Tomorrow...

Tomorrow, at 08:30, we leave our garden estate and head into the Belly of the Beast.

HEATHROW

We spend the night, then fly Delta direct to PDX on Saturday.

Ramadan starts on Friday.  Last time I was in London, it took me 3 hours to clear security.  It was the first day of Ramadan.  This could be interesting...

✈️

Problems, problems

"Problems, problems, problems all day long...".  Every Brothers

They got the same damn problems here as we do in the states.  Big London money is coming to the small villages (we're just 35 miles south of London, 48 miles from Heathrow) and buying up the housing.  They bring their children, and latte habits, and their bmw's, which is great.  No problem with that.  But where do the workers live?  The bus driver we talked to in Mevagissey was making 7.20 an hour.  Her husband has a REALLY good paying job... 13.50 an hour.  Granted, those are pounds, but you deduct medical insurance of approx 88 a week from that.  Apartment rent is 400-600.   A house is 800-1200 a month.

Most of the villages have strict building codes, so it's hard to find housing for regular people.  The price of existing housing is through the roof.  Most listings we saw were north of 650k (if you want a little land).  Roads are 75 years behind the times.  Infrastructure needs a shot in the arm.

So, sometimes the grass is greener... sometimes it ain't.

Do nothing day...

My sisters burned out, after their train trip to Dover yesterday.  They opted for a "do-nothing" day... my feelings were not hurt.  We did, however, manage to drive to Forest Row for coffee, then on to East Grinfield (Adele's new hometown) for a look see.  Big topic of discussion... how big of a town do you home base in?  Hartfield is like Hillsdale.  Forest Row is like Beaverton.  East Grinfield is like Forest Grove.  Guess it depends on what you are looking for... rural or a small town with services.

After securing dinner food, we headed to Hartfield.  I went to The Anchor Inn for a bite and beers. The women headed to Pooh Tea Room, for a forgettable lunch.

My people...

Back home now... lazing

A walk to lunch

Yes, I have been hyping this England walking idea.  So today I made the 1 mile trek to Hartfield.  The first 1/3 mile was down my lane, past the landlord's house.

My lane to the road... about 1/3 mile

My landlord's place... not too shabby

Now it gets interesting.  This is the second 1/3 of the mile.  Do you notice any sidewalks?  That's a negative.  So I walked in the road.  When a car came, I moved to the weeds and just stood there, waiting for the car to pass.  Freaky.  But the worst was the semi (called lorries, here) that passed me going 45 mph.  It will be a quick death, i thought to myself.  This is my biggest bitch about driving here.  The roads are WAY too narrow, there is NO shoulder and everyone wants to drive 50-60 mph (which is the posted speed). I go 40. Even that feels too fast.  Where do people park?  Glad you asked.  They park in the FU$*^%(#NG road.  Yeah, they just pull the the curb and park, essentially making your road a one lane road. After a 10 mile jaunt, you NEED a drink.

Ahhhhh....

"Il Duce Far Niente"... the joy of doing nothing.

Drove the sisters to Royal Tunbridge Wells where they boarded a train to Dover.  I have the day off... no "cute" for me today.  Just some lazing around followed by a walk to town.  Absolutely will have to  have a pint with lunch at the Anchor Inn.

I am a mile walk from Hartfield.  This is "Pooh" country.  A.A. Milne wrote "Winnie the Pooh" while he lived at Cotchfield Farm in Hartfield.  Consequently, there are many "pooh" sights nearby.  Milne later sold the house to Brian Jones, who in 1962 founded a rock & roll group called Rollin' Stone.

Quote from Wikipedia...
According to Keith Richards, Jones christened the band during a phone call to Jazz News. When asked for a band name Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor. One of the LP's tracks was "Rollin' Stone"
They later changed the name to "The Rolling Stones"

On July 3, 1969 Brian drowned in the swimming pool at Cotchfield Farm.

It's a gorgeous sunny day here.  High near 70 with a light breeze.

Hiking

Do you like to hike???

You are going to LOVE this country.

Everywhere you go, you see signs like this..

So bring some good hiking shoes, some hiking poles, a rain coat and set off for an adventure.  At the end of the trail is a public house, aka a pub, with good beer and great food.

Remembering

A while ago, I watched a 5 minute video by Matthew O'Reilly called "Am I Dying".  It's worth watching.  He talked of dying people asking him... "Will you remember me?"

Look at this gravestone from the Alfriston church cemetery.  Pretty sad.  Two boys killed in WWI.  Is there anybody alive who still remembers them?  Any relatives who might visit the graveside and say "Hello in there"?

Will anybody remember us in 100 years???

Alfriston

Our next stop was the town of Alfriston.  This is on the Rick Steves circuit.  Small, quaint, but not too touristy.  Had lunch at the George Inn.  I had a killer piece of sea bass, washed down with a pint of local lager.  Toured the Alfriston Abbey House, purchased by the National Trust in 1896.  It was the first house they purchased. Way cool.

Beachy

Ya got your white cliffs of Dover, but the cliffs at Beachy Head are pretty bitchin too.  There are about 30 miles south of us, on a pretty nice highway, so off we went.  We did some hiking around and did our best to look over the edge.  It's about 500' down.  It's the second most popular place to take your life.  #1 is the Golden Gate Bridge.  We decided not to jump.

An excellent film to watch, filmed at Beachy Head.  "Mr Holmes", starring Ian McKellen.

Manchester

Manchester is 244.1 miles north of our present position.

Chartwell

When we decided to travel to England, I picked two places as "must sees".  One was Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill and home of the Duke of Marlborough.  The second was Chartwell, the family home of Winston Churchill.  I was not disappointed.

We were first in line at the house for the 11:00 opening.  Each room has a volunteer, who tells you about the room and its history.  I talked to everyone of these people.  Found out that WC did most of his work standing up.  That he nearly sold the estate on two different occasions because he was broke.  That there were no lavish banquets there, it was strictly a family home.  (An excellent film from 2002 called "The Gathering Storm", starring Albert Finley and Vanessa Redgrave can be found online).  I loved the entire time I spent there.

A few outside photos of the estate.

The house on a stunning day

Winston & Clementine

A view from across the lake

Bored at work?

For those of you still working for a living (and god bless you for that - keep those social security payments coming!),  try this... when the boss isn't looking, click on You Tube and search for "Spiders on Drugs", followed by "Amazon Echo Silver - SNL".  Two short, killer videos guaranteed to put you on the floor.

Just doing my part for the working man/woman...

Drinks in the garden behind the Castle Inn, in Chiddingstone Village... a few miles from our house.

Sissy's place

Drove to Sissinghurst Gardens today.  Quite proper.  Then on to Bodiam Castle.  Weather was gorgeous.  Chart well (Churchill's home) tomorrow.

Rudy's place

On our way north from Hastings, we stopped by the home of Rudyard Kipling.  My sisters went Gaga.  After my 10 minutes visit, I headed to the tea room for a proper spot of afternoon tea.  I felt so bloody English.

The house

The garden next to the tea room, where I found solace.

And all that...

Today we had spectacular weather.  We headed south towards Hastings, to a town called Battle.  950 years ago, on October 14, 1066, William the Bastard fought King Harold for the right to be called the King of England.  It was a winner-take-all grudge match.  Willie won. He changed his name to William the Conquerer.  The Anglo-Saxon empire came to a screeching halt.  And the rest is history.

Cool wood carvings along the way.

Harold had the high ground.  The Normans shot him in the eye.  It was a bad day for Harold and the Englishman.

The farm...

We moved today. Spending our last week on Hartwell Farm near Hartfield, a suburb of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Rained most of the day... of course now, it's gorgeous.

A walk...

Drove to Broadway, on a delightfully sunny day.
Here's a pic of the downtown scene... some tourists, but not horrible

We then walked the "Cotswold Way" trail, thru fields of four legged mammals and on into the woods.  After 1.3 miles of uphill, I called it a day. Headed back down to town for 🍺.

On the road back to town, I say this lovely home.  Thatched roof and all.  Stunning.  

Yesterday's view...

Yesterday (Wednesday) is rained all day.  Ugh.
Of course, at sunset, it cleared up.
Why is that?
Never been able to figure that out.

Here is our upstairs bathroom.

Here is the view from said bathroom.  "Red sky at night, sailors delight".

Pay to play...

Some of you bunnies have ventured out on a limb.  You have fired up your smartphones and are taking advantage of ApplePay / Android Pay / Samsung Pay.  Once you figure out that it's pretty safe (safer than swiping a card according to many), it works quickly and accurately.

Problem in the US of A... there are not many mobile pay stations that accept it.  Notably, I use it at New Seasons Markets.

We'll, comrades, trot on over to England... every, I mean EVERY, grocery store, coffee shop, deparement store, etc accepts mobile pay.  Just put your finger on the phone and walk out of the store.  They are WAYYYY ahead of us in this department.

I have not used my credit card once - just used Apple Pay.  I did use my debit card to get cash from the ATM, but that's it.

Kind of a trip... you can travel around the world and just use your smartphone to do everything.

Don't go back...

Today was a pissing rain day.  A steady "ya better run to the car" type of day.  So we lazed around the hacienda, catching up on New Yorker's, utube videos, Facebook, etc.  When you are here for a month, a day of doing nothing is totally acceptable, at least in my book.
Decided to visit a Nat Trust site called Chastleton.  This was a manor build in 1605.  Just a regular family lived there - no royalty.  The place slowly disintegrated.  In 1991, the owners turned it over to the National Trust, as is.  So you walk into this place and its old and decrepit and it's never been restored.  They just fixed it up enough to preserve it.
It was depressing.
I was done in an hour.  My sisters took 2.5 hours to complete it.  I napped in the car.  And worked on the NYT crossword.  Such is my life in the Cotswolds, kewt beyond belief, but wearing a bit thin.  Gives me time, though, to contemplate life and things...

Pics follow:

The grand entry hall

A 22 meter room in the attic.  The children played badminton here. A great room to walk on a rainy day.

The stairway to the third floor.  Chipped paint and all.

Wait, there's more

Inside the main palace - 300 employees... 8 house staff... 4 garden staff
They would not tell us what is costs to run the place for a year, but use your imagination. A LOT.

Lifestyles of the rich...

Off to Blenheim Palace today... home of the Duke of Marlborough, birthplace of Winston Churchill and yet another 300 year old example of obnoxious wealth and extravagance.  We took three separate tours - The Dukes floor, The private apartments tour and the Downstairs tour.  Sorry - no pictures allowed.  In the midst of that, we toured the main palace and saw the Winston Churchill exhibit, which is the main reason I wanted to go.

Here are some shots of the main palace...

The place is ginormous... 90 acres - lawns that go on forever.

Wake up

Here's my morning view, where I enjoy a cup of jo

Rainy day...

Woke up to a steady drizzle.  No worries, we're ducks.  Our Oregon winter has been a good lead in to the English "changes in 5 minutes" weather.
So we drove to Stow for a coffee, then on to Bourton-on-the-water.

Burton on the water is the "Venice of the Cotswolds".  And they've got the tourists to prove it.  

Next we went to a National Trust site called Snowshill.  It was the former home of some eccentric dude named Charles Wade.  He collected shit.  He put it in his house, then donated the entire lot to the National Trust.  Nowadays, we call this hoarding.  So, this guy is probably the patron saint of hoarders.  Above is a pic of the bicycle room.  

So today were two kewt towns followed by a house full of old junk.  Meh...

Tomorrow... Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill.

New digs

We're staying at Bruen Cottages, 5 miles from Chipping Norton.  Here's a peek...

The entrance

Inside The hacienda 

View from the veranda...

Driving

In Dartmoor and Cornwall, 15 miles feels like 30. Here's a pic of driving a lane in Cornwall. GPS takes you down at least two of these of trip.  

Driving north to the Cotswolds, on the M5, was more civilized...

Cotswold roads are more doable than Cornwall.

Higher

We keep climbing, edging along 500' cliffs... after 45 minutes of this, I'm gassed.  You walk up 200', then you walk down 200'.  That gets old pretty fast.

We cross endless fences, some with walk-thru gates, some climb over gates.  1.5 hours into it, I finally arrive, 20 minutes behind my sisters.  Here's my monitor:

I need beer !

1 step up, 2 back

Spectacular day here.  High 50's, so we decided to walk to the next town of Gorran Haven.  Easy - 3.5 miles - walk in the park - piece of cake - easy as pie.  Up we go... here is the view of Mevagissey from the south,..

We climb... we climb... onward
We come to Point Chapel with its smalll beach
Beautful.