Lytes Cary Manor

It was a lovely morning, so I started my day with a run.  I went for a  longer and slightly flatter route today, though there were still hills on my return run.  We made a picnic and as we were discussing our destination for the day the rain started.  Undeterred we set off, heading north into Somerset.  The rain was terrible, the traffic was terrible, and when we got to our destination it was still pouring.  We parked up in the overflow car park (a field) at Lytes Cary manor.  We had our picnic in the car as we looked out at the rain – and we weren’t alone.
 
The rain eventually eased off as we finished our lunch, so we got our raincoats on and headed out to explore.  We had visited once before, but the house was closed.  It’s a very old manor house, but very dark and if I was honest not very much caught my eye, apart from when a helpful guide pointed out a few interesting things in a bedroom, linking the then owners to Henry the Eighth.   By the time we had been round the house (which didn’t take very long), the rain had gone off, so we wandered around the lovely, but very wet, gardens.  Next stop was the tea room for tea and cake.  Unfortunately they were bothered with wasps, so we didn’t hang about too long.  We went on a estate walk – which was really just around a few fields, but as the day was brightening up it was nice to get out and about for some fresh air,, even though it was very muddy in places. 
 
We drove back through Ilminster.  TT was on tea again – he did volunteer.  Later I started a new book and we watched the last two episodes of Mapp and Lucia.
 
This the manor house from the lovely gardens, after the rain.