Chickens on a tennis court

The first day of my mini-holiday has been an absolute belter.

Initially awaking a little earlier than I would have liked, I sat and caught up on a couple of blips, before - with brew in hand - taking in the stunning countryside views afforded by my friends’ home. It is truly gorgeous.

We were then treated to a delicious vegan fry-up prior to heading to Sainsbury’s for some supplies for our day on the lake. The clearing up shower which greeted our arrival did its business, which meant that we spent the next few hours in perfect temperature catching some good sized roach, bream and chub. 

Aside from a little bit of fishing, it was so nice to sit and do nothing for a few hours. We adjourned to the pub upon completion to put the world to rights, discuss cricket and then headed back home for a delicious takeaway on the terrace.

We also had a proper walk around the woods and paddock that come with the property and were absolutely blown away by the size and scale of it all. My favourite area was easily the old tennis court which had been subsumed by nature and given over to a band of chickens.

We were also kept entertained by our host’s daughter (I’ll call her MG) who followed us along the paddock by going up river and then heading home downriver to the spot you can see in the extras.

The rest of the evening was spent trying our hosts home brewed blackberry, elderberry and sloe wine and playing a surprisingly mean card game brought out by MG, but which give us all a laugh.

Absolutely fantastic day.

Happy d.