A few people have commented on why I spend so much time writing this blog. It's not only to share with fiends but because I've found over the years that writing a blog embeds the memories of the holiday more clearly. I also use it to put together photobooks for each of our holidays. The ones for Italy and France also contain massive numbers of recipes. For the UK, I used to record recipes for things like Eccles Cakes and Colston Buns or Portland Cake. This time, there hasn't been a memorable food item. Well, other than two serves of chips at pubs who use Russet potatoes. Then again, the Mackerel at a pub in Kent was pretty good. Boy, they have been far and few. I'm a slow learner so it wasn't until yesterday that I said to Ches, "That's it, I'm not going to buy anything take away for the rest of our time in the UK." I'd be better off going into a Waitrose and buying a prepackaged sandwich or a pork pie.

What brought that on? Oh, I'm about to write about our day at Osborne House and I have already written about our lunch there. Did I? A prepackaged sandwich, which was the best of the meals, two wraps with around 50gms of chicken in each and undressed salad, a sweet potato curry (no rice) and four cold drinks. $AU90.00.

I'd almost forgotten, however when we arrived, there was a sign advertising the various cafes availabe. One was called the POQ Cafe. There were two women welcoming us and I enquired about the POQ. I prefacedmy question by saaying that in Australia POQ stands for "P..s off Quick", When she stopped laughing she explained it was the Petty Officers Quarters. I don't think the food would have been aby better there and we should have POQ rather than try any of their cafes.

Remember when cafes used to serve some salad on the side with no dressing and it was only about decoration. No one was expected to eat it. Give them something unappetizing and that's what they do; leave it. Now we have salads on the side with interesting dressings and we regard it as part of the meal. Here, they don't even bother to chop them to fit on a fork. They know its not going to be eaten.

Today is Thursday, but it's Monday blog time. It's the morning at Osborne House with the boys returning on the ferry to Southampton mid-afternoon.

The island is so much smaller than I had expected. We can drive from the south to north coast in about 30 minutes. That's coast to coast. From the west coast to where we are staying 30 minutes and the same to the east coast. That's driving at an average speed of around 60kmph.

What's to say about Osborne House other than it may be grand and huge, however it's decorated like a family home. Well, most of it is a family home and the official "state" rooms are almost as OTT as the Pavilion at Brighton which she hated.

In 1774-81, the Blachford family extend and adapt an existing house into a three-storey residence, with a walled kitchen garden and a brick stable block. In 1884-5, Vicki and Albert leased it and then decided they wanted it. They bought it in 1885, knocked together the Pavilion in just year and a bit, and the household wing in another couple of years. Having knocked down the original house, Vicki then decides to accommodate the children …. But at a distance and at the end of a long corridor with a new wing. Maybe they are still too close, so Albert builds them a miniature Swiss House down near the beach. They must fend for themselves so there is a vegetable garden that they have to manage. Each child has their own monogrammed set of garden tools and a wheelbarrow each.

Sorry for taking the mickey. The rooms that are open are well designed to give a good idea of daily life there. I mean we don't see anything of the "below stairs" quarters or work spaces, however It didn't even occur to me after the first room which is ………… "The Birthday Room" . Doesn't everyone have a birthday room?

Vicki would be woken on her birthday by the band of the Royal Marines playing below her bedroom window. She would then rise, dress, and go look at her presents in the Birthday Room with Albert and the six kids. I discovered why she needed a room for present giving. They tended to give each other works of art or furniture.

As with the Pavilion in Brighton, a picture tells more than any number of words I can conjure. I'll just leave it with a couple of observations. The recreated nursery was unique with cradles and beds crammed into the room and the formal dining room the most OTT of any I have ever seen. I thought the dining room at Brighton was spectacular while Vicki's is just too much. You'll hopefully get a feeling for this from the photos I'll post.

Ches's hips were still recovering, so after Lunch, she waited on the terrace in the sun while we walked down to the beach etc. etc. Remember, I started wheezing again, didn't make it to the Swiss Cottage and slowly walked back up the hill.

It was time to drop Drew and Keith off at the ferry and return for a quiet evening back at the manor.

I'll finish by telling you about the tomatoes we had on the island. Drew had made a point of telling us about "The Tomato Stall" who's tomatoes have become famous. We found around 20 shops on the island who sell their produce and one was only ten minutes from us. We visited twice for supplies. Not just great tomatoes but also black garlic. We later went to their farm as well and bought some to bring home.

I wish someone in Australia, ….. no not one, but dozens of tomato growers, would follow their lead. If you're interested google them up for a description of how they have built this business in just 23 years using old glass house that had been used for flowers and introducing organic principles.

'We have more sunshine on the Isle of Wight than any other part of the UK, and because we're a small island that light is intensified by the sea,' explains Paul. 'We're also able to pick the tomatoes when they're perfectly ripe, rather than picking them early and letting them develop their colour in a cold truck for a few days, which is what happens with tomatoes from mainland Europe. Once you pick a tomato it stops developing flavour, so it's important to pick it as late as possible but before it swells and starts to split.'

Plenty of sunshine, incredible glasshouses, a sustainable approach to growing, an incredible number of different varieties and a very short time from being picked to sitting on shop shelves - that's what makes Isle of Wight tomatoes the best you can get in the UK. There's just one more thing you need to do when you get them home. 'Don't keep tomatoes in the fridge - the cold kills the flavour and destroys the natural sugars,' says Paul. 'Keep them in the fruit bowl instead - after all, they are a fruit!'

Not quite as good as those that we had in Italy, where their perfume dominated our apartments when left in a bowl for the day, but better than most.

Hang on, I found "Trip Savvy" had a great brief summary of Osborne House, that might accompany my photographs.

Osborn House on the Isle of Wight was Queen Victoria's private family home for 50 years. It was designed by her consort, Prince Albert, together with master builder Thomas Cubitt. Cubitt also designed much of Bloomsbury, Battersea Park and many of the historic streets and in London, Belgravia and Pimlico.

The house was designed as an Italianate palazzo to take advantage of its seaside position on northeast of the island, not far from the sailing resort of Cowes where the famous regatta is held.

When Queen Victoria first saw Osborne, she is reported to have said, "It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot." From 1843 to 1845, the royal family leased an 18th century house owned by an English aristocrat. Then, in 1845. Victoria and Albert bought the property and set about creating the house you see today. It was designed as a summer holiday home and a family retreat from formal court life in London and Windsor, It was also a place to entertain visiting diplomats and dignitaries in a less formal setting than the Palace or Castle.

When Osborne House was first built, it had no ballroom or grand reception rooms, so if the Queen entertained there, it had to be during the summer months, on the lawns under a marquee. In 1892, the Durbar Wing expansion of the house included a large reception room and the fabulously decorated Durbar Room.

After the death of Queen Victoria, the house — which had been her private home and not the property of the state — would have passed to her heirs. But King Edward VII did not need it and no other member of the royal family wanted the property or the expenses of running it In 1902, the King gave it to the nation and parts of it were open to the public as early as 1904.

Over the years it has served as a convalescent hospital for military officers and as a naval college. In 1986, English Heritage took over its management and has been gradually restoring and renovating, opening more of the house every year.

A visit to Osborne House includes a chance to visit Victoria and Albert's private rooms. They had been sealed in 1901 on the orders of King Edward VII but were opened to the public in 1954 after Queen Elizabeth II gave permission.

Family Rooms: These rooms offer an intimate glimpse into the private lives of Albert, Victoria and their nine children. The nursery has been restored and furnished as it might have been when the royal family was in residence. You can also see the queen's personal bath and the bedroom where she died in 1901. Albert's private suite, was virtually untouched after he died and some of the things he used are still where he left them.

The State Rooms: The rooms where the queen entertained dignitaries and celebrities and conducted state business include a Council Room where she met with members of her Privy Council; a dining room set for a formal dinner in 1850; an opulent drawing room, decorated with yellow satin, mirrors and cut glass, and a billiards room where the queen and ladies of her court sometimes played.

The Durbar Room: This state room deserves special mention because of its elaborate, Indian-style decoration. The room reflected Queen Victoria's role as Empress of India. It was designed by Rudyard Kipling's father, Lockwood Kipling, and Indian master carver Bhai Ram Singh.

The Queen's Beach and Bathing Machine: The private beach was opened to the public in 2012. Families can swim and picnic there. During the summer months, there are traditional Punch and Judy shows. A shuttle bus takes visitors from the house to the beach throughout the day. While you are at the beach, you can have a look inside Queen Victoria's "bathing machine." In the Victorian era, swimming in the sea was a new thing and something in which women rarely indulged. But fashions changed and it was considered healthy to immerse oneself in salt water — or at least get a bit wet. The bathing machines were little cabins on wheels that were towed out into sea by horses — or sometimes servants. Inside would be a change of dry clothing and other supplies. When the bathing machine was in place, the ladies, dressed head to toe in Victorian swimming costumes, would be helped down a short flight of steps, into the water. At Osborne House, you can go inside Queen Victoria's machine.

The Swiss Cottage: Some distance from the main house, a Swiss-style chalet was built for Victoria and Albert's children to learn homely skills. They prepared cakes and tarts for tea on child-sized kitchen equipment and, just a few years ago, a dairy where they could learn to make butter and cheese was discovered behind a boarded up door.