Basildon Park, a NT house.

A few Sundays ago, I decided to visit one of the National Trust property's that is fairly local to where I live but have never managed to get there. Basildon Park is a beautiful house and it has an amazing past, most of which I'd fairly recent.

During the war, the building was used by the armed forces. It was left in a very bad state of repair when hostilities ceased and the house was put up for sale. The house and estate was purchased by Lord and Lady Iliffe and they both set out to restore the house back to its former glory. Lord and Lady Iliffe owned national newspapers and so had the funds to refurbish the house.

With the refurbishment, the house took on a homely feel as that is exactly what it became, a home. Lord and Lady Iliffe lived here and enjoyed the house to its fullest. As can be seen from the kitchen images, it was very much home and the owners liked to entertain.

The kitchen is fitted very much to the era when it was installed, during the 1950's. Many of the items in the kitchen will be recognised by many people.

This is a great place to visit and the house was lived in by Lady Iliffe until her death in 2007. Once the house had been fully refurbished, Lord and Lady Iliffe handed over the house and grounds to the National Trust with a large endowment in 1978, although both continued to live there until their respective deaths.

 

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Cunard's Queen Elizabeth

A wonderful day yesterday at the Eastern Docks in Southampton. A tour and lunch on board this amazing ship with great friends and it was so good to be able to see areas of the ship that would normally be off limits, such as the Queen Staterooms, off limits simply because they would be occupied during a cruise, and not by me!

We were shown every part of the ship and it really is amazing when you see a full size theatre with boxes on board a ship! Not only that, there was a ballroom, many restaurants, bars, lounges, all for the comfort of the passengers. I know from being on a transatlantic crossing last year on the Queen Mary 2, a cruise is very relaxing.

The inside of the ship is as you would expect, wonderfully over the top and everything there for the comfort of the passengers. The staterooms are wonderfully appointed from the inside ones to the larger ones with everything and more.

This is the Royal Court Theatre and below, the lounge area of a Queen Stateroom.

Below is a balcony stateroom.

Being on board certainly whetted my appetite to book a cruise and I am sure one will be booked soon!

 

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Views of Old Windsor

Windsor has two parts, Old Windsor and New Windsor, although New Windsor is usually known simply as Windsor. Windsor has the Castle and is known for its association with the Royal Family. Old Windsor was actually in place before New Windsor as a Saxon settlement and was the home of Saxon Kings. I am not sure if there are any remains of the Saxon settlements but items would have been found that confirm the existence of these settlements.

There are a few islands in the river along this part of Old Windsor and these would have been easier to defend during this period. Now Old Windsor consists of residential homes and is a place that most people drive through. However, it is a great place to live and being so close to the river Thames, the is always something happening.

 

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Frogmore House and Gardens

I am lucky to live in a small town in Berkshire that has many attractions, not least the favourite home of Her Majesty The Queen. Some of the attractions though are not as well known as the Castle and Frogmore House is one of those gems. It is only open for two weekends a year, the reason for this? It is the private garden used by the Royal Family when they are in residence at the Castle. It is also the final resting place of many members of the Royal Family.

The house was renovated many years ago and the inside is the same as if Queen Victoria's mother, The Duchess of Kent, had gone out for a drive in a carriage. It really is beautiful inside and well worth visiting.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert have their final resting place in the gardens in the Royal Mausoleum and for many years you were able to go in and pay your respects to the longest reigning British monarch and her husband. However for the past few years, the mausoleum has been closed as part of the roof has started to fall into the main part of the building.

Many recent members of the Royal Family are buried in the Royal Burial Ground, including the Duke and Duchess of Kent, their son in law, Sir Angus Ogilvy. Also the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and their son, Prince William of Gloucester. Also present are the remains of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

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Las Vegas

I went to Las Vegas for the first time this month. I was there for four days and wasn't sure what to expect, although many friends have been and said it really is a great place to be. My first impressions were not good, the city seemed to be dirty and there were numerous hen and stag parties, drinking at 4pm etc.

However as time went on, the place started to grow on me and once the lights came on each evening, the city took on a magical feel. Everything glistened as every surface was covered in lights and the place seemed to buzz.

Streetlights seemed irrelevant as night turned into day once dusk arrived. The glamour that Las Vegas was and is famous for then could be seen, ladies in their finery, great restaurants, high end shops, all the names being in the city. I have never been anywhere where there is a Louis Vuitton on literally every corner!

The main attraction in the city is the hotels, they are masterpieces in a Disneyesque kind of way. But it works there, Caesars Palace was superb, the interior was amazing and just when you think it can't get any better, it does. The Wynn and the Bellagio were sumptuous, nothing has been spared to give both hotels the most luxurious feel, although to stay there you would simply be a number.

So

So love it or hate it, everyone has to go to Las Vegas and experience it for themselves. Would I go back? The answer is yes!

 

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Sedona AZ

I have recently returned from Sedona in Arizona. It really was a magical place to be, although most of the retail space was given over to healing and holistic premises and this was the theme in Sedona. I didn't try any of the treatments on offer but I think if I were to go back to the area, I would do.

This was one of the areas on the road trip from San Francisco to Phoenix that I found the one plant I wanted to see and that was the cactus. I saw many in this area although not the variety I wanted to see. The one elusive plant I wanted to see was the cactus that features in the Wild West, the desperate Dan type of cactus. I only saw this on the way to Phoenix Airport.

The flowers these plants display are quite amazing, the colours are so vivid, especially against the harsh backdrop of the desert. These colours though pale into insignificance once the sun hits the red rock of the formations around Sedona. The red soil is amazing and has to be seen.

The soil is also red in the town and area and although it must be a difficult substance to grow plants etc, the roses in the town looked amazing. That really surprised me as Sedona is classified as high desert and the last thing I expected to see was roses!

Finally, the sunsets in Sedona were superb, the vivid colours blew me away.

 

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Test

 

 

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Yosemite National Park

I am currently in California on vacation and one place I wanted to visit was Yosemite National Park, mainly because I wanted to experience the amazing sights this area has to offer.

I wasn't disappointed with any aspect of the park. Firstly the accommodation was excellent, I chose a river view room and it came complete with a kitchenette and the room itself was very spacious with a balcony and furniture so you could enjoy the sound of the fast flowing river with a coffee.

The sights of El Capitan and the amazing waterfalls were simply breathtaking, it was difficult for the brain to accept what the eyes were seeing. Indeed the only way to confirm this was to look back at the photographs taken, some of which I have included here.

With the above falls, you can walk to where the water hits the ground and get covered with its spray. It really is a great experience to see so much water hitting the ground. The force of the falls only gets greater with the more snow melt that will no doubt follow as the park warms up.

El Capitan looked stunning in the morning sunshine, I would love to know how many photos of the peak are taken each day, it most number thousands! Here is one more............

The scenery around both the falls and the peak was stunning at every turn. This made the park so enjoyable. There is still so much to see and I'm sure this will it be my only visit.

 

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Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC 1925-2013

The UK lost one of its greatest Prime Ministers today with the passing of Margaret Thatcher. She was a force to be reckoned with and did something that her predecessors did not do, she stood up for her country. She inherited a country that lacked order and general pride in itself and over a number of years, she restored that pride.

Not only did Baroness Thatcher shape the UK, she also did other things such as the cleaning of all public buildings, the ending of currency controls, people forget that only thirty years, if you went in holiday outside the UK, you could only take £50 in foreign currency!

The Baroness also kept the Falkland Islands British, at the request of the islanders. She stood up against the unions and that is something that will be her legacy, along with enabling the ordinary people to become shareholders and also to own their own homes. Britain became a share owning, home owning society, which it still is. One reform that was reversed was the Poll Tax, something that was very fair so that everyone paid their way for the public services they used.

When the Baroness left Downing Street in 1990, she became a peer, she was recognised by The Queen as she was given the Order of the Garter and also became a member of the Order of Merit. Both in the gift of the Monarch.

In "retirement" the Baroness became frail and required round the clock care. Although she was either loved and loathed, the one thing the Baroness was and always will be, is the greatest peacetime Prime Minister the UK has ever had.

RIP Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, Lady of the Garter, Order of Merit, Privy Counsellor, Member of Parliament, First Lord of the Treasury.

 

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The Jewels of HRH The Duchess of Windsor

One word that goes hand in hand with HRH The Duchess of Windsor is JEWELS. The Duchess collected an amazing array of jewellery in her lifetime, most purchased by the Duke and presented to the Duchess. If the Duke could to make her Queen, he ensured that the Duchess looked every inch a Queen.

One of the first pieces given to the Duchess, before their marriage, was this bracelet to which the Duke would add crosses of precious stones. This is something the Duchess loved to wear.

One of the Duchesses favourite jewellers was Cartier, they produced some stunning pieces for her and created her range of animal jewellery such as the panthers.

At most functions the Royal Pair attended, the Duchess would be ablaze with jewels, no other lady could touch the Duchess when it came to jewellery.

Although estranged from her husbands family, the Duchess did have the same love of jewels that indeed the Dukes mother, Queen Mary, also had. Both women would have had so much to talk about as Queen Mary would wear an amazing amount of jewellery at any one time.

Pearls have been always been a staple of the royal ladies and the Duchess was no exception. This set was a favourite of the Duchess and worn frequently.

The flamingo brooch was also another favourite and was a statement piece the Duchess loved to wear.

The Duchesses jewels were her legacy as they were all sold, apart from a few personal bequests, mainly to the Kent branch of the Royal Family, at an auction, raising millions for medical research.

 

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