February 2019 Part 1

We returned from Milan, to find that the cold of winter that we'd left behind, was un-surprisingly still here, although luckily, it seemed that the signs of spring were on their way. 

I continued to spend the dark evenings cooking, re-creating (albeit not amazingly) some of the tasty food we had in Italy, here was my attempts at a mixed Italian Charcuterie (Minus the olives on my plate. They are foul and evil. I also had a bad experience with one as a child. My dad offered me one, saying it was a grape, and to my horror as I bit into it, I discovered it was not only an olive, but one that had a piece of Jalapeno inside it. The trauma of it left deep scars in me as a ten year old, and I've never gotten over it) I also made a lasagne, which was bizarre as I absolutely love lasagne, yet had never made it before. 

I don't think I'll be getting a Michelin star anytime soon. And the only trouble with cooking is that it seems to generate so much washing up it's unreal. There were things that were dirty that I didnt even remember using!

I had a day up in London with James, my Mum and my mums Cousin Gail, and we went to Kensington palace for an exhibition that has some of the late Princess Diana's dress on display. There was a great selection of dresses on show, with the John Travolta dress being the most notable. There was also part of Kensington palace open as well, and it was nice to have a good look around inside, and to marvel at the beautiful rooms. There's something so fascinating about visiting famous palaces, to see how the upper class live. I like to think I was aristocrat in a previous life, but I highly doubt it. I think I've always been a peasant or gong farmer.

The stairwell was the real highlight, with the painted balcony taking my breath away as I came up the stairs, what a brilliant thing to paint as your ascending into a palace!

On my next day off, we headed over to Kingston Lacy. It was a cold but beautiful day, until the dark clouds started rolling in. We'd gone to see the snowdrops, which Kingston Lacy is famous for, we were a little bit too early, they weren't all quite in full bloom yet, but the ones we did see were splendid. We did have a lovely day out there though, exploring the gardens.

We also got to see the pigs who were out rummaging for tasty morsels.

There is also a nice little Japanese garden style area too, which was very peaceful.

With those dark clouds rolling in, we decided to head home, and we were lucky, because the torrential downpour that came after was of biblical proportions. It's a national trust property, so if you're a member, you get in for free, otherwise non members pay £19 (standard adult entry) which is a bit steep, especially as you cant always go in the house, as we couldn't that day, due to only a limited amount of visitors being allowed in each day. Which is a shame, but I understand. Currently, a years membership to the National Trust is £91.20 (£7.60 a month) Thats 4 visits to Kingston Lacy for example, (or other properties of a similar cost) and you've broken even. And if you're under 25, which sadly, I am no longer, its even cheaper!

Disclaimer: Having the National Trust membership does not guarantee you good weather!