Accessory Lamb

You know how those women carry around their little lap dogs as accessories? Well this is the farm version. Just grab your 'lamb purse' and off to the store you go! When you get there, just hang 'em up while you shop!
This is Knickers, just hanging around.

Sheep Update

Lee was good enough to send along more photos of my darlings. This is the proud mama, Clarabelle, with one of her boys, Pip. Lee said they now weigh 30 lbs. each! I'll hardly by able to pick them up when I get back!

H M

H M was here.

Yet another Graveyard

Church Scaffolding

This church was undergoing a renovation. They had a detailed description of what was being done. Included was 'prevent stone from falling inside'. Ouch!
Services were held under and around the scaffolding.

Scull and Baby Head

Hard to see, but that's a scull in the middle and what appears to be a baby head underneath it.

A Bit of Sun

Let the sun shine in!

Wagon

Ann and I saw this wagon inside a church built in 1237. Not sure how old the wagon was but it was used to carry a dead person to the church.

Wagon Detail

Swan Inn

After a hard day of sight seeing, we stopped in here for a cup of coffee and a nibble. You can't really see the twinkle lights very well, but they were enchanting mixed in with the vine.

Unique Garden

Right across from the Swan Inn.

Coffee at the Swan Inn

My coffee at the Swan. How they do that?

Wall Art

This is one of the most beautiful settings I've seen for restaurant seating. We saw a number of these walls. Can I have a wall like this Houston?!

Artwork by Katherine Lightfoot that we saw at The Swan.

'Her paintings of moorland animals stubbornly surviving the elements skilfully convey their inquisitive nature and successfully capture the tension on their faces. Katharine paints freely to evoke movement and energy within her subjects, emphasising the light contrast and ever changing moods of the moor. She has also produced impressive seascapes and expansive skies of the North Cornwall coast and the Orkney’s but her beloved sheep and Dartmoor ponies remain her favourite subject.

Snowshill

Welcome to Showshill.

In Cotswold Country

The cute village of Snowshill.

Sheepscombe

I could definitely live here, raising a small flock of sheep. The village was smaller than Barnesville and tucked way down this valley, back off the main road by a few miles.

Sheepscombe

While driving down the country roads, if there was a sign for a town that had 'Sheep' or 'Wool' in it, we'd turn down the lane and head for it. I'd say, "Ann, wanna go to Sheepscombe?" "Sure!" Screech. We found some lovely little villages this way, sometimes miles down the lane, but worth the drive. Some of these lanes were so narrow that the hedges were nearly scraping the car on both sides.
This was my first time driving on the other side of the road. I was apprehensive before taking off. When renting the car at the Cambridge train station, you are dumped right into busy traffic. With Ann's help, I overcame my fear and even became an aggressive driver, yelling at slow cars to get out of my way! We went around about a hundred round-a-bouts and only twice had to circle around more than once because we had missed our exit. There was a cop parked at one of the circles and we just waved as we went by the second time!

Free House

A pig running from the butcher.

Sign of the Times

Another Barbie Car

More Moreton-in-Marsh

A beautiful garden right on River Marsh.

Moreton-in-Marsh

Got to do some shopping at this quaint village, Moreton-on-Marsh. Also had a yummy lunch of cream teas.

Hundreds of Years of Worship

It was hard to believe that this church has seen 1000 years worth of services. It was so peaceful.

For Annie

Annie,
This one is for you. They too have sheep grazing under power lines.

Woolies

The sheep are finally having their babies. We saw hundreds of new, frolicking lambs.

Hidcote Garden

We toured Hidcote Garden on opening day. This is one of the premier gardens in England. Absolutely beautiful.

Wild and Crazy Wisteria

Wisteria vine taking over shed. It must be a hundred years old!

Tour Guide

There was a garden tour at 2:30. This was the guide and I think she was 'cramming' for the tour.

Topiaries

Lower Slaughter

House on the River Windrush in Lower Slaughter.

Garden Wheel

Duck

Not a great pic, but wanted to show the amazing color of his beak. It was chartreuse. And loved the curl at the end of the tail.

River Windrush

Ann pretending to feed the ducks. We had no food and the ducks soon caught on.

Playground

This was a children's playground on the grounds of a large castle.

Creepy

Another window display. This mother cat (Duchess) and her nursing kittens actually moved. Really scary! This store sold only cats.

Fruity

Tempting fruit.

Chipping Campden Market

The towns in this area were built on wool profits. There are huge palaces and estates which housed the wool lords. This was the market in the middle of town, erected in 1627, although the Cotswold wool was sold world wide back in the 1300's. Chipping means market and there are a number of villages starting with 'Chipping'.

Chipping Campden Floor

The floor of the market. Thousands upon thousands of sheep were brought here to sell.
It's so worn, it's hard to walk on.

Cotswold Church Yard

Knitting Gone Wild

All these knitted guys, or maybe a Jesus look alike contest. Loved their beards! And look at the host and chalice with wine. Too cute.

Bouquet

Thought this bouquet was beautiful, with it's Harry Lauder Walking Stick, rosehips, boxwood, laurel.

Church Door

It's Always Muddy

In front of every door we saw boot scrapers. Well used too.

The Perfect Cotswold Church

Ann and I came across this 11th century church while winding down this small country lane. I wish the day would have been warmer as there were benches behind the church overlooking the green hillside where sheep were grazing. I could imagine soaking up the sun on a warm spring day watching the sheep.

Tumbledown Cottage

This beautiful cottage (in the tiny village of Buckland) was named 'Tumbledown' but it was far from that. It was top-tidy and perfect.

Painswick

Ann an I drove to Painswick, which is more the southern Cotswold region. We didn't have a bed for Saturday night, so I called a place from the Lonely Planet guide book. An elderly woman answered and said she did have a room for the night. I asked how much and she said, "Shopping around then?" We made the reservation after finding out it was affordable. She gave directions. "You come into Painswick, take a left at the church, then another left and I'm the house that's over 400 years old." Well OK, let's go. We get to Painswick and it's dark by now. We make a left at the church down a street that has a sign that warns "Very Narrow Streets. Not Suitable for Large Vehicles." Our car isn't that big so we go for it. Well, it's narrow! We had to back out a couple times after meeting up with an oncoming car. We take the second left and could not find Thorn B&B anywhere. Ann got out to ask a number of people where it was. Most folks hadn't heard of it. But finally someone pointed to this small cul de sac and said that's where it was. It's the small place tucked away to the left above. And ALL the houses are over 400 years old!!!! Don't you just love old people?! We would have never found it, especially in the dark. And as if I can tell if a place is 200, 300, or 400 years old! Our hostess (great grandma) was very gracious and welcomed us in, immediately gave us the key and said she was going to bed.

Barbara Blatchely of Thorn B&B

This is our dear Barbara, our hostess with the mostest. She used to be a guide for heritage places so she was a wealth of information. She's traveled all over the world and said she'd love to 'have second nibbles from the cake' which meant she'd like to visit some of the places she's been.
She's been in the B&B business for over 30 years.

Thorn Steps

These were the steps up to our room. This picture doesn't really capture how steep they were. Yikes!
This house was made up of two cottages that were exactly alike, with two sets of stairs like this, each leading up to 2 bedrooms. In some past century (not sure which one), these cottages were weaver's homes, with one room being the loom room and one being the bedroom where the entire family lived. Some of these homes were joined together by removing a wall in the upper stories, thus providing more room for the family. But the lower story stayed the same.
This is sometimes still the situation today and is called a 'flying freehold'.

Columns from the Romans

We had a good look around while eating breakfast. And there was LOT to look at! We couldn't help but ask about these very ancient columns in her dining room. She explained that her house sat where a market once stood, back in the 1500's. These columns were part of that market. Her living room floor was the old stone slabs of the market square. There was an abbey that was 'quarried', which meant that King Henry's henchmen dismantled the stone abbey and used these stones to build the buildings in Painswick.

Barbara's Window

Every nook and cranny was filled with an eclectic mix of treasures.

Breakfast at Thorn B&B

Ann eating a traditional English breakfast and drinking tea. Barbara's home was as mumbly jumbly as her garden. It was like we were staying in my great grandmother's place, moving things off seats so we could sit down.