Back to the UK

We've been back from our week in the UK for over a week now and, courtesy of my return to the hamster wheel on Monday, the memories we've created are already starting to fade just that tiny little bit. Obviously, we can't let this happen, so it's high time I got this travelogue started!

In spite of the weather gods having somewhat thwarted our plans by treating us to yet another heatwave, we had a wonderful time away from it all, rejoicing in the fact that, after an absence of two years, we'd made it across the channel once more.

But let's begin at the beginning by showing you the outfit I travelled in on Thursday the 6th of August.

Apart from the necklace, which I charity shopped in Poperinge in September 2019, everything I'm wearing was bought on the high street at one time or another, my most recent acquisitions being the sales bargain belt and brooch.

I'm sure that those of you who have been following my blog for a while might have recognized the background and might therefore be doubting my sanity as surely, this is not in the UK? You are right, of course: I'm standing on the balcony of our beloved Marjolein Guesthouse in Poperinge, so I guess I've got some explanation to do ...

In the weeks leading up to our holiday, I'd read with dismay that there would a serious disruption due to roadworks on the E17 motorway in the Ghent area at our time of travel. As we were not looking forward to the delay this would undoubtedly create during rush hour on Friday morning, we'd contacted our friend Marino in Poperinge, who kindly agreed to put us up for one night only, even though normally the minimum stay at the cottage is for two nights.

So, we travelled down on Thursday afternoon, spent a relaxing evening and good night's sleep at the cottage, before continuing our journey to Calais. The beauty of this was that it was less than an hour's drive from Poperinge and, apart from the final stretch, mainly along quiet country roads. And we didn't even have to get up at the crack of dawn! As we'd booked a midday train, we were able to wave goodbye to Marino just after 10 am.

As Jos's health and stamina didn't allow us to travel too far, we'd booked a cottage on the Kent/East Sussex border, about 5 miles from the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells. We'd holidayed in the area twice before, both over 20 years ago, and were looking forward to our return visit to what is known as The Garden of England. 

However, what should have been a straightforward journey of about one hour and fifteen minutes turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare as about half way in we were faced by a road closure, after which Truus, our obstinate Satnav with the Dutch accent, made us drive around in circles. Thankfully, my map reading skills managed to come to the rescue, but it was still almost 45 minutes later than planned that we arrived at our cottage for the week.

Granary Cottage is all we could have wished for, and more. Tastefully decorated, it was part of the owners' property (called The Dairy, hence the cow and milkmaid weathervane!) but sufficiently private and with a little walled patio garden of our own.

The owners couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful. Although check-in was normally from 4 pm onwards, Clare had called me the evening before to say that the cottage would be ready for us from 10 am onwards!

After unloading the car and making ourselves at home, boosting our muddled brains with restorative cups of coffee and some of the treats we'd brought from LeShuttle's Flexiplus lounge, we drove down to Sainsbury's in Tunbridge Wells for a food shop.

In spite of the sweltering temperatures, it managed to stay relatively cool inside our cottage. Even our bedroom and en-suite bathroom under the eaves cooled down considerably in the evenings by having the huge VELUX windows open at both ends. It was only during the last two evenings - with temperatures having soared to well over 30°C during the day - that we had to make use of the fan we'd found hidden away in one of the built-in cupboards. 

We woke up refreshed on Saturday morning and, after one of Jos's famous Full Englishes, we were ready to face the day.

Although I did need to lie down for a bit after the ordeal of pulling on Jos's compression stockings! I'd like to think I've become a bit more proficient at the task in the meantime :-)

We started the day by driving down to Wadhurst, about 3 miles down the road from the cottage. 

A historic market town, with a Charter dating from 1253, Wadhurst lies almost at the northern extremity of East Sussex in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on a high ridge of the Sussex and Kent Weald.

It's a delightful little town with a vibrant high street, where I was lucky in the first and only charity shop I visited, called Hospice in the Weald.

Within 5 minutes of stepping inside, I found a green cotton Broderie Anglaise maxi and ditto maxi skirt, both by M&S, and a stripy white and green linen blend maxi by Tesco's F&F label.

Before returning to the cottage for lunch we shared a brownie washed down with huge cups of chocolate sprinkled cappuccinos at the delightfully named Artful Grocers, a grocers and deli with on-site café. 

After a latish lunch at the cottage, we were ready for our afternoon outing. For this we'd selected Pashley Manor Gardens in Ticehurst, a leisurely 15-minute drive from the cottage.

Like all the properties we would visit during our stay, this is one we'd been to before, back in 2004.

Although the manor itself cannot be visited, the garden, comprising 11 acres of beautiful borders and vistas, are an absolute treat.

These stunning gardens, on the border of Sussex and Kent, are family owned and maintained. All the ingredients of an English country garden are present: sweeping herbaceous borders, a ha-ha, well maintained (if due to the succession of heatwaves rather dry looking) lawns, box hedges, espaliered rose walk, walled garden, kitchen garden, venerable trees, all with the Grade I listed house as a backdrop.

So, it might come as a surprise when you learn that the gardens as they are now are fairly young. The current owners, the Sellick family, bought the manor with its overgrown and neglected gardens in 1981, and they were opened to the public in 1992.

Tucked in and around the planting and gardens are a number of sculptures, both by eminent sculptors and local artists.

After touring the gardens, I left Jos sitting at the swimming pool - he insisted on the silly pose, above, bottom right - while I explored the walled garden and kitchen garden until the clock insisted it was time we made our way to the café for cakes and the obligatory cappuccinos.

As an aside, the history of Pashley Manor dates back to the 13th Century when the house stood on what is now a moated island at the bottom of the lawn at the rear of the house. It was owned by the Pashley family until the mid-15th Century when it was bought by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn the great-grandfather of Anne Boleyn.

We woke up to what would turn out to be a scorcher of a day on Sunday the 9th of August, but although we'd made plans for the day, we needed to stock up at the supermarket first. This would involve what we thought would be a quick dash to Tunbridge Wells. Needless to say, we'd thought wrong as we'd only arrived at Frant, the next village up the road, when we were faced with another road closure. We were obliged to follow a diversion along a road which was chock-a-block with diverted traffic. We were left to our own devices when the diversion suddenly ended and it was nothing short of a miracle that we managed to end up where we were going to.

But I digress. Having finally made it back to the cottage, it was time for lunch and a little rest, after which we embarked on the 20-minute or so drive to the one and only National Trust property we would visit during our week.

Bateman's is a Jacobean house built in 1634, in Burwash, East Sussex, which was the family home of Rudyard Kipling from 1902 until his death in 1936.  Kipling's widow Caroline bequeathed the house to the National Trust on her death in 1939. 

The17th-century house, with its mullioned windows and oak beams, provided a much needed sanctuary to this world-famous writer and inspired his work.

The rooms, described by him as 'untouched and unfaked', remain much as he left them, with oak furniture, Persian rugs and artefacts reflecting his strong association with India. 

Kipling wrote Puck of Pook’s Hill and Rewards and Fairies at Bateman's, which includes the poem ‘If’. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.

Bateman's is very much a family home that feels as though the Kiplings have just gone out for the day.

A rare watercolour painting of a  Baloo, the "wise and gentle brown bear" and one of the most beloved characters in The Jungle Book, is on display (above, bottom right). The 1902 painting was created by Edward Julius Detmold – one of the Detmold twins who were commissioned to illustrate the book when they were 18. It is said that of the original 16 watercolours created by the brothers, only five are known to survive.

Courtesy of the heat - the mercury had mercilessly climbed to 32°C that day - Jos was feeling in need of a sit-down, so that we made a bee-line for the café for shared pieces of shortbread and brownie washed down with - you've guessed it! - cups of cappuccino!

Leaving Jos ensconced on the café's terrace, I briefly wandered around the garden, but I lacked the stamina to walk to the Park Mill like we did on our previous visit back in July 2024, coincidentally on the same day we visited Pashley Manor. No lack of stamina back then, it seems!

We passed this fun height chart on the way out, which we made use of to show you my outfit. As always, my charity shopped Missoni-esque skirt accompanied me on my travels. This time, I wore it with a peasant style green broderie anglaise blouse picked up in the New Look sales many years ago.

But surely I'm taller than 1 m 50? At the same time, rather confusingly, I seem to be taller than an elephant :-)

Obviously, we couldn't leave without a browse in the shop, which yielded two must-have books and a forget-me-not brooch. I am currently reading A Circle of Sisters, one of the sisters being Alice, Rudyard Kipling's mother.

We ended the day by winding (and cooling) down in our little patio garden until the sun went down, which we would be doing on most evenings that week.

I will be back with the final installment of my UK travelogue soon. I can't afford any dilly-dallying as we'll be going on another little adventure in just two weeks time.

June's journey

We’re currently counting down the days to our long-awaited UK holiday and I actually can't believe we will be there this time next week! As I’ve got to work until Wednesday and we’re leaving already on Thursday, I needed to plan ahead and do the majority of my packing this weekend. Always glad to have that out of the way!

But a promise is a promise so, before we leave, here’s a little update on what else has been happening lately. Catching up completely keeps being quite beyond me, so once again I’m taking you on a little trip in the old time machine, travelling back to the month of June. Be prepared to see lots of outfits, both worn before and after our stay at the cottage in Poperinge.

Monday, which was the first day of June, had a sunny start with highs of a delicious 23°C.

I was wearing the same skirt I wore for the previous day's walk in the park: a blue cotton midi skirt with a most groovilicious pattern. Its companion that Monday was a parrot-patterned top from the Belgian Sweet Soda label. Both were charity shop finds, as was the big green bird on a branch brooch.

My green stretchy belt with its bamboo buckle - a true wardrobe stalwart - was a high street buy a couple of years ago. 

For various reasons, no outfit photos were taken for the rest of that working week, which offered a string of days on which the sun kept playing hide and seek with the clouds and showers were rife.

Think Twice were having another one of their famous sales. With prices down to € 5 and then € 4 per item it would have been rude not to have a rummage!

Not one, but two butterfly-sleeved dresses found their way into my wardrobe, the one on the left being vintage C&A, while the one on the right is good old vintage Diolen.

I fell head over heels for the skirt, which has a rather posh-looking label reading Gerard Pasquier, Paris.

Googling it, this is what I found, neatly translated from the French:

Founded at the beginning of the last century, Gérard Pasquier was initially a leading French brand renowned for its elegant and sophisticated clothing. Embodying the Parisian chic that made it great and famous, Gérard Pasquier now embraces a more understated elegance in keeping with today’s fashion.

I'm not sure of its age, but isn't that pattern just fabulous?

Now, let's fast forward to Friday the 5th of June. The weather gods were clearly having an argument about whether to send sunshine, clouds or rain our way, resulting in a mix of all three, with highs of only 18°C.

My denim button-through skirt was bought on the high street about a year ago, while my colourful dagger-collared coffee-themed blouse is vintage 1970s and was a charity shop find.

Accessories:

- Lilac vinyl belt and orange wooden beads: charity shopped

- Orange cat brooch: Katshop

- Orange plastic ring: Le Petit Souk, a quirky shop which sadly closed its Antwerp branch earlier this year

- Lilac watch: high street bargain shop

I’ve got some garden news for you as well. For quite a while now, I’ve been referring to Dove Cottage’s little patch as the impenetrable jungle or wilderness, which definitely wasn’t an exaggeration.  A true sanctuary back in the days of Covid, neglect had slowly but surely started creeping in during the Summer of 2022, when our neighbour’s kitchen extension threw more than just one spanner in the works.

Bags of compost mixed with rubble were still cluttering the back of our garden, and ivy and other climbers had been left to their own devices, which they gleefully made use of by smothering our tiny patch with their rampant growth. I now regret not having taken any before photos, but at one point we couldn't even see the back of our garden from the kitchen window ...

 

At Jos's local, he'd made the acquaintance of a guy who cleaned up gardens in his free time and who agreed to come and do ours. So, on Wednesday the 3rd of June, he and a mate arrived with some heavy machinery and, taking their job description a bit too literally, completely obliterated all signs of life from the main part of our garden. I actually cried when I saw the concrete desert they'd left behind when I came home from work! Thankfully, they'd left the narrow border on the right, home to our white currant bush, Fuchsia magellanica and magnificent Acanthus mollis aka Bear's Breeches, virtually untouched.

That weekend saw us driving down to the garden centre and spend a small fortune on plants. Just positioning them around the garden still in their pots made all the difference, although without any climbers, ferns and the low Cotoneaster shrubs lining the steps to the sunken part of the garden, it was still looking more than just a little bit desolate.

The weather was another mixed bag of sunshine and dull grey clouds on Monday the 8th of June, but at least the mercury deemed to climb into the low twenties.

My outfit was a mixed bag as well, the green and navy Breton top, ankle boots and enamelled butterfly brooch all being second-hand finds, while the floral skirt, necklace and belt were high street buys. As they've all earned their keep in my wardrobe by now, I'm calling them fast fashion turned slow!

Monday's temperature had clearly been a one-off, as by Wednesday we were down to a miserly 17°C.

Mostly cloudy, with heavy showers and some thunder in the evening, it made me reach for warm layers, in the form of a vintage polyester knit skirt, a vintage long-sleeved blouse and short-sleeved but chunky knit Dralon cardigan. 

My belt with its flower-shaped buckle was another high street find, and I picked up the pale pink suede ankle boots in the closing-down sale of New Look's Antwerp shop back in February 2019.

The showers came thick and fast on Friday the 12th, although there was a brief spell of clear weather in the afternoon. Again, the temperature didn't rise above 17°C.

Following a morning of chores and shopping, we were invited by my friend Inneke for her 65th birthday drink at Bistro Jules in nearby Wilrijk. We went to school together but she's a couple of months ahead of me :-)

Both my faux-snake skirt (by posh label Caroline Biss) and funky patterned blouse came from the rails of the same charity shop, as did the orange wooden tile necklace. My brooch is vintage and was a flea market find. In fact, I think that the only item which was new rather than new-to-me is the belt!

Initially, Saturday's weather didn't look too promising either. A thick layer of grey greeted us as we got up, but it didn't take all that long for the clouds to disperse and present us with patches of blue sky which grew wider and more plentiful as the day progressed.

With temperatures of around 20°C, it was the perfect weather to plant up all these patiently waiting new acquisitions! 

In the meantime, one or two hesitant fern fronts had been brave enough to rise from the dead. 

Planting done, this is what I changed into to sit outside and admire the fruits of my hard work.

My denim maxi dress was a gift from Vix and Jon back in June 2023. I added a multi-coloured pleated leather belt at my waist, wore a string of plastic orange beads - both charity shopped - and pinned a funky lady's head brooch - a cheeky retail buy - to the dress's bodice. 

On Monday the 15th, there was no sign of the heatwave forecasted to start later that week. Both the sun and the day's highs of 21°C must have overslept and took their time to arrive.

My wide floral cotton button-through skirt winged its way from Think Twice into my wardrobe about two years ago. I acquired the short-sleeved thin knit jumper, in an eye-searing pink, around the same time. Together with its green sister, I bought it in the sales from the Sweet Soda - a Belgian label - shop near my office. Another one which has since closed its doors ...

Accessories and shoes were all charity shopped.

Tuesday was the day that Jos had his fall and hurt his knee, jeopardizing our upcoming holiday in Poperinge end of that week in the process. After an evening at A&E, where thankfully it was ascertained that he'd sustained no fractures, we were sent home with nothing more than the advice to take some paracetamol and do some gentle exercises. Needless to say, stress levels were high and neither of us slept well that night. 

But we did make it in the end, even if it was a holiday with a hurdle ...

One last picture of our garden before we go. I'd picked up some solar lights during one lunch break the other week, which we'd dotted around the garden. We've added more in the meantime, but this is how it looked on Saturday the 20th of June.

I'm happy to report that the vast majority of our new plantings had survived the heatwave of our week away virtually unscathed, although our pots and hanging baskets were gasping for a good soaking.

Our bedroom was akin to a sauna but after briefly considering sleeping on the sofa downstairs, I decided to brave the +30°C for the comfort of my bed. Jos was so lucky to be able to sleep in his hospital bed downstairs!

The mercury was still flirting with 30°C on Sunday, which was a vast improvement to the +38°C we'd arrived home to on Friday.

This is what I wore for grandson Cas's birthday party on Sunday afternoon:

- Waxed cotton wrap skirt: Think Twice

- River Woods t-shirt, necklace: charity shopped

- Birds in flight brooch: bought in Cardigan during one of our Welsh holiday

Monday the 29th was the last day of my holiday. The temperature had dropped to a much more bearable - but still much too warm for me - 28°C.

I was wearing the Missoni-esque skirt which was part of my holiday wardrobe but which I hadn't worn.

Both the skirt and the King Louie blouse were charity shopped, as were the bangles and necklace. The pleated yellow belt was a flea market find. 

We sat out in the garden for most of the afternoon and were delighted to see the butterflies and bees return to our little slice of paradise. In spite of being spoiled for choice, they seemed to have taken a particular liking to the Echinacea. 

There's a close-up of that old garden stalwart, the Bear's Breeches, on the top left, with the only flower produced by our new Clematis piilu below. Top centre are the pale lavender flowers of Verbena rigida Sky Blue. On the bottom right, my favourite, Helenium Moerheim Beauty. 

So, that was it. See you when we're back from the UK!

Holiday with a hurdle

It's been exactly a month to the day that we exchanged Dove Cottage for our home away from home in Poperinge on Sunday the 21st of June.

However, as my blog title suggests, it was definitely a holiday with a hurdle. In fact, what with Jos's fall earlier that week, it was nothing short of a miracle that we even made it to the cottage which first captured our hearts back in 2012.

As a result of some gentle exercise and the benefits of the cortisone-like tablets he'd been prescribed, Jos's knee had healed sufficiently by Sunday, so that he was able to drive without any pain and walk short distances with the aid of his walking stick.

He was even able to climb and descend the eleven stairs leading up to the studio apartment above owner Marino's carport, albeit slowly, taking it one step at a time.

A hurdle in quite a different form would be the impending heatwave. With the temperature expected to steadily climb into the 30s, this would rather limit our options.

After our luggage was lugged upstairs by yours truly, we made ourselves at home and sat downstairs in the shade with a cool drink and a view of the flat-as-a-pancake landscape beyond the domain's duckweed covered pond.

Serenaded by a chorus of frogs, we'd slept like the proverbial logs, waking up still sleepy-headed around 8-ish on Monday morning. 

A glimpse through the cottage's French windows made me grab for my camera to catch the landscape beyond the pond veiled in a thick layer of fog. In front of the pond, three of the domain's four lawnmowers were already hard at work. Once the midday sun made it too hot for any living creature to bear, they retreated to their den under the trees and wouldn't be seen or heard of until she'd made her slow descend towards the horizon.

Not having made any plans whatsoever, we decided to take the short drive to the nearest of the Commonwealth cemeteries to our cottage. 

Only 5 minutes up the road, we would actually have been able to catch sight of Nine Elms British Cemetery from our cottage's balcony if that weeping willow wouldn't have blocked our view.

Entrance to the rectangularly shaped cemetery is through an archway with the Cross of Sacrifice visible in a central position at the far end. 

The cemetery contains 1556 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 37 German war graves from this period. There are also 22 Second World War burials, all dating from the Allied retreat to Dunkirk in 1940.

The cemetery, which was begun in September 1917, was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.

Having walked the length of the cemetery, Jos was in need of a sit-down, offering the perfect opportunity to have a look at my outfit.

- Black and white diagonally striped max skirt: C&A Summer sales 2025

- King Louie t-shirt, necklace, belt and fake snake bag: charity shopped

- Butterfly brooch: AKotee (gift shop near my office)

- Hat: flea market

Leaving the cemetery, we continued to a small local supermarket to stock up on food and drink, after which we returned to the cottage for lunch.

The afternoon was spent having a lengthy siësta and reading. Note how my literature of choice matches my skirt!

On Tuesday morning, we were rudely awoken by a single thunderbolt followed by the pitter-pattering of rain against our windows. The rain lasted all the way through breakfast after which the mercury had dropped to a refreshing 21°C. 

Breakfast, by the way, consisted of softly boiled local eggs, obviously eaten with the obligatory soldiers!

With the last of the raindrops evaporated into thin air, it didn't take long for the temperature to reach 30°C (and beyond) again. 

Before it became too hot, though, we drove down to the one of the local woods for a walk.  The so-called Sixtusbossen (or Sixtus woods) are a 300 hectares complex of woods, which is cared for by Natuurpunt, the largest Belgian nature conservation organization.

There, I left Jos sitting on a shady bench while I went for walk based on the area's numbered walking map. 

Although signposted, I was a bit reluctant to take the overgrown path on the top right, which looked like it hadn't been walked on in ages. Still, I persevered, accompanied by the fierce barking of a dog who seemed to live behind the hedge on the right. I met the creature in question at the end of the path, where it turned out that the gate for the garden it was in stood widely open. Probably sensing my fear, it bared its teeth and continued its barking, which had turned quite menacing. I tried to remain cool headed and slowly proceeded along the tree-lined path on the bottom left, quite relieved that it didn't decide to follow me. Phew!

Back at the bench where Jos was waiting for me, I discovered that I'd lost my walking map somewhere along the way. Knowing the final numbers by heart, I hadn't made use of it for some time, so I had no idea where exactly it had made its escape. Nevertheless, I'm blaming the dog!

As the loss of the map would even further limit our options, we drove down to Poperinge in the afternoon to acquire a replacement from the tourist office in the town's buttery yellow neo-Gothic style town hall. 

Just look at that deep blue sky!

Before returning home, we stocked up on ice cream and cold drinks at the local supermarket.

Back at the cottage, we sought out that shady spot in front of the pond again, where we sat and sampled some refreshing alcohol free beers.

I was wearing the skirt I officially declared as my most worn this Summer in my previous post. It made no less than two appearance during our holiday.

- Skirt: Think Twice, March 2025

- Retro style naive flower print t-shirt: pre-blog high street sales bargain 

- Cat brooch: Katshop

- Spanish fan: charity shopped

That evening, we sat and watched the sun go down on our balcony before calling it a day and enjoying another night, its soundtrack once more provided by the resident frogs. 

 

With ever increasing temperatures of around 34°C forecasted for Wednesday, it was cool cottons to the rescue. 

I was wearing the tropical print tiered C&A skirt (a C&A Summer sales bargain in 2019) I'd worn to travel in on Sunday, its companion a green peasant style broderie anglaise blouse, picked up in the New Look sales several years ago. I was still in my slippers, which obviously I exchanged for sturdier footwear for the walk we'd planned that morning.

Armed with our new map, which we made sure not to leave out of our sights, we drove down to another wooded area, the Galgebossen, which lies about 8 kilometer to the Northeast of Poperinge.

Once arrived and parked, we left our car in the care of the local band of chickens, one of which seemed to have taken a shine to it.

We did a wonderful 6,5 kilometer walk here back in September 2022 but, although Jos declared himself ready to join me, we limited ourselves to a shorter version of just over 2 kilometer.

It was absolutely heavenly to walk on a succession of sun-dappled woodland paths, although the regular patches of sticky mud and puddles rather took us by surprise.

After a rest and refuelling at a little brick barn turned shelter with a view of a dew pond ringed by ancient pollarded willows, we embarked upon the return route.

Having guarded our car so diligently, we were ever so sorry that we'd come empty handed and were unable to reward the chicken with some tasty bites.

Thursday - and our last full day at the cottage - dawned all too soon.

Another scorcher with highs of 34°C, I was glad I'd packed my bag with lightweight heatwave proof clothes only. My fuchsia crinkly tiered skirt came out to play again, this time worn with a butterfly sleeved Zara blouse I'd charity shopped a couple of years ago. My string of multi-coloured beads was picked up from the charity shop here in Poperinge in September 2019.

With the temperature becoming more and more unbearable, we were at a bit of a loss what to do that day. That is, until Jos suggested another visit Talbot House in Poperinge.

It wouldn't be our first visit here. Our penultimate visit was back in September 2024, while I first introduced you to this wonderful place in September 2016.

Here's some potted history. 

Talbot House was opened in 1915 by British army chaplain Philip Clayton as a soldiers' club. During the Great War, Poperinge was part of unoccupied Belgium. Away from the turmoil of battle in the Ypres Salient, the town became the nerve centre of the British sector. Talbot House provided rest and recreation to all soldiers coming in, regardless of their rank.

It is still run by British wardens, aided by volunteers, and all visitors are offered a cup of tea or coffee, included in the ticket price. 

We got talking to that week's group of volunteers, who came from Bruges and whom we delighted with our knowledge of their home town. While I briefly explored upstairs, one of them accompanied Jos to an exhibition space in the garden where, courtesy of aircon, it was mercifully cool. He then came to look for me telling me where he'd left my husband.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the cottage once more and spent a very sweaty and uncomfortable final night before loading our car and driving back home in the morning.

With our UK holiday fastly approaching, I hope I'll find some time for another catch-up before we leave. If not, thank you for reading and see you on the other side!