The Farmstead in England

As we all know, it's not just the destination that's important but the journey that gets you there...and, might I add, where you stay along the way!

When Astrid and I were in England recently, our Shutterchance friend Chris was our host, who had us stay at the family farmhouse of his longtime partner, Jackie.

Lucky, lucky us. It was like living in a B&B for 6 days and 5 nights!


It's a long story but Jackie still uses the family farm for grooming horses
and teaching children how to ride them.
It's full-time work for her, so she's at the farm every day,
going back home to their nearby house each evening/night.


About half of every week a family friend is also at the farm with her dog Cally,
helping to keep watch on everything, including the horses.


If you swore you'd never love poodles, you'd have to backtrack on your words.
How could you not be in heaven in that kind of playground,
and how could you not steal the show!


Talk about the Queen of Sheba!


As farmsteads go, this would rank up there with the best of them.
So many nooks and crannies and out-buildings, half of which I didn't snap
...like the chicken coop. Did I mention fresh eggs every day?!


Chris would come over every morning and boil them up...and toast the bread.
And that's whether we had just eaten muesli or not!

Speaking of Chris...

...here he is.
While we were there, he celebrated his 63rd birthday.
Astrid had just celebrated her 57th, so it made sense that Chris called her his Little Sister.
They both have the same kind of humor and fit with each other like hand and glove.
It's very gratifying for me to watch them together, truth be known.

Chris had something scheduled for us every day along the back roads of southern England, branching out in different directions from Bath. We guesstimated close to 500 miles of driving. I'll get to those places later, but while we were at the farm, Chris cooked up a storm...and on his birthday in particular!

First, he wanted us to experience a real English breakfast.
Wouldn't that be fun maybe once a week...on the weekend!

After that breakfast, we headed out for the day, just the 4 of us, and stopped first at a friend's farm to pick the beans for supper....

Later Jackie showed us how she julienned them.
I had never seen such a French-cut gadget in my life. Magic!


Magic is the operative word for the entire meal, actually.
It was like a Thanksgiving feast with such a huge chicken, including stuffing.
It FELT like Thanksgiving, especially since they don't celebrate it here in Holland.
I needed that and didn't realize how much.

When we weren't out-n-about, the farm was our rest and inspiration. Can you tell?

Jackie set the example by knowing when to rest.
I loved watching her because she calmed me down.


Speaking of which, Chris said he slept better those nights after our full days
than any other time he could remember.
See that window? That was our bedroom and we, too, slept well.

A room with a view. A farm with a view.

Chris is already planning what we will do when we return next year...God willing and the creek don't rise. Imagine that. But then, what Big Brother wouldn't want his Little Sister to come back to see him on the farm at least once a year. And bring her lucky wife with her. HA!