Victoria at Osborne

My original plan for Monday 21st May involved cake.

As it turned out the cake wasn't needed because something even better ended up happening.

For Victoria Day I was going to bake a Victoria sponge (as shock horror) I don't think I've ever made one before.

Instead I had a brilliant day out at Osborne House with

T, my best friend from school.

Queen Victoria described this home as snug.

As you can see from the two photos below snug isn't the first word which comes to mind given the size of it.

Being a Victorian home, albeit on a grander scale than most, every surface is covered and everything is highly decorated.

Images of Victoria and Albert are seen countless times as you go from room to room 

but it's the small details which caught my eye, such as the carving on the bannister

and the tools of the trade for laying out the dining table in the correct way.

I enjoyed seeing Queen Victoria's private rooms and although they were stuffed to the gills with furniture and treasures and were very grand, they did also seem to have less formality to them than you would expect.
That's where I got to understand the idea of Osborne being a snug family home.

The tour ends with the famous Durbar Room.

It's an astounding feat of workmanship and must have seen some spectacular evenings over the years.

 After we had finished inside we ate our picnic and then made our way down to the beach. Here we sat for ages and ages chatting and eating ice cream. It really was the perfect spot for whiling away an hour in the sunshine.
From there we made our way to the Swiss Cottage where we found a dressing up box. My friend T is a much smaller dress size than me so she was able to get into the children's size dress (although it was a little too short) whilst I put on the adult jacket and skirt. 

Osborne House is well worth a visit. My advice would be to get there early as there isn't a lot of space in some of the rooms and to be able to read the information boards and take it all in you would do this better when the rooms were less crowded. 
The one part I was disappointed with was the 'downstairs'. There really isn't very much to see and again it's quite a confined space. 
But definitely have an ice cream whilst sat in one of the deckchairs as you gaze across the Solent.

Sweets and Treats

S has been beside herself with excitement, these weeks are chock full of extras.

School is always busy at this time and as another academic years draws to end this one also signals the end of her time at junior school as senior school beckons in September.

Last week was Enterprise week.

In July the Year 6 children have a trip to a big water park to look forward to.

Enterprise week is their opportunity to raise funding for it by coming up with money making ideas.

S and her group decided to make cakes and other treats.

This was her contribution.

We made these by dipping Oreo cookies into melted chocolate and then into hundreds and thousands.

It was a bit of a joint effort as G used his pen knife to fashion the end of the lolly sticks so they would fit into the cake pop holder S was going to use for displaying them.

Next exciting event is happening right now.

S is away for the weekend on a school trip.

An activity weekend on the Isle of Wight.

G had to drop S at school yesterday at 11.30.

He text me to say she had ants in her pants all morning and couldn't wait to get going.

The weather here has been very showery and we are just across the Solent from the Island so I expect they've been having similar downpours but I bet they're still having a huge amount of fun.

We Had A Ticket To Ryde

Travelling over to Ryde on the Isle of Wight for our little break away last week was nice and simple.

Five minutes on the bus and a further five minute walk and we had arrived at the ferry terminal.

We decided to travel as foot passengers on the car ferry and arrived in East Cowes 55 minutes after leaving Southampton.

Once settled on board I took out my camera to take some photos of our crossing and very annoyingly found I had left the memory card in my laptop and so couldn't take a single one.

Once in East Cowes we hopped on the bus to Ryde and found our Airbnb accommodation. Our hosts had been unexpectedly called out so we couldn't properly 'check in' with them but we were able to safely leave our case and rucksacks and go off to do some exploring, but only after we had bought some lunch which we took down to the beach to eat.

Late afternoon after a good wander and a dash into Boots to buy a new memory card it was back to the attic we were renting for 3 nights to get properly sorted.

We met our hosts and their assorted pets and then took ourselves back into town and our evening meal.

This was the first chance I had to take any photos and the first one I took was of All Saints Church which can be seen from all across Ryde

and which had a feathered visitor keeping a watchful eye from his lofty position.

There was a vintage shop just up the road from where we ate and I really liked the closed door sign they had up. We didn't walk past it during the day so I don't know what the open looked like.

Wednesday morning and there was only one thing S wanted to be doing, she wanted to be in the water.

When we got down to the beach, the tide was out

and when the tide goes out at Ryde it looks like it goes all the way back to Portsmouth which can clearly be seen directly opposite.

G and S went in search of the sea and had a short paddle before coming back to the beach where we all energetically played catch and then sat sedately for some reading. Once the tide had come in a bit S got her wish and spent some time messing about in the water with G.

As lunchtime rolled around we felt the need for a cream tea. We found a suitable venue which S was delighted with once she read their hot chocolate menu. She decided on the Malteser one.

There were ample opportunities to snap things which caught my eye in Ryde but due to the memory card issue I was severely restricted but I did manage to find....

a shop with the exact same spelling as S's name

and a fish and chip shop named after T

Don't blink, an angel from the graveyard opposite our accommodation

assorted features on some of the shops

the frontage of the Chocolate Apothecary which was painted in a beautifyl shade of sage green which doesn't really show in this photo.

The painted ceiling of the Royal Victoria Arcade 

Each figure representing a month of the year.

Our plan for Wednesday evening had been to go to Newport to have a meal and then watch the illuminated carnival which started at 9pm. When we opened the door to go out at 6pm the slight drizzle had turned into proper rain and the thought of standing around in that for a couple of just didn't appeal so we stayed in Ryde.

So to Thursday and a little day trip to Shanklin.

Our means of transport there was the train which on this service consists of old London underground carriages.

After a fairly bumpy 20 minute journey we arrived in Shanklin and walked down to the seafront.
This was the view to our left back towards Sandown

and the view to our right.

It wasn't quite a bit over cast and there was a bit of a breeze

but we ignored it and settled ourselves on a spot on the beach.
Then it started to spit with rain.
After a few minutes of this is got a it heavier, we continued to ignore it.
Then it started to rain properly.
We packed up our things and headed for the amusements.
Just a shower we were sure of it.
After all nothing had been mentioned on the forecast. We left our waterproofs and brollies behind on that basis.
But it didn't stop.
It just got heavier and windier.
We got soaked.
As did plenty of other holidaymakers who were also caught out.

But we tried to see the funny side and you can see here!

Weather is fair?

Are you sure?

Can you see the raindrops on S's glasses and in her hair?

We found somewhere warm and dry to have lunch and made a plan to cut short our trip by one night and travel back home Thursday evening.
Despite the weather we really had had a lot of fun and we wanted to end the break on a high, rather than perhaps staying another night and risking Friday being a bit of a wash out to and then maybe going home feeling like we'd been cheated and it all ending on a bit of a downer.
We will definitely go back again at some point. I really liked Ryde and there was so much more to see, plus I need to take photos of the things I couldn't this time. I don't think I'd want to go back to Shanklin though. Nothing to do with the disappointing weather but the parts of it we did see just didn't warrant a second visit when there are so many other places to explore.