Biffsugar

Days Out - Lacock Abbey

We took a very cold Sunday trip to Lacock Abbey, a National Trust property near Chippenham.  

There were loads of Snowdrops to please me - real and otherwise.  They had a series of outdoor sculptures which was entitled "Frozen World". When I saw the sign for this I imagined they were going to be ice sculptures and as we walked around I kept waiting to see something made of ice - clearly I hadn't read the signs properly.

Lacock Abbey was once the home of William Henry Fox Talbot who contributed significantly to the invention of photography.  I did manage to drop my camera when I was there which I sort of knew I was going to do as my hands were freezing and I did think how strange it would be if I broke my camera at the birthplace of photography.  Then it just became a self-fulfilling prophecy!  Well, except it didn't break thankfully although it did drop onto the hard stone floor.

The Abbey has also been used (like many National Trust properties) as a filming location, most recently for Wolf Hall but also for some of the Harry Potter films.  I was pretty sure I was stood in the exact spot where Dobby became a free Elf!

We couldn't stay too long as it was literally freezing but of course there was time for a nice cup of tea and a slab of something amazing in the National Trust tearoom.  Ooooh we love a tea room!

 

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Evacuation day

Part of the half-term was spent in preparation for the upcoming evacuation day at school.  Firstly we needed an outfit:

 
We found the cardigan at a charity shop (I could have probably made one but the war would have been over by then!) and we chose some fabric to make a skirt (again using the free tutorial from here).

Then we had a visit to the Imperial War Museum:

 
Which was incredibly emotional.  We focused specifically on the Childhood exhibition which was superb.  From the moment I heard the music playing I started to cry.  Small boxes with childhood possessions - a pair of glasses from a boy who was evacuated here from Germany; a tattered dolly umbrella, letters to parents from evacuees.  I couldn't imagine being able to evacuate my children.  One boy's recollection was of being evacuated in the September thinking he would be back by Christmas - four years later he returned home. 

 
It was easy to imagine the conflict that parents must have felt when surrounded by posters telling them to evacuate their children and yet I'm sure this went against their instincts to keep the family together.

There would have been some things I think I could have done well during the war such as the "Make do and Mend" - but perhaps not the knitting of socks which is still an ambition of mine!

 
 
 
There were some beautiful items such as these brooches made for a little girl.  Her cape was made from an old blanket and her cardigan and dress were really beautiful.

 
Seeing my daughter in her evacuation outfit brings it all home to you.  It wasn't that long ago.  "Will you be home by Christmas?"  I asked her.  "Mum..." she replied tersely "I'll be home for tea!".

Thank goodness.

Caravan

 
There is a new member of the Biffsugar family.  Her name is Mavis : :

 
She's an old lady now but still - hopefully - has a bit of life still left in her.  After dithering around for only about five years wondering if we should buy a VW T25 Campervan (which is still an ambition of mine!) we eventually settled on old Mave here.

Of course you can't go caravanning without a bit of bunting so she has inspired this ::

 
And you can't really have your tea in the caravan without a fancy tablecloth can you?

 
There is a definate lack of curtains in the photo I know.  The curtains it came with are very plain but will do for now until I can find something bright and funky.  Hopefully Mavis and the Biffsugars will be having some summertime adventures pretty soon.