Without a kitchen it seemed pointless spending the weekend at home...well that was my excuse for an extended Mothers Day treat!
We drove to Clare and the boys enjoyed multiple rides at the
miniature railway, delighting in the freight train cars carrying precious cargo at the back! We also enjoyed a family bike ride on a small part of the
Riesling Trail. We didn't visit any wineries, but the bike track is great asset to them and there were plenty of people just enjoying it as a bush/heritage walk. Being able to ride with the kids in the bush was fantastic, especially for their traffic shy (been years since I rode my bike) mother!
DH stopped to let me take this photo ... just the most perfect building to house a quilt shop / studio ... don't you think? I just love the old farm buildings and stone house ruins dotted about the countryside...neither of which you witness if travelling in Victoria or New South Wales, because timber doesn't stand the test of time quite so well.
That gorgeous curved roof really intrigued me. I wonder if it was added many years later (when corrugated iron was invented) to add extra storage space? We were in the
Clare Valley but I can only assume this building was a barn rather then a wine cellar, as the attic would have been too hot of storing wine, especially in summer. Perhaps hay for the horses, in the days when Clydesdale's were "horsepower"?
My extra special treat was visiting Martindale Hall. The photo above is the Carriage House! Yes this grand building with its beautiful front door was basically a garage! Nobody mentioned stables...just carriages, so not sure if the horses got a bed in here or not.
Martindale Hall is grand on a scale that you only imagine in England. Bring on Downtown Abby! Unfortunately no photography allowed inside, but as you can see it was grand and beautifully original and defiantly well worth a visit if you are holidaying in South Australia.
A whole weekend away and I didn't visit one patchwork shop! Happy quilting, Sue SA.
As soon as I saw the picture of the old barn, I thought "quilt shop". Wouldn't it be fantastic? As for your version of Downton Abbey,it looks beautiful, but imagine the housework - although I suppose that it was built in the days when one had servants to do all that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful weekend. We had high tea at Martindale Hall a couple of years ago. It is magnificent. I love old building, the Clare valley is lovely. How were the legs after the bike riding?
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful buildings!! SA architecture is definitely different from other states, love it!
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a wonderful mothers day!!
Looks like a wonderful weekend. Love, love, love the buildings. So majestic and magnigicent!
ReplyDelete