What to do on a dank bank hol

That's why we love visiting big houses, isn't it, they're always around on wet holidays, and if they're National Trust you can go to the caff in the stables after for a piece of lemon drizzle. But wandering round Hinton Ampner House today I thought, well, yes, the outside is okay, not special, the gardens are wonderful but wet and the inside is very attractive, but actually how nice/special are the strange array of objects it contains? A hideous wine cooler or two, strange urn-shaped lumps of hard-stone and gilt adorning the mantelpieces, a bust of the Emperor Augustus and fake marble pilasters. Not exactly what you'd choose for your living room at home.

So, I guess, it's really just posh porn, like opening Hello Magazine at the hairdresser.

But I did enjoy myself. This is a slice of the library. On entering the house, a volunteer told me I couldn't take pictures today because they were busy, but I followed another woman with camera who was told by another volunteer she could. We both clicked away until she was told off by a third volunteer for doing so, at which point I quietly put my camera back in its bag!!

(The 'N' on the fire-surround, btw, is for Napoleon, it was nicked from one of his palaces)

Hope you've all had an enjoyable, if wet, holiday - and for those of you working, I apologise xx