This and That Thursday

Hello!

It has been a busy summer for me so I thought it was time to do a This and That Thursday post.

Rhodes

For our summer holiday this year we went to Rhodes. We loved Kos when we went in 2023 so we thought it was time for another Greek island. We spent some time seeing the sights and some time by the pool reading loads of books.

Harvington Hall History Festival

I attended two of the events at the history festival this year. One by was Alison Weir and one by Tracy Borman. I also attended the book signings they kindly did at the end. The Harvington Hall cats were also in attendance but I wasn’t lucky enough to get a photo.

National Trust

We have also attended a few National trust places this summer. The first was a new one for us called Canons Ashby. Canons Ashby was a lovely Tudor property which was just like a maze. There were so many little staircases and little corridors I absolutely loved it.

Next was Waddeson Manor which was a return visit for us. It is definitely one of our favourite places to visit and they do a very nice afternoon tea as well.

We met my best friend at Charlecote Park last week and the weather was beautiful. We also had a great time helping my best friend’s son fill out the activity sheet where we had to work out whether certain things were ‘Tudor’ or ‘Not Tudor’.

Bath

We spent Bank Holiday weekend in Bath where we visited the Victoria Art Gallery and No. 1 Royal Crescent. I also did a lot of book shopping and eating of yummy food.

I am back teaching next week but this summer has been a lovely break with some great adventures. I am hoping that we will fit in more adventures around work.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I thought it was time for a non bookish post.

Holiday

As soon as I finished school we went on holiday to Kos for a week and I absolutely loved it. We spent a lot of time relaxing by the pool or the sea but we also went to see some of the sights and spent a day on the island of Nisyros. You can’t beat going to visit a volcano on a really hot day! It was so nice to get away and just relax for a week. Coming back to cold England was a bit of a shock though.

Harvington Hall History Festival

This week we also went to one of the talks that was happening as part of Harvington Hall’s History Festival. The talk we had booked for was Alison Weir giving her talk on The Six Tudor Queens. I have never listened to a talk by Weir before but absolutely love her books both factual and historical fiction. She did not disappoint. Weir’s talk was fantastic and she is a very good speaker. She also did a book signing at the end which I was very happy about as I had taken her latest book to get signed. I was one very hyper Book Dragon when this happened.

Etsy

This week I have been busy with my Etsy. I have made some new Bee and Flower bookmarks and have started putting some Christmas items on my Etsy. I know it seems crazily early but Christmas is already appearing in the shops!

I have also been doing some usual chores as well. We are hoping to do some more adventures during the summer holidays but for now I have a lot of washing to catch up with!

Happy Adventuring!

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Another New Bookmark

Today was my day off and we went out for the day at Harvington Hall.

We haven’t been to Harvington Hall in a few years so it was nice to visit it again and on such a beautiful day. Harvington Hall is a moated manor with the largest surviving series of priest hides in the country and a rare collection of original Elizabethan wall paintings. Many of the priest hides were designed by Saint Nicholas Owen who was a Jesuit lay brother during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and James I, he was eventually captured and tortured to death in the Tower of London. He was canonised by the Catholic church in 1970.

My favourite part of the house is the chapel. I love the wall paintings in there and found it interesting that it was a symbol closely associated with Catherine of Aragon. This currently links in really well with the book I am reading about Henry VIII and his wives.

After going around the hall and garden and having a lovely lunch we went into the gift shop and I found a very cute bookmark of a wooden donkey.

I just couldn’t resist and had to buy it. I am also quite worried that I am getting a slight bookmark addiction as this is the second bookmark this month! But if they are cute who is complaining?

So here are a few snaps of the Hall and of the cute bookmark. I finished the day by having a nice read in my reading den. The perfect day!