Two in one day

Two National Trust properties in one day! We are making good use of our membership!
In the morning Jake, Normous and I went to Buckland Abbey, an elegant house built from the stones of a Cistercian monastery, one of those dissolved by Henry VIII. There were still ancient huge tithe barns, but the house itself was very comfortable. It was the home of Sir Francis Drake and we learnt about his adventures. We also saw a Rembrant self portrait which has only recently been authenticated. Beautiful portrait, as are all those by Rembrant. The flowers in the window were on a staircase in the Abbey.
In the afternoon we met up with the rest of the party at Saltram House on the outskirts of Plymouth. An elegant house but it didn't have the atmosphere of the Abbey.
On our return to our house, Normous, Jake and I walked down to the farmyard where we visited 86 Friesian calves, penned in a huge barn. They were wary of us at first but with gentle coaxing we managed to get a lick from a great pink tongue.