In October we left our regular guests on their own for a few days and drove up to Portsmouth for a few nights. We last went in January and bought Ultimate Explorer tickets for the Historic Dockyard so we wanted to visit some more of the many attractions. It is really interesting, we have now seen HMS Victory (glad we saw that in January as it is now swathed in scaffolding and sheeting for more conservation work - you can still go inside but cant see the outside in all its iconic glory) Mary Rose, HMS Warrior, HMS Alliance - the WW2 submarine, WW1 HMS M.33, did the interesting harbour boat tour twice and we were privileged that the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier came in to dock - she is HUGE! There is so much to see and to be able to go on board all these ships is amazing. (Obviously not the in-service  aircraft carrier) HMS Warrior took us by surprise as all the guides are in character.

Our regular October half-term guests helped  with the animals duties all week.  They also helped Clive clear up some of the ash tree that was felled and lying across our lawn. Sad to see it go but it had got far too large and was a danger to the outbuildings.

Since starting to write this episode we have been away for another short break, will update when I get caught up here at home!