The Search For Enlightenment

So we’ve come to the last day of our holiday, and maybe we could have been rueing its passing, but today has been the very best of Sundays. With an early start in order to have the croissants ready for the arrival of Charlotte, Hannah and Oliver, we were delighted to see that the weather was still as beautiful as it had been all week.

We, or should I say I, demolished said croissants in pretty short order whilst Oliver consumed his apple puree. Washed down with lashings of hot coffee and plenty of good humoured banter, it was a perfect start to a perfect day.

Being made mostly of stone, the cottage is a bit like a fridge at times, so we decided to decamp to the garden and avail ourselves of the glorious sunshine. Garden chairs were erected and arranged and the jollifications continued. The garden is in need of a bit of TLC, but actually it fits perfectly into the higgledy piggledy style of a cottage garden. The birds and bees were in evidence, making themselves busy with their comings and goings.

Proceedings came to an end around 11:00 following the now obligatory photo session to record the event. With Oliver safely strapped into his child seat, the girls set off for home and we set off to find a few more ‘essentials’ for the guest bedroom. It was a fruitless search. Even a bit of light-hearted haggling failed to prise a rather nice, but far too expensive chest of drawers from the current owner, so we were home again by 1:00.

The Grove Wood Action Group, of whom Steve, the next door neighbour is advocate, were planning a walk from Shell Cottage, down to Grove Wood, in celebration of their successful prevention of the desecration of the wood by a local developer. Dressed in pseudo medieval and animal costumes, they made a colourful procession through the village and down the the entrance to the woods, where a ceremonial cutting of a ribbon took place.

Spirits were understandably high and much mirth and merriment accompanied the walk through the woods following the ceremony. The fact that, for us, it was a surprise event, only added to the fun and frivolity and we were happy to help by recording the occasion for posterity.

So a perfect end to a perfect and very enjoyable holiday. The weather, the events and particularly the company made it a thoroughly memorable time. Most pleasant.