Where We Live, Part 1: Our Yard

We are still waiting for our stuff to come so that we can complete the transformation of house into home. Right now we have piles of clothes on the floor, and stacks of papers and books everywhere, as we await our bookshelves and dressers. And I cannot wait to get our mattresses!!

In the meanwhile, we have been greatly enjoying the outdoors, and fortunately have a beautiful yard and surroundings. So here is a short outside tour of our house:

 

Here is Rebecca, ready to take you on a tour! Justin, unfortunately, was inside sick at this time (he is better now!) I am standing in our front door and she is on the stone patio that is just outside the front door.

This is a picture of the yard from our door. That shed you see has two rooms--one for storage and one for a hot tub! Just beyond it is the River Windrush, which feels more like a stream in the stretch along our yard, although it widens further downstream. Or should I say downriver.

This is a closer up view of the church tower you can see from our yard. I love it. St. Andrew's is our village church, and it dates to the 13th century. There are a few elements from that time, including a sundial, but the tower was built in the 15th century, so by English standards it's quite modern :) We go to Village Coffee every Thursday morning there, and they also have a mother-baby group we plan to stop in on some day, even though I don't have babies, just to meet the other families with kids. Most of the people in the village (as is the case with most rural villages these days) are older.

 

Here is a side view of the yard, with a better look at the river. Just behind that picnic table is the shed and hot tub (which we haven't used yet...)

On the big hill right next to our yard we have a bunch of horses that belong to the man who owns our house. Rebecca has become enchanted by them. It is quite beautiful to watch them graze and run. The man who owns our house is a rather well-known horse person, and has won various famous races. The horses in this field are his older, retired horses, who now graze happily all day, and the young horses who are getting ready to race, or event, or whatever it's called. I think they jump, rather than just running, because the woman who feeds them their special get-ready-to-race food kept correcting me (in a very nice way) when I said race.

 

This is our side yard, where I hope to plant vegetables if we are organized enough. Just beyond the wire fencing at the back is where the horses spend their days.

 

And here is our house! We weren't sure of many details, but I have pieced together a few bits of information. It is a Grade II listed building from the mid-19th century, although the bathroom in the back was added on after the fact. Before our owner bought it several years ago it was owned and occupied by a man with the last name Herbert (maybe a distant relative on my dad's side!) who lived here for his entire life of over ninety years. I imagine the village was quite a different place in his early life. His son lived in the adjoining cottage, but died young. I learned all of this from a lovely woman I met at the village playground who was walking her dog, had lived here for years although she now lives in the "big" village down the road, and knew the man who lived here.

 

 

So that is our house from the outside. We have been told our stuff has arrived at port, and now just has to get through customs and onto a truck. (That still might be a week or two). But when it comes, I'll post pics of the inside!