It is with mixed feelings I write this post 🙂 I’ve decided to share it for entertainment purposes and for the ideas involved 🙂 My kids and I went on a holiday to a local airbnb cottage and events didn’t exactly go to plan, but we still had some special moments there, so that’s the part I’m choosing to hold onto 🙂
I booked a little cottage on a farm for a couple of nights’ peace in the countryside. The idea of it was lovely. It was a tiny cottage with windows overlooking the chickens and ducks that lived on the farm. There was a little window seat that we loved sitting on so we could watch them eating and sitting in their little pool. They were only a few feet away from us and very noisy! The owners had left some of their eggs for us, which was a thoughtful touch. The cottage was designed for two people, but we managed to squeeze in fine and there was under-floor heating so it was cosy at night time. The girls have asked me if we can get under-floor heating now 😀 The girls quickly located the TV which was conveniently placed facing the bed 😀 We went for a walk in the gardens and had just started exploring the grounds when a group of geese appeared in the distance. I thought they were just wandering about, but they chased us out of the garden and stuck around to make sure we didn’t come back 😀 The lady warned me about the geese and how terriatorial they were after the event! They had some pumpkins growing on the farm and the girls were amazed by seeing them on a plant instead of in a shop 🙂 I found the sound and company of the chickens and ducks very soothing and the girls enjoyed it too. After dark, I sat on the window seat and it was like a little reading nook. I haven’t felt that peaceful in a long time 🙂
The following morning, we were woken up by the roosters crowing. That’s the first time in my life I’ve woken up to that sound 🙂 I definitely preferred it to an alarm! As we had breakfast, we watched the chickens having theirs too 🙂 We were staying in the countryside close to where I grew up. I think we chose the worst days weather-wise for it, but we just wrapped up and ventured out anyway 🙂 We went to a private forest owned by the hosts at the cottage. It was magical having the place completely to ourselves and seeing all the ancient trees and autumn leaves.
After our walk, we drove into the village. We wandered around and I found another phone box book shop 🙂 I got a takeaway Pumpkin Spiced latte and the girls got S’mores Hot Chocolate. We had our hot drinks on a bench in the middle of the town. Then, we went to Rowallane and were some of the only people there. We had to have our picnic in the car because of the rain, which the girls liked. We had been there the day before too and the weather had changed. It was flooded which made for perfect puddle-jumping conditions for the girls 🙂 We also tried to go to a little wood we walk in sometimes near Crossgar but it was closed for construction so we ended up pulling up next to a pretty view of the sheep and the fields instead and playing pen and paper games in the car 🙂 There was torrential rain, so it worked out better and the girls loved learning how to play Hangman and Squares. I stopped for ice-cream for them and they picked they most sugar-filled flavour possible 🙂
After that, the holiday went a little downhill when we returned to the cottage and found out there was no electricity or running water 😀 We ended up cutting our trip short and coming home, but I still feel like there were lots of rich experiences on our small trip.
The girls made some spooky pictures from their Toucan Boxes. They had to colour in haunted houses and pumpkin scenes on acetate and then put them in little box frames and use white templates on a stick to illuminate parts of the picture. It’s funny how colouring seems so much more exciting when it’s on a different surface 🙂 I plan to share more of our Halloween craft projects soon 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 