Burghley Horse Trials, Burghley House, Stamford

That's the man!  Isn't he adorable in those wellies!  I guess you can tell who publishes the blog now!  Couldn't resist.  We arrived at Burghley House ready to watch the Horse trials.  

The Queen's granddaughter, Zara Phillips.  

Saturday we spent the day at the Burghley House watching the Cross Country Horse Race.  We packed up our wellies, and our brawly's (umbrella), food and drink, and headed off.  Of course being England, we had sunshine, then rain, then sunshine, then rain.  Normal stuff for here.  There were lots of people there to watch, and guess what?  We were all dressed the same!  lol  Everyone brings their dogs also.  England is a big dog country  anyway, second to the rain! There were 90 competitors and 2 of them were from America.  Some came from Sweden, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, just to name a few.  We even had some competitors from the Olympics here.    The first place  purse was £50,000!  The events start on Wednesday, and end on Sunday.  They bring in a small village of "shops" with everything from bridles, saddles, clothes, jewelry, furniture, crafts, homeware...... it goes on and on.  If you get the chance to go, GO.  It is a fantastic event and right here at our front doors!  

This picture looks fake, but I was standing close to the fence when he came flying by.  Didn't realize he would come quite that close!

Competitors jumping the creek and the treasure chest.  The jumps are so much larger than you think.  Some of the jumps were truck beds filled with flowers or hedges that were 4 feet wide and 5 feet high!

Another picture of a competitor jumping above.  There were quite a few of these men on horses that we would see occasionally making the rounds around the course.  The picture was too perfect not to snap.  Below, another rider heading for the next set of jumps.

Like I said, Dog country.  There were quite a few brutes there.  I believe this is a Great Dane?  Wonderful dog. 

I felt comfortable enough to approach this man and ask if this dog was a Chinese Powder Puff.  He laughed and told me I was close.  This is a Chinese Crescent.  These are dogs that are hairless, except for the hair on his tail and head.  What can I say.  I knew about these dogs because they DON'T SHED.    This family also has a Chinese Powder Puff that was there.  

Belle in her new wellies!  And of course with rain, comes mud.  Now, mind you, this was grass on Thursday!  That is how much rain they got the night before.  Everything was covered in mud or mud slop!  

Bella's Pony Competition Day - August 31

Bella went to her first pony competition day.  We had a great time.  I made sticky toffee popcorn for the bake table and we were off.  Sabine, the owner, had many competitions set up so her "students" could show off what they had learned and compete against each other in fun.  They had dressage, jumping competitions, gymnastics on horse, and then racing games that all ages were allowed to compete in.  Belle was the youngest there that day ready to ride in a race competition.  The older girls treated her like a little sister and she had a great time.  I started with this picture, as she is holding her first place rosette, which her whole team of 6 received.   Belle rode Friday, and he behaved well for her.  

Belle on Friday getting ready to take her place for the run.  The pony directly in front of us,  is Freckles.  He is a new pony and a great ride.  Belle rides him also for lessons.

This young ladies name is Beth and she is riding on a horse from the stables.  This horse was very skittish approaching the jumps and Beth was thrown later from him.  He took a jump and then continued to buck and she flew off of him.  She had the wind knocked out of her and a bad bruise on her hip.  I am sure she was sore the next day.  She later got back on a different horse and continued competing.  Our hats off to Beth!

Another young lady in competition.

Same young lady sitting on her horse waiting to begin.

Beth on her horse sizing up the next jump.

We met this young lady a year ago as a friend of Abbey Mullins.  Her name is Hazel and we have not seen her for a while.  Guess who takes lessons with Sabine?  Hazel!  Belle was so happy to see her and Hazel took care of her like a little sister.  
The picture above and below is a sample of the gymnastics with horses.  You know, running beside them, jumping on while they are moving, doing twists and turns.  Belle did not show any interest in this, thankfully.

This young lady, Emily, won the jumping competition that day.  The horse was wonderful and they worked really well together.  

Another competiter on Friday.  Did I mention that they were all girls?  Boys do take lessons, but they weren't there that day.

Belle is on Friday getting ready to compete.  She has a rain coat on as it started sprinkling.  Go figure.......

Remember when I said that Friday needed prompting sometimes?  This is Hazel out front and she is pulling Friday along as Belle is kicking and yelling "GO FRIDAY".  

Racing competion involved racing in and out of the buckets, over a log, jumping off the horse and running back with the horse to the start line.  

Belles group getting their horses together. 

The Heights of Abraham

Dan and Caleb on the Cable Car crossing over Amber Valley.  You had to get on one of these to get over to the Park.  At the park they had two underground caverns that you tour, an ice cream shack, a restaurant, exhibitions, fossil factory, gift shop and two play areas.  The Heights of Abraham opened in 1780 and visitors from all over the world come to ride on Britian's first Cable Car.  I know that in 2008, the Henderson's, the Americans,  were there!
The Cable Car up close and we are on the next ones in.  Going over is an uphill climb.  Not to bad of a trip.  Beautiful scenery of the Amber Valley and the village Matlock Bath.

Caleb and Bella in a small impression in the rock outside the cavern.

The beginning of our 1/2 hour walk through the cavern.  It was mostly downhill to begin with and that means....... stairs to get out!  We had 160 stairs total.  The last 80 are all at one time!  Daylight shining at the end of the staircase keeps you going!

People coming down on the other side of the Cable Car.

Dan and Belle headed back down the walk to get to the park after exiting the cavern.

The view outside the cavern on the side of the hill.  Notice the castle on the opposite side?

Yes, Dan is bent over at the waist.  I have to say that while we were walking, he was bent over most of the time!  I love situations when being short comes in handy.  I, of course, did not have to bend over once, nor Caleb, but he didn't like that being pointed out to him.  He is still "not" patiently waiting for his growth spurt to happen. :)

The Village of Matlock Bath!  Wow!  There were so many shops, cars and motorcycles!  Looks like a great place to spend the day shopping.  The picture below is another picture of Matlock Bath.

Caleb in the Cable Car heading down this time.  It was quite fast and much scarier than going up the cables.

I must say, it didn't make my stomach woosy, but it was much more disturbing riding on this small cable, going downhill, at a fast rate of speed.  It was over fast, and all we could do is imagine all the different positions that Dan's mom (love you mom) would have found in the car, trying to hide.  She doesn't like heights, bridges, fast boats...... that kind of thing.   If you are timid about heights, at all, this is not for you!  

August 30 - Crich Tramway Village

We started out our weekend by heading north of Nottingham, to the Crich Tramway Village.  This is a village that has been built within a village.  There is an ice cream shop, tea shop, a restaurant, a candy store, a museum and many trams to visit and ride.  We had a great time exploring the exhibition halls and learned a lot about trams.  When trams are broken or a city doesn't use them anymore, they come to Crich Village where they are fixed, painted new, and used at the village.  They have over 50 trams to see.

A picture of a street taken in Crich Tramway Village.

A tram turned into a house.

An ant carved from wood in their Woodland walk and 

sculpture trail.

Caleb below in between two trams.

Caleb and Belle clowning around with the trams on display

Another Woodland Sculpture

Picture of Derwent Valley at an overlook at Crich Tramway Village.

Nassington Village Fayre

We started this week out by attending our Village Fayre.  This is held every year on the village green.  They had all kinds of dog competitions and Belle walked our friend's dog, Sophie in a couple of them.  She took 4th place in showing the dog.  She was so excited and wore her ribbon on her vest the rest of the day.  Sophie is a sweetheart and I thought she did a great job for Belle.  We had so many different breeds of dogs.  The English really take joy in their dogs and it shows here.
They also have competitions for the best vegetables, fruit, bakery items, and judge on photography and house plants.    Caleb was nice enough to lend his hand to show the size of the onions.  In the background you can catch glimpses of some green beans. 

Dan joined in on the Wellie Boot Toss competition.  We had a windy day that day and no one could match the wellie thrown last year, but Dan came the closest!  A few of the men complained of back pains and such but continued on trying to best each other.    Below, Maureen is pictured with her pooch in the Blue Jean outfit, and she competed in the "Best Six Legs" contest.   Belle is taking a turn on the swings.