Charlecote Trip To Waddesdon Manor Through The Eyes Of Budo

Hello There,

Today we went on a lovely little trip, which is one of our many ways to thank our volunteers. So off we went to Waddesdon Manor, Buckingham,.

But while myself and another college were busy counting volunteers we left the review on the trip through the eyes of Budo. Budo is a cuddly critter that I have affectionately named after Ray Harryhausen, cute stop motion character from Clash of the Titans, 1981. It also hints towards the Greek vase's we have in our library, plus we sell our cuddly critters in our shop and hide them around the house.

So without futher adieu......meet Budo

Budo, the cuddly critter, looking over the map,
(available at Charlecote Park £4.00)

Courtesy of Warner Brothers, Clash Of The Titans, 1981

Budo first view of Waddesdon, he is looking forward to an adventure.

We didn't get to take too many photograph's inside, as 3 coaches, including ours were given the same timed ticket entrance, so it was a little bit cramped in most of the rooms. It is very overwhelming, as there is so much to see and every room is full of things, but very little information available. The only way to find out about what room you were in is if you brought a guidebook for £5.00 or the audio guide for £3.00. We only saw 5 room guides, which was very strange as we were on a group visit with 43 of ours ....but Budo was a little bit naughty...........

Here I am again, I hid on one of the exhibitions by Joan Sallas. A very pretty exhibition all around the house, of napkins folded into elaborated designs, this one has birds, me and a rabbit.

Here I am hiding in the garden, can you spot me? (i'm hiding on a rock)

In the garden is an Aviary, which has recently been given the status off a Zoo, making it officially the smallest Zoo in Europe.

After having a stroll around the house and the gardens it was very important to have a pit stop, so a cake and hot chocolate was a must.

Lovely warm scone with clotted cream will do nicely.

At Waddesdon the eating arrangements are very odd, you have a few coffee bars and cafe, but I would be wary of these. When we looked at the menu at the Restaurant it is very expensive, and add's a 10% service charge, we then went over to the stable cafe to find the same, it was expensive and came with a 10% service charge. Eating outside is much cheaper! But there was not much variety of cake available, very un-National Trust.

But Budo didn't seem to mind especially when our next adventure was towards to Wine Cellars.

Oh dear, I think Budo enjoyed the trip to the cellar far too much!

After a walk around the cellars and in hope of helping Budo feel more owl like, we went to a trip to the shop. Which sells a huge variety of things, and not stuff you would usually find in a National Trust Shop.

Budo found a little book for me, he thought I should buy, but I declined the offer and decided I enjoyed life too much.

Before we knew it, it was time to get back onto the coach and Budo's day out was over, while we counted heads to make sure we had all 46 of us. It clearly became too much for Budo, or he couldn't stand to leave.

I just jumped out of her coat pocket.....honest!

 So after an hour and half trip back to Charlecote, the trip was over and I decided since we had a small nap on the coach a bigger nap was needed, so Budo was tucked up into bed for him to wonder when his next adventure would take him!

Night Night........I wonder what house I will dream off now!

 A word from me now, on a whole I was so overwhelmed by Waddesdon that i'm not actually sure what I think. I do think there is quite a lot of the things they need to improve on and could have done much better, but I shall leave that little rant for TripAdvisor.......

I would also like to take this time to say next Thursday 3rd October it is officially 1 year away from the wedding, so many exciting things to come and hopefully more exciting news to follow.


See you soon! Hope you enjoyed reading Budo's adventure!


BYE xxxxxxx

10 Things I have Discovered While Planning Our Wedding

Hello There,

Well today we hit the 13 months away mark for our wedding, so while being at work I began feeling reflective and desperately trying to take my mind away from the house, still await the survey results grrrr. Before I began to plan our wedding I believe I was living in ignorance bliss, but even if I watch Don't Tell The Bride I get so nervous for the brides, even shed a tear! So I decided to put a list together of things I have discovered/learnt.....Here we go...

1. It's Your Day! LIES! BIG FAT LIES!

Anyone who says this phrase to you is lying through their teeth, it's the biggest contradiction I keep hearing again and again, EVERYONE has an opinion.

2. Everyone Has An Opinion

No matter who they are, they will tell you what would be good! I love my family dearly, but everyone and I mean everyone has something to say about what your doing, how it should be and what they think you should have! Their opinion MUST be considered. And before you ask 1 is different from 2, because with 2 if their paying you have to bow down to their request. This applies to my fiancee, I wanted a full band diamond wedding ring, i'm getting a half :-(

3. Family Involvement!

They might not be paying a penny to the wedding but they WILL make you feel bad in not giving them what they want and you WILL feel guilty that them purely attending is going to cost them money. Resulting in tears and arguments.

4. The Tears and Arguments!

You can never be prepared for this rollar coaster! Everyone in your wedding party will be subjected to this and if you haven't, your next!

5. Being Emotional Crushed!

I was even more unprepared for this......Last night I accidentally cut an invitation!!!! I'm FINE - but I just can't talk about it...............

6. Making It Yourself!

This is a wonderful process but so time consuming and emotional, yet soul crushing at the same time, especially when it goes horribly wrong.

7. Your Family Must Secretly Hate You!

Why is it the moment you plan a wedding your family gets even stranger! I swear every time I visit or talk to someone I get, I'm not talking to them, Don't sit them near me, I'm not having my photograph taken with them, just to list a few of many! Is it too much for world peace for one day? For us? Our families are going to clash, no matter what due to different backgrounds, so it could go either way....everything will be magically fine or arguments and amazement if no one gets kicked out. Might replace my dad's suit with a ref's outfit.

8. Everyone Has An Uncle K**b Head or 5!

The guest list, my god! Inviting people you are embarrassed by or just don't want near you, well tough because you can't invite them with out them, and they won't come if there not coming........ This discovery is supported by point 1 and 2. I have no comment.

9. Diet! HA!

Everyone at work keeps hearing me say ooohhh I need to diet before the wedding, well HAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah no one who has actually said the words I need to loose a bit of weight before the wedding has generally began or attempted. I've given myself 6 months before the wedding as my diet cut off and lets face it, it's only half a stone. No motivation here, too much cake and meals to enjoy!!!!

10. On The Verge!!

Pretty much when I discuss or plan the wedding i'm dancing on that fine line of a mental/emotional break down or becoming Bridezilla. This is mostly tested when trying to arrange everyone getting together.

So how do you feel about my list? Do you agree with me? Should I employee Rhod Gilbert as my wedding planner?

I'll review this in a couple months time and see how I am feeling at that stage.

BYE
XxXx