We had a prebooked visit to Waddesdon Manor today. The car park is a long way from the house, and they don’t allow dogs on the shuttle bus, so it was a long trek to get there in the wind:

Eventually, the house came into view through the trees:

Most of the house surroundings are more “park like” than formal gardens, but there was a pretty aviary:

This is the front of the house (closed, of course!):

The formal gardens in front of the house were not dog friendly:

But Rocco was very patient (particularly as he’d been on the lead since we arrived):

We then explored a path in the woods, where he did get a chance to let off steam. Not sure of the sculpture though!

Down the hill was The Stables, a pretty building converted to a cafe:

We then followed another “Woodland Walk”, with odd sculptures on the way:

Neither of us was convinced that this was a reindeer…

Following a spot of lunch, it was the long trek back to the car and home. An interesting day, and we must return when everything is open.

Bernwood Forest used to be a royal hunting forest that covered a lot of the local area. All that is left now is a section managed by Forestry England.

There are lots of dog friendly paths and geocaches there, so we joined Gemma and Paddy for a walk there:

Rocco was in heaven with an infinite supply of sticks, mud and water.

Gemma and Paddy did really well at spotting the geocaches:

There were a wide variety of different paths and habitats:

All too soon, it was time for lunch:

We explored a different part of the forest in the afternoon; this had many large anthills:

And more lovely paths:

Rocco really did enjoy himself:

A lovely day, helped by really nice weather!

A rather damp day today, so it was a good choice to be mainly indoors here… And it’s dog friendly (though Rocco wasn’t particularly interested for some reason):There is a large indoor arena with older carriages and stock on display:And more stuff outside in various states of disrepair:

We then had a short ride on a steam train (the first time I’ve been on a train this year!):

Part of the station showed a livestock platform, with a creative cattle truck:

This platform is on an existing Network Rail (goods) line:

Across the footbridge was another yard and museum:

This area was once part of the Metropolitan Line, so the museum had various ‘underground’ exhibits:

Back outside, a real train came through:

All in all, an interesting place!

Rocco still needed a walk this evening, so we waited until the next shower had passed and had a stroll around Ludgershall (the village we are in).

A nice rainbow just outside our barn:

And further on, an impressive double rainbow (shame about the wires!):

The village is quite spread out – this is one of the fields in the middle of the village:

It was just a shame that the village pub doesn’t open on Tuesdays…

We drove to the next village south of the barn, Brill – we were originally going to walk, but the stiles on route were not very dog friendly, and had a stroll around the windmill and common.

Rocco ran up and down the slopes as if he’d not had a walk for a week and Tina did a sketch of the windmill.

We’d pre-booked lunch in the adjacent pub, The Pheasant. Average food, slow service and only one beer on (which then ran out!). We won’t be returning there…

Nice views from the garden though:

After lunch, we went for a proper walk. You can see a long way from a small hill when everything else is flat:

We did get caught in a shower, but before long, the sun returned and everything was steaming:

Then home for a welcome cup of tea…

Yet another lazy day in our tranquil barn and garden.

My brother and his dog came to visit us today – this was the first opportunity for us to meet (socially distanced of course) since Christmas.

The dogs certainly enjoyed playing with each other…

The weather has continued to be mixed, but with welcome sun in between the showers.

Rain forecast for today, but so far, it’s remained dry and quite a nice temperature compared to last week.

Rocco and I again struggled to find nice paths to walk on, so a lot of this morning’s walk was on road…

We went to the village pub for lunch, excellent food and beer, and friendly service!

After lunch, we found a geocache on the village green, then back to the barn for a peaceful afternoon.

A bit of a slow journey here, but not that long really.

The barn is really nice, almost a bit posh to be dog friendly!

Lovely gardens though, with plenty of outdoor seating.

We’re just enjoying our welcome Prosecco whilst waiting for Tesco to deliver our food and drink for the week!