I love to Dream, live to Create and hope to Inspire!

My trip to Althorp ~ one year after Princess Diana's death


In case you missed my posts from my trip to England on the Tuesday after Princess Diana passed away you can see those in one of my previous posts. Also, the other day I posted pictures from my trip to Paris months after she passed away a few days ago.
My friend Jill's Aunt (a very big Princess Diana fan) had gotten several tickets to go to Althrop the childhood home of Princess Diana. We went the first week if not the first day it was open cannot remember but know we went right after they opened the grounds for tours.


This is the church in the village where it is said that Princess Diana went to church when growing up.









When you drive along the road to get to the property you get this amazing view - a veiw of the back of the 16th century house. It's a 300 acre estate. It originally had red brick but was later changed (the surface was - to stone)

The gardens were amazing and why I have no pictures of them is depressing. They were layed out in a geometric French style and were designed by the gentlemen that designed the gardens at The Palace of Versailles. The house has been in the Spencer family for 500 years.































Here is a picture of my youngest son. He'll be 11 next month. He was such a trooper on the day and that just answered my question above about not having more pictures ~ I had a little one to watch over as well.

This coach greets you at the entry to the property where we entered to the coach houses that were renovated and basically turned into a Princess Diana Museum - we couldn't take pictures in there which was a shame. Many dresses to include her wedding dress were displayed on mannequins. Jewelry, letters, pictures, books, furniture, etc. that all belonged to her were displayed as well.
















The Stables
(when the property was acquired by the Spencers it was first used as a sheep farm)

The Saloon

What you cannot see is the amazing staircase that goes down into this room. This was originally the inner courtyard that was open to the elements. It was roofed in by one of the widows in 1662.


Notice the painting on the right corner ~







This painting was painted by the American artist ~


Nelson Shanks. He was commissioned by a group of London dealers in 1994. Amazing isn't it.

The Marlborough Room

This room was one of the last rooms to be furnished in the home and was completed in 1877. Before that it was divided by columns and used as a library and billiard room.

You can only get to this burial site by boat as it's in the middle of the small pond.

After walking around the pond you get to this amazing tribute to Princess Diana.























































Both of these plaques were mounted on either side of the middle plaque
with a silouette of Princess Diana.
















I remember going to every store after her death and getting all the newspapers and magazines I could. I also remember my mother in law sending this cartoon from the Augusta Chronical I believe.




















I know the anniversary isn't until tomorrow but I knew I wouldn't have time to post this tomorrow.

I wanted to thank all of you for your sweet comments. I've decided that if continue to worry about the house stuff I'm gonna miss the opportunities God has planned for me TODAY. So, with that said I'll keep you updated on the progress as stressfull as it may be sometimes and will most likely ramble on with the impending decisions but know that even when I ramble on about it all I've got it in perspective. Have a wonderful THURSDAY.

I've been tagged again by The Bunnies Bungalow
So this meme works this way (condensed version):
*You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.*If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.* At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
Since I've already been tagged and did my middle name yesterday I will choose this name:
D~ Dedicated
I ~ Impressive
A ~ Ambitious
N ~ Naive (nieve)
A ~ Accepting
So now, I choose Jen at This is the Day, Sharon at Norah's , Julie at Equus Villa, and Molly at Miss Molly Cottage.