Day 9 Erddig House

Woken by my personal alarm at 5:45. Sarah and Amelia took Tim to work and I walked Lachie up to school. The forecast was for rain, so there was no point in hanging out the washing. When Sarah returned we made lunch and set off for Erddig Hall in Wrexham, Wales (30 kms).

I managed to get a shot of the Wales border sign and we laughed some of the place names. The drive through Wales was beautiful. Slow rising very green hills, blossom trees were interspersed with the new growth of large old trees. Lots of sheep and some dairy herds too. Huge piles of manure outside the sheds. Yesterday we saw some manure being spread out on the paddocks.

Erddig Hall was in a stunning rural setting. The first section of the hall was built in 1684-7. The two wings were added in the 1720’s. The hall is grade 2 heritage listing, but the amazing garden is grade 1. One of the most important 18^th century gardens in Britain.

The 13.5 acre gardens around the house are just incredible, with some amazing examples of topiary and espaliered trees. It is a garden for all seasons. At the moment the daffodils, tulips, pansies, bulbs were in full bloom, but the lily of the valley, peony roses, roses, clematis, and iris were just beginning to bud.

The out buildings were also fascinating. The laundry reminded me of my gran’s place on a larger scale as did the kitchens. The hall/ house had some lovely rooms, but was on the dark side for conservation reasons. The views from the windows were fabulous, not just of the walled gardens but of the paddocks beyond. However the maids on the top floor had a wall in front of their window. Erddig was an amazing experience.

It takes 10 weeks to prune these lime trees.

We had morning tea in the café, which had a large selection of gf cakes and slices £12 for a pot of tea to share and a scone jam and cream for Sarah and I had a delicious lime and coconut cake. We ate our own lunch before we left. Amelia managed to enjoy standing and jumping in every puddle she could find. The weather held off until we were on our way back home, but the wind was so cold.

On the way home, I had my first experience at Sarah meeting a car coming towards us on a very narrow lane and she had to reverse back to a passing place. Amelia fell asleep in the car and then wanted to sleep on Sarah once we got inside, so I walked up and got Lachie from school. Tim got dropped off from work and then we all walked to the local pub- The Faulkner- for dinner. Lachie was really tired. The kids had pizza, Tim a pork belly and Sarah a cauliflower curry and I ordered the duck confit. The pork and curry were good, but my duck was so tough, it was almost impossible to cut. We went to Sainsbury’s for ice cream to take home and have. I found the lf tasty cheese I had last week. Great flavour.

After ice cream and bath I got to read Lachie his bed time stories and tonight after three published books he listened to my version of the five pigs (his choice) and as usual I almost fell asleep while telling it. Diary while watching TV but seeing that it is now 10:30, it will be another delayed email for the photos.