Mini break - part 3

I didn't get a chance to post the last leg of our Cotswold mini break.  Here are some of my favorite things from the day.

I tried to take pictures of sheep every day from the moving car (for Lisa because she loves sheep.  Noelle, if you are reading this all I can say is so does Abe Lincoln)  But then we saw this idyllic scene and we had to pull over (even though they are cows).

 Our final city on the three day tour was Bath.  We had to go pick up our Queen poster that Bill posted the other day.  I saw this little restaurant that I want to go to next time aptly named the  Hole in the Wall.  I should have stood by the door to give you some perspective but this was a restaurant built under the side walk. I think I said it before - the Brits know how to leverage small spaces.

 No mini break would be complete without discovering an independent bookshop.  This one has several special features that I plan to take advantage of at some point....they do book spa days where you pay for an hour long conversation about books with one of the book loving employees and then they select a stack of books that fit your taste.  Also in the shop they have  a little corner booth the door is the one with windows) where you can pay 3 pounds and get 30 minutes of time with earphones on to sit and read.  Book lovers know that after you pick out a pile of books you need to do the final review to make sure you buy the right ones....this is the perfect setting for that book buying selection process.

 We ended the day with a rest in the park with tea.  There was a wedding in process.  A British wedding means there will be fascinators!!!  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascinator)  

Thanks, Will, for a brilliant mini break. xoxo Sausage

The incredible Mr. Fox

This is our neighbor.  We call him Mr Fox.  He feeds the foxes every night.  He never wears a shirt.  I wonder if that is a year round thing.  

He makes this goop he mixes up every day.  As part of his fox feeding ritual he stirs the goop aggressively, bangs on the side of his metal container to tell his fox friends it's time to eat and then flings spoonful after spoonful until the container is empty.

No one questions him.  He flings his fox goop with impunity.  I'm the only one who still seems to pay him any attention.  I want to be an eccentric old man, someday.  (Please don't take the obvious shot and say that I already am...)

Just trying to fit in ... in style

 

Our weekend touring around England was fantastic for many reasons.  We came home with a few souvenirs.  One was our giant picture of Queen Elizabeth.  We were worried about overdoing the UK thing but we couldn't pass up this fantastic painting.  So it will be a centerpiece of our new home.
Also I was the only one in my office who didn't have cufflinks and a double cuff shirt.  Now I'm rocking like my UK homies.

Mini break - part 2

Breakfast at the b&b.  Bill brought his iPad so we could figure out the day's destinations. Next stop - Stow-on-the-Wold.  I love these names with hyphens.

 Very cute and excellent shopping!  

We had a lovely morning chatting with shop keepers and spending money.  Then it was off to Chipping Norton for lunch.  I also love all the names with "Chipping" - mostly because it sounds so cute but also because it means 'market' which means more good shopping.  Notice the man in the red sweater behind Bill - Bill started chatting him up and he wound up joining us for about a half an hour, telling us about his career, his exwife (insane), his knee operation (showed us the scar).  It was very pleasant but then I started to get antsy to get back on the road.

 We were in Stratford-upon-Avn approximately 30 minutes - - that was as long as it took for us to park, find a bathroom and realize that we were in too much of a tourist town.  The place was packed and was milking the Shakespeare association too much.  I managed to get some shots of some tudor buildings that did not have a nail salon or a phone store built into the old structure.  

 Good bye Stratford - hello Cheltenham.  Not bad for last minute accommodations, huh?  Bill agrees!!

Mini break - part 1

Members of NPPS and other BBC watchers will recognize our first stop of the mini break....Highclere Castle aka DOWNTON ABBEY!  It was beautiful.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside (although Rebel Bill snuck a few with his iphone) and they play up the association with pictures of Downton characters, highlighting which bedroom is Sybil's etc.  Turns out the 5th Lord Carnarvon (the real Highclere family) was the financial backer for Howard Carter and was with him when they opened the tomb of Tutankhamun.  Who knew? So there was an additional Egyptology exhibit going on that we bypassed and instead - hit the road to a beer garden for lunch.   

 I look  like I belong here, don't I?  Like this should be one of my summer homes?

We spent the afternoon in Cirencester and found a room in a local inn.  It was exactly what we were looking for  - bed and breakfast with a pub attached.

 Our room.

 Playing scrabble over a pre-dinner pint and cigar.  My first word on the board was "zit".

Lastly, dinner and Olympic viewing at a restaurant called Someplace Else (as in, "Let's go Someplace Else") and then well earned rest before another day of adventure!!

(pictures from inside the Castle... they may or may not have been taken by me)

Early morning fog on the Brocas

House tour continues

Tuesday was your basic work day - get up, putter around, work, putter around some more and go to bed.  It's on days like these that we started the sink series and posting shots of us in our pjs.  Fortunately there are just a few more house shots that I can get away with before I'm repeating myself so here they are.....

This is from the doorway of the master bedroom.  To the right is the bathroom.  They really use every bit of space here.  We've got a big storage area over the stairs but of course I can only reach the very front of the first shelf and that's while leaning far forward from the top step.  I'm not sure how anyone actually stores something there. 

 This is the downstairs bathroom under the stairs.  Teeny tiny.   Barely enough room to get your hands under the faucet in that mini sink.  Still, it's great to have a downstairs lav.

 We haven't quite figured out what to do with the sun room yet.  We use it to dry clothes (see rack on far right) but we don't tend to sit out here.  When it's sunny, it really heats up and its too bright to see the laptop screen.  Maybe with the right chair it would be a good place to read in the shade on a sunny day.

I think that is officially the house tour...unless of course we don't take any pictures on Wednesday and need to start posting pictures of inside the kitchen cabinets or something.