healing and cappuccinoing

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Thur June 30

Had to leave a great B&B and off to the next. Got to Guiting Power Guest House around 9:15 to drop bags off and we weren't allowed as the host and hostess were still abed and were taking 24 hours off - come back at 4 pm. Well we went to the next door pub and a very friendly owner let us store our bags in a side shed and park our cars later in the day. We drove to Naunton where I was to be dropped off for 3 hours. Only thing there besides a few houses was the Black Horse Pub. I panicked since I would have to be in one spot for 3 hours at least. I could only think of yesterday when they were so long coming. Well the pub was quite charming and the bartender was just as charming. I sat in a beautiful old dining area and slowly read a London paper (quite the Brexit gufuffle over here). All kinds of people come in and out of a pub in the early morning. After the paper I did some sketch work and then on the internet for a bit. Then LRandI arrived right at their estimated time. Guess they saw fields, mud and an interesting dovecote. I envy them the scenery but not the footwork.

Next we all went to the very eclectic home of Charles Paget Wade. This fellow had enought family money to buy a huge manor house to house his collection of things. He lived in the gatekeeper's cottage and was joined by a wife 20 years younger when he was 63. The house itself is the most interesting since his collections are repetitive, dull and dark. Out of 22,000 objects only 2000 probably needed to have been kept. Shortly after his marriage he moved to the West Indies (where family money had been made) and bequeathed everything to the National Trust. Methinks the wife couldn't take it. Nice gardens though.

Back to the B&B where we were let in and we had to draw keys to see who got which room. Lynn has a beautiful sunny room and Ross got the smaller frilly room. The pub dinner was another beef and Yorkshire pudding meal. Huge meal - we couldn't even think of sharing a sticky toffee after that. This pub has a skittles court and it would have been fun to see it in action. Apparently people just get a big group together and then come in for a good time.

Steps: 5,123 (others 27,000+)

Floors: 20 (others 100+)

Sticky Toffee : sadly could not convince anyone to try one - too full

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