Lacock Abbey

So, as promised, here are my photos from Lacock Abbey on Monday.



The Abbey was founded in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury who was the wife of William Longspee, the illegitimate son of Henry II. William was one of the signatories to the Magna Carta and so Lacock Abbey had one of the original copies signed by King John. It is currently housed in the British Museum.

The Abbey, which was Augustinian, prospered in the middle ages, earning it’s living from the wool trade. It housed between 15 and 25 nuns, but there were a larger number of lay sisters. However, the Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII was part of his dissolution of the monasteries and in 1539 it was sold to Sir William Sharington, who transformed it into a family home. He preserved the medieval cloisters, sacristy, chapter house and many of the other medieval rooms, although the refectory and dormitory were converted to normal rooms. This is the sacristy…



Sharington added a 3 story tower in Italian Renaissance style and build a stable courtyard with a brewery and bakehouse.



In the 19th century Lacock Abbey was home to William Henry Fox Talbot. The photographers amogst you may know that in 1835 he created the first photographic negative. It was a view of an oriel window on the south side of the abbey (the large window on the right in this photo).



More recently Lacock is best known as the place where the cloister scenes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were filmed.







In these cloisters some of the original medieval wall paintings still survive. This one is of St Andrew & St Christopher.



There were also some medieval floor tiles.



As well as going round the Abbey I also had another wander round the village (you may recall that I posted some photos that Chris & took when we were there last December, but when nothing was open). This time the 13th century Tithe Barn was open…





Those are just a sample of the photos I took. If you want to see them all they are on Flickr: here.

Hope little girl

Time for a bit of a catch up, as quite a lot has been happening.

First of all Chris’ Mum & Dad had a week’s holiday in Bournemouth, so we had them, my Dad & Pat over for lunch one day. Fortunately it was before the weather turned too wet so we sat out in the garden & chatted, and I did a large salad spread for lunch. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the 2 sets of parents met up the following day (Dad took Ann & John out into the New Forest and then back to Mudeford Quay).

We have also had Mark and Katja round for dinner (that was last week). It was so nice to see them again after all this time. We had a lovely evening chatting (it was as though we’d only seen them a short time before – we just seemed to pick up where we left off). Dinner went down ok. I did Thai Fishcakes, followed by a Malaysian Thai Curry with rice & stirfry veg, then a summer fruit and mascarpone dessert.

On the decorating front the kitchen is finished. And yesterday we finally ordered the new floor covering (which I have been meaning to do since I first re-decorated the kitchen in March 2000 !). We’ve also ordered new flooring for our en suite bathroom, and carpet for one of the bedrooms (which I plan to decorate next). I’ve still got to get new blinds for both the kitchen & bathroom. After I finished the kitchen I started decorating the main guest room (which Chris normally sleeps in). This is one of the rooms we’ve never decorated, so I’ve had to strip wallpaper, which has meant scrubbing the paste of the walls so we can paint them. And one of the walls was in a really bad condition under the paper, so took a lot of filling. Anyway, it’s now coming along nicely, although is taking 2 coats of while on the walls followed by 3 coats of colour! And the woodwork was grey, so I’m having to cover that well as I’m painting it white. I’ll move onto the 2nd guest room next – the only remaining room in the house which hasn’t been decorated since we moved in (in 1993!). But then it had been newly decorated and was quite nicely done in blue & white.

On the dog front, it was Max’s first birthday last Friday.

Of course, he had presents, which Jez had to help open…





Once opened he seemed to like them…







Chris gave them a blueberry muffin at lunchtime



And I made a Victoria sandwich which we all had later. Here are a couple more photos of the 2 of them, and a couple of Max on his afternoon walk.









And so onto Jez. Her left hind leg was getting worse, so a week last Monday I took her to the vet. He referred her on to her orthopaedic vet and we went to see him on Monday. She was booked in for a consultation and an operation. However, when we saw the vet he said there was nothing wrong with her patella at all (ie her knee wasn’t slipping). Rather, she has damaged her cruciate ligament. She had an Xray and a further examination when she was under the anaesthetic and so relaxed. He doesn’t know if it’s just strained or partially torn. For now though he’s not going to operate as it may not be needed. So he’s leaving her on her anti-inflamatory meds and as referred her for physiotherapy. I was interested to find out that Chartered Animal Physiotherapists have to first quality as a human physio (4 years) then have to do a further 2 years training in animal physio on top of that. The woman he suggested actually treats both humans and animals. I’m not sure yet whether her vet will arrange an appointment with her (as she’s in Bournemouth so about 7 miles away), or with the person they normally use who is in the New Forest and so further away. Meanwhile we have to take her for lead walks to build up her muscles so that they support the ligament and let it heal (although she is very muscular), and stop her running around like a maniac and playing with Max. The latter is not the easiest of tasks, although at least the episodes of play are sporadic throughout the day, so we just have to step in to stop them when they start.

As for me, well my hip and lower back has been quite bad, so I went to the doctor. He confirmed that it is almost certainly caused by falling oestrogen levels as a result of the menopause. I too am taking anti-inflammatories (which seem to be easing it) and have been referred for physiotherapy. The bets are on as to whether my or Jez’s physio appointment comes through first.

Lastly, which Jez was at the vet’s in Devizes, I took the opportunity to go back to Lacock and to go round the medieval Abbey there. I haven’t quite finished tweaking the photos, so I will post them separately.

All the days of my life

I know, I know, I haven’t written for ages. It’s not that I don’t have the time either – I seem to spend hours either on Twitter or playing computer games (those silly little puzzle ones). But I still think its also a measure of how far I have come, in that I don’t feel the need to write on here anymore. Things may not be perfect in my life, but they are a damned sight better than they were.

I realised very recently thought that I can still get upset by internet communications. I can easily take things personally when they are not directed at me, and it’s easy to mis-interpret what others say. And then I get all upset, and over what. Most probably something (if it’s anything at all and not my imagination) that has nothing to do with me. And part of it is that the internet lulls you into a feeling that you know someone, when in fact you don’t know them at all. And that really doesn’t help.

But enough of that. The reason I decided to write today was a feeling I have last night. I believe I am coming to the point where I have finally left work, and all the upset it caused me, behind. I still don’t like to think about it too much, but it definitely feels like it’s firmly in the past. Which is good, as perhaps soon I will be ready to move on. I have been thinking about volunteering to help with a local dog rescue charity. And it was thinking about that, and the skills that I may have to offer them, that led to the surprise feeling about the matter that I had last night. Thinking about what I used to do, the positions I held and my level of seniority I found that I couldn’t believe it was the same person as me. I found myself asking ‘How did I manage that? I am just not that good at anything.’ (And I’m not trying to put myself down here, just stating what I see to be the facts.) I had to question whether I had just managed to rise to the level of my own incompetence (like many others I came across). Certainly for a while in Edinburgh it seemed that I was totally incompetent. But so many times when I worked with people whom I valued, many in very senior positions in what is a very large banking & insurance group, they valued my skills and abilities and trusted my opinions. I was known to get things done. But like I say, that seems like a different person – I can’t believe that was me. It is a very strange feeling.

Oh well, moving on. Not a huge amount has been happening. I have re-decorated the kitchen and finally painted all the internal doors. Now I am about to start on the second bedroom (which has entailed first clearing out the 3rd bedroom). Max has settled in really well and has turned into a very nice dog. He’s still a great big dopey lump though! He will be a year old in just over a week. Jez remains the little sweetheart-terror she has always been. She just breaks my heart most days: partly because she is so independent and won’t allow any shows of affection (no hugs), and partly because her left knee is really playing up. She is on new meds, but we have to restrict her walks and she is often very stiff and clearly in pain. She won’t be two until September. All we can do is try and make her life as interesting and comfortable as possible. She and Max get on really well though, and it’s great to see how happy he makes her.

Oh well, better get on. Poop to scoop and a bedroom to clear out.