Nottinghamshire 13 - Nottingham - Wollaton Hall/a new expensive fitted sat nag/Gabby has had a clean

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"Homeward Bound " - The feeling you get whether you are away a day, a week , a month or longer. It is always nice to get back to sit in your own comfortable chairs, to eat what you want when you want. Egg on toast - beans on toast . To be able to sleep in your own bed.

As I write this Gabby is sitting on our drive . We have arrived home after our short South Walian break. Gabby is a filthy girl and Glenn spent the best part of a morning cleaning her roof which had not seen a brush nor water for months. I spent the time getting washing into the washing machine and making lists of things to be done. The second day Glenn cleaned the outside of our girl removing all the filth she had acquired whilst rallying down Welsh narrow lanes. She looks good . She always gleams when she is clean. A job well worth doing.

We drove over to Ilkeston to find out about a new fitted sat nag. A luxury as we have two that work however they are all wires and cables . Having had a fitted one in the car we have been mulling whether or not to buy a new one that we don't actually need. Should we wait until one breaks down? Or should we bite the bullet and invest in a really expensive Alpine? . In the end we settled with the new one, gritted our teeth, paid for it and booked her in.

Whilst we waited for the appointment we decided to start the cleaning job on Gabby. Gabby is smaller than Suzy and does not have so much cupboard space and we have to be organised. She has two cupboards along her back wall. Same as Suzy but Gabbys are not so deep. These are filled with codewords for Glenn to do whilst on holiday and with my books. I took out the two I had read over the last break - Room - a book written about a young girl abducted and locked away by her captor. She had a baby by him and the child grew up in one room. The word "the " was never used . The child used table as a racing track, as a tent when covered by a sheet. He used bed as a trampoline. When released the story revolved around his and his mothers integration or more accuratly failure to integrate back into society. The second Mothers - a story about pushy mothers and their ability to deal with their aspirations for their children. These were replaced with a large number of new ones in readiness for the next big trip. New atlas bought for Europe and added to ACSI books. We talked about BREXIT as we emptied cupboards. We have learned many new words recently - meaningful votes being one . Our PM is going backwards and forwards between the House and the EU . She comes back with nothing and puts the same deal to ministers who constantly reject it. Strange days indeed.

Second cupboard emptied . This one full of medicines . All checked and refilled . It is good to be home and doing this job . There is no place like home when you start to sort yourself out for a big trip.

Home Sweet home - Third day was spent cleaning the toilet, emptying the cassette and pondering over the virtues of blue liquid or green . Used for deodorising the cassette and breaking down the contents blue is most widely used. Green is environmentally friendly but more expensive and some use cheap Aldi liquid washing tabs. I start to check the other cupboards. We miss the long wardrobe we had in Suzy. In Gabby the long cupboard is long and narrow . Wide enough to put thin things in but not clothing. This cupboard is under the bed so awkward to access. We have a small cupboard above the stainless steel sink and this contains logically tea bags, coffee, drinking chocolate and dried milk. I make a list of what needs replacing. There are steps with some cupboards beneath them , Handy for kitchen rolls , toilet paper and emergency food supplies - tins of this and that . Gabby though beats Suzy hands down when you think we have space under the bed - a garage area where chairs can be stored, items stocked . We love the garage and wouldnt swap it for all the world.

As the fourth day home arrives we have got to the carpets which have to come out and be shaken and hovered before replacing. They are working well and much better than the ones in Suzy. "Every day is a journey and the journey itself is home " Calendar today has this quote from Matsuo Basho. I agree on it in some respects but itchy feet are starting to develop. We have an itch to travel that we cant reach.

We have ordered the Austrian vignette and that has arrived . The Slovenian one will need to be purchased from the border. In the past we have ordered it from Germany however this year something different came up on the site. Previously we have been able to order it today and put in the start date of the journey through Slovenia. Now the clock starts to tick immediately so a weekly ticket ordered today would have run out by the time we received it . We are starting the silly counting down. No more swimming to be paid for , 4 more gym sessions, 8 days work . The stomach is full of butterflies as we get closer to the holidays. The countdown well and truly has begun.

Today was the day we went to have the Sat Nag fitted. A drive over to Ilkeston. Gabby is being worked on for four hours and we need to find somewhere to waste four hours. We knew exactly where to go - Eastwood. To see the home of D.H Lawrence. However , it is Monday. You know what Mondays mean don't you. Closed , Shut , not open to the public.

Quickly we had to revise our plans. What did we find? Nottinghamshire County Councils Wollaton Hall. It took us quarter of an hour to get there and a few minutes to sort out parking. A dusty old car park costing £3 for three hours. Now although the house looks very much like any National Trust Elizabethan house the inside is very different . You will not find Chippendale furniture, pictures of the ancestors or a copper pot filled kitchen.

Wollaton Hall was built between 1580 and 1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby and is believed to be designed by the architect Robert Smythson who had completed Longleat and also nearby Hardwick Hall. As we walked round the exterior it was easy to compare it with Hardwick. It had that same look about it. The Hall was not open when we arrived so first stop was to drop off at the cafe. Breakfast would have been nice but the only choice were cakes. It was cold outside but pleasant sitting at the table drinking coffee and wasting time. Second stop a walk by the small garden centre in the grounds. A walk through the gardens full of massive white daisies and yellow primulas. The camellia house was a work of architecture too with white wrought iron housing beds of white, pink or red camellias.

It was 10.45am and the house doors were firmly shut on the building built of mellow Ancaster stone from Lincolnshire. It was said that the building had been paid for by coal from the Wollaton pits. The labourers were paid the same way. Not a fact we were going to dispute . The carved stone was carved with many different features. Busts of Plato and other notables, wreaths , pillars and strapwork. At exactly 11am the doors opened and in we went. Up the steps into a grand hallway. A hallway with a grand staircase . But this is not the sort of stately home you expect. What is inside? It is not what you expected !

Nottinghamshire County Council bought the house in 1926 and used it to house the citys Natural History Museum. With a collection of 750,000 objects, ranging from fossils, minerals, plants and eggs to invertebrates, vertebrates, shells (molluscs) and taxidermy, as well as 'spirit' preserved animals and rare specimens from across the globe, Wollaton Hall is the largest dedicated Natural History museum in the county. Interesting it was too.

It made a change to look at a dinausaurs skeleton next to a stuffed lion. The main hall still had remnants of its previous beauty. An intricate ceiling and an impressive screen. In side rooms were glass cases filled with rare and extinct animal specimens. A flightless parrot from New Zealand , a duck billed platypus, giant anteater and sloth. A massive hippo skull and case after case of stuffed fishes. We looked up at antlers hanging from skulls on the ceiling.

A room was dedicated to the continent of Africa and was dominated by a stuffed giraffe. It towered above us. I stood only as high as his leg. Elephant tusks lined the walls. A mammoth tusk - probably one of Woolly Mammoths ancient relatives Sion thought. In another room fossils were displayed. Cases after cases of fossilised fishes, shells and tree fronds. A gallery recreated in the style of a 1930's museum contained birds and game heads collected by Mansfield Parkyns in the 1850's.

By now half the children of Nottinghamshire had joined us in the rooms. It was a lovely place to spend a few hours amongst the cupboards and cases. Looking at the clock it was now 11.45 . We needed somewhere for dinner. The Lord Rodney provided us with what we were looking for. Hunters Chicken for Glenn . My choice more limited . Mushroom Pie with mash , carrots and brocolli. Although it sounded odd it actually was really tasty. A change from cod and chips or jacket potatoes. Then it was time to pick Gabby up. The sat nav was fitted and worked perfectly. The radio though required a part and that wont be finished until tomorrow . Time to head home. We pick Gabby up complete with new system tomorrow .

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