My hair had looked revolting when I got up this morning so I got a grip and gave it a scrub, and it was really grey outside; the chickens had black cabbage up in the hen house and I sat with Soot the 19 year old cat (who was snoring back on my bed) before breakfast. After the usual fried eggs had been eaten, I kept writing, was headbutted a bit by him, a couple of squirrels were doing gymnastics on the bird feeders, Soot jumped on and off a couple of times, and I eventually finished that entry while my mother was making herself a packed lunch, and I properly dressed myself, packed my bag, tried to make my hair look decent and gave Soot a head scratch; and it was 11:52 AM (and I’d grabbed a little bit of chocolate) when the car moved.

Halloween decorations were dangling over several doorways on a nearby road – and loads of clearly fake cobwebs; fireworks and Christmas trees were being advertised outside a very long driveway; and at Compton Verney at 12.20pm – someone who looked like a grandmother was equipping her 3 grandchildren with welly boots, the car park was quite full, and a mum and dad wearing wellies were belting their kids into a car, and it was 12.37pm when we moved. An incredibly muddy spaniel (with owner) was in the reception area – and plastic tractors, a plastic RV camper set (with a truck, camper van and boat), a 12 piece RV camper set, and soft toys – including ‘long chimps’ were among the things for sale; and out on the other side by the lake at 12.50pm, I photographed berries and saw signs for den building.

In a bird hide by the lake – we witnessed a duck ensuring nothing was wasted from some strung up bird feeders and slurping bits out of the mud, and then ensuring her beak was clean by dunking it in a puddle a few times.

Back on the path, Mum diverted off it and made 1 attempt at pond dipping, a robin was doing some loud twittering, I saw a life ring by the lake, and acorns all over and under an oak tree; and we were by a bridge when the path ended – with a banner for a ‘spectacle of light’ (10th February -> 5th March 2023), and she pressed a button on a metal post, which then started saying stuff. A propeller plane flew over, a multicoloured climbing frame structure was nearby, and it was 1.38pm when the house was entered: ginormous meringues of various colours and all sorts of Christmas baubles – including skiing mice, veg baskets, and bumblebees with Santa hats were among the things in the shop; and up some stairs was a Chinese exhibition with a big metal horse in the middle of the first room.

The next room was a very dark 1 – to do with Dutch flower painting (and I noticed a few little insects in the paintings), and just after 2pm, I entered a room with a bouquet of flowers made by The Pom Pom Factory in London, and a table encouraging people to make origami flowers.

That was the last room, we turned round, and back in the Chinese room, I noticed the metal horse had testicles; and in another room was an exhibition titled ‘Common Ground’ – with wires dangling on a wall making noises, what were labelled as silk scrolls were dangling from the ceiling, and various countries constitutions were written on a wall. Another dark room had strings of rubber stamps and examples of relief panels, Mum wanted me to photograph a photo of a beach with words printed on it in a snail shape, and then she decided she wanted tea, and it was 2.45pm when we sat down in the cafe. I noticed the amount of alcohol behind the counter there, and a few guests for what looked like a wedding wandered through, followed by a bloke holding a shirt and tie on a hanger, I thought I could hear a dog whining, and it was 3.25pm when we moved again. Kids were building things with wooden blocks on the lawn behind the house, I could hear ducks quacking, and sheep and swans were joining in the noises; when we crossed the bridge, a mother was asking her son ‘Elliott, how was the dark place?’, a bubble blowing device shaped like a dinosaurs head was being held by a child in a pram, the sun was still out when we got back to the car at 3.45pm (and it was 17c); and we were home 1 hour later – when darkness was begining to fall.