A Tale of Two Cities 2016: Pheasants and other Road Hazards

I was the one who slept late this morning and Kay had breakfast ready when she woke me up. We have enjoyed having a leisurely breakfast enjoying our view of the garden from the kitchen table. We knew it was a 80% chance of rain today so by the time we were showered and ready to leave it had rained a couple of times already. It was also chilly today so we threw all our coats and raincoats in the car. Today we decided to go to Chipping Campden which is one of the major cities in the Cotswolds.

The GPS took us in a different direction than we had previously gone and it was the most beautiful drive. Before we had gone a few miles, there was a pheasant on the side of the road. The coloring was beautiful and Kay pulled over and by the time we got the cameras out and turned them on, he disappeared into the hedges on the other side of the road...sigh. Oh well, it wasn't long before we saw another in the middle of the road this time with someone behind us. I'm trying to take a photo, Kay's trying not to wreck the car and the guy behind us I'm sure was trying to keep from hitting us. I got the picture this time although it isn't the best, you can at least see we aren't making this up! We also came to our first railroad crossing of the trip! No trains were coming thank heavens.

The sun was in an out on our drive but we passed some of the most beautiful landscapes you can imagine. The camera doesn't do them justice. When we got there we found a parking spot in the center of town and headed out to walk the town. We started walking and found this shop call Frankie Doodles where they had the cutest things. Kay and I spent a lot of time in looking through the store and chatting up the store clerk who was so cute. I have to say that everyone we have encountered since arriving (with the exception of the guy in the Tesco parking lot that Kay tried to eliminate) have been just the nicest and most helpful people. We bought a couple things there and Kay took them back to the car since we were still close. We walked to a beautiful garden and the houses through this area are beautifully landscaped and everything manicured to perfection. Then we continued the walk to St. James church at the top of the hill at the highest point in the village. It was beautiful and reminded me of my childhood being in church on Easter. The church was literally covered in huge floral arrangements of Easter Lilies that were so beautiful and the fragrance was amazing. The church is at the highest point in the village. We walked the grounds and through some of the cemetery and then back down the road and into town.

We went into a little deli/cheese shop and again had a fun conversation with the owner who helped us pick out some jam. Felicity had many things here but the deal is when we use it we are supposed to replace it so we were looking for additional jam for us and to replace what we know we will use of hers. We bought the lemon curd one that she says is the favorite of the queen. We had some on bread with our dinner and it indeed is yummy! Carol, you asked about detail on the cottage. If you look on the side, there should be a link to her sight that tells all about it and has lots of pictures as well. It's two bedroom and two baths although they are not ensuites we at least have our own bedroom. Go look at the photos on her website.

By now it is mid afternoon and we are ready for lunch so we decided on Bantam Tea Room since there menu looked good. We both had the tomato and lentil soup, a ham and cheese toastie with a curry chutney salad. Then we split a cheese scone for desert! It was all quite delicious. While we were eating lunch it started raining pretty hard but by the time we left it was just drizzle but very chilly too. We did walk a few more blocks to what was known as the Silk Mill but it really wasn't anything but a few shops and art displays. We headed back to the car and decided to head towards Shipston on Stour where Kay was going to try to get some cash and there was a Co-Op grocery store that Felicity had told us about. Since Tesco closed on us the other day, we never really got to get the things we needed. We took a side trip of some back roads and decided we wanted to see the village of Whatacote. Idacote was on the way and we also found Honington which was way off the beaten path but we decided this was the country club set of England. Kay did a bang up job of the tiny back roads driving today. It rained most of the drive and when we did get to Shipston and found the Co-Op it was pouring again. We got what we needed and got it all to the car....oh and you need to bring your own bags with you here. Kay knew that and had some with her....lucky for me.

We are having internet issues so there are a bunch of photos that won't load...in the interest of time....I'm giving up!

When we got back home I put the groceries away while Kay worked on an issue she was having with the bank and her travel phone. We went out for a short walk and I cut my hand on a thorny bush while walking and it was bleeding a bunch and I had nothing with me and neither did Kay so I came back and she went on. We had dinner and here we are on the couches opposite each other both typing away. Oh and one of the country houses we went by had a huge truck in front of it that looked like a tractor trailer for horses but had Joseph's Amazing Camels! The back was open and nothing was inside but we didn't see any camels. We are going to try to be up and ready to get out early tomorrow so day 3 is now in the books.