Wed, June 30th - our cute cottage in the Cotswolds

My mom was after us to visit the Cotswolds. She just loved that part of England and believe it or not, we never spent time there while we lived in Cambridge. This was our chance! I had found a cottage for us to stay in that was priced just right. In fact, it was the cheapest of the options I found and Paul liked the cost (in fact, he couldn't believe it), but he was concerned that it would be a dump. We were only going to be there for 3 nights and I thought it looked good on-line. We would spend most of our days exploring and really just needed a place to sleep, and we were trying to economize.

The days leading up to our trip found Paul checking websites and assuring himself that the cottage was not going to be a disaster. He was cheered up when he located it on a different website and thought it looked OK.

It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL 500 yr old cottage - the kind of place that I had always wanted to see when we lived in England! These kinds of places would never have held our large, American sized furniture (if we had lived in one), but I thought they looked charming and I knew they were considered high end places in England. I could NOT believe our luck! Again, I was shocked at how God took our obedience and showered it with blessing upon blessing.

It was just one house away (a short walk on a charming path) from the country lane, so I couldn't get a good picture of the front, but it looked similar to this one right next to it.















I didn't realize I had this picture, but it gives you an idea of the "neighborhood". It can't really be called that, because it was just 5-6 houses clustered together down paths in the grass at the bottom of the lane. This one is the cottage where we stayed.














We had our own little gate as an entry way to the property. So very English!















Megan, Kathryn and John by the front door. How come it's challenging to get all 4 in a cute picture at once?















The boys looking out of one of the windows upstairs.















This is another angle - the door to the side of the house that was really the "front" door. I love the character of these cottages!
















We had a charcoal grill and table in the back yard















along with our own pond with lily pads and a place for the kids to sit - a hand made stone wall!














The inside was just what you would expect - small and cosy rooms, exposed beams, charming doors. The decoration had a significant amount of "clutter", but it was SO well equipped. It was the family home until just a few years ago, so it had every kitchen gadget that we needed, including a cheese grater, a colander, and enough dishes that we only had to run the dishwasher once! There was even a washing machine, tons of great books to read, and wood all ready to make a fire in the fireplace. They had restaurant recommendations and brochures for things to do in the area tacked to the kitchen board. It was completely ideal.

This is the cosy sun room. It had patio doors that opened to the back yard.















It even had a box of knex to play with, along with a few misc toys!















This is the "family room". There were several books about the Cotswolds - history and things to see and do (besides the brochures on the board in the kitchen). There were lots of novels to read as well. Good thing we were in an English speaking country! There were also stacks of games. We weren't even fully in yet (Paul was still bringing in the luggage, and I was unloading groceries) when the kids started a game of Monopoly!!!
















This was my view from the kitchen window.














Even the boys room with twin beds was filled with stuffed animals and books. Andrew immediately "adopted" another stuffed dog to go with the one he brought with him. John is sleeping in his bed in this picture.















Andrew is in his bed, same room as John.















This is Kathryn's room.















I loved this part. To get to the boys' room you accessed it from Kathryn's room! I had to bend my head to get through this darling little door!















Last but not least, this is Miss Megan's room.















Our room was downstairs and pretty dark - not conducive for pictures, although you are probably thoroughly exhausted looking through this cottage! Obviously, I loved it! It was such a neat and truly English place to stay while we explored the Cotswolds. It was PERFECT for getting over jetlag - a wakeful person could go into the family room or sun room to read and not disturb other sleeping people. Paul and I could relax and recover from the travel while the kids occupied themselves playing with the games or toys. The setting was beautiful - lots of beautiful gardens and our own very large one for the kids to play hide-and-seek. We were in Broom, which is a tiny village just next to Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakesphere. Tomorrow, we were going to explore Stratford Upon Avon. Tonight, we were going to enjoy our cottage.

Just to add to our joy, this cottage was at the top of our street. It was a lovely area! What would Stratford Upon Avon look like? We were going to find out tomorrow.















Cheers!