New season, new look, new way of blogging. Here’s the thing, I’ve become bored with my photography; to me it feels less considered and merely functional now - a by-product of keeping a blog for a long time. So in order to keep my funny eye, or my eye funny, I need to approach this space differently. Less words for sure, not so much “I did this, then I saw that, and then I went here” anymore, but perhaps letting the pictures speak more for themselves. Let’s see what happens.
Seeing as it’s been greyer than grey for the past few days, I thought I’d stay back in time, for a bit of colour and something a bit different from the late January gloom outside. I know I always say it every time I post pictures from my father-in-law’s house in the Cotswolds, but why we don’t go here more often is beyond me. I think it has something to do with the fact that we have an only child, so with him in mind we try to go with friends when we do go, which takes a bit more planning. Anyway, last time we went we arrived a few hours earlier than our friends, so I walked around the house taking pictures.
Nice, isn’t it? My interior taste is changing and I’d love more old stuff in our house too. Actually, we’ve inherited two of these style mirrors - I just don’t notice them anymore. Do you find that too? That you can’t see your surroundings properly, a bit like being snow blind at home?
To be honest I am a bit in this house as well. It wasn’t until S, who had never been there before, said how photogenic it all was (she’s an interiors nut like me too), showing me the pictures she’d just taken of it, that I realised that I should pay a bit more attention to it again.
Like this fireplace. Why have I never noticed this red brick beauty before? I know I’ve noticed the newspapers jammed into it, but not the thing itself.
And who have we here? Bella, that’s who. A new addition to the H family and very well she behaved too. She’d finally gotten over her manic puppy phase from the last time I saw her.
And yes, of course we went on our usual walk. This time Mr Famapa pointed out the skeleton on one of the headstones. Can you see it? Bella clearly didn’t.
I love this tree and how it hugs the ground exactly right. Surely someone must be trimming it to be like that?
Along the walk the blackberries were already out and kept us full. Thank you nature.
Ahhh, so nice to see this green again, and to also know that it will come back in a few months time. I’ll lose my winter swimming, but I’ll gain SPRING.
On the way back from the walk there’s two ways to come down the hill; the sensible one (my personal choice)
or the steeper one, that some people can’t not run down. I’m just too scared that I’ll twist my ankle or something stupid, and seeing that when I last twisted my ankle, it took 10 months before I could go out running again, I ain’t taking my chances.
Just by the front door of the house there’s a few plants, cheerily welcoming you home, and this rose was a rather color delicioso.
And next summer I better plant some Cosmos in our plant border at home, or I’ll be very cross with myself.
Still hot the following day. We decided to walk up to the nearby woods and check out some old deserted army barracks.
We thought that this little bunker might have been a coal store, but we’re no experts. We are at taking pictures though. HA HA
I walked into this building on my own only to be told to get the hell out immediately as the floor was covered in broken asbestos. Handy to have a friend who’s an architect who can spot that sort of thing, eh?
What is it about abandoned buildings that’s so alluring? Insert shrug emoji here.
Walking back towards the house we came across this herd of cows. Care to share any tips on herd immunity guys? GUYS??
Knowing that it would be hot during our stay in the Cotswolds I did some research on places to swim nearby. I found some river spots online that looked promising, but my uncle-in-law said that there was also a lake that would be much quieter, and therefor less busy. He was not wrong. When I went in the water I totally forgot about everything else and just kept swimming out in a straight line for about 15 minutes. It didn’t occur to me to check on how Oomoo was doing, it was like I was in a trance. It had been over three months since I’d been in the water, and being back made me very selfish. I finally remembered and turned around to see how he was doing, but fortunately Mr Famapa had gone in with him, even though he hadn’t brought swimming trunks. Bad mamma!
The Ladies Pond opened in July but I had no interest in trying to book one of the allotted time slots, all of which would sell out within seconds of being released. Besides, it’s the cold water I’m after. Anyway, we left the lake just as groups of younger people started arriving with crates of beer. Perfect timing.
Nothing says a field in August as much as this picture.
Finally, two pictures from the following day; L reading, with a compulsory cup of tea in the morning…
… and Oomoo through the window in the evening. So grateful for being able to go to this lovely place. Until the next time!
7.07am, our first full day in the house in the Cotwolds.
Oomoo crept down the stairs as quietly as he could as we were the only ones awake.
7.12am
We were soon joined by R, and I left them to chat and read on their Kindles. I stopped using mine years ago, but in lockdown it came into it’s own with Oomoo being such a bookworm. Saves us a lot of money, and bookshelf space.
7.32am
Can’t start the day without a huge cup of tea. This is cup is one fine specimen made by my father-in-law’s brother, who’s a potter, and lives next door. Much fancier than my regular morning mug at home from Ikea.
12.17pm
It was +31c or something, so out came this slide, which R and Oomoo kept cool with.
4.09pm
This day felt like such a treat. Usually when we go away I feel that we have to do something or go somewhere, but it was way too hot to move, so we stayed under this tree most of the day, reading, chatting and napping. It felt like the first day in ages we could really relax.
5.16pm
R’s older sister finally joined us after a long drive from Cornwall, and we thought it best to all go for a walk and a short game of frisbee, as the sun and heat wasn’t as intense anymore.
5.27pm
The little village where we were staying - from a distance.
5.51pm
Walky walk.
5.54pm
Sheepy sheep.
6.17pm
Back at the house. The younger peeps really felt the heat by this point, and Mr Famapa was more than happy to help them cool down.
6.19pm
It’s good to have a sister who’ll help you get warm afterwards.
6.20pm
Warm enough to have another go that is.
6.21pm
Oomoo’s turn! He either filmed this or took a picture at the same time - I want to see how it came out.
6.22pm
I love this picture. Oomoo’s cropped head, all of them in their own worlds but together, that green and the deep long shadows.
6.58pm
There’s an army base not far from the village, and we saw lots of unfamiliar looking planes fly over.
9.29pm
After dinner we tried a round of Balderdash, but we were all too fried for it to be fun and had to give up.
It’s so nice to be behind here, so I can prolong summer a bit. I don’t know about you, but for us it felt that it went by in a flash, even though we didn’t get up too much. In fact, I can’t believe we’re already in the ninth month of the year. 2020, what a strange year you have been.