The times on this adventure when we have been able to share a bit of it with friends have been the most precious so to have The Barts here to show around Glastonbury, to see Middlewick, meet Jill and Johnny and of course just catch up with again has been fabulous. I think this was the best possible place to have them visit too as we were actually able to feel like hosts, doing breakfast, lunch and dinner at the cottage, having a space to invite people back to and of course people for Ady to hoover up after ;).
It also meant we got a whole proper weekend off which was good :). Saturday morning The Barts arrived for breakfast and then we took a walk up the Tor. It was only the third time I’ve done the Tor, although the steep hill bit on the way up there was a walk we did every day when we first arrived in Glastonbury back last March. Then it killed me every time with me having to stop every so often to recover, have bursts of my inhaler and rendered me incapable of talking and walking at the same time. I can’t pretend I ran up this time but I was very aware of how much fitter I am now than I was this time last year, even with the period of not really working, eating and drinking too much again that has been the last couple of months.
It was incredibly windy generally and as we climbed higher it got more and more blowy. There was a couple coming down the twisty path as we were going up who scaremongered us into calling the kids back so we could hold their hands as they told us they’d get blown off the top as they had nearly been knocked over. It *was* very windy but it wasn’t quite that extreme :rolls:
It was really fun and exhilarating to just stand getting almost blown off your feet by the wind. Loved it 🙂
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We walked back down, past the Chalice Well and into the town. First port of call was the pub with the windows. 🙂
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Then Proper Job
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Followed by a crystal and healing herbs excursion and some charity shop trawling.
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Then the long walk home 🙂
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We collapsed in the cottage for a bit and then Ady and James went out for supplies while Kirsty and I made pizza dough. Then to the steam room and swimming pool 🙂 Who needs Centerparcs ;).
A very cold dip, some races to warm us up while the steam room got to temperature, then we left the kids to enjoy the pool while we enjoyed baking ourselves and lazing about. Very gorgeous 🙂
Then back to the cottage for dancing (Tequilla, It’s Like That – it was like that Youtube vid last week that went viral ;)), cider drinking and pizza eating. Fab night 🙂
Sunday morning was breakfast at ours again, a communal feast 🙂 After that we debated various options including a trip to Wells, a return match up The Tor, or sitting around drinking tea and chatting. The obvious choice won ;). We did get outside for a walk round Middlewick to show The Barts the rest of the grounds. Lunch of leftover pizza and then we waved them off. A fab visit 🙂 Only marred by not being long enough.
Jill and Johnny had invited Ady and I out to a local pub which has live music on a Sunday evening and arranged for Leyah to come and sit with Davies and Scarlett. We fed the kids before we went with a plan to cook something for ourselves when we got back. Leyah came over and the kids had a lovely evening with her watching films, playing consoles, making plasticine stuff, drawing and chatting. She is a huge animal lover and a trained nanny who currently lives in a caravan here and looks after all the animals, so has loads in common with the kids :).
We had a fab evening in the pub, laughing, sharing life stories and drinking. Lots. We got to six pints and decided we should always have alliterative evenings 😆 We did have several bags of pork scratchings and shared a bowl of cheesy chips but that was the sum total of dinner. Not surprising the drink went to our heads 😆
We went back for coffee to their house before trundling back to our cottage just before 11pm. The kids were still up so we packed them off to bed. Thus ending a lovely weekend 🙂
Today was a return to chopping, clearing and burning for Ady. I spent some time first thing replying to emails and writing some copy, before spending a couple of hours with Leyah cleaning up the tack room down at the stables. Davies and Scarlett got more straw for the chickens, ducks, pigs and goat. After lunch Jill took Davies, Scarlett, Leyah and I along with her to go and see two more goats – male kids who are either for the freezer or rehoming and should be great company for Benji here. I spent time chatting to the people selling them about goats for milking, breeding and meat, also about their rare breed pigs which they show and have won prizes for.
Back at the cottages it was all but time to end for the day so the kids and I changed all the beds in our cottage, got clean towels, emptied the bins and dealt with the recycling and stuff – all domestic tasks I’ve not done much of for months so were almost a novelty ;).
Tonight is early dinner, quiet evening to restore ourselves I think.
Was lovely to see you all, have loved being able to glimpse your life in little bits this past year 😀
No pickled onion and crisps then?