I type, the plumber is fixing the pipes to the washing machine. However, after the holiday, it all seems much easier to deal with. Besides, in another nine days,bateleur and I will be heading back to babysitter (grandparent) land for Christmas.
bateleur and I drove up to Cambridge and dumped Ryan and Beatrice with their doting grandparents then headed over to Suffolk for a long weekend.The car journey was rather unpleasant. Getting from Feltham to the M4 took an hour (instead of the usual fifteen minutes), so after that we had the problems of the rush hour traffic. However the twins were great and did not complain throughout the three-and-a-half hour journey until we were within ten minutes of arriving at Harston (my parents' village).
On abandoning Ryan and Beatrice to a weekend of being spoilt, we carried on towards Suffolk. I already felt much lighter and more cheerful and just happy to be free of baby duty.
We found the hotel with no difficulty and were shown inside to our room. It was large, white and had a four-poster bed. Best of all, it had a big, deep bath with an endless supply of hot water (I think I had five long baths in three days). The sort of bath that
floralaetifica and Alistair Jackson would approve of ! Also all of the hotel itself was kept warm - a great advantage when the temperature dropped to near freezing on the Sunday.The resturant description (given on the website) was one of the main reasons for us chosing the hotel. Fortunately, we were not disappointed. My favourites included Broccoli and Roquefort Soup, Chocolate Brownies with Black Pepper Icecream and Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs (the last was from the extensive breakfast menu).
We spent Saturday walking around Long Melford. The village is roughly four miles long and has ten (or possibly more) antiques shops. It is also the sort of village which does not shrink from cliche when it comes to cottage names ! There is a pottery on the high street and I bought a green and pink vase (which I was assured was made on the premises). Neither of us could manage any lunch after the four-course meal and cooked breakfast so we settled for having coffee and a mince pie at a coffee shop (which was tucked away upstairs in an antiques shop).
Sunday morning we drove to Clare to look at the castle ruins there. The ruins were really just a wall, but the view was good despite the fog and haze which was around. Clare was very quiet, only a few pubs and the inevitable antiques shops were open; so after wandering around in the cold we returned to Long Melford. Sunday afternoon we walked up the drive to Kentwell Hall. The Hall itself was shut but we felt we had to take a look before we left, just to see where some of our friends (ie.
floralaetifica and metame) had disappeared to each year !Monday we travelled back to Cambridge to collect two cheerful twins and rescue an exhausted granny. It was sunny, which presented driving difficulties for
bateleur, but meant that I could take a few photos without having a misty, foggy background.This morning my life has returned to normal - I have rung the doctor and re-arranged the twins MMR jab for next week and, as I type, the plumber is fixing the pipes to the washing machine. However, after the holiday, it all seems much easier to deal with. Besides, in another nine days,
bateleur and I will be heading back to babysitter (grandparent) land for Christmas.
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no subject
Date: 2002-12-10 05:40 am (UTC)Where were you staying?
no subject
Date: 2002-12-10 05:53 am (UTC)It overlooks the main green in Long Melford, near Melford Hall. It is one of the closest pubs to Kentwell.
no subject
Date: 2002-12-10 10:46 am (UTC)Um, not implying that you don't usually or anything, just that in Bath and with the big tub and oh I'm stopping
now