All Change...
24th June 2018
Sunset over Woodchester Valley, from Amberley
So as the sun sets on our time in The Cotswolds, a new adventure begins in Cornwall. We started moving on the 1st of June - 3 return trips (some 1300 miles) later in a brand new long wheelbase Peugeot Boxer from the helpful Martina at Enterprise Penryn, plus another 800 miles in two car trips, and we are installed in The Stables. The Peugeot was excellent and exactly the right size, but you'd also be surprised just how much you can get in the back of a Fiat 500. Which reminds me of the old question of how to get two whales in a Mini. The answer of course is across the Severn Bridge, or the Second Severn Crossing if you prefer...
Our week of lifting & shifting was hard work, but also relatively stress-free and enjoyable, partially because when we didn't have a bed with us at either end we stayed at the both excellent Old Railway Yard and Queen Matilda Country Inn B&Bs. On our final night 'up north' we stayed in the equally splendid Amberley Cottage, from whereabouts the photo at the top of this page was taken. It's a bit out of focus, not because we'd just come back from the Amberley Inn but because it was getting dark and we had only a phone to hand...
We were sorry to leave the Cotswolds, in particular Avening & Minchinhampton, but we will be back regularly. We were touched by a leaving gift in the form of a bottle of champagne from our landlord in Minch, and likewise arrived at the Stables to find a similar bottle chilling in the fridge - quality landlords both!
However, our temporary abode is beautiful - were it not for the fact that we're building our dream home, we could envisage being very happy here for some time. We may not have Cows on the Commons anymore, but they are in the next but one field, and closer to home we do have lots of bunnnies:
Our kitchen sink window view
As well as the bunnies in the field, we've seen a variety of birds - lots of swallows zooming around catching insects on the wing and diving in and out of the adjacent barns (and leaving little deposits on our cars) and buzzards occasionally swooping low across the field (with bunnies subsequently showing a turn of speed in a race for the hedge). Our bird feeder has so far attracted house sparrows in great numbers, blackbirds, greenfinches, goldfinches, blue tits, one juvennile robin, collared doves, jackdaws and magpies, the latter of which are dive-bombed and chased away by swallows.
Goldfinches munching on niger seeds
There is a (derogatory) saying that you never see a farmer on a bike - could this be because they are often to be found working a 16 hour (or longer) day? They were still at it under floodlights when we went to bed.
It's a wrap - so now you know how it's done...
Another change is that, excluding our 5 year sailing sojourn, for the first time in years (nearly 2 decades in fact) I find myself without an Alfa in the fleet.
Bye bye Mito - original plate back on
Due Italiani - except one of them is Polskie...
The red brake calipers & turbo boost gauge may have gone, but I do now have these rather cosmic LED footwell & puddle lamps...
I can also carry a ton (software can be heavy you know...) and fit a standard Euro-pallet in the back, although whether the latter will still fit next year remains to be seen...
We have now found time to visit our plot - it is clear that my first purchase will be a brush cutter as, since our last visit, the garden area has turned into a 4 ft high wild meadow. Any excuse... Things are still progressing well behind the scenes, with the architect, structural engineer & frame company all sharing information with one-another. We also now have a power cable laid, shortly to be connected, as are the water supply and sewer.
Power to the people - well us anyway...
Meanwhile, Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival has been on this weekend, and it was great to catch up with old friends from Falmouth Shout, of which Ann was a former active member. Looking forward to tonight's end of festival meal too!
Flash Jack entertaining the crowd
We've brightened up the front of The Stables a little:
Finally, if the Gloucestershire sunset was impressive, check out this spectacular Cornish one!
