Derbyshire

Today we travelled from just north of Glasgow to Derby. The Scots, who as a race generally pride themselves on their good hearty breakfasts, would have been ashamed at what got served up to us this morning. Pretty much bread and water, perhaps it was their famous frugal steak coming to the for. Anyway, we made it down to Lyme Park south of Manchester. A great country home, certainly not as grand as Castle Howard that we saw in Yorkshire, but more practical for day to day use. Ironically it's Castle Howard where the family has been able to keep living in the house, as opposed to Lyme where post war labour costs and taxes got the better of them and they donated it to the national trust. Anyway, I posted this shot because I think it accurately reflects the type of challenge our family faces everytime we try to take a photo. It's also worth noting that this is where they filmed the outdoor Pemberly scenes in Pride and Prejudice. Tonight we're at a nice place just north of Derby called Breadsall Priory (it seems to have a nice golf course too). After dinner the boys and I went into town to a local snooker hall. It's actually a private club, but when I called the man took pity on me and said we could come in and play as his guests. I'm certain the Australian accent helped. I also just remembered a story that I think Isbister readers will appreciate. Two days ago, I walked into a restaurant in Stromness (in the Orkneys and home of our name). I booked a table for later in the evening and gave my name. I naturally started to spell it out slowly, but by the time I reached "b" she was looking at me like I was a child. "You said Isbister right?". Well she already had it written down and clearly thought it very odd that I should spell out such a common name!