I went to Audley End House with Chichi and Clare, whose links can be seen on the right hand side. The house is rather tremendous and they've got great gardens up there too. You can only see the house as part of a guided tour, and we got there ten minutes before the last one started. It was full. Actually, that was OK as there were so many people in the same situation that they fitted in an extra one. That was the good news.
However, it being the end of the season an' all that, they were 'putting the house to bed'. We were given a special tour of parts of the house not normally accessible to the public - servants' quarters and suchlike. Usually when you see rooms like this, they have furniture in and a 'mock-ups' of what the original places would have looked like. Not this time! No furniture, wallpaper hanging off in sheets, huge damp patches and large areas of missing plaster - in fact it looked semi-derelict. We did have a little chuckle about it - they might as well have
advertised the dustbins, skips and septic tank as bits that the public didn't normally get to see. It did make you realise what a mammoth task the maintenance of these properties must be, though.
Anyway, here's a pic of me and Chichi, taken by Clare, shortly before we were metaphorically kicked out the greenhouse! (For those of you who have never met me, I'm the bigger one with the redder hair!)
5 comments:
Nice to see the photo of you both!
P.
Unless Chichi is very short, I don't believe you're that much bigger. I think you're sneakily *standing closer to the camera*.
While it's true I'm standing closer to the camera, there is nevertheless a considerable difference in height between me and Chichi, who is small but perfectly formed!
very nice to see you cathy!
that house look huge and interesting...thanks all for the good comments and vibes.
abrazos
wow that green house is amazing and the two hot house flowers are looking good too:)
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