Once in a while we have enough of the big city and leave for the English countryside. And if we do that, we do it properly.
No WiFi, not even mobile reception and the car had to be parked about 100 yards away from the cottage we had rented: we had to work our way (it was very muddy!) across a field with a horse and a donkey and cross a little wooden foot bridge to get to it. A little creek was running around the house – just like in a Thomas Hardy book. The countryside was stunning and we had lots of plans for day trips and hikes, but actually we all enjoyed the little stone cottage we had rented, so much, that we often just idled away, enjoying all the comforts of this old house. The inside was old fashioned, everything was creaky and old, nothing was straight, but everything was decorated with a loving hand and with a lot of attention to detail. Just reading the wonderful books that were to be found everywhere in the cottage could fill months if not years. And the cottage was indeed inviting you to read as the windows had these little niches with seats where you could sit and browse until the daylight was completely gone, just to continue later in front of the fireplace. Good thing we all love books! – I should probably make a blog post just about all those images of my kids reading…
But the garden was wonderful, too. There was a little creek running around it and even though it was quite cold – the water certainly was – the kids had a lot of fun wading through it. Also there was a very basic rope swing where we usually find at least one child swinging from during the day. The snowdrops were in bloom and everything looked like paradise to us. If you had wellies, that is.
