We had a lovely week last week. Lee took a week off work and we had our first "staycation". I can honestly say it was more relaxing than any holidays ever! No packing, no rushing, excellent food and the bed was really comfortable. Plus, no extra washing when it was over.

We visited Northamptonshire food show at Holdenby House and managed to scoff lots of lovely stuff. Weight watchers went out of the window as did all thoughts of vegetarianism as we tucked into a roast pork baguette with all the trimmings from the hog roast stand! The weather was glorius and the kids had a great time tasting free samples and conning us out of ice creams. We even managed a tour around the house. Something I've often thought about doing having driven passed it on my way to work many times. It felt really wierd walking around someones stately home that they clearly still enjoy living in. I felt like an intruder. The Lowther family with their four kids live there. The large flat screen TV and various boxes plus remotes looked so out of place in surrounded by the magnificance of potraits and wood panelling, but oddly comforting that the room was still a home. There were modern family photos all around and the music grade exam certificates in frames on a bureau in the hall, just like normal people lol. And the dogs were shut in the kitchen, wondering who all these people were walking in straight lines around the edge of the rooms in their house.
Later in the week we visited Stanwick lakes with some friends. Elijah started off the day quite afraid of their dogs (I, however, just cant stand their dirty brown noses, bottoms and eyes, yeuch!) but by the end of the day had been converted:

Saturday we went to the Moreton in Marsh country show where the sun shone, we had a lovely picnic and purused all things chicken mainly. We even found ourselves being asked questions by random strangers in the chicken tent about chicken keeping! We have learned an awful lot about chickens and how to keep them since we got them, but I didnt realise that strangers could tell :-) Our friends have all teased us about how much we know about chickens these days, and how often they come into the conversation lol. A thoroughly lovely day was had by all and yet more ice cream was consumed en masse!