Out and about

 I have to admit that a drive from London to the Somerset/Devon border in high summer is not something I'd normally look forward to, but given that we were on our way to Cara's wedding location it made it something to savour. The traffic was not too bad and the hardest part of the day was packing the car with all our clothes, as well as a selection of antique vases, one for every table, so that we can fill them with flowers for decoration. 

According to the SatNav it was 191 miles and would take us a little over 4 hours to drive from home in North London to Porlock Weir and it was just about right. Cara's wedding is taking place at her father's hotel. the Anchor at Porlock Weir, and the whole family is going to be gathering over the next 48 hours which will be wonderful. Martin's hotel is run by his daughter Tanya and I've not been here before but it is in a superb location. It's down a very small road from Porlock, which ends up at a small harbour with a view across what becomes the Bristol Channel; last night you could see the lights of South Wales twinkling on the horizon. Still, that's enough from me just now. I need to go and have a boiled egg and some tea before what I think is going to be a busy day.

 Certainly we British tend to think first of Holland and our own country when we think of windmills. Of course good old Don Quixote titled at a few Spanish windmills and at one time there were windmills almost everywhere in Europe. Our friends refurbished windmill in Brittany is a beautiful home and it's great to see such lovely buildings being put to such good use.

 We've arrived in Brittany to stay with our friends who have a restored windmill as a holiday home; it's delightful! I'm not sure what chance i'll get to visit any antique stores but i do know we'll be out for some great meals. Our friends are serious 'foodies' and so there will be some treats in store.

 As I mentioned the other day I am spending the weekend in the Scottish Borders with friends. They have just had their beautiful 113 year old gates restored. We were talking this morning over a breakfast of fresh picked mushrooms on toast (they came from a field next to the River Whiteadder, a tributary of the Tweed). about what wonderful craftsmanship that had gone into the making of the gates. I am no expert on such things, but I suspect it would be difficult to find a craftsman today with the skill to make such gates. As to the value? They were told that they might well be worth anything from £30,000 to £50,000 – I'm sure that's about right.

The conversation then turned to the question of how garden antiques are becomming the target of criminals who steal statuary, troughs, seats and whatever they can lay their hands on. Not that their gates are going to be stolen, they would be far too heavy!

I then told them the story of friend with family living in Paris who had some very valuable antique Persian carpets. The Parisian couple went away on holiday and a day after they left their neighbours saw a van pull up with 'Persian Carpet Restorers and Cleaners' written on the side, soon men in overalls were lifting the carpets out and putting them in their van. The neighbours talked to the workmen who told them they were cleaning all the carpets in the house. So impressed were the neighbours that they asked them to take two of their carpets to be cleaned. None of the carpets were ever seen by their owners again.

First of all apologies for missing a couple of days. I did not have a wifi connection when I was staying up in Derbyshire and then yesterday travelling back to London took a little longer and I had too much to do before going out last night – more of that in a minute.

Firstly the Chatsworth Antiques Roadshow. It was a lot of fun. On Wednesday evening we had a tour of Chatsworth which was absolutely brilliant. It is such a magnificent house offering everything an English stately home should do. The house, garden, farmyard and adventure playground, gift shops and restaurants are open every day until 23 December 2010 and there is more than enough to keep a whole family occupied.

This year the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have opened more of the house to visitors than ever before. After years of painstaking work and restoration, funded by the Chatsworth House Trust, they have opened a new visitor route through the house, including newly restored galleries, displays of rare treasures, a restored stone courtyard at the heart of the house and elegant new displays celebrating the legendary Duchess Georgiana. There are too many treasures to list but among the highlights is a spectacular array of portraits on the walls next to the restored oak staircase. If you live nearby and have never been I urge you to visit and if you are visiting the area it should not be missed.

Having got back in the afternoon it was straight into the office for a series of meetings. Then yesterday evening I went with my daughter Kara and her bridesmaids to have a special pre-wedding dinner that was lovely. She's getting married in just over a month's time so the tension is mounting!