Happy birthday to me

So my for my.. erm.. 33rd birthday (gulp!) we decided to travel to Waddesdon Manor. The house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898). The Baron, a member of the Rothschild banking dynasty, chose as his architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur. Today Waddesdon is owned by the National Trust, but in recent years, following an extensive restoration, it has been, and continues to be administered by a Rothschild family trust that is overseen by Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild. (from Wiki).

Many of our Banbury friends came and joined in the fun, and Michael (along with old family friend Jonathan with girlfriend Britta) came up from London.

Lucas got to try out his brand new one-piece shell suit. Waterproof outer layer with fleece lining.. perfect for European winters.



Lucas and Hettie loved playing in the Autumn leaves!

Renault family open day

Renault opened the factory last weekend to all family members. There were guided tours, car displays, remote-control cars, ride-on cars, balloons, big trucks... pit stop practice.. car engine start-ups.. basically everything you needed to keep Lucas happy for a couple of hours.

Sadly the local fire engine got called away to a real fire!



They had a Renault RS 10 on display. This car created history as the first ever turbo-charged Grand Prix winner, way back in 1979.



Also on display were the championship winning R26 (2006) on the left, and the R25 (2005) on the right. The R26 is painted in this year's colours, so it is a bit confusing. They currently use it as a 'show car' performing demonstrations throughout the globe. About 300,000 people recently turned out to watch it through the streets of Mexico city.

They also had this year's R27 on show... which was a bit of a dog and didn't really come close to winning anything this year, except in the rain in Japan where Heikki Kovalainen finished 2nd, mainly because Alonso crashed out and the Ferraris started at the back of the grid due to a big self-inflicted mix-up.



The big transporters (used to ferry the cars and equipment to all the European races) were a big hit with Lucas.

Blackburn v Liverpool

I travelled 'up North' the other day to watch Blackburn host Liverpool. We arrived in the lovely Ribble Valley at about 3 pm, enough to have a lovely dinner at the Boathouse, just off the Bolton Road. I had my first taste of 'real' Thwaites Ale (renowned by Blackburn fans across the globe) and quite frankly, it was brilliant.

Onto the match itself. Well, we had Liverpool on toast for the first 70 minutes until they substituted Peter Crouch on and went route-one football. We then seemed to fall asleep for the rest of the game. Luckily Brad made some super saves, and Kuyt missed a hatfull of chances.. in the end a draw was a fair result.

My tally of live Rovers games now stands at 2 draws, 6 losses, 7 goals for, 15 against.

Bodicote Fireworks - Guy Fawkes Day

Last Monday we gave Lucas a special treat, his first 'real' fireworks display ... 'real' as in professional, as opposed to the amateur stuff that gets detonated up and down our street everynight before and after Halloween. That's what you get when fireworks can be bought at the supermarket by anyone over 16.

Anyway, thanks to a tip-off from my hairdresser we found a spot on the Bloxham - Bodicote road overlooking the field where the fireworks were. We got some great views and Lucas was absolutely transfixed.. all from the comfort of our car!

Stowe Gardens

Nat and Lucas went to Stowe Gardens the other day, along with Banbury friends Nicola, Hettie, Emma, Benjamin and Sophie. Stowe Manor was originally the family house for the Temple family. However, it became famous for its gardens, which were built from the 1700's onwards. As Stowe evolved from an English Baroque garden into a pioneering landscape park, the gardens became an attraction for many of the nobility, including political leaders. Indeed, Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced.

Stowe house is now home to the Stowe School, an independent school whose alumni include Winston Churchill and Richard Branson.