Rambling around...........

………. when you are driving around in this country you can come across all sorts of unusual (for Kiwi’s) stuff. We found this cunningly disguised hanger, apparently still in use – I guess if war with Europe ever breaks out again………..!!!!! We wanted to explore Bradford on Avon – a very picturesque little town we’d only driven through. Wasn’t actually that much to explore, but it was very pretty. The fascinating thing was this little bridge attachment…..we assumed it was a ‘lock up’ for bad guys, which it had been, but the interesting thing was…it had also been a church….maybe a hermit’s chapel or some such??? One of the things we have found fascinating over the last two seasons of Spring are the communities of crow’s nests. They build them together, like suburbs, they lay their eggs and then they all hang around and gossip…loudly……then the leaves come on the trees and they all seem to disappear. The seasons here still enthrall us, just when you think winter is going to continue for ever up pops Spring and everything changes. Work continues here in the most astonishing fashion and EVERYTHING will be finished and in place by the end of May in preparation for our employers summer residency……most days there are at least 60 contractors cars in the carpark….which incidently will be restored to grass by the end of May…… …….wish you were here xxxxxxxx

Who’s reality is this........?????

……..we have been experiencing the most glorious unseasonal weather for the past 10 days. So much so that we have had to try and find some summer clothes. “Great” we are thinking – the UK is following NZ’s splendid summer example. However, pluses always come with a few minuses. We have garden designers working very hard to install an established mature garden by the beginning of June. Each day we have articulated trucks bringing in hedges, huge 40 foot trees and plants from Heathrow, flown in from Holland. There is an army of gardeners with all manner of diggers and implements (that we get to play on when they go home in the evening). The problem is, although the days have been lovely, it is a nightmare for the gardeners who had expected to have at least another month of cold weather before the plants and trees “woke up”……we have trees and shrubs yawning and waking up all over the place…not good….. it’s turned cold again today – I wonder if they will all go back to sleep??
Our employer was in residence over the weekend….he needed to go out for a few hours….we explained there was work happening on the driveway and we couldn’t leave the property – “No worry” said he “Quenty can bring in the helicopter”……the helicopter is stored 1/2hrs flight away…..down it came, in he hopped, took the controls and flew off for a few hours…….as you do!!!
The next day to clear our heads we went exploring, we found “Belas Knap” an ancient burial mound, (over 5000 years old) high on a hill near the village of Winchcombe and Sudley Castle. The thing that frequently strikes us as we drive through rolling pastures and forests, we are living in a country with 60 million people – where are they?????? Much love xxxxx

Circles of stones……..

….we went to visit the village of Avebury, about 30 minutes drive from here. We found out about it quite by accident. One of the builders on-site mentioned that we might find it interesting. Brian and Jane were coming for the weekend so we thought it a good place to take them.
Shrouded in typical British understatement we discovered a World Heritage Site which is apparently ‘world-famous’. Voted one of the ‘top five most spiritual places in the country’ and is one of ’Europe’s largest prehistoric stone circles’!!! There it sits, a beautiful little village, within a humungous stone circle. Astonishing!!………there are little shops, a school-house, a vicarage etc etc and it is all business as usual. Even a little village hall, with a notice advertising ‘Egyptian Dance Workshops’………It is very different from the Stonehenge which is considerably more hyped and possible less impressive. We are living in an amazing part of the country – chalk horses of various sizes appear on hills, Roman ampitheatres are used as BMX tracks…….We are surrounded, by what we consider to be enormously significant historic artifacts, to which the locals are quite ‘ho hum’.
Meanwhile spring is becoming more evident and it is hard to keep up a façade of “British reserve” when surrounded by so much glorious colour and rampant beauty after the rigours of winter………wish you were here……….xxxxxxx

It’s Spring……

…….and we went to London for the day – it’s a must every 8 weeks or so for a haircut (me – not Rod!). The sun was shining and the astonishing thing was….everyone was smiling. You could sit on the tube and people would beam at you – it never happens like that in winter. Because we were in London we decided to see The Mousetrap –Agatha Christie’s play that has been running for 57 years, in the same theatre. It was great, but we had picked the ‘villain’ by half time. I guess we are less innocent in this day and age. Still it was fun, we had a nice dinner and drove home. The cool thing about London now is that we can park at our employer’s London House in Sloan Square and catch the tube.
On a completely different tack, we had been driving around Cirencester (our closest town – 3 miles away) for several months noticing signs indicating “Roman Ampitheatre”
We decided to investigate. The curious thing about Britain is that they take you so far with signage and then it completely dries up, as did how to find the “Ampitheatre”!
Then we noticed some odd looking mounds behind some houses…….sure enough, hidden down an unmarked path was this amazing ancient site. It was completely surrounded by houses, kids use it as a bmx track, people walk their dogs, yobos party in it…. but it was incredible. The main ampitheatre had a corridor thing at each end and then out of sight were these smaller sort of scooped out bits which we guessed were sort of green rooms or dressing rooms OR maybe that was where they kept the lions……who knows……..this country never ceases to surprise us after almost 2 years……still heaps to do and see. Miss you and wish you were here xxxxx

“And we all went up to Somerset”………

……..we sang as we drove to visit a friend last Sunday. South/West England is very beautiful and when the sun shines it’s stunning. Totally out of context we thought we’d share this ‘snow’ photo with you. It indicates the secret life of the hedgerows – Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Brer Deer and assorted birds. The snow has disappeared and the spring flowers are starting to ‘spring’…seasons come and go quite quickly here.
We went and visited a friend in Somerset and her two boys, who now think it is very cool to ‘talk like Kiwis’ and according to her are practicing saying “i’ for ‘e’…..we don’t know what she is talking about – the Queen and us talk the same!!!!
As we drove through very typical, very traditional English country side we suddenly came upon a ‘bling thing’….part of a meditation centre. It looked quite strange in that setting and raised a few questions for us.
We have introduced you to our very tiny village, which is not shown on a lot of maps, so when we saw a sign saying “New Zealand ½ mile” we couldn’t resist turning off to visit.
We drove down an ever narrowing country lane and finally our Satnav said “You have reached your destination”………really…???????? We were in the middle of nowhere………….!
We don’t think it was a particularly clever p--- take! Much love xxxxxx

Our tiny village………

…….it was a beautiful day for a walk, so yesterday we went exploring. We have had snow for over a week now and it has been very beautiful but hard for the tradesmen who have a deadline of finishing this place by May – we are talking EVERYTHING formal gardens, pool, tennis court, security systems etc. Anyway, now the snow is gradually melting and sloppy mud is replacing it…..not half as pretty.
Our village is very tiny and our back wall runs nearly the full length of the main road.
There aren’t any shops or anything, just houses and a bus stop BUT we do have a rather nice 300 year old pub and so a gate is being installed in our wall to be opened with a swipe card. When the systems are complete, we will be able to operate all the gates from our kitchen, our bedroom as well as the main house and see who is there from the camera systems. All very “state of the art”. The garden designers are now walking around placing sculptures and statues and we can’t wait to see the finished result.
Our last job was like living in Cornwall Park. This job is like an upgrade to the Domain’s formal gardens and Wintergarden, with the Cornwall Park elements periphery.
The Cotswolds are very beautiful. It is an organic beauty, all the walls, buildings and structures, being built out of local stone, by local artisans reflect the colour of the earth as do the winter trees and hedgerows, the result being soft and harmonious with an authentic picture book quality. Well, it’s Saturday and so time to step into the picture book and soak up some local culture. There is a dance in the local village hall tonight…….what does one wear to a local village dance???????? Wish you were here…xxxxxx

We STILL have snow…….

…….it’s been nearly a week now and we still get a little thrill of excitement every time we look out the window and see that it is “white”. We haven’t had much time to get out and amongst it. Our employers have been in residence for the last 4 days. The Manor is in the last months of a 2 year complete refurbishment of all buildings and gardens. The house has been totally gutted inside and rebuilt with all mod cons, but still retains centuries old integrity. Likewise the gardens are being completely redesigned but will still look as if they have always been here. We will now have a heated swimming pool and a brand new tennis court. It is the most glorious place to live and work. Once all the trades people have finished we will virtually have the place to ourselves for most of the year, except for gardeners etc. This will be our employer’s summer holiday home and any other time they can snatch a few days in their busy international schedule.
They are the most interesting, incredibly ‘real’ people to be with and we love them being here. It is full on and we end up exhausted, but they are warm,caring and fun to be with. Their guests and visitors are the same. We had a luncheon party yesterday, and although staff, we are spoken to and treated like people rather than servants and it is truly refreshing and most unusual in this role I can tell you! I was talking with a lady who had a lot of silver things like dog whistles around her neck – I asked her about them and she told me they lived in such a large house she had a different whistle for each of her family and when she wanted them she just “blew” and they came running!!!!!!
Our employers always travel with staff and once we get established we will probably have to travel with them to other destinations. This time they brought only one of their staff with them. You learn a lot about who you are working for when you spend time with someone who has worked for them for many years. We are astonished that we have been lucky enough to get this gig, not only is it like working in an art museum but we also work for people who care for and truly value their staff. Do come and visit, but don’t come when our employers are in residence as we wont even see you……we run from morning till night……but happily………xxxxxxxx