Niqi

Canons Ashby House & Gardens is a National Trust property close to where I live. The house is a lovely Elizabethan manor house set in beautiful gardens with a rather grand church in the middle of the Northamptonshire countryside. I visit quite often, in all weathers & mainly for the gardens, which I find quite serene. There is a small cafe/restaurant which does lovely food and there is a small National Trust shop. In the last year or so the National Trust have also opened a second hand bookshop in the house courtyard which is also worth popping into. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area!

The first time I went to the V&A Museum, just 11 days ago, it was an unexpected delight. I really didn’t think I was going to like it and only called in so that I could say ‘Been there, done that!’ but I genuinely loved it!

We went in at the Tunnel Entrance and went into the first exhibit room we came to, located on the right hand side, and some of the exhibits in there were stunning. I immediately spotted this tiny little piano type instrument and oh my word it was beautiful. And that was just the first of my highlights that day. I also fell in love with an Indian shawl patterned with a map of a town, on loan to the museum from the Queen. I know it doesn’t sound that special from that brief description but there is such variety that there is definitely something for everyone.

I had taken a packed lunch and you can’t eat your own food at the tables in the cafe/restaurant area (although I think there is a lunch room in the basement level) but fortunately it was a dry day so my friend and I went and sat on the step around the water feature in the garden, which was lovely.

We went on a Friday & were delighted to see that the museum stays open until 10pm on a Friday…we still didn’t have time to do everything! Their restaurant does look really good and that too is open late on Fridays but we got there at the wrong time and thought they had stopped serving so we just got a yummy muffin & coffee. Once we finished our coffee and walked back through the restaurant it was apparent that we had simply arrived at just the wrong time as there were some scrumptious looking meals all lined up and freshly made! Anyway, the best bit about our visit to the restaurant was the fact that they had live music…it was fantastic and perfect for unwinding on a Friday evening! It wasn’t very busy, a few people had taken their books to read, and we felt like we could have stayed there all evening! We didn’t however as the museum shop was calling to me! The main shop is great, a variety of different gifts & bits that appeal to all budgets. There are some really innovative & imaginative things so its a good place to go to stock up on pressies! I’m hoping to go again…next weekend!

I went on this when I was a kid and absolutely loved it! I’m not into big scary rides and I was seated at the front of the tram and thought I was quite brave when it did it’s sudden drop! It was rather adventurous for me! I can’t believe it’s gone, such a shame.