from the den of stories

We spent today at Cragside - a quite amazing place in Northumberland - with the Golden Child and her brother. What a day.

Cragside now belongs to the National Trust, who have done great things with it. was built by a Victorian inventor and was known as 'the palace of a modern magician'. It was the first house in the world to have electric lighting, because miles of wooded grounds with substantial lakes meant that he could generate hydro-electric power. In the house you can discover Victorian cutting edge technology and some quite beautiful William Morris wallpapers and curtains, Edwardian toys, and kitchens the size of our house. And a lot of children, at half term. It as a murky, foggy day, so there were lots of visitors indoors.

The grounds are better, though. And the half term activities. There was a man giving a fascinating introduction to edible insects. Yes, he did have samples. No, I didn't eat any. To my complete horror, the Golden Child and her brother did. No ill effects so far. I know, if locusts were good enough for John the Baptist they should be good enough for me - but no thank you, I'm a vegetarian.

Outside, the Trust had organised den building in a clearing among the rhododendron bushes with a lot of pruned branches and felled wood. There you are, everyone, build dens. It was perfect. Best playground ever. The Golden Child might look like Goldilocks but she has the strength of Father Bear and she and her brother carried branches about four times their own heights. Maybe that's what eating locusts does for you. We built a magnificent den and before we were finished they were putting up partition walls and making a table. But it would have been a bit uncomfortable to sleep in, so we piled everyone into the car and Tony drove us home through almost impenetrable fog. Golden Child and her brother are now in a state of total zzzzzzzzzz

... and will be until about 6.30 in the morning.