Autumn is beautiful in England……..

…….the seasons here are amazing and now as we approach our second autumn, we are more prepared for the rapidity with which the seasons change and so are making the most of it. Today we went for a ‘ramble’. There is a walkway which goes through our place and meanders over the countryside for 10 miles called St Peter’s Way, we have only ever done bits of it. Today we decided, armed with our ordinance map, to go for it – 4 hours they reckon. Well, the first thing we came across was the big haystack in one of our fields. The other day there were two big machines in the paddock, one sweeping all the hay into rows and the other driving over the rows and spitting bales of hay out the back, terribly efficient – today a huge haystack – just like days of yore – no polythene wrapped monstrosities’ here! On we went, following the discreet signs. We came across a field of horses – they were so friendly and decided to follow us, but alas they weren’t up for climbing over a style – pity, we really liked them.
On we went and then as always happens in our experience of England, without warning, the signs ran out. “Not to worry” said we, “we have our trusty ordinance map”! But, with no idea of where we actually were it was a bit tricky, so we pressed on. Lovely autumn day, lots of blackberries to sustain us and then all of a sudden things started to look horribly familiar, instead of doing a lovely 4 hour loop, we had managed an hour loop….never mind ….we went back to our pond and talked to the geese while we ate our bread and cheese and drank our ales. Must get better at map reading………..miss you all AGAIN…..lots of love xxxxxxx

He aha te mea nui? He tangata. He tangata. He tangata. What is the most important thing? It is people, it is people, ...

………it is people. We can’t begin to say how important this was to us on our recent trip home. It was a very brief visit and we only caught up with a few of our nearest and dearest, but those we did manage to see, thank-you. Being in NZ filled our hearts and minds with aroha and now it is back to “Te aro Anglia” – “the way of the English”!!!! “Life as a servant” hit us with all it’s harsh reality on our return, intensified by the joys of jet lag. It has been ‘full on’….the class system and it’s ensuing stratification causes some people to try to establish their place in the hierarchy as soon as an opportunity presents itself. When we left for 14 days it would appear it kicked in immediately and there was a bit of a scramble. The interim carer took it upon herself to create all manner of “rotas” (English word for “rosters”) for extra staff for weird times of the day. It’s taken a few days to sort out the lack of mandate and now we are struggling to get everyone back in their rightful place – as Rod says “it’s like herding chickens” – one of his jobs that nobody else wants! Any how we are back. The leaves are beginning to turn, swimming in the “heated pool” first thing in the morning is bloody cold and we are looking forward to the arrival of our grand daughter from Norway and Patty from NZ – yay! Miss you all even more now….get over here…….much love xxxxxx

Barb's Birthday in Bath.........

……..we had a long weekend and as we’d been promising ourselves a visit to Bath for sometime we decided to hop in the car and do it. It’s so easy here to get on the Eurostar or a plane and go to Europe for a mini-break…..but there are many places in England we still have to ‘do’!
The motorway system is great, although you have to share it with millions of other cars as well as huge road trains, but with our trusty ‘satnav’ it makes what used to be stressful and confusing much easier. We don’t know how England does it – 80,000,000 people with masses and masses of countryside and green belt areas……fantastic town planning? Anyway, there we were, blatting down a 6 lane motorway and all of a sudden …. signs (couldn’t stop to photograph them!) “Deer next 41 Miles”….we didn’t see any, but…?
Another sign that took our fancy was……”For the Oracle leave at Junction 11”. We didn’t have any good questions to ask so we just kept going.
Anyway – Bath – the name doesn’t really do it….it doesn’t seem right that such a beautiful town should have such a utilitarian name. However, it does have hot springs (the only ones in Britain) and at the end of the day it would be no more romantic if it was called Rotorua. Beautiful Georgian buildings made from local sandstone, create a sense of lightness and coherent style that the Romans would have been proud off. The River Avon flows right through the town centre which adds to the atmosphere of graciousness. Lots of fabulous restaurants and shops, the perfect place to have a birthday……..to be continued……..
In the meantime this time next week we’ll be seeing a lot of you AND we can’t wait….much love xxxxxx

Rivenhall.....

……..we have some Kiwi friends who work on an Estate in Rivenhall, about ½ an hour from here. I thought I’d just give you a very small glimpse of how the other 1% live!!!!!! Our friend’s accommodation is the first photo, their place is attached to ‘the big house’ (see second photo). The lake is part of the ‘front lawn’ of the big house.
Ho! Hum!.......we are totally used to it. Anyway we had a great evening and decided to head for Mersea today to feast on oysters. Not as in “Ferry Across the Mersea”.Mersea is an island attached to the Essex Coast by a single road across a causeway. We headed off early afternoon, all starving hungry, boys in the front, girls in the back…….sign-”Road Closed Ahead” ….”not so” decided the boys and around the sign we went and continued several miles down the road. We came upon a gang of workmen tarsealing the road……whoops, we had to do a U turn on the fresh tarseal with a huge roller bearing down on us. Didn’t faze the Kiwis! On we went (by another route) to the only road onto Mersea. There was a sailing dinghy race around the island with the boats having to be carried over the road during the race (duh…how does that work!)??????? The police had the cars backed up for miles and as it turned out hours. Not for us hungry Kiwis, being practiced at U turns, around we went and back to the nearest place that was still serving food. Most pubs have a strange practice of closing their kitchens at 2pm until 6pm…..considering that this is the most popular form of ‘eating out’ here, we find it unusual. There are some that serve food all day but these are few and far between and the food is usually not that good - today was no exception. But we were so hungry by the time we found one, that we weren’t that fussed. We had even considered going into a cattery and eating a cat. It’s fun spending time with Kiwis AND we will have 10 days of doing just that in 2 weeks time……can’t wait……until then, lots of love xxxxxxxx

From smugglers to Shakespeare…..

…we recently visited Hastings on the coast of Sussex, we were guests of extended ‘whanau’ – not only did we love being with whanau, we loved the sense of ‘things of yore’. Hastings is one of the closest points of England to France and so has long been a smuggler’s town. Apparently the cliffs are dotted with caves and tunnels and the old town has little alleyways and secret places. Oh! and of course there is The Battle of Hastings, 1066 and all that. We are looking forward to going back. this is a very beautiful country.
Last Thursday it was off to London and we went to a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The Globe is a very authentic reconstruction of the open-air playhouse designed in 1599, where Shakespeare worked and wrote. Camera's (and cell phones) weren't an Elizabethan option! The friends that we were with insisted that we stand in the yard just as they would have done 400 years ago. Insightfully they did suggest we bring raincoats!!!! As I’m sure they did 400 years ago, we got wet….it was truly brilliant tho’ and added to the experience. But, after standing for several hours - I think I’d opt for a dry seat in the gallery next time and have a different ‘authentic experience’. The play was “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and the players were fast, funny and we were enthralled from start to finish despite getting wet!!!
Have been a slack on the blog front recently…sorry…..not from lack of thinking of everyone…just a spate of ‘writers block’ for goodness sake.. how pathetic! Time to come home for a little ‘catch up’ with everyone……….so with that in mind we will be in Auckland for 10 days from the 5th September until the 15th….can’t wait!!!!!

From smugglers to Shakespeare…..

Bats…badgers and things that buzz…..

…..all in the same night! We are under siege at the moment from wasps….there are quite a few nests in our roof and the roof of the Big House, so the gardener has been clambering around spraying stuff into any hole where he sees activity in the hope he kills them. Two things here – a) he has a major allergy to wasps……b) it brasses the wasps off big time and so we have hords of dopey, cross wasps lurching all around the place.
‘Elf & safety’ says I…get an expert, but it hasn’t happened yet……So, we have to walk around very carefully in our house as there are writhing wasps on the carpet waiting to be flushed!
We had a day off yesterday and Rod (who is VERY bantam conscious!)….went out last night just after dark to make sure the bantams had been locked up for the night. There was a HUGE badger trying the door of the bantam house. It never ceases to amaze us that in the midst of such peace and tranquility there is always killers and carnage waiting just below the surface!
Then…..as we settle down for a read in bed before lights out – a bat wandered into our bedroom….it was like a large black moth, about the size of a fantail… we got over the shock and were trying to figure out how to remove it…and it disappeared!
We have been at Mill Green Park just on a year now, having gone through all the seasons we are back where we started, mid summer, …we know now how quickly the seasons come and go and so are scoffing and freezing the fruit and berries as fast as we can this year and making the most of the abundance in the garden, we know now that when it’s over, it’s really over and even the most hardy veges struggle in winter. Meanwhile it’s lovely long swims in the pool, the odd game of tennis and of course we do work really hard in our role as ‘servants’……it’s been a good year….still miss you all and hopefully we can see you before too long……..lots of love xx