Counting Sheep

I slept hard for a few hours then woke up at 2 AM and didn't go back to sleep until 4.  When I woke up again at 8 I came down and did the dishes we left in the sink yesterday and then made tea and toast with the bread Felicity had made.  We bought some bananas yesterday and cheese at the shop on the hill that said it was "very mature cheddar".  Being mature myself and Kay saying she liked sharp cheese we decided to buy it so I cut a couple slices for breakfast.  Yikes...mature was way over anything we would eat so that was not eaten.  Kay was not up yet so I went to get her up and we enjoyed breakfast looking out the glass doors into our garden.  It is another beautiful day so we get showered, dressed and ready to go.

Kay wanted to go to Tesco which is a store more like Target than Walmart.  By the time we got in the car it was afternoon so we were going to drive around some villages nearby and find a place to have some lunch and we would buy groceries at Tesco as well as a Sim card Kay wanted for her phone.  We went in a different direction than we had been previously.  The scenery here is like something out of a magazine and hard to describe the beauty that the camera just can't capture.  Rolling hills, farms, sheep everywhere with lots of baby lambs, beautiful flowers blooming and gorgeous old homes.  Everything is so manicured and well kept.  We get to the village of Mickelson and one of the places Felicity had mentioned for us to eat was called the Three Way House Hotel which was in an intersection where three roads came together. We were going to stop but there was no parking spots open around there (parking here is a huge issue).  We went on down the street and found a "beer garden" that served food.  The clue was there was plenty of parking.  Actually this was probably just a neighborhood bar as it was full of men just having an afternoon beer and was a bit on the dingy side.  We decided not to stay and went back to the first place and found a place to park.  It was a beautiful place and the food was awesome, the atmosphere very classy and elegant and we enjoyed it immensely.  I'm sure Kay will go into detail about the "Pudding Club" but I have figured in a short time that they consider desert pudding whether it is pudding as we know it or not.  We had a lentil and potato soup that was wonderful, homemade bread (everyone does it here), roast beef with roasted vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding (which is not a pudding but a pastry of sorts with no flavor) and then a desert bar which consisted of many things I didn't recognize but I got the chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and it was quite good.  We then went to the "lounge" to have tea and chocolates.  It really was nice and we enjoyed it but by now it was after 3 and Tesco closes at 4:30.  It was in a city called Evesham which we expected to be small but was the biggest city we have been in since we picked up the car in Oxford.  Kay did good until we made the turn into the Tesco parking lot and she was on the wrong side of the divider and there were hand gestures and much yelling behind closed car windows.  We managed to park and by the time she got the Sim card the store was closing.  We ran and picked up a couple things that we could heat for dinner before they threw is out. 

It took us about 45 minutes to get back to the cottage.  We went out for a walk and it started to rain.  By the time we were through with lunch the sun wasn't out any longer and it had gotten colder and breezy.  There are "Foot Paths" through the entire Cotswolds and you "could" walk from one village to another.  We walked down the road and took pictures of the field of daffodils by the church and saw a turkey and a goose in there too. While driving this afternoon we saw a pheasant that was beautiful.  Lots of wild life around here.  We walked the circle path behind the cottage to the church and lots of villagers were out walking their dogs and were very friendly and chatty.  Behind the church is the farm with the lambs and there were so many babies.  They were very vocal too so I got a video as well but they don't post well on here.  We took so many pictures back there and would have stayed longer but it was raining harder so we started home. 

I wrote the blog for the last two days but need to get the pictures together first then I will post it.  We had dinner and Kay is looking into what we will do tomorrow and I'm going to work on posting the blogs and photos then day 2 will be in the books as well.

The Adventure Begins

Teresa drove me to meet Kay on I-285 so she didn't have to drive me all the way to the airport..  We met at Panera and had lunch there, then took off for the airport.  Kay managed to get TSA Precheck and I did not so after we checked in and dropped the luggage which for both of us was just under the wire, we made a pit stop before heading to security.  After coming out we looked at each other and couldn't believe that in the 5 minutes we were in the restroom, about 20 buses dropped off spring breakers going on trips with various groups and the security lines were now out of the ques...yikes!  Of course she head to precheck and I wait in the line.  It moved pretty fast and in about 25 minutes later I found her on the other side.    We were very early and since it was now only 3:30 in the afternoon, our flight wasn't going to board until 6:25 so we did lots of different things to amuse ourselves...walking the concourse, looking through the shops and having frozen yogurt. 

Finally they started to board and we get on and get seated in our economy comfort (economy miserable) bulkhead seats and get settled.  Kay brought a "donkey" stuffed animal to go with Shrek and we had fun taking photos of them in various places in and around our seats.  One of the flight attendants came by and laughed.  She said do you want me to take a photo of you two with them and we said sure.  She said she would get them the Delta wings they give the kids and we put them on them and took more photos.  She said can I take them to the cockpit?  We died laughing and said sure and she took my phone too.  She came back with pictures of the pilot and co-pilot holding them in the cockpit.   We howled.  She said do you mind if I show them where I work?  Of course we laughed some more and she was gone forever and when she returned we laughed over her galley photos with them.  She set the tone for the fun.

 

Well our departure time came and went and the captain came on the intercom and said they were waiting for a few passengers from another flight.  They finally show and they close the door.  Shortly thereafter he announces that the ground crew people noticed a hydraulic leak and they were checking it out so we would  be sitting until they finished.  The next announcement at about 8:10 not almost an hour after we were supposed to have left said they were calling for mechanics to come and he made it sound like if they didn't fix it we would not be going.  Our 767-400 was full to capacity and of course they were to serve us dinner and we were getting hungry.  Finally he came on and said they were closing the door, the problem was fixed and we would be in the air soon but it would be a bumpy ride.  Well, it was quite bumpy so no serving drinks or anything else because we were locked in no one up mode.  The bouncing around was getting to poor Kay and she said much more on the empty stomach and it was not going to be a good scene.....thank heavens we had bought a bottle of water each so we could at least drink water.   Finally it settled enough for them to serve dinner and then everyone tried to go to sleep since it was so late.  Just so hard to sleep or get comfortable in those seats.  I know we nodded off but it was not restful and the plane continued to bounce most of the trip.

We arrive to sunny skies which is something I have never experienced here.  When Debbie and I were here the last time, we didn't see the sun the whole time.  It was so clear and beautiful that Kay was able to get pictures of Big Ben, London Eye and Buckingham Palace on our approach to land!  We manage to get through UK Border and then Customs and got our luggage and found our drive...yay things are going well!  We head to the parking garage with him and his pass wouldn't work in the machine....after him talking to them through the machine they finally sent someone out and we were on our way to the car.  He was very nice and chatted us up about The Donald of course. 
About an hour later we were in Oxford at the Enterprise place to pick up our car.

They bring out the car and we load our stuff in it and get in.  We looked at each other and said "this is so weird".  Everything is reversed and of course we were so lucky that the car had a GPS system which we didn't pay for.  We had no idea where we were or how to get to Ilmington and the cottage.  This was a very busy area with a lot of traffic.  Kay handled it well and soon we were on the road and headed to the cottage.  I counted the exits on the roundabouts and tried to video the event as well.  Since I was the navigator I had to pay attention and some of the photos I had to delete but still got enough to give you the idea.  I was very proud of Kay, she only ran over the curb a couple times and came dangerously close to a guy on a bicycle but we made it here and she did not kill or injure anyone in the process!

I can't even describe to you how beautiful this place is.  Felicity and Tony who own the cottage and the house they live in across the courtyard are just delightful people.  She had a tray in the kitchen with tea, jam and had baked us a fresh loaf of bread!  After taking us around the house and explaining about everything, she said Tony would be here but she was leaving Sunday to go to Dublin as they have a cottage there too and she needed to get it ready for the renters.  She had made reservations for us for dinner at the Howard Arms Restaurant and Hotel which is just a few blocks.  It wasn't time for us to go yet but we took a ride around town to see where things were and stopped at the shop up the road where Felicity told us we could get a few items to tide us over.

Everything here is pretty much grown locally and the produce was gorgeous!  The people are so nice and helpful and the two ladies in the shop "chatted us up" for awhile and were so sweet.  We came back to try to drag our luggage up the stairs to the bedrooms and get ready for dinner.  By this time we were really having major sinking spells.  Kay went out to walk and I tried to get somewhat settled.  We were pleasantly surprised with dinner and both of us were really hungry by now.  The food was very good as was the wine and desert!  When we finished and came home it was a race to see who could get up to our respective room and fall asleep the fastest.....I think it was a tie.  It was just past 9 PM UK time and I can't tell you how proud I was that I made it that long!

So ended day 1! 

The beginning of Time

Our April "cottage" in the Cotswolds

It all came about whilst I was reading a novel set in England, whereby the protagonist rents a countryside cottage. That she finds herself slipping back into time when she stumbles through a wormhole in the basement is neither here nor there, but it did make me curious about cottage rentals. 

One of the great things about a Kindle fire is being able to research an idea that comes about while reading as soon as you think of it because with my current state of mind by the time I get to an actual computer I will have totally forgotten what I am wanting to research in the first place. It didn't take me long to find a few links that led me to the lovely Sansome Cottage. Halfway jokingly I sent the link to my partner in crime, Donkey, who halfway jokingly said we should do it. This back and forth kept up until the joking half was overtaken by seriousness and before we knew it we were writing the owner, Felicity. 

Felicity seems to be a dream landlord; she certainly responds to any email questions quickly and very thoroughly, and stocks a mean kitchen. I mean just the coffee makers alone boggle the mind of this non-coffee drinker:  French press, hob top espresso, Nespresso capsule coffee machine, and electric drip filter machine. For simple ole me, there's a smoothie maker. And not only a toaster but also a sandwich toaster. I'm assuming this refers to a panini press-yum-but if not it'll be an adventure figuring out what it does. 

If we were really to do this, however, Cheryl had two requirements: to visit Highclere Castle, otherwise know to the world as Downton Abbey, and to see the tulip fields in Holland. I had watched a few episodes of Downton but hadn't really gotten into it; Donkey on the other hand, is a rabid fan. The Castle is only open during certain times of the year, including the weeks prior to and following Easter. So to try and hit Holland *bam* during peak tulip season and also visit Highclere we had to stretch our initial two-week stay into three.  Fortunately, Felicity was able to accommodate us and now you have it...a three-week stay in a cottage in the English Cotswolds, a top ten on my bucket list, followed by several days in The Netherlands. Now, if it'll only have a time-hopping wormhole in the basement we can have a never-ending vacation.

Shrekie