Picturesque cottages

Tuesday
Today was another day of sunshine and showers, but we were fortunate and managed to miss most of them. Unfortunately Jen was still suffering from a fever and sore throat today, so spent most of the day in bed. Janet was not feeling up to doing much walking, so it was just Roger and I that made it out today. Having spent most of yesterday in the car, we felt we needed some exercise, so this morning we headed out to the Malverns. Roger had checked the weather radar before we went out, which seemed to suggest it would be better to go north rather than south, so we started a little further north than usual, and sure enough, as we headed north, we could see the rain showers crossing over the Malverns behind us. It was a great walk, with fine views, occasional peeks of sunshine, and color provided by banks of Rosebay Willowherb, the bright berries on the mountain ash, foxgloves and honeysuckle, and even a few blackberries to pick and eat! We had lunch at Janet's and checked in on Jen - at least she felt up to eating a bit of lunch, then we drove out to Winchcombe in the Cotswolds, stopping to see a couple of 12th c. Chapels on the way. Winchcombe is one of the quieter Cotswold towns but still very attractive, with an interesting 15th c. Church with some wonderful grotesques. We just had one very brief passing shower as we were leaving the church, so we sheltered in the porch for a couple of minutes, but five minutes later it was blue sky again! Then we just wandered around the town, reading the historic plaques and taking pictures. By this time it was time to head home, where we were pleased to see that Jen had just got up and seemed to be feeling a little better - at least her temperature is almost back to normal, so I'm just hoping she can get a good nights sleep and that she feels more improved in the morning.