MAYBE A MAY TRIP?? 3 WEEKS SAPPHIRE FALLS 2021

[schumigirl]

I have not seen that pic of the group of us in years

It`s been a while since I glanced at that year myself......it seems ages ago now.....well, I guess it was a while ago.........

No matter how weak the Bill and Ted was some years, I still enjoyed it
Hope we see a return of them someday

Agree.....we still watched it.......I`d love them to bring it back and be very risque and not politically correct.......would hope they would offend everyone.......lol......

RHPS too.......I think that would be a popular choice for sure........

Carole I do enjoy your hhn reports and the pics and details you put into them

It’s a labor of love

Thank you mac.......I appreciate that

We all love HHN and I`m glad the idea was pitched to me to do it........I`ve loved looking back over those years again.........

 

[keishashadow]

Yes, we named us The Three Amigos and The Famous Five........lol.......oh they did get on well didn`t they.......they have a lot in common.....as well as both being married to wonderful women.......

Oh you will remember the banshees I`ll bet........it was very, very good.........

To quote My favorite stooge of another trio; “indubitably”...I call Curly Howard You & Mac can throw down for Moe & Larry lol

 

[schumigirl]

To quote My favorite stooge of another trio; “indubitably”...I call Curly Howard You & Mac can throw down for Moe & Larry lol

I always think Sherlock Holmes when I hear the word Indubitably........

Tom says I`m Moe......apparently he`s his favourite.......that leaves mac as Larry........

Weren`t they on Hitler`s personal death list......something to do with Hitler was worried they would ruin his credibility due to a scene they did which was a send up of the Third Reich and their whole evil regime.......

Must have been nice for them to know they bothered him so much

Another set of funny men overwhelmed by tragedy.....

 

[macraven]

I’m Larry??
Rather be leader Moe..... maybe

 

[schumigirl]

I’m Larry??
Rather be leader Moe..... maybe

Ok.....I`ll be Larry.......

Haven`t watched them in so long.........

 

[Robo56]

Great pictures Schumi......what a wonderful HHN trip down memory lane.

Ok, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud reading the Three Stooges stuff.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I am enjoying this recap so much! It is really fun to see all the scary photos, but even better to see you doing meet ups. Lots of beautiful, amazing ladies and gents in those

I am so sad to hear you will not be making the journey in December. As you said, there's always a reason even if it's not readily apparent, and I have faith you will have even more fun in 2021. I believe there's a Velocicoaster with your name on it!

Whee! So excited to see Grinchmas! Love that you are keeping this going, it's really bringing a lot of cheer during a challenging time.

I hope you have the BEST time in the Cotswolds.

 

[schumigirl]

Great pictures Schumi......what a wonderful HHN trip down memory lane.

Ok, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud reading the Three Stooges stuff.

Thanks Robo.......isn’t it just fabulous looking back over past HHN.......

lol......yes the three stooges were funny......hope we can do them justice.......

 

[schumigirl]

I am enjoying this recap so much! It is really fun to see all the scary photos, but even better to see you doing meet ups. Lots of beautiful, amazing ladies and gents in those

I am so sad to hear you will not be making the journey in December. As you said, there's always a reason even if it's not readily apparent, and I have faith you will have even more fun in 2021. I believe there's a Velocicoaster with your name on it!

Whee! So excited to see Grinchmas! Love that you are keeping this going, it's really bringing a lot of cheer during a challenging time.

I hope you have the BEST time in the Cotswolds.

Thanks Maria.......the meets with mac and Janet and her lovely husband were wonderful........we had the best time together.....and we all felt we had known one another for years. HHN itself is fabulous and looking back, I’ve enjoyed it so much.......and I have you to thank for the suggestion........

Oh We are so much looking forward to that coaster!!! How much fun is that going to be! We have plenty more Christmases to look forward to that’s for sure......yep, everything happens for a reason...still keeping fingers crossed your trip goes ahead....

Thank you.......we only arrived today, but already we love it here. We last visited this area maybe four years ago.......and I forgot how lovely it is. It’s like being transported back in time......we walked back from the restaurant we ate at tonight around 8.45pm.....the village was still.....hardly a car and we only saw one other couple walking.......I could live here......apart from all those darn tourists...........

 

[keishashadow]

I’m Larry??
Rather be leader Moe..... maybe

Long as it’s not Shemp

 

[schumigirl]

Feels like it`s been such a long time since I updated on here........it`s hard to imagine we`re half way through October already.

Life is still rolling along as normal, well, as normal as life can be right now with all the changes around for us now.....life has been very strange in 2020. What should have been three trips to Orlando which would have been just over 9 weeks altogether, a friends get together in Switzerland which had been planned for so long to fit in with the one time all of us could arrange to be in the same country at the same time, two trips to Scotland and several weekends away were all cancelled. Although thankfully we did manage a week in Scotland end of August to see family which was lovely and I did document some of that trip here........

When we knew the September and probably December trips weren`t going to happen, we thought we`d like a little week away somewhere, just the two of us mainly for a change of scenery. We looked around the UK to try and decide where to go......we have been to most places over the years, and one of the places we really loved was an area known as The Cotswolds.

We had spent a little time there previously, but it was visiting someone and not really a trip that gave us a lot of time to travel to some of the places we would have liked to visit.

So, we did look round several areas, several different types of accomodation and ones that had availability when we wanted to go. Originally we looked for the last week in September, but most were already booked that we would consider. We were choosing between large sprawling remote cottages and smaller types that were within a town where we could walk to things easily, particularly in the evenings. I did think I`d prefer to be remote as we don`t have many folks around us here, but Tom had a thought that if we were driving around most days, it might be nice to be central and have some nice choices for pubs and restaurants to walk to in the evenings.........I did like his thinking.

One of the problems with choosing the centre of a town or village, particularly in the Cotswolds where everything tends to be close together was the issue of parking. Tom hates the idea of our car not being parked where he considers it safe and sound.......so that gave me the added headache of finding somewhere where "the baby" could be left safely.

Most places had on street parking which was an absolute no no.....and some had parking that was a "short" walk away.....their idea of a short walk wasn`t ours and even then it was usually a public car park. This was proving more difficult than I thought. Parking really is of a premium in this area. It was really me who scoured through many sites that offered cottages for rent, and made a kind of short list eventually by eliminating unsuitable ones for several reasons.....usually parking!!

Finally I did find one that had off street parking and in the town we wanted........but it was exceptionally tiny. I know cottages are small by their very nature, but this one was designed for imps I think. However, it did look pretty and the convenience of having everything within walking distance soon became a winner for us. And it was available the first week in October which is what we were now looking at for our week away.

Booking it was easy. The communication between the company who rent the cottage and us was excellent. We did have one query and it was answered within a few hours which felt like good service, and the reviews for the cottage, which can sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt of course, all looked good.

Our only concern was the size of how small it was, the bedroom, sitting area and particularly the kitchen were tiny....but as we had no plans to make anything in there other than a pot of tea now and again and pour some wine, we could certainly live with that for a week. We hoped The garden again was very small, but with it being October I didn`t think we planned to be spending any time out there.

We looked around the town and managed to book three restaurants ahead of time.....quite a challenge for me who hates planning ahead.......but everything is so busy over here and places get booked up quickly, so we were glad of the reservations in the end.






MONDAY OCT 5TH


From where we live on the coast, it takes around 4 hours to drive across to the Cotswolds. We weren`t supposed to arrive at the cottage till after 5pm due to the extra cleaning schedules now being implemented, that was ok for us, but we did leave a little earlier than we needed to as we wanted to take our time and enjoy the journey. Kyle had the day off so he could wave us off this morning, and I think he was happy they were getting the house to themselves for a week.....

The weather was supposed to be dreadful, but it wasn`t as bad as forecast. The drive across was quite pleasant and we stopped off for a quick bite at a service station.....not the nicest places to ever pull over in. But, as we had dinner reservations for tonight we weren`t looking for much. This one wasn`t exactly the nicest one either we could have chosen but a bathroom stop was needed, so this one would do. We had a quick snack and walked back to the car.......couldn`t see it.......my heart sank.....but Tom was already cursing........lol.......

Some idiot truck driver had parked right beside us.....obviously couldn`t read this area was for cars and the truck area was the other side.......but he had parked so I couldn`t open the passenger side door......he wasn`t around so Tom said he would carefully manoeuvre the car out, then I could get in......but it was so awkward the way he had parked at angle......as Tom started the engine the driver came back and I did give him an ear bashing about his lack of consideration and bad parking skills.......I`m sure it was water off a ducks back, but I felt better telling him some things. He did look quite embarrassed when he looked to see how much room he had left us. I hoped that would be the last confrontation of the trip.......

The rest of the journey was indeed uneventful and we pulled into this beautiful little village just after 3pm. We drove around to the street which was one row behind the main street and river tat runs though it and saw indeed the parking was tight even with the off street space. People could park on the other side of the already narrow road, so reversing in was fairly tight at the best of times. But, it did look very pretty all the same, and there were no cleaning staff there so we decided we should be ok to go in.

The keys were in a secure box on the doorway and we had been given the code to get them out which was such a good idea. So, once Tom had very, very carefully manoeuvered our car into the space we opened up our home for the next week.......it was small. I had forgotten just how angles can adjust size and perspectives in pictures. But, the smell was fresh and clean.......and Tom was happy the car was parked up so no one could scramble past it.

We brought in the cases and bags and had a good look around, I thought I`d better take pictures before all our stuff took root and made the place look untidy, and marvelled again at how small it really was......but I suppose it was well done for making the most of the space available........

Although the space was very small, it was nice and light as there were plenty of windows letting in the sunlight and there were a few well placed mirrors too which worked.

It was neat bringing in the large suitcase as the stairs were directly in front of you as you walked in the rather low front door........yes, Tom did manage to bump his head once or twice.

And again, someone could keep an eye out on the car.......

The silver van parked opposite, sometimes parked in front of the brown garage door and that made it awkward to get in and out......the house that was across the way with the for sale sign was empty so he could park across his driveway which he shouldn`t do as there was no one to tell him not to. He didn`t do it often, but that whole other side of the small road was filled with cars all day, we assume some were tourists, but some parked from as early as 6.30am, so we assume they were locals parking for free as there was usually a whole solid line of cars parked opposite.

If we were surprised how small this room was........when we saw the kitchen we did smile.....our kitchen at home is huge....we have a kind of double kitchen as the original part of the house was farmhouse styled, but we added a large modern extension and it works blending the two styles......so this although small, was workable for us for a week.

The cabinets were full of dishes, cups, glasses, cutlery and most cooking implements you`d need including casserole dishes and I think a slow cooker.....but the most important thing it had was a bottle opener......we forgot ours!!!

We had no plans to cook anything at all, so this was fine really. I washed a small amount of cutlery, small plates, two mugs and two glasses and we worked off of them for a week. Boiled the kettle several times before we used it and the same with the teapot, just in case. But I have to say everything was spotless.

Upstairs was even smaller......I think I`m supposed to describe it as "cosy".......well, yes, it was certainly cosy.......especially the bed......we are not small people and again, our bed at home is a superking and we have a nice sized bedroom......we thought this might be a trial for a week.........actually it was fine, just a bit of a squeeze if we both wanted to walk past the bottom of the bed at the same time.

The cottage does sleep four and the other room would be ideal for two smaller children......and again, it is a bit tight on space but it all felt very clean.

We were both glad of that Mind your head sign .......I`m 5`7 and even I had to duck my head going downstairs.........

The small garden was very pretty and ideal for young children playing as it was completely enclosed and it had one little apple tree at the bottom as well as a nice little selection of flowers around......during the nicer weather they had cushions on the garden furniture and it also had a little wrought iron table to sit and enjoy the afternoon and evening sunshine.I can imagine it being a very pretty space to spend some time in during warmer weather, certainly fairly private.

Although very small, it did have a very nice feel about it....it did feel cosy and warming when you came in and as I said before, for a week it would be fine. Certainly a change for us size wise, but that can be a good thing. We did have a good feeling about the week ahead.

Everything was within walking distance and two restaurants were quite honestly less than two minutes to walk to either side of us and others were all around the same. Only one restaurant, the one we were going to tonight was around an 8 minute walk, that was the furthest we need walk for food.

By the time we got unpacked and walked to the village store for a few bits, it was almost time to get ready for our walk to the restaurant for dinner.....and we were starving!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Well this cottage looks just like I envision Agatha Raisin’s! It does seem like a sweet little spot for a couple. And I love that you were able to walk to restaurants and pubs. I’m already enjoying your trip

 

[Lynne G]

Sorry to hear no Holiday trip this year. But happily enjoyed your time in the Cotswolds. Great HHN pictures. And yay, for reporting your most recent trip. Cute place you stayed at.

 

[Robo56]

Loving your pictures of HHN past.

The Cottage is adorable. I always wondered what the cottages in the villages looked like. Looks very nice inside. The garden is pretty.

Did you visit the Tea Room next door?

 

[schumigirl]

Well this cottage looks just like I envision Agatha Raisin’s! It does seem like a sweet little spot for a couple. And I love that you were able to walk to restaurants and pubs. I’m already enjoying your trip

lol......I did look out for her!!

It really was quite perfect in the end. And we did get used to how tiny it was, at night it was very sweet with windows all closed up and lamps on......

And yes, being able to walk every night to restaurants, some only a few steps away, was fabulous. I`m so glad you`re enjoying reading along Maria.......

 

[schumigirl]

View attachment 532341

Sorry to hear no Holiday trip this year. But happily enjoyed your time in the Cotswolds. Great HHN pictures. And yay, for reporting your most recent trip. Cute place you stayed at.

Glad you enjoy the HHN pics.....more to come when I finish this mini trip report........

It was very cute. I wasn`t sure how we`d manage somewhere so small, but it felt fine while we were there.

 

[schumigirl]

Loving your pictures of HHN past.

The Cottage is adorable. I always wondered what the cottages in the villages looked like. Looks very nice inside. The garden is pretty.

Did you visit the Tea Room next door?

I am loving revisiting HHN of past years.........

Yes, it was lovely, the one next door to us was even smaller, so we were glad we didn`t have that one.....we did see a larger one set further back we`d consider if we do that again, it was very gothic looking and the kitchen was larger....well, it wouldn`t be hard to be larger than the one we had.......but, it was fine. If you had a family and planned to cook it might be tight, but there was everything there you`d need.

We didn`t actually use the tea room next to us. We did plan to give it a try.........then we saw the owner and decided against it. There were several negative reviews of the place and speaking to folks around us who were local, we decided to use other places for breakfast in the morning. Shame, as it would have been so handy. But, other places were so close too.

Good to see you......

 

[schumigirl]

I just realised I haven`t mentioned which town we were staying in......well, it`s called Bourton on the Water and one of the most popular places to visit in the Cotswolds. The River Windrush runs through the centre and during the summer you cannot move for tourists which must be a nightmare to live with if you`re a local.

End of September the UK had a bit of a heatwave and one of the papers showed this town and how the roads were gridlocked in and out for miles as it was so busy. Pictures showed the river was mobbed with folks paddling and there didn`t look to be a spare piece of ground to stand in around the whole town.....no social distancing at all which was quite scary.

Talking to the locals they all, although they do rely on tourism for many businesses, all claimed it was horrendous. People who don`t live in the town couldn`t get in and out if they had to drive......couldn`t imagine. But, when we did walk around the town, I can see why it`s so popular.

Once we had showered and changed we had a very short walk to the pub we had booked tonight for dinner. We had tried to book another restaurant but in October they only open Tuesday till Sunday, so we booked it for tomorrow night instead.....it would have been a two minute walk to that one. The one we booked tonight was a very slow 8 minute walk. We took our time as we always do when walking to a pub or restaurant........we aren`t ones who need to rush to get anywhere, we leave in plenty of time so we don`t have to rush. And we got to see a little bit of the town, albeit in the dark.

The Mousetrap intruiged me a little.

There was no menu online, which is quite unusual today, so we didn`t really know what the options would be, but we had been assured whatever they did serve, we`d love it. Places like this are priceless in our mind, very local, non chain and had an excellent reputation. We were really looking forward to this meal.....even though we had no idea what we would be eating.........

Such a pretty exterior........years ago we fell in love with what`s known as the Cotswold Stone.....so many homes and businesses are built with it and it is very beautiful.

We walked round the back of the property to get in, of course most places have a one way system now, the chef was outside and told us to ring the bell and someone would come through and sure enough the lady who is the owner appeared and asked to take our temperature and we scanned the track and Trace App that was the easiest way to fill in our contact info. If you didn`t want to get the App, you can just give your name and phone number in the old fashioned pen and paper way.

We are taken through a very pretty dining/bar area to the right hand side of the pub. It looks much smaller from the exterior and we immediately liked it in here, the decor and atmosphere was warm and welcoming and the smell of food was gorgeous.

We had a nice table, backing on to what usually hosts a real log fire, but a little early for that just yet......little candles worked for us right now, nice table.

We did feel tables were well spaced apart, and all Covid regulations were very well adhered to.......it was nice to sit down and take the mask off.

The menu was adorned with a small but well chosen selection of appetisers, entrees and desserts.......but first, we had to choose the wine and I originally ordered the Merlot, then realised it was French......not a fan of French wines generally, so caught her and changed it to a rather nice Rioja which isn`t usually Tom`s first choice, but he did enjoy this one I had chosen. For a small place they did have a rather nice wine selection to opt from.

We decided to share some olives and something I didn`t used to like at all......it was a black pudding Scotch egg and it came with chef made brown sauce.......you can buy bottled brown sauce here, but our waitress explained how many ingredients went into this and it wasn`t just shop bought.......we never thought it would be. This place had a class Chef and it showed with the menu and the meals we had.

I hoped I would like it as I don`t really eat egg yolks, maybe one every few months, and I always say I don`t like black pudding. But, I had some in Scotland and did enjoy it, so thought sharing would be nice.

Oh my goodness!!! It was delicious. Neither of us had eaten or tried anything like the sauce before......it was beautiful and went well with the Scotch egg......and I did really enjoy it. Tom loved it I was glad to say and about now I did wish we had had one each.......yep, it was lovely.

The other items on the entrees were a seabass, a veg dish and a dish that served up two types of venison........sometimes venison can remind me of pate which I don`t usually like, so we didn`t got for those.....we opted for steak.

I usually don`t order sirloin steak, I prefer the filet, but the steak they had on offer was sirloin. Tom loves it so he was happy and it came with chips, onion rings, mushroom and a cafe de Paris butter which was delicious.

I asked for mine rare with no onions and Tom got his medium rare.....I`d share my mushroom as I don`t eat mushrooms.......I did hope it was nice.

They were delicious. Unbelievably tender and full of flavour.....couldn`t ask for more if we tried......and my steak was indeed rare as requested. Tom`s was also cooked just right. I think this had been the most tender sirloin I had ever eaten.

And I never rave about chips......but those were honestly some of the nicest we have ever had.......proper cooked chips.....hard to beat.

Our meals had been beautiful, and the atmosphere was lovely too. The staff were very friendly and chatty at the right times and we felt very comfortable here. We had asked for a break before we decided whether to have a dessert or not, so we passed the time chatting about what might be ahead for us this week. Planning isn`t our strong point so we still hadn`t made up our minds where we were going to visit tomorrow. And I think then we decided to maybe spend some time in this little place exploring and enjoying the scenery here rather than go further afield.

We did decide to have dessert.

Sometimes, I get the better dessert.....sometimes Tom gets the better dessert........and tonight Tom absolutely 100% got the best dessert.

He chose the sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce which is sometimes too sweet for me......it was dark, rich and very sweet with an abundance of sauce in the dish too........I was a bit jealous when I saw mine I have to say, although I did get a taste of it.......Tom is good at sharing. It originally came with banana ice cream????? Why, i`m not sure, but Tom asked for vanilla instead......who the heck eats banana ice cream!!!!

I love coconut. Adore it in any form. Not really fond of rice pudding, but when I saw a coconut rice pudding on offer, I decided to go for it......it came with a rather unusual kiwi ice, died kiwi, dried mango and some tiny madeleines on top.

It was delicious, but my goodness, it was the tiniest amount of rice pudding I had ever seen. It barely covered the bottom of the dish, and with the other elements it was a treat. Albeit a very small treat.

I did wish I had gone for the sticky toffee pudding. Tom always gloats a little when he picks the better dessert.......lol.......he does however, always offer to swap......but, I wanted him to enjoy his meal and not take my dessert just so I could have the better one.....bless him.

We finished our wine, thanked them, paid for our meal and booked a table for the following Sunday evening which would be our last night. We really did want to come back here and they do get booked up, so we were happy to get a table.

Our walk back to the cottage was a little slower than we had walked to the pub.....we were full!!

Didn`t take long though and we did feel as we walked back into the main part of the town that we were in an episode of the Twilight Zone. There was not one other person walking anywhere in the streets.......weirdly quiet. Where we live is very quiet, but this was quite eerie......we could see folks in restaurants but that was about it. Not a complaint at all, it was very nice.

Back in the cottage it was warm and cosy. I put the kettle on for some tea and Tom found we had Netflix on the tv, so we found something to watch and settled down in the surprisingly comfortable recliner and sofa for the rest of the evening.

 

[keishashadow]

So glad you were able to get away. It looks like something out of a storybook! Lovely Indeed

scratching head as to brown sauce (beef gravy?) & black pudding (savory?). Every scotch egg I’ve sampled (including Finnegans at U) has been pretty awful. Many no more than an overcooked hard boiled egg to point yolk is green tinged yuck. That one looks tempting

however, no translation is needed for that fine looking steak, yum yum

 

[schumigirl]

So glad you were able to get away. It looks like something out of a storybook! Lovely Indeed

scratching head as to brown sauce (beef gravy?) & black pudding (savory?). Every scotch egg I’ve sampled (including Finnegans at U) has been pretty awful. Many no more than an overcooked hard boiled egg to point yolk is green tinged yuck. That one looks tempting

however, no translation is needed for that fine looking steak, yum yum

It really was like a fairytale in some of the villages we went to.......

Over here as well as tomato ketchup we have a brown sauce in a bottle......dark brown and a little spicy, and one is called fruity brown sauce, but it`s not really fruity.......lol......if you have a bacon sandwich you`re usually asked red or brown sauce.......

This one had a very light spice and had a kind of hoisin flavour, but different.......I couldn`t even begin to decribe it.....Google Daddies Brown sauce or HP Brown sauce........this sauce was a more upmarket sauce than the bottled type you buy in stores, chef said there are 30 ingredients in it......it was gorgeous.

Yes, us Brits recoil in horror at what is passed as British food at times (3 B`s, Leaky Cauldron usually) the real versions are always much better........another example is the Cornish Pasty they serve there.....never, ever would you serve that with a salad.....sacrilege!!!

When British food is done well, it`s lovely......and that Scotch egg was perfect......very runny without being raw.......and I do now admit to liking black pudding. They used the original and best in the UK that is from Stornoway, off the mainland on the Western Isles.......gorgeous.

Yep......good steak......nuff said!!! Lush!!