Alnmouth - Part I

Of course I have more photos than words, but I always manage to witter on, don't I? The place we stayed was up a little one-way lane called Garden something. The house had a name, Sunnybrae. You run into that term a lot here but I've never looked it up before coming to write this: brae means 'steep bank or hillside'. 

It was a lovely semi-detached house that still had the original stained glass windows, at least at the front. 

The front door.

The cupboard under the stairs; how ever did I manage to grow up without this hiding place? Wait! There was one at Grandmother's house on 31st Street, with a glass door. I hadn't a deprived childhood after all.

In the downstairs hall.

My favourite feature of our room (apart from the en suite loo).

The house next door had modern PVC windows and suffered in comparison. 

My other favourite feature: genuinely old.

We had part of a flat, I'm guessing. We were upstairs and there was a second door that looked to open into more than the two bedrooms we were using. This sort of arrangement doesn't seem to be uncommon.

Ignore the dishes, they got done. Sarah always manages to have flowers.

I was selective in the photos I took of the house. 

View from our room.

Had to zoom in on that dragon weathervane!

Sarah apologised for the disorder, but since Bill and I manage to destroy any hotel room within 15 minutes of arrival I couldn't complain. 

One of the main reasons to visit.

Being tidy on holiday with an 11-month-old baby (who is teething and a little bit grumpy) isn't everyone's priority. It's not really even mine with a 70-year-old, but I do get picky about disarray in the motor home as I get sick of stepping over stuff left out. 

The living room - loved the leather sofas and that window seat.

View out the back. That skeletal structure on the back of the house is the conservatory, with a view of the river, the fields, and possibly the sea.

A gas fire, but nice all the same.

Bill said the house has been 'sympathetically' renovated. I guess he is right since it still had an olde-house feel with loads of features to enjoy. Of course I liked the views out of the windows. I'm always up for snooping at what other people have. 

As I said, food was a major feature of this visit. After a sizeable burger at Barter Books (minus one side of the bun) we had chilli and rice for dinner as well as dessert. It was some kind of tart with vanilla custard (from Aldi) on it. I wasn't happy to learn that Aldi carried such wicked stuff. We played a very competitive game of Uno after dinner, which I really enjoyed. Bill hates playing cards with me, claiming it isn't as much fun with just two people. He might be right about that - or he may just get tired of getting beat. I've played a lot of gin and rummy in my time as well as spades and hearts and a little bit of bridge. I shuffle the deck like a pro, which I figure is only fair. I didn't win, forgetting I was to say 'Uno' and having to pick up more cards than I could hold well in my hand. It was fun all the same. 

Grandad time!

I fnd myself increasingly reluctant to leave my own home and go visiting, but our visits with Sarah, Gareth and Struan seem to turn out to be very relaxing.