So, I have a giant lemonade, and have grounded myself to the computer to get these photos edited!
Go me!
Back to England we go, Internets.
Off to Stonehenge!
Heidi and Mike loaded us all up to drive out to our (must be read in an accent) holiday weekend in Cheddar.
On the way out to Cheddar, there is this little place called "Stonehenge."
You may have heard of it...
So we set the Satellite Navigator (Sat-Nav) for Cheddar via Stonehenge, and off we went.
The English Countryside was exactly how they portray it on those really pretty BBC television series. These images were mostly shot from the moving car so forgive the motion blur.
The first thing I fell in love with was the thatched roof cottages.
Several years ago, people who owned these homes started replacing the thatch roofs with more modern material. The thatch is very hard to maintain.
The property boundaries are marked off with hedges or crumbling rock walls.
I can just imagine thousands of years ago, hard-working people clearing the land, and piling those rocks up.
Some of the rock walls have little wooden ladders going up and over the wall.
A lot of the crumbling walls were overgrown with English Ivy.
It was everywhere.
You can see it taking over this whole tree:
So anyway, we were driving along, enjoying the scenery and conversation, when all of a sudden, we crest a hill on the English version of a freeway and see this:
Stonehenge.
Right there on the right hand side of the road.
Just hanging out there, like a Home Depot, or a Walmart.
I bet thousands of people just commute by it everyday, and don't even look twice.
It was not where I expected it to be.
In the middle of a sheep field.
It was surrounded by a chain link fence.
In order to get through the chain link fence, you had to pay.
I think it was like $10 a person when you did the conversion.
But they no longer let you go right up to the stones. Even inside the chain link fence, you are still 25 feet away from the stones.
I don't know why they think that stones that have lasted 10,000 years will suddenly break down with people touching them.
We figured we didn't need to pay to get a closer look.
We opted to take a few pictures and get back on the road to Cheddar.
Here is the family:
The kids were clearly thrilled to be there.
They said, (and I quote) "It's just a big old pile of ROCKS!"
Riiight.
We are always so happy that we take our children on vacations. They are always so grateful to be seeing the world! They just soak up the culture!
We hopped back into the car and headed out to Cheddar.
Mike and Heidi booked us all an English cottage for a couple of nights, since the drive out to Cheddar was a long one from Isleham.
We had the Sat-Nav set for Cheddar.
It was funny in England, the "freeway" would often turn into a residential area, and then sometimes even a dirt road.
The same road. Without taking an exit.
The countryside was breathtakingly beautiful.
Anyone who goes to England sees London.
Not very many people get to go out into the countryside like we did.
London is very cool, don't get me wrong, but the quaint little cottage villages was where I was happiest.
So here is a good example the road went from freeway,
to village:
to dirt road.
Suddenly, we were in the middle of nowhere.
The kids got a kick out of getting out of the car to chase them off of the road.
They were feisty birds!
At this point Mike decided that the Sat-Nav was leading us astray.
It shouldn't have taken us this long to get to Cheddar.
If we were lost, at least the scenery was great!
The Sat-Nav had been set to "avoid traffic."
Hence the winding side-roads.
Haha!
As we crested a couple more hills, we dropped into Cheddar, on the back road.
Here is our cottage, it was called "Strawberry Fields."
And here is our (must be read in an accent) English Cottage garden:
Here I am working on my SMASH book in the gahhhhden.
And inside the cottage, it was nice and clean, and the linens smelled like Noxema Face Cream.
In a really good, comforting way.
Here is one of the bedrooms:
and the main living room area. I loved the blue tiled fireplace.
The kids loved the TV and x Box.
Whatever.
Please tell me that one day they will appreciate having gone to England, and not have memories based on "when they got that high score on Mortal Kombat."
This cute cottage was managed by a family who lived next door.
They were just darling.
The self-catering cottage even had a game cabinet under the stairs full of books, board games and toys for the kids.
I loved the little knick-knacks too. Doilies and needlework table-runners.
These little old couple figurines reminded me of my Grandma Alavon.
It totally beat a hotel! We had a full kitchen--that came in handy.
I even did a load of laundry.
We all played games for a while that evening, and ate some English snacks.
You English hogs have been holding out on us!
Your digestive biscuits are the bomb.
For my non-English blog friends, a digestive biscuit is really close to a graham cracker, and the fudge dipped ones are like graham crackers and frosting.
But better. The cookie part is more textural (oat-y) and delicious.
And naming them "digestive" biscuits makes me think that they are healthy and full of fiber and good things.
Well played, English Keeblers, well played.
Then we all went to bed.
We had a big day planned the next day!
Cheddar Gorge.
Go me!
Back to England we go, Internets.
Off to Stonehenge!
Heidi and Mike loaded us all up to drive out to our (must be read in an accent) holiday weekend in Cheddar.
On the way out to Cheddar, there is this little place called "Stonehenge."
You may have heard of it...
So we set the Satellite Navigator (Sat-Nav) for Cheddar via Stonehenge, and off we went.
The English Countryside was exactly how they portray it on those really pretty BBC television series. These images were mostly shot from the moving car so forgive the motion blur.
Several years ago, people who owned these homes started replacing the thatch roofs with more modern material. The thatch is very hard to maintain.
When the entire roof needs to be replaced, it is very expensive.
It takes 4-5 acres of material to thatch one roof.
The Queen decided that the thatched roofs needed to stay. She thought that they added to the charm of England.
So the homes that have thatched roofs now, are registered, and required to maintain the thatch.
God Save the Queen!
Aren't they amazing?
Look up close:
Deliciously thick and mossy.
I would imagine they are heavier than heck when they get wet, and probably infested with bugs and rodents and stuff.
But so fun for the tourists!
More English countryside from the car window:
I can just imagine thousands of years ago, hard-working people clearing the land, and piling those rocks up.
Some of the rock walls have little wooden ladders going up and over the wall.
A lot of the crumbling walls were overgrown with English Ivy.
It was everywhere.
Right there on the right hand side of the road.
Just hanging out there, like a Home Depot, or a Walmart.
It was not where I expected it to be.
In the middle of a sheep field.
It was surrounded by a chain link fence.
I think it was like $10 a person when you did the conversion.
But they no longer let you go right up to the stones. Even inside the chain link fence, you are still 25 feet away from the stones.
I don't know why they think that stones that have lasted 10,000 years will suddenly break down with people touching them.
We figured we didn't need to pay to get a closer look.
We opted to take a few pictures and get back on the road to Cheddar.
They said, (and I quote) "It's just a big old pile of ROCKS!"
We are always so happy that we take our children on vacations. They are always so grateful to be seeing the world! They just soak up the culture!
Mike and Heidi booked us all an English cottage for a couple of nights, since the drive out to Cheddar was a long one from Isleham.
We had the Sat-Nav set for Cheddar.
It was funny in England, the "freeway" would often turn into a residential area, and then sometimes even a dirt road.
The same road. Without taking an exit.
The countryside was breathtakingly beautiful.
Anyone who goes to England sees London.
Not very many people get to go out into the countryside like we did.
London is very cool, don't get me wrong, but the quaint little cottage villages was where I was happiest.
So here is a good example the road went from freeway,
to village:
Suddenly, we were in the middle of nowhere.
On a dirt road.
And honestly, I can't even make this up, the road curved around this little cottage farm, and geese were blocking the road.
GEESE!
They wouldn't move. They just kept giving us a warning stink-eye.
"Get out of our shire, mates!"
They were feisty birds!
At this point Mike decided that the Sat-Nav was leading us astray.
It shouldn't have taken us this long to get to Cheddar.
If we were lost, at least the scenery was great!
The Sat-Nav had been set to "avoid traffic."
Hence the winding side-roads.
Haha!
As we crested a couple more hills, we dropped into Cheddar, on the back road.
Here is our cottage, it was called "Strawberry Fields."
And here is our (must be read in an accent) English Cottage garden:
In a really good, comforting way.
Here is one of the bedrooms:
Whatever.
Please tell me that one day they will appreciate having gone to England, and not have memories based on "when they got that high score on Mortal Kombat."
This cute cottage was managed by a family who lived next door.
They were just darling.
The self-catering cottage even had a game cabinet under the stairs full of books, board games and toys for the kids.
I loved the little knick-knacks too. Doilies and needlework table-runners.
These little old couple figurines reminded me of my Grandma Alavon.
It totally beat a hotel! We had a full kitchen--that came in handy.
I even did a load of laundry.
We all played games for a while that evening, and ate some English snacks.
Your digestive biscuits are the bomb.
But better. The cookie part is more textural (oat-y) and delicious.
And naming them "digestive" biscuits makes me think that they are healthy and full of fiber and good things.
Well played, English Keeblers, well played.
Then we all went to bed.
We had a big day planned the next day!
Cheddar Gorge.
1 comment:
Lovely pictures!!
And I love digestive cookies..ate them all the time as a missionary in Portugal :)
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