Lunch Out in a Fabulous Place, and a Stressful Afternoon

Yesterday we met some friends for lunch at Churston Manor, a local restaurant. The house has a chequered history going back to Tudor times, and it is a fascinating place, built before the invention of perpendiculars! It is filled with artefacts from many periods and from around the world, so there is plenty to look at. Mum doesn’t like going there because it’s so dark and her old eyes can’t see what she is eating! We love it, though, as it’s so full of atmosphere and character – and the food is first class, too.

Here is the main dining room, where we had our lunch.

I love the bowed wall, as if some mediaeval knight has leant on it for too long!

The fireplace at the far end of the room:

In the small dining room, there are some oriental artefacts, including this beautiful carved piece from S.E. Asia – possibly from Burma or Thailand. It is resting on an Indian toran, or doorway textile (I have one of these over my ARTHaven door).

Throughout the house there are many portraits and mirrors, and also tapestries. I love the warm glow of these red walls.

The small dining room is dominated by this massive open fireplace.

There are several intriguing little doorways, and the funny little grille, behind which is a tiny room accessed from another small doorway to the right.

A small alcove dining room. Note another toran.

A suit of armour in the passageway.

Looking back along this passageway towards the hall, you can see the bowed wall of the main dining room.

Beautiful oak panelling and portraits in the hall at the bottom of the staircase.

Across the hall from the main dining room is the bar, with a heavily beamed ceiling. Note the carving over the doorway, and the pistol!

The staircase, complete with another suit of armour.

Finally, a view back into the main dining room, with a view of the beautiful red and gold ceiling.

We had such a lovely time together, and it seemed like a perfect day until we got home to discover that the scaffolding men were there, taking down the scaffolding that had been up for the installation of the solar panels. I had phoned a couple of days ago requesting that they phone us before coming, so that we could be prepared, and shut the cats in to keep them safe. We always keep the garden gates closed, top and bottom, to prevent them getting out onto the road, and so far they have never been beyond the confines of the garden. Coming home, we found the gate open at the bottom, and the scaffolding being carried out. We scooped Beatrice up and shut her in straight away, but there was absolutely no sign of Phoebe.

The scaffolding man said he’s never got the message about phoning us first, so I telephoned the solar panels office and told them what had happened, and expressed my annoyance, and extreme concern about Phoebe. Almost immediately they phoned the scaffolding man, who then admitted that he had actually received the message but had forgotten all about it. When I took him to task about this he said he couldn’t be expected to remember everything as he was so busy, etc. etc. His attitude was very offhand and he was obviously not prepared to take responsibility, and both my hubby and I went round the block calling Phoebe, but there was no sign of her. By the time the scaffolding men left she still hadn’t appeared, and I was very upset, and the man still refused to take responsibility, and simply walked away from me and drove off.

Eventually, to my extreme relief, Phoebe miraculously appeared, and I’ve never been so relieved! I phoned the office straight away to let them know, and left a message as it was after office hours, and soon afterwards I had a return call, which I thought was good – they were just packing up when my message was received. I told them how unimpressed I was with the scaffolding man’s attitude.

There’s nothing to be done about it, of course, because they’ve now gone, and are on another job, and as far as they are concerned it doesn’t matter a bit. The whole thing has left a nasty taste and caused me a huge amount of stress, which has resulted in me having a bad day with my health today, and unable to do anything much but lie on the recliner and try and survive the heat.

I’m just glad we’ve got Phoebe back safe and sound. I was imagining the worst.

I think one of the worst features of our modern age is that people no longer take responsibility for their actions and always try to put the blame on somebody else. It appears that to apologise is looked upon as a sign of weakness, and they won’t apologise because it means admitting liability. I have always believed that to face up to one’s mistakes and admit them honestly, and apologise, is actually a sign of maturity and strength. People don’t seem to give a damn these days, as long as they themselves are comfortable and secure, and they seem to have no consideration for the feelings of others. Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I think this way of carrying on is unacceptable, and especially so when dealing with customers.

Rant over.