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We got up about 8:30 am to a wonderful, big English breakfast that Judy made for us. It was a lot of food and we were happy to have this sustenance as we went for a walk-about around the property. This included Margaret seeing the sheep with the blue spots on their back. As we approached the house Franco came out and gave a tour of his storage sheds and all his gardening equipment. There were a lot of doors to open and many have their son’s growing collection of extra stuff in them.
After our first glass of compulsory champagne of the day we headed down the hill to go to lunch at The Venture In in the village of Ombersly. It started to rain as we left the Range Rover but we got safely inside the cozy entry which also doubled as their bar. Like many of the pubs/restaurants in this part of the UK it was hundreds of years old, had pretty low ceilings and hand-hewn beams. The menu only had four course fixed price brunch with several choices for each course. The wine arrived and we each made our choices.
After seeing the huge pigeons walking around our house Dale had to try the local pigeon. With her braces, Margaret went for the softest things on the menu. The food was great as was the wine, talks with the servers and our hosts Judy and Franco.
Next we drove to Witley Court and Gardens in Great Witley. This was once one of the most lavish estates in the country including its own incredible Barouque Church. There is quite a story of its development over the past few hundred years but, in the end, it was sacked, much of the stone, furnishings and other accutrements ended up in local homes and the only thing left is a beautiful small church and the ruins of the house. Turns out that the wealthy often built churches on their property near the main house and let the local folks attend church there. We’d see that in another estate the next day.
As we left it started pouring rain so we killed the idea of going to the local safari park and instead started thinking of an Africa cruise on the Explorer. We went “home” and decided to just take it easy. Out came the champagne, scotch and vodka and in came their son Ross and his wife Dom for a nice visit. They decided to stay for dinner and Judy effortlessly prepared us another incredible feast. It was truly a grand time. Sadly, we forgot to take pictures of everyone.
Pictures and edits coming soon.