Day 142 - Four Seasons In A Day ...

moo in residence
rifles at dawn
whoa horsie!
didn't she do well!

Four seasons - literally ... we had Spring Showers, Summer Sun, Autumn Gloom AND Winter Storms all in one day ... how mad is that!?

Awoke early to take the Moo for a walk on the grounds. There are 500 acres of land surrounding the hotel ... The Manor House was built in 1728 and its been a Four Seasons hotel since February 2005 ... there are 133 rooms including 22 suites and we are in the William Godson Suite on the 1st floor where we have views of the grounds, the long drive and riding school. It's a 1-bedroom ... well 2 ... as I have a king-sized bed and Moo has her own bed too!

We filmed all morning - first in the hotel and then down at the clay pigeon shooting range ... I actually hit some of them! Brian Selfe is the shooting master .. a real old-style country gent. The Moo loved it! She's not a "working Spaniel" but today she almost acted as if she was!

Then wine tasting with Hungarian head sommelier Akos Hervai - who educated me on Hungarian wines - including Tokaji (dessert wine) and Bull's Blood (red). There's a great story about the red ... in a nutshell -- war, Turkey, warriors, big beards, deep red wine, scary looking, Turks shake, bull's blood, in beard ...

THEN off to the Royal Suite for interview with new General Manager - Colin Clark ... a fabulous Scottish fellow ... who I think will turn this place from "amazing" to "stunning" ...

Finally off to the stables for a horse-ride. Karen the instructor popped me onto Robbie and we did some riding ... in the rain and howling wind though ... brrrrr....

Cocktails in the bar (called 1086) with Moo having a chicken stock cocktail and me having a new winter warmer to finish off all the filming!

A total success of a day ... all down to Claire who ensured we were fed, watered, kept warm and occasionally entertained ...

We have all throughly enjoyed our couple of days here ... its just an hour out of London and is a MUST for anyone who has good taste in hotels.

Back to London tomorrow.

Song of The Day (from Claire) : Do Your Thing (Basement Jaxx)

Weather: Four Seasons!