Friday 4 February
Carol, Dawn, Janice, Jeanette, Linda, Sally, Sue, Siobhan, Trisha, Wendy
It had been an eventful start to this weekend away with our original airbnb host at Market Rasen cancelling on us with just one week's notice.
So after a mad evening with all of us looking for accommodation we found a suitably large place at Barrow upon Trent and we were able to continue with our arrangements.
Then we had an equally mad experience trying to check in to our new accommodation!.. 😁
My satnav announced that I had arrived so I drove past the gate house, up the long tree lined drive, past the tall beech hedge and parked up outside the grand looking house. Very posh I thought. Sue was already there, parked up and ready to go. The owner had told us that we could have an early check in and that the house would be unlocked and just to let ourselves in and give him a ring to say we'd arrived.
So in we went.
It was an impressive looking house with a large hallway, two staircases, large rooms with panelled walls and an air of faded, shabby gentility.
As we walked round we noticed that the beds weren't made and that there were dusters, mops and buckets lying around so we assumed that we had interrupted the cleaning/preparation process. As the house was cold Sue followed the instructions on the wall and turned on the heating and I tried to phone the owner but there was no answer.
There was another landline number so I then rang that and it was answered by an Asian lady with poor English so we tried to communicate for a few minutes (much to Sue's amusement!) and I gave her my phone number to send to her son.
Further info on the board said to go to the bungalow at the back for any assistance so off we wandered to knock on their door - which was answered by..
.. an Asian lady with poor English..😂
We all looked at each other. Then the woman - who had probably had enough of us already - gestured back towards the side of the big house so we started to amble back to where we thought she was sending us. Within seconds she appeared at our side, having popped her coat on, to steer us over the grass to what we thought was just a wall. Hidden in the corner were some steps down into a small courtyard where we could see the entrance way to another house. She pointed and waved her arms at the door to shoo us in through it. The penny dropped. It was our accommodation - the coach house!
Once we realised that we'd been in the wrong accommodation we scuttled back to switch off the central heating in the big house..🤣
So after much misunderstanding we were finally in the right place..😂
This was the original airbnb pic..
..and this was the main house..
.. all one long building with this bit in-between..
.. the sticking out bit was actually the left hand side (as you look at it on the pic) of our accommodation and visible on the left hand side of the airbnb pic. Sort of the down stroke of a T if that makes sense - with a courtyard on either side.
We were actually booked to be staying in the Hill Coach house so that should have been the clue..🤣 and once we'd worked where we were we could see the arches of the original stables and carriage stores in the two courtyards.
The owner rang back to check that we were ok and said he'd call round shortly. 'See you later then' I said 'and umm.. perhaps you might like to call in at the main house to make sure that the heating is turned off' 🤣
The rest of the schoolies started to arrive and we had the usual chaos of greetings and bags and food and bottles and bedrooms!
A short while later the owner came round to show us where things were - and to tell us that he'd turned off the hot water in the main house 😁
Quite a start to our break but at least we'd not begun to unpack our bags, fill the fridges and make the beds.
Our accommodation was just what we needed with bedrooms on each floor and plenty of space.
The house was upside down with the kitchen, dining room and a small lounge upstairs so we were able to make the most of the views and see the beautiful sunset across the fields.
We also had a view across to the power station where Carol's Dick worked many years ago.
The only downside of kitchen etc being on the first floor was having to lug all the machines, materials and copious craft works up the stairs..😅
After a delicious meal of quiche, jacket potatoes and salad followed by apple crumble with cream and/or custard we spent a leisurely evening catching up, reminiscing and chatting about what we would be making the following day.
The day dawned clear, cold and bright so Sue and I went for a short early morning walk to catch the sunrise.
Some interesting fungi on the trees along the drive.
There were still traces of the original layout of the formal gardens to the house with conical stones set to some sort of entrance at the side of the house, ornate railings, faded mosaic walkways and beautiful beds of snowdrops.
We had a leisurely fried breakfast prepared by Janice and Sue which we enjoyed with Sally who arrived for the day. There was a little hatch between the kitchen and dining room - very handy apart from the fact that Janice managed to whack her head on it as she peered through..🙄
Once breakfast was finished we started to fill the long table with sewing machines and craft materials.
There were so many fabrics (thanks Siobhan!) that we gave them the small lounge next door to themselves - and everyone was able to sift through and sort out what they wanted for their various projects.
Dawn who was not at all interested in crafting was content to sit and make her own entertainment (I won't put your snoozing pic on Dawn..😂) - and she bobbed in and out to make us cups of tea and offer cake - so everyone was happy!
Another day of bright sunshine alternating with sharp, vicious rain showers and a smattering (well battering!) of hailstones thrown in for good measure!
A lighter breakfast as we were going out for lunch. Then more crafting for those who wanted to.
We had a shuffle round of the cars so that we could be driven to the pub for lunch as the weather was too unpredictable for the short canal walk.
A lovely meal but none of us could manage dessert so we came back to our accommodation for tea and cake instead - we found that we could manage that lol.
Those who were leaving began to pack up ready for their journeys home.
We made sure to take pics of their finished work before they went.
.. and we made one for Dawn too as a thank you for looking after us while we all worked.
Siobhan and Trisha had decided to stay for the night so Trisha and Jeanette decided to do more improv quilting.
As they'd already made book covers they made padded table mats from their fabrics this time. Siobhan and Sue showed them how to trim their edgings with binding - and the finished results looked fab!
