And We're Off!

It was bittersweet leaving Tilly and Gracie, the Labrador Retrievers, that we were so fortunate to walk and love for a month.  We also had a wonderful time with their parents, Janet and Michael.  

They made us feel welcome and we enjoyed the time we spent together but Jerry Springer, the Springer Spaniel, was waitng for us to spend the weekend with him while his parents attended a wedding.  Jerry lives in a beautiful area called Rusper.  He has an absolutely beautiful back garden for his playground.  There is even exotic wildlife in the back garden. He graciously shared it with Chuck and me.  I spent several hours in the gazebo reading while Jerry patrolled the grounds.  Jerry took Chuck and me on long walks through the countryside.  We saw deer, rabbits, and even a fox.

While Jerry kept watch over the house, Chuck and I enjoyed several meals at Holmbush Inn.  Martin, Anna, Mum, and and the staff serve traditional home cooked food (all cooked by Mum) in a friendly setting. We had our first Sunday Roast there (a tradition here in the UK). Sunday roast is a main meal that consists of roasted meat, roast potato, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and gravy.  It was delicious.  I had beef roast while Chuck had the lamb.

We had a lovely weekend with Jerry.  He's a sweet dog who loves to play ball and have his ears scratched.  Many thanks to Jeanette and Colin for selecting us through the website Trusted Housesitters.

Sunday night we had planned to stay at a Bed & Breakfast closer to our next housesit in Walton-on-Thames but somehow our reservation fell through. We ended up at Premier Inn near Gatwick Airport.  The room was large and since there is no air conditioning in most places, there was a nice big fan 😅. We had tea and dessert at the Gatwick Manor Inn before retiring for the night.

The next morning we made our way to Walton-on-Thames for our next pet/housesit with Lola, a beautiful chocolate brown German Shorthaired Retriever. Her humans, Caron and Roy made us feel very welcome with a long walk along the Thames, drinks at The Swan (a pub on the river), and a delicious steak dinner.  Lola loves her swims in the Thames when the weather is hot, like it was yesterday and again today.  I really hate to complain, but it is REALLY HOT!!!. Yesterday the mercury rose to 34 degrees C which is 93 degrees F.  Since the majority of residences in the UK have no air conditioning, we were miserable.  It reminded me of tent camping in July and August when I was much younger. Enough whining.  How can I whine when we get to take walks with Lola along the Thames?

It's Time to Say Goodbye!

Well, our time here in Highfields Road, Caldecote is almost over.  Michael and Janet should be be in late tonight or early tomorrow morning.  We will certainly miss Tillie and Gracie.  The are such sweet dogs.  

We plan to travel to Dover to see the white cliffs on our way to Horsham.  We will be in Horsham for a long weekend with Jerry Springer, the Springer Spaniel. We will travel to Walton-on-Thames next week, then on to Scotland.  I can't believe how fast time is flying and we are having fun.

Last week, we had lots of fun visiting Cambridge and Ely.  Ely is the home to a beautiful cathedral.  The day was a bit rainy, and of course, we left the umbrella at the house.  We bought ourselves a bright green and white striped one along with a pair of mock crocs for Chuck at a Thing-a-Bob shop.  We wandered around, looking at all the shops and the open-air market and had a great time. We found Julia's Tea Shop and Barkers Bakery. We stopped for a fish and chips lunch, then headed back to view the cathedral.

Chuck and I have really enjoyed driving to the Madingley Road Park 'n Ride and taking the bus into Cambridge. We were told that we had to go punting on the River Cam. We couldn't leave the Cambridge without doing that so we went punting. A punt is a flat bottomed wooden boat that is poled down the river by the punter. Our guide, Sam, was excellent.  He knew the history of Cambridge and was very entertaining.  We just sat back and enjoyed the ride through seven of the campuses that make up Cambridge University  Punting is the only way the public can view the back of the campuses, thus the name the Backs. Unlike American universities, all the colleges and universities that fall under the umbrella of Cambridge University are gated with limited public access.

We went to Cambridge the next day to visit the pub that was the hangout for RAF and USAAF pilots during World War II.  We had read on Google that the pub served breakfast, but because they were short handed that day, we had breakfast at the Agora at the Copper Kettle.  Chuck had the full English breakfast that included toast, fried eggs, a banger (sausage), a grilled tomato, bacon (sliced ham), baked beans and hash browns.

Chuck also got a haircut in Cambridge.

We did get to eat at The Eagle. The pub is rich in history.

We're packed and almost ready to leave tomorrow.  For a first every pet/housesit, we couldn't have asked for better. Many thanks, Janet and Michael, for giving us this opportunity!

Childerley Hall

We had such a great time this afternoon at Childerley Hall.  The Jenkins family, who now own the farm and the house, opened the gardens to the public to raise funds for cancer research. Childerley Hall has a long and rich history. Queen Elizabeth visited there in 1571 and 1578 and King Charles I visited for three nights in 1647.  The grounds are breathtaking and massive.  There is an old chapel on the grounds where tea, coffee, cakes and ice cream were offered for a donation.  Chuck and I had tea and cake under a tent in the garden. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We have decided that the definition of an English garden is controlled chaos but still controlled chaos, beautiful. I don't have the words to describe what we saw today so I'll just use photos.