Claremont Gardens and The Homewood

So, today's National Trust expedition was a special treat because my friend Lisa came with me!  Much nicer to have some company.  We started off at Claremont Gardens, from where we were going to get a minibus to The Homewood, a modernist house nearby.  Much hilarity had ensued, as the volunteer who had booked Lisa on the bus talked about it as if it was a flight - when you board, the baggage you bring etc.  We were giggling about this - but were then presented with boarding cards! 
So, we looked around Claremont first, which was pleasant but underwhelming, a bit like going to the park really and you couldn't go in the grotto - most disappointing.  So we weren't too sorry to jump on the minibus, which filled up with a very motley group of people and not the blue rinse brigade we were expecting.  The Homewood was a few minutes' drive away, and fantastic. 

It oozed period character (even though the architect who built it had lived there until his death in 2004) and was stylish and brilliantly thought out - everything seemed to fold away or transform into something else.  We were particularly fascinated by the fact that tenants (with a small child) actually lived in it.  Their main living quarters were private, but they had free run of the house as their home, which seemed almost unimaginable.
The gardens were gorgeous too, overflowing lushly with huge plants and banks of flowers.  There was also a green swimming pool and several ponds.  The house was as interesting to look at from the outside as the inside but I did feel it lacked a certain 'homeliness'.  Maybe it just needed a woman's touch...?

Just a short entry today.  I'm tired from my birthday celebrations last night (35 on Sunday, eek!) and a little upset because of my occasional lover of 16 months' standing, who had upped the ante this week quite suddenly, calling and being unusually (and rather alarmingly) affectionate - as well as telling me all sorts of personal secrets I won't repeat here.  He rang at four o'clock this morning (no, I wasn't happy) telling me how he was going to come over this evening...and then at 8 o'clock this morning texted out of the blue to say he'd decided to end our arrangement.  Very sudden, totally unexpected and definitely odd.  I don't know what's up but as is always the case with these things, there's absolutely nothing I can do.  I hope he's ok but I know I'm better off without him (sob!).  It's just the shock of it that's thrown me a bit.  Do visit The Homewood though!