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Grand Design House, Bromsgrove Road, Faringdon (2026)

04/09/2024

Read this press release below. Honestly, you could have knocked me over with a feather 🪶 but yes, we are being featured in this special 25 years Anniversary edition. Never in a million years did I expect that!

I could not believe it when we were contacted by Chanel 4 to say they had finished the program and we were included!🤯. There’s a book too!

Don’t know what it will look like and how much but certainly hope they don’t include ‘My stupido’ comment🫢🙈

I was with Derek and Linz when they called - amazingly he still has his Spanish number. I was overwhelmingly negative and said as much to their representative.

After the call, Derek pulled up a few videos he had taken of the program and we watched the first one. Our reaction took us completely by surprise!

We laughed so much, we cried! We laughed at Derek jumping in the air, attempting to show how high the roof should be.
We laughed at our sound effects showing the angle of the roof.
Oh my Giddy Aunt! We laughed at ‘us’ but instead of being embarrassed, we just found it hilarious!
Finally! With some distance and perspective we can see it for what it is and receive it in a completely new light.

It was a long time ago, the first show was aired way back in 2004. A lot has happened and who knew where we would end up? Anyway, join us in laughing at ourselves: I am not sure what category we fall under😅
Details below:

The special will be broadcast on 11 September at 9pm, kicking off a brand new season for the show. Grand Designs: 25 Years & Counting will see McCloud revisiting some of the series’ most memorable builds, along with some of its most challenging.

Announcing the anniversary programme, Channel 4 said: “This special episode offers a reflection on the legacy of Grand Designs and its impact on the world of home innovation and design.

“Featuring the most ambitious builds and touching human dramas, with the biggest budget overspends and disastrous delays thrown into the mix, this special will celebrate a true Channel 4 gem in its momentous anniversary year.”

A special 25th-anniversary book, Grand Designs at 25, will also be published.

07/07/2024

Hallelujah we made it🙌.
What an amazing experience and an emotional moment as we first approached the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela⛪️.

As you may have noticed there has not been much in the way of culture and churches and that is mainly because we flew into Madrid at midnight, caught the train to Ferrol and pretty much started walking almost immediately, so have not much much time in each place. You also walk through many small villages and our timings have been out, with the local churches already closed or just not open.

We have however, left the best till last. The cathedral itself is magnificent and as one of the oldest pilgrimage routes in the world since medieval times, it feels incredibly special and am honoured to be a part of it.

It is more than ‘just a walk’ it is a phenomenal experience culminating in receiving your certificate. Stamping your passport along the way has been really fun and chatting with other pilgrims along the road has been both fascinating and enriching. People from all walks of life, both young and old and for many different reasons, but all for a common goal. Many have done more than one and it is easy to see why. I know for me, as a Christian, it certainly won’t be my last! The Camino Primitivo beckons and I will certainly be completing the ‘English Way’ in the UK which runs from Reading to Southampton!

Tomorrow before we fly out, we will join the queue to see the crypt, below the main alter within the cathedral which houses the relics of St James. It has certainly been a ‘Buen Camino’ for us all🤲🛐

06/07/2024

Be careful what you wish for as in
contrast to our earlier experience of seeing almost no one, today we had them by the busload!🚌😱

It had started off bad enough as contrary to the weather forecast, it was raining- heavily! 🌧️We were certainly not prepared as we had already packed our rucksacks for onward transmission and our taxi was already waiting to take us back to where we left the Camino the previous day.

We did not have the heart to keep him waiting as we had already gotten the poor man out of bed at 5.30am in the morning. We looked forlornly at each other and our attire: Completely inappropriate, with the girls in shorts and me in open toed sandals - Certainly no fit state to start walking 37km in almost complete darkness and lashing rain.🌧️

We were dropped off basically in the middle of nowhere, and with the weak light from Eden Jade Ray ‘s mobile phone, trundled on through the forest, trying to, but failing miserably, to avoid the puddles. The girls were unhappy to put it mildly. Cold and wet and in Linzi Grace Ray ‘s case, with severely blistered feet. I had no idea that a little pinky toe could have a blister, upon blister, upon blister, upon blister! I am sure it must be a record … of sorts!🦶

Finally it got lighter and we were making reasonable progress in the circumstances and then a coach passed us and pulled in abruptly in front of us. Over 50 middle aged men and women spilled out of the bus with their hiking sticks, rain jackets, eager and ready to ‘Camino’ What they thought of us? We soon found out.

They made the mistake of assuming that my 2 blond haired, blue eyed girls, were not able to understand Spanish - but understand and speak like natives they certainly they do!
Fuelled and angered by the comments my girls took off and smashed out the next 10km and beyond- shaving off over 3 minutes per km💥

By 10am the sun came out! It was such sweet revenge. Hot and steamy the hikers were soon ripping off their heavy coats, long pants etc whilst we were applying sunscreen to our bare arms and legs. Whose ‘Camino ready’ now?

Anyway we made it, beyond tired and with the strains of bagpipes (yes, you read correctly) whining in the background and sport on the communal TV, I don’t think sleep will be coming anytime soon. It’s the one and only hostel we booked so get the full experience and believe me, WE ARE!!

Tomorrow is the final leg until then, Hasta mañanax

05/07/2024

Boom! We did it!! 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️Almost 34km starting at 5.30am and over 7hours 19mins of non stop solid walking -unless you count the stops for the Panaderia (Yum) and Foot Care!

What would we do without our Croissants, Napolitana to keep us going who knows? They provided much needed sugar when spirits were flagging! Poor Linzi Grace Ray has blisters upon blisters but as they say when the going gets tough……😅

It was dark when we set off and a bit chilly and that was just as well as the start was vertical for a good 5km. We made good time all day, making flower crowns and wound our way through the villages and towns but saw absolutely no one on the trail, until right until the end. Then we spotted a couple ahead in the distance and resolutely decided to catch them up. She was looking worse for wear so after some pleasant chit chat we decided to overtake them and press on.

We were nearing Presedo which was the most unpleasant part of the Camino that we had experienced in that we were walking on a hot, busy tarmac road, in stark contrast to the leafy, shady forests of earlier. 🌳Turns out that we had walked an additional 1 whole hour 5km) past our accommodation😭.

Heavens be praised🙌 our accommodation, that was slightly off the beaten track anyway, offered a pick up and drop off service and within 15min sent a taxi. Phew, as I had 2 very disgruntled daughters who would have mutinied had we had to take 1 more step!

Anyway…… all’s well that ends well turns out it has made our journey tomorrow a bit easier. I say a ‘bit’ as to be honest, it’s probably the same if not a km or 2km more. Our accommodation is beautiful and former monastery and the beds are as least comfortable, nothing like the planks we had slept on the night before. We did so well today on such little sleep and I am so proud of us! We dined like queens and are now waiting for the sun to set to settle down to what I hope will be a good nights rest. Night all😘

04/07/2024

Camino Day 1
It’s actually Camino day 2 as I write this because typically, well for the Ray’s anyway, we have skipped a stop and have 34km walk tomorrow 🚶‍♀️😱
That’s 4 stamps on our Camino between you and me.

There is only 1 person previously who did it on Wikiloc and it took him 10.5 hours!!! It is highly likely that we will not look a fresh chica’s by the end of it - more like bedraggled rats, but hey ho - it’s a pilgrimage after all - pil ‘grimace’ in our case! Ha ha see what I did! At least we are still laughing… just!😅

Oh my days I’ve just checked the next stage! Put this way, we have been laughing through our tears for the last 10minutes@!!🤣😭

Moral of the story is -Don’t book the Camino on the spur of the moment and book everything in 1 day. We have carried our backpacks for the first 2 stages but Thank God🙏for small mercies they are been transported to our hotels. At 15kg each they feel heavier as the day progresses, so we are extremely happy that we managed to sort it out.

I need to push some 💤’s now as we have a 5am start. More later and I need to back track a bit however that is if I have the energy to write!

From the beautiful town of Pontedeume
Over and out!

22/06/2024

Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes. Spent the glorious sunny day with 2 of my girls at the nearby Buscot House. Wandered through the gorgeous gardens followed by a lovely pub dinner by the Thames and finally back home for dessert, a delicious Biscoff Cheesecake.

05/06/2024

🙌🎉👏I cannot even describe how happy I am!

After years dragging my kids up mountains, walks on Christmas Day and everything inbetween, it has finally paid off! It might be a last minute trip but July 2nd we’re back in Spain but this time to walk the Camino de Santiago from Ferrol. Linzi Grace Ray & Eden Jade Ray it’s going to be an awesome adventure🥰🚶‍♀️and hopefully not the last😅!

28/04/2024

A little to the left, or maybe a little to the right? Mmmm…. Up here, no maybe the other side??😅.

Derek and I have really enjoyed the process. Visiting antique shops, going to auctions and were thrilled to find a couple of beautiful still life oil paintings for our gallery wall.

We have not spent much and are almost done now! A few more paintings and antique mirrors to find (and put up, poor Derek) and finally the stair rods for the carpet runner to install. Not perfect, but we love it, been such fun!

29/12/2023

CHANDELIER SHENANIGANS!!
Once forgotten in a box in a charity shop now up in my home looking absolutely gorgeous. Tremendously happy and proud of the final outcome🥰

12/11/2023

Missed a whole lot of the Reno in terms of how much time I’ve had to post but I just had to put something together for these AMAZING Cast Iron radiators.

Not much to say, as the quality speaks for themselves, apart from they were and are extremely heavy. Certainly hernia inducing and took them 45minutes of talking before they finally attempted the first one😅. No Derek didn’t help, his days of heavy lifting after over. Casting my mind back to the TV Program when he lifted that heavy stone whilst building the wall. Nah, that doesn’t happen anymore 😅

Grand Design House

04/09/2024

07/07/2024

06/07/2024

05/07/2024

04/07/2024

22/06/2024

05/06/2024

28/04/2024

29/12/2023

12/11/2023

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