Tag Archives: Paxford

A Walk About…

Before we left the Cotswolds we wanted to take a walk about the land around Fox Cottage. The lanes were so narrow getting to and from the cottage that I wanted to walk out and take some photos because I was paralyzed when driving them wondering what we might encounter around the next curve.

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Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 030A couple of these lanes were not right outside Fox Cottage but on the road between Chipping Campden and Snowshill.

 

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Walk About the Fox 014After we walked to the end of the clear path we headed back to the cottage.

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Walk About the Fox 025The driveway back to the cottage.

Walk About the Fox 027Our next destination would be very different from our cottage in the Cotswolds.

So here we are back in the states for almost 6 weeks now. Our bathroom is still not totally done. Maybe by the end of this week. Our weather continues to be dry and warmish with a few thunderstorms thrown in here and there. Dear and I worked real hard at this old house on Saturday pulling weeds, clearing two trash cans full of pine needles from planters, cleaning out the garage and taking a huge load of stuff to Goodwill.

Now here we are in the last week of August! Our son Josh and Laura celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary today. All of our kids are in the state of Washington again. We thank God for bringing them all safely back here from road trips and work assignments. Nothing big on the calendar this week. How is your August winding down?

Fox Cottage ~ Cotswolds

ABC Wednesday is on the letter F this week.

Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC team for keeping the meme alive.

Our first self-catering experience in England was at Fox Cottage so…

…F is for Fox Cottage

Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 002First and foremost is a fair warning that this post is full of fotos of the Fox inside and out!

Day one in England 7-4 007We had our own mostly private area between the cottage and stables across from the cottage.

Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 092I believe our side of this U shaped space were stables in the past, too, which have been converted and upgraded to a living space.

2014-07-07 VisitorsFor those of you not familiar with the term self-catering it means you take care of yourself while you rent a property. Generally there is no daily maid service and no breakfast provided. We enjoyed making our own “Full English” and when the fragrance of those sausages hit the air we had several visitors arrive at our door begging!

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Broadway Day 7 002When we arrived we were greeted with fresh flowers and a sweet loaf that I didn’t get a foto (spelling in honor of F) of.

Day one in England 7-4 001Free wifi and lots of channels on the telly. Kinda funny that places advertise wifi as being free when you know you are paying for it anyway in the full price of the property. I did specifically choose properties while in England that advertised free wifi. Since we weren’t using our cell phones we wanted to feel connected to home and family whenever we could.

Day one in England 7-4 003We fully appreciated the fabulous exposed rough beams throughout the Fox.

Day one in England 7-4 004The old features that were worked into the space were enjoyed.

Day one in England 7-4 006The mix of old and new was just right. There were interesting things to try to figure out and some quirky frustrating things to deal with but our overall experience was very nice.

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Visitors 006Our views were very peaceful. During our time at the cottage there was only one day in a downpour that we shut all the windows.

Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 087We had to go out to the pump room to get our ice from the deep freeze.

Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 098The peace and quiet of this spot was so lovely. We could hear water flow through the farm. The birds were our alarm clock in the morning. It would be so dark at night we had to use a night light to make it safely to the bathroom which was a step down from our bedroom. No city lights, no street lights and no porch lights. I really was hoping to maybe see an owl but that didn’t happen except for this one.

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Visitors 002The owners of the farm and cottage live in the house you see next to the owl and behind this view of the cottage.

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Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 093The outside view to our space.Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 090The view out to the land between us and the little lane at the entrance to the farm.

Day one in England 7-4 010Getting to and from the Fox is a whole other story for another day.

Things around our “cottage” here in the states are a little hectic right now with our kids from the East Coast staying with us as they move into their new apartment and life on the West Coast. I hope to get around to as many of the ABC “F” posts as possible between loading and unloading boxes…

Hope your festivities this week are full of fun and frolic with friends and family.

Cheers From England ~ #1

Day one in England 7-4 007We arrived safely in Jolly old England on Friday the 4th of July at noon. After going through customs and retrieving our luggage we headed to the car rental agency and took the time we needed to become familiar with the car and set the SAT/NAV (GPS) for our first stop on our trip. It’s not easy navigating roads, especially the narrow lanes with tired eyes and little sleep but Dear managed to get us to our destination just before four in the afternoon safely. This is the wonderful cottage we will be staying in for seven nights. It is (what the U.K. calls) a self-catering cottage which means we pay to stay in a fully equipped space but we do our own pampering. No one cooks us breakfast or makes our bed each night. I will journal our days as much as I can while it’s fresh to me so I can remember our days when we return home.

When we unpacked the car and met the owner of the cottage we set off to get a refreshment at a Pub in a village close by that he highly recommended. Nothing is really that close to our quiet cottage so we will be navigating the narrow lanes of the Cotswolds a lot. After we return home I will post photos of the inside of our hand hewn, oak beamed, open vaulted ceilings and other very cool architectural features of the cottage and the setting it is in.

For today (Saturday) we will regain our balance and do some grocery shopping so we can make our own breakfasts at the cottage.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

All Booked!

Fox CottageAfter very little discussion Dear and I decided that the best place to go to celebrate 40 years of marriage would have to be England. The discussion was easy, hitting the purchase button for the flights was a little more difficult but after we did it was full speed ahead to book places to stay. The first spot we chose is a self-catering cottage in a very small village in the Cotswolds. The photo above is the exterior of Fox Cottage. We will spend a leisurely 7 nights here and explore several towns and villages in the area. We’ll venture off as far as Oxford from this spot. “Self-Catering accommodation simply refers to an efficiency in which guests take care of their own meals, laundry and other needs. The accommodation provided has facilities that allows guest to cater for their own day to day needs. Self-Catering accommodation includes a suite with a fully equipped kitchen mainly for guest to prepare their own meals.”

EastviewThe second spot we are going to stay for 3 nights in in Ross on Wye in Herefordshire. We chose this spot because we really want to visit Hay on Wye which is well known for Used Book Stores. Here’s what wiki says about this town “Hay-on-Wye, is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales, situated on the English border. Often described as “the town of books”, it is the National Book Town of Wales.”

red_lion_postcardOn our way back to a closer proximity to London Heathrow we will re-visit the town of Henley on Thames. Dear and I stayed here in 1973 or 1974 with our Christian Rock Band. We will be staying for one night at the Red Lion that you see here on this old postcard. We hope to visit some of the villages around this area where Midsomer Murders was filmed. We will definitely visit the Argyle in town for a meal.

OakleyCourtExteriorNEW1700Our grand finale for two nights will be the Oakley Court in Windsor. Isn’t it grand? We will spend some time in the town of Windsor and if the Queen is not in residence at Windsor Castle we hope to have a tour. From Windsor we’ll make the short drive to London Heathrow and fly home.

Our actual anniversary isn’t until December but we are choosing to celebrate in England in July.  The first 2 times Dear and I traveled to England together was in July of 1973 and July 0f 1974. During our trip in 1974 we were already engaged to be married with our wedding planned for December of that year. If anyone has any suggestions for places to visit in the areas of the Cotswolds, Oxford, and Southern Wales please let me know.

Hope you had a nice weekend. I know our Canadian Hockey Fans across the line enjoyed their Sunday. Congrats to Canada on winning the gold.