Plenty of Colour....

A couple of Friday evenings ago I was preparing to head to the local Texas Holdem  poker tourney and was doing some chores like getting the fire set and a stockpile of  wood and coal inside the NB.
As I was about to close the front hatch I heard a Horn blaaassstt  and looking along the canal toward Banbury I spy the familiar colour and shape of NB Milly M..


About to tie up is....

"The Mafster". Maffi with Molly on the roof.. 0n his way back to Thrupp after his winter cruise which covered 600 odd miles.

So the poker night was abandoned and we frequented the close by GWA pub for an enjoyable couple of ales....

The next morning I looked across and saw Maffi about to move his boat forward. I walked across the road bridge and along the canal to learn he had dropped the handle from his pump out pump into the canal....

Using a......

Sea Searcher magnet and a boat hook we "fished" but to no avail...


Later in the morning......

Maffi set off toward Thrupp......


Previously we had visited Waddesdon Manor.. The home of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild.
That day the rain and wind were too much so we only got to see  the inner confines of the house.

A nice sunny day so I said to Leonie "get on the car" and soon the "race tuned Ford focus" was into gear.
I pulled a plug lead off No, 3 plug to restrict the horse power, slow the "motar," so we could travel more sedately and enjoy the Buckinghamshire countryside en route...

The large perfectly manicured grounds.....

Feature large flower beds that were just coming to their best....


And many.....

 Statues through out the grounds...

The Baron, like a lot of males, was keen on "Birds" so.....

He had built a rather "Trendy" ornate aviary.....

Nice detail....     No Plywood and Chicken netting here...

In the 4 part aviary complex a ........

 

Water feature is a must.... all those coins in the pond could be put to good use buying bird feed.....


The planting of a......

White garden in front of the aviary is a work of art completing the master piece......


Back in the garden.....

This large bird was completely planted over with flowers and will look awesome in a couple of weeks....

The House is very French Styled......

Clever As.....

And the gardens were showing magnificent colour....

Looking farther away there's walkways through the trees....

Clipping the hedges, bushes and trees must be never ending work....

After a very worthwhile visit it was back to....

How the Other Half live..... After the winter wet preparing the rear deck....Sanded back to bare metal...

For a coat of steel primer and then topcoat beneath the floor boards....

Old & New....

A couple of weeks ago we headed  North to the Rockingham Speedway track  to watch Spencer at his first race meeting, cars that is as he race professionally for Oxford on the speedway solo scene, and the first round of the season.

Race day was Sunday but we headed up Saturday to join the team. On the way we detoured to take a look at a National trust property and check out the old.

Canons Ashby was owned by the Dryden family. Walking through the house you get a real feel for how it was 3 - 4 hundred years ago.
From the outside the house looks a bit of a "Bitsa" in fact it's been visibly added to with three major additions from 1550 until the last in 1710 and that's how the inside remains until this day.

The centre oblong section was the first part of the house built and lived in...

 

 

From the inner courtyard the RH addition....

 

 

The garden and lawn area surrounded by stone walls...

The gates date from 1710....

This target on the stone wall was used to teach young men skills in shooting as men were the providers.....

 

Unusual window feature...

Fruit trees were trained along the stone walls in the espalier way... Used to increase the crop....

This "Large" Beech tree was here  200 yrs before the building ....

Across some garden within the walls  with the old priory church across the field......

Looking toward the Vege, garden...

One time entrance way was  into this great hall...

A bit "Gawdy" this fire place......

The bed spread was 300 yrs old, Chinese embroidery..... Large tapestries on the walls...

Original window frames, surrounds and catches...

"Spooky" a Princess in the mirror....

Apparently this hall was used to pace up and down for Exercise.....

The Grand National was on at Aintree... This one was a late scratching from the 4th....

What parts would you fit "In"  to wash in their??

Some wall linings were removed and original paintings were discovered.....

Down to the kitchen and servants dept,....

 

 

 

 In the basement pantry the spoils of the  shoot from the hours of practice on the target...

Dominos weren't the First.....

Kitchen utensils...

Any left overs chuck up here.....

Would have been the warmest place to work in the winter months....

Intercom....

And bells to let the servants know what room "The Arsehole" was calling from...

Wine cellar...

Even had a "Dark room" for developing film...

Light to see in the dark...

A servants room.. Not to Shabby I reckon... And the pay was OK too, about 4 shillings a month...

Onto the new.....

 The Rockingham raceway must have cost a zillion. It features an oval track around the perimeter, like Daytona for nascar racing, and several different circuit layouts through the centre.

The view of the whole circuit is awesome...

On the Saturday Spence returns from scrutineering with a smile.... it passed...

Vans loaded with Spares and....

Beers... Saturday evenging got pretty cold with a chilling wind.... But inside Johns camper me and Spence thought it quite cosy....

Time to feed the "A" team... Steve, Spencer and John....

The Race driver stopping drinking but for the rest it was the normal case of "telling him how to drive" and the Stories got Better....

And Better...

Leonie drove and we ventured home Saturday night then returned Sunday...

For his first ever drive in a race on a race circuit driving the car for the first time it went ok. A large field and beat six home..
The car was understeering and made the infield section tricky losing time on the corners.
In the second race his quickest lap was two seconds faster than in the first race so some achievement.

Onto the starting grid...

On the oval section.. Hit 115mph along here...

Not as cold as Saturday but the wind still blew.... This competitors gazebo over...

Parking it in line with the race cars...

All in all a couple of good fun days.....