A grand day out in Northumberland

Mummy hazelh enjoyed her day of Northumbrian 'historical car rambling' as I drove the Volvo (yes, me!) through the beautiful countryside in the winter sunshine. We made two stops on our trip.

First we called into Wallington for coffee and scones. Then while Mummy hazelh people-watched under the clock tower (not far from the spot where she has performed her Northumbrian pipes for visitors in the past), Mr hazelh and I visited the eastern section of the garden. Our walk took us to the far end of the walled garden and the conservatory. Apart from snowdrops, the garden was rather bare. This was in contrast to the glasshouse, which was packed with amazing blooms, including the glorious orchid in my extra. My main blip is of one of the two frozen ponds that we passed along the way.

Our second destination was Otterburn Mill. Here we enjoyed soup and sandwiches for lunch, struck up a conversation with people on the next table whose accents we recognised, and made a purchase in the mill shop (a new dress for me - thank you Mummy hazelh!)

Back home again we settled down to a quiet evening of television (Bobby the dancing dog on a 2004 edition of Faking It; last night's Dad's Army; and Antiques Roadshow) and then dinner of leftovers from last night in the dining room.

It's been a grand day for the three of us.

Exercise today: a little walking (7,365 steps).