Summer holiday 2012 ~ 1st instalment

Just back from our summer holiday.  This time we visited the Cotswold's.  We hired a lovely holiday cottage deep in the countryside.  

Hiring a holiday cottage is part of the holiday for me it's not just a base.  I love to experience 'living' in a different house for a week or two.  This one was beautiful - a very tasteful cottage with the most amazing gardens.  

Although the cottage was in a quiet and picturesque valley it was an ideal base for our shopping expeditions!  Bath and Bristol were within 20 miles and there were so many quaint little villages to explore.

I read the visitors book in the cottage and so many people had walked for miles, cycled for miles and enjoyed being out and about in the countryside.  We enjoyed the countryside but didn't take part in any strenuous activities - we loved relaxing in garden and we loved the shops! 

Sitting out in the garden was entertaining.  A green woodpecker came down into the garden each evening (we have a great spotted woodpecker that visits our garden at home but we hadn't seen a green one before) there was a kingfisher, swans and ducks on the pond, and early morning MrG saw a muntjac deer.  One evening we heard a strange whooshing noise and went outside to see two low flying hot air balloons - the whooshing noise was them turning on the flame to rise above the trees. Another night the Red Arrows flew past!