 |
| Mayfly Cottage |
When we go to England nowadays we always rent a cottage, it's actually cheaper than a hotel and so much more comfortable. Our cottage this year was Mayfly Cottage located at Lower Mill near the village of Coln St. Aldwyns. That's in the lower end of the Cotswold, and in the middle of nowhere! That's exactly how we like it, except for the roads leading to it. They were classified as "C" roads and I read in an English magazine that "C" stands for c**p. It's not that they're bad, it's just they're very narrow, people don't slow down on them and cars are parked on each side of them making them even narrower.
Plus there were pheasants all over the road, and to say they're a bird of very little brains is an understatement! We had to crawl along to keep from running them over, others weren't so kind or careful and the roads were littered with pheasant carcus's, the scavengers were having a field day.
That aside, the setting was beautiful, our cottage tiny, the owners very helpful and the weather, other than some wind from Hurricane Katia and one morning of rain, absolutely beautiful. I wore a jacket one day and that was because of the rain, it wasn't cold. And after the summer we've had here the air just felt wonderful. The whole property, known as Lower Mill, dates from the early 1800's and Mayfly cottage use to be the horse's stable. The Mill itself was a sawmill. Built of golden Cotswold stone the buildings glowed.
 |
| Lower Mill the Owner's Home |
 |
| Mill Pond |
 |
Mill Run
The flash wiped my paintings out a bit, but it shows how I spent part of my time, water color painting.
 |
How beautiful. I love the Cotswolds. Your watercolours are delightful. Such treasures to savour long after the holiday is over
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
Helen xx
Your watercolours are beautiful. You've captured the mood and colour. They look fresh and light, not at all overworked. I love the Cotswolds. Some years ago now we walked the 'Cotswold Way' from Chipping Campden to Bath - not all in one day though!
ReplyDeleteIt looks a lovely spot and your paintings have captured it beautifully. There are lots of little narrow lanes in the Peak District too with kami kazi pheasants leaping out of the hedge:) The law is that you can't stop and pick a pheasant up if you've killed it but the next person who comes along can take it home for the pot.
ReplyDeleteHi Janet, lovely photos and your watercolours are amazing. I love the Cotswolds too. I remember you visited there last year. Just wondered, have you been elsewhere in England? I'm a big fan of the Lake District and the southwest - Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a beautiful place to stay, and I love the watercolours too!
ReplyDeletexxx
What a lovely place to stay! We've just returned from a holiday in Devon and Cornwall where the lanes are very narrow. In Somerset we drove down a main road (still very narrow) with signs about pheasants all the way - there were loads of young ones all over the road. We did manage not to hit any:)
ReplyDelete