Gotta See Jim in a Samurai Helmet

In the Cotswolds, we roamed around the gorgeous countryside and saw some of the pretty villages like Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Campden and Broadway.  We also visited another three National Trust properties – Snowshill Manor and Garden, Chasleton House and Dyrham Park.

At Snowshill, Charles Wade filled his manor house with hundreds of things he had collected worldwide– many quirky - that intrigued, inspired and impressed him. From the beautiful terraced garden there were long views over the Cotswold hills.  We had hoped to see the lavender fields near Snowshill but most of the lavender had already been harvested.

 There is a "dress-up" room at Snowshill, and a 3-year old little girl, named Persephone (why would anyone name their child after the goddess of the Underworld?), modeled long gown and fan for me.

 Ah haaaaaa! Jim in a Samuri helmut. Very scary, no?

 A room in the attic full of ancient bicycles and unicycles

 Another view of the manor

 The entrance to the manor

 In one of the nearby villages, a violet-colored door and a basket of lobelia and alyssum (I think)

 Storm coming

 And this duck and duckings in a little bird bath (with a solar panel) are ready for rain

At Chasleton, we toured a mansion that had been in the same family for 400 years until it had fallen into serious disrepair and was taken on by the National Trust. Efforts have been made to make the mansion safe from further deterioration, but to retain its state of semi-ruin with torn wallpaper, damaged wooden floors, etc -  that is without any updating or modern intrusions. The family fell further and further into poverty and the last living inhabitant was a woman who lived there on her own for 15 years after her husband’s death. Well, alone with 20 cats and a parrot. We learned from a docent that after her departure, cleaning up after the cats and parrot was a significant undertaking.   Chastleton is apparently the place where the rules for croquet were established and croquet sets are ready for use on the back lawn for interested players.  Here is the entrance:

 A bowl and pitcher  in a bedroom - no plumbing or bathrooms in these ancient homes, of course!!

 Beautiful light through a window and a table set ready for a game of solitaire

 Original panes of leaded glass

This enormous room on the top floor runs the entire length of the manor and was apparently used for indoor games (even badminton!) and exercise on cold and rainy days. It must have gotten a lot of use :-)

We also visited Dyrham Park, a 17^th century mansion and gardens surrounded by a 270-acre park for fallow deer and grazing fields for beef cattle.

Cornflowers in a field...

 Beef cattle grazing on steep hills on the estate

 The manor

 This little girl has hair even more curly than mine!

 The gardens

 Pond in the garden

 Jim in a wig... I think he missed his calling as a lord.

In our travels in the Cotswolds we kept seeing old sports cars as there was a rally. Here are a few...