Saturday - day one

 Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to the weekend.

Well, we got here - eventually.  Starting at the beginning of the day, I went to Slimming World, not to get weighed but to help with my usual weighing duties.  I'm very glad I did because Michelle (the other 'on the desk' helper) was away so Jen would really have been stuck if I hadn't gone.

After that, I worked through my List of Things To Do while Suzanne gaped at the number of bags, etc, that I thought necessary for a comfortable week.  She's never done self catering by herself.
It all went nicely into the car, all fitting together so nothing rattled.

The house sitter arrived and we set off.  It all went swimmingly until we were nearing where we were to join the M1 when we saw warnings that that section of the M1 was closed after a multi vehicle crash.  Drat.

So we veered off and worked out another route and the Genie (the Sat Nav - Suzanne's name!!) soon caught up and we were going swimmingly until . . . yup - the road ahead was blocked.  We weren't too far away from it but cars were doing U turns, etc, so we did the same and went the other way with Genie trying to take us back for a while.

So we found a place to stop and consulted both phone and proper map (well done, Suzanne, for bringing one).

And then, to cap it all, we were almost at Beeley, taking a lovely country road that avoids some very steep, hairpin bends around Rowsley (following Genie) there was a sign announcing 'ROAD CLOSED'.  We couldn't believe it.  There was a lovely lady walker approaching and she told us there was a land slip and the road ahead was indeed completely closed.  Thankfully, she also gave us some very clear instructions as to where to go, Genie caught up and we made it.  The journey had taken half as long again as it should have taken and poor Suzanne was exhausted.

Thank goodness, we had booked a table at the Devonshire Arms which is literally just a hundred paces down the road, had a very good (maybe slightly overpriced meal but we're on holiday!) and a large glass of wine apiece which helped!

We had hoped to get there in time to settle in and go for a saunter around the village but as it was all I took was a couple of photos of the view from the garden (which looks lovely).

There's the famous Hot Tub to the left, well sheltered from the road by trees and I'm really hoping that gate means we can wander into the fields beyond.

And almost the same, just turning a little to the right.

It's not a fancy garden but it has been very well kept and is going to be a delight to sit in, should it feel warm enough!

Right now, I am sitting in bed, coffee on the right, feeling warm and cosy and relaxed.  I hope Suzanne is still fast asleep - she really was extremely tired last night.

The forecast looks good for today.  Not particularly warm but that's OK.  Dry is what we want and it looks as if dry is what we are getting.
We'll probably do a couple of things - go for a walk and go to the Chatsworth Farm Shop (which just happens to be our nearest shop, oh, what a shame!!) to get in a few supplies.  I'd rather like to walk up the road to the land slip which really is a baddie.   Hang on, I'll see if I can cadge a photo.

Yes - here we go.

Eeek.   

It seems there have been two landslips, one last year and one earlier this year.

This was taken after this years slide, I think.

It is where the Chatsworth grit meets the millstone grit so geological in origin and, quite obviously, more complicated than just clearing a few tons of rock.

While looking all of this up, I saw that the Snake Pass in the High Peaks is also going to be closed for four weeks from Monday after geological problems that have required diversions for bigger vehicles.  Maybe we will give that little excursion a miss this time, eh?

So - today - posh shopping and a walk and I will take some photos of inside and out.

Have a lovely day, everyone.  xx

Edit:  change of plan - we're going to nosey around the Peak Shopping Centre at Rowsley this morning instead of the Chatsworth Farm Shop and find a few needed items and then walk up the road to see if we can discover the landslip this afternoon.  The sun is shining and it's lovely.  xx