Been a bit busy 'round here lately and we are off to Cromer for a week of peace . . . quiet . . . laziness! Hope to get back into the swing of things not too long after we're back! Till then . . . . . .
What promises to be a perfect cottage for our holiday that is! :-)
Two weeks in the Autumn near Bakewell in the Derbyshire countryside. Ahhh.... my two favourite areas of England, Derbyshire/Peak District and any part of Yorkshire, so it had to be one or the other. And, with it being Bakewell, we'll be close to Chatsworth which is my most favouritest (lol) stately home in the land. Can't wait to get back!
The 'cottage' looks like a little square castle and was a nurseryman's bothy 150 years ago. The pictures of the inside are really lovely and it has a glowing log burning stove, a sheltered roof terrace in addition to the garden area for alfresco dining (weather permitting), and is pretty much off on it's own with lots of trees and views across the Derwent Valley. I am SO looking forward to being back in Derbyshire. In my opinion, England's very own little piece of Heaven. Now if I could only make the calendar move that little bit faster for a time. Funny that - normally trying to slow it down!
The snow has finally all melted which is nice considering it's nearly April! I love the stuff, but much closer to Christmas and only for a few days. It was really a surreal few days here on the coast weather wise.
OK, I'm off now to finish the day's laundry, await Tesco's arrival and think about making some rolls. 50% wholewheat - 50% seeded white sounds good to me. You? Maybe just one small batch of biccies too? Sure, no prob. :-D
The wind is back, howling screaming by non-stop. It's bad atm, but listening to the local radio, it is supposed to get worse (up to 85mph) here on the east coast in the next few hours. Yesterday wasn't so bad, but Monday was horrible and the oddest things were 'moved' by the gusts. Plants that have some height and that you would think would go over easily were left standing, but the small door on our water feature which is a sliding door and tight to the feature was blown totally off and one of those plastic sheds, the shorter kind with the lift up lid was moved over about 4 inches . . . . on one side. Strange. Now they've just said that the winds may not increase any later, but there could be hail. So, as always, if you want to know what the weather is - stick your head out the door.
I still have not found the perfect holiday cottage, but at least I'm now working on the short list. We are a bit picky which makes it harder to find all the things we deem necessary in one place. Like a washing machine - if you're going away for a week it's not so 'necessary', but when you go for two weeks and don't want to pack 10 suitcases a washing machine is needed. We want a nice enclosed (of sorts) garden - somewhere you can go out to in nice weather and enjoy a coffee/tea, read etc without the neighbouring properties overlooking your every move. It would be nice to be on the edge of a lovely village so that you have your peace, but can go out walking (not jumping in the car) for a paper or pint of milk. One year we did rural, which was really nice except for the fact that when you did want to have a day out, you had to drive 15 miles to get anywhere to start with. If it were only for the one week I would think more about the 'tent' type holidays on a farm. Not really tents as such, more like canvas buidlings - going out to collect your own eggs for breakfast with a wood stove for cooking/hot water/heat. Hmmmm.......
So I suppose the requirements are: 2 bedroom (although there is just the 2 of us, we always use the spare bedroom to store 'stuff' that we acquire during the holiday and any electrical/gadgety sorts of things we take with us) - pleasant, private back garden w/table & chairs - washing machine - away from the town/village (would NEVER let one near a 'city') enough for peace and quiet yet close enough to walk into said town/village.
Things that would be definite pluses, and sway the vote - open log fire in lounge, freeview for those inevitable inclement days in, quiet woodsy walks near by, any number of bathroom luxuries such as power showers and/or jacuzzi jets in an oversized bath etc.... :-D
A bit picky, yes . . . .
.......for the gales that are supposed to arrive Sun. into Monday. Then a glorious day spent combing the net for the perfect holiday cottage!
]]>Home Sweet Home . . . .
Back from our week near Cromer - well rested, slightly uncomfortable, a few more possessions, a few less quid and lots of photos to sort through.
The barn conversion we stayed at is one of many owned by the same family. They are lovely, always clean and neat with most anything you could possibly need or want provided. The only real gripe we have, and have had with the other conversion we'd stayed in before, is the lounge seating. It's simply torturous. In this conversion (I think the other was the same) it was two, two seater sofa's - one having a 'sofa bed' that you can fold out if needed. They are the most uncomfortable things I've ever experienced. Rock hard toward the outside of the cushions (using term loosely), and then about 6 inches in from the outer (arm) edge they just start sinking and keep sinking until both seating cushions meet in the middle, probably a few inches from the floor. Fine if you sit directly in the middle - just not for too long. Sounds picky I'm sure, but when you've planned a few days "in" just vegging/watching rubbish tv/reading it's more than slightly disappointing. The week's holiday was a gift from the IL's - so I don't mean to sound like I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but after seeing that it isn't just the one cottage with this problem I wouldn't book here again if I were booking for myself - my dodgy back can't take it.
Of course there was the obligatory touristy shopping excursions. The BH and I like the eclectic type of small shops, we call them Hippy shops :-D . You know the ones. In even the smallest ones you can usually find lots of incense, a few candles, some tarot cards, a Buddha or two, some sort of 'precious' stones/crystals and possibly a selection of soothing/meditation music. Thing is, you really never know what you'll find in these sorts of places and every now and then - when you least expect it - you find something really, truly unique. Whenever we're out and about in a new place we always look for this sort of shop. Some towns/villages don't have a single one, while others have what seems to be a "Hippy Section" with several of them in a sort of cluster. So yes, there were a few *ahem* purchases during the week, mostly stuff for the home, laptrays - kitchen goodies etc. Thus the few *ahem, again* less quid. Oh, and of course I had to make a trip to my most favourite shop in the area - Bakers and Larners. Heaven for a kitchen gadget/goodie junkie like myself!
Lots of photos. Yep. BH will have more than I as he went out on two days when I decided to stay in for a lazy day and fight with the sofas, lol. I've got mine transferred onto the Vaio now and will probably spend a good part of tomorrow sorting through and uploading to here and Flickr.
Off now to see what my neighbourhood has been up to here on Vox, and then to catch up on a few other things online before logging off and getting back to the real world. :-)
First things first, coffee and a biccy. Just to keep the strength up, don't you know! ;-D
Been a bit busy 'round here lately and we are off to Cromer for a week of peace . . . quiet . . . laziness! Hope to get back into the swing of things not too long after we're back! Till then . . . . . .
Off on two weeks NON COMPUTING holiday!
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