Philip and I decided to treat ourselves, and took the day off with our respective spouses. We headed for Batsford Arboretum, and wondered if we’d been dense to pick a rainy day for it. The sun soon appeared, and brightened things up considerably. After meandering around most of it, admiring the “Japanese Maples” in particular, and getting worried by some “mutant ferns”, we decided we needed lunch.

Close by in Bourton on the Hill, we found the Horse & Groom pub, which was rather classy, and had some great homemade beef burgers with horseradish mayo. Puddings scrummy too, and very pleasant garden and airy indoors to enjoy them in. Recommended.

We admired art in various galleries in Tenby, St.David’s and Narberth. I particularly liked Gary Llewellyn’s shorescape photographs, and the fused glass work of Steve Robinson and Liza Burk at the Narberth Gallery.

But the best was found at the Little Wedlock Gallery at the home of Anne & Malcolm Gregson. We landed up spending an hour there, including having coffee with them, and chatting about her paintings. We bough a few prints, which we hope to get framed. We much admired the Sea Fantasy original but we don’t have a 1m x 1.5m space to hang it. We felt quite a lot of her art was spiritual — perhaps why we like it? — for example seeing The Creation in the Sea Fantasy. It seems others agree as some has been used on various Christian book covers. Anne doesn’t seem to have that in mind as she created them, partly because the paintings have something of a life of their own as she creates them.

On the last full day, as our car had its rear springs replaced, we had a couple of happy hours over lunch in The Creative Cafe in Narberth. As we walked in, Martha’s face lit up in real joy … she saw a combined tea-pot-for-one-with-cup just waiting to be painted. The rest of us also painted various pieces of pottery. I can’t post any pictures of those here, as it might give away what certain readers might be receiving as presents, but here’s how Martha decorated the teapot …

In case anyone else would find this helpful, here are some of the places we ate at:

• The Evergreen Pub, The Green, Tenby - we had takeaway from them as there wasn’t space in the small indoor eating area. Typical pub fare, mostly not home cooked. 2.5 out of 5.
• The Stackpole Inn, Stackpole - expensive, but what do you expect for a pub that won Best Pub Food awards a few years ago? Wonderful fish options, though few pudding options. 4.5 out of 5.
• The Refectory, St. David’s Cathedral - more expensive and with a smaller range than expected, it served us well before a gig at the Cathedral. Good quality, and good sized portions. 4 out of 5.
• Cafe Vista, Bridge St., Tenby - really a coffee shop, so little choice in food. Also long waits to have any drinks or food prepared, but it doesn’t really matter when using their wifi
• The Carreg, Narberth - new, arty, cafe with lots of great photos on the walls. Very rich chocolate in the cakes, hot chocolates and mochas. Avoid if on a diet!

The unexpected highlight of the weekend probably came during our medium-length walk that started and finished at Minstead. (And it wasn’t the ancient little church there with its rather unusual double balcony arrangement - one for the little band of musicians, and one for the servants from the big houses around.) It was visiting Furzey. We’d looked around the art gallery next to the Tea Shoppe and we were all very tempted by the mounted photography of Mark Baeur - some examples linked below.

We had enough time left so we shelled out (quite a lot) for garden tickets, and I was hugely impressed. 30 acres or so of well maintained, but still fairly wild-feeling, spaces dominated by very colourful azaleas and rhododendrons and other flowering trees and hedges, interspersed with a variety of thatched things and tree houses. We’d all forgotten to take a camera, but here are samples from its own website …

And here’s a sample of the photos taken by eunique1234 on flickr at almost the same time last year. A fair bit of the work is undertaken by adults with learning difficulties who live near by at the Minstead Training Project. There’s also a Retreat House in the Gardens, and it would be a wonderful place to stay from May onwards, and I imagine into autumn with fall colours on some of the trees.

We spent most of the weekend with Tim and Ann in Romsey, talking, eating and generally relaxing. This morning we sat in their lovely new conservatory sipping coffee, enjoying the sun, and listening to the birds sing as we discussed Ignatian spiritual exercises. Sounds much harder than the run I did with Tim around some roads and fields near them, despite Tim’s pace being rather faster than my normal one. (Which incidentally means I’ve achieved my first running goal of 10 runs in 4 weeks - just!) Here’s the pic after we’d got back - still breathing deeply!

Unfortunately we narrowly missed getting a table at the Tapas bar in Winchester that was hosting some live Jazz as part of the Mayfest. But means I can recommend eating at Prezzo; we’ve now eaten at their Winchester and Salisbury branches, and both times their Risottos and other food was really good.

As neither of us could face the final ‘Big Top’ celebration at Spring Harvest, we took it easier on the final morning and decided to potter around the village of Dunster for an hour before heading home. The village itself reminded us of Bourton-on-the-Water, or other small Cotswolds villages, particularly with its ancient stone market ‘circle’.

The place is overshadowed by its Castle, and we saw that it had some gardens, so we decided to pay up (National Trust) to wander round them briefly. The sun came and went, and I kept busy trying different features of my newish camera on the many great views, and some of the plants and trees. Martha then had the great idea of making a day of it, and so we gathered some more clothes, our books and a drink, and wandered around more slowly, stopping to read in the sun from time to time. For lunch we wandered to the character-ful Luttrell Arms, named after the family who owned the Castle.

“Gardens” makes it sound too formal; it was more like well-constructed walks amongst the steeply sloping grounds around the castle. The best parts were along the River Avill, with old bridges, fast flowing streams, ferns, massive bamboos, and the rather ugly gunnera plants. (Or ‘gonorrhea’ plants as one of the estate workers first named them. Which is possibly why I landed up calling the various camelias ‘chlamydias’ )

There’s a mill by the river, and it wasn’t open as we walked past, so instead we had an expensive cream tea at the place next door. And then drove home, hitting the rain as we entered Gloucestershire.

We do enjoy playing Scrabble, and normally take a travel set away with us. But the games are long, and we weren’t sure whether we’d have the concentration for it. So I was thinking of alternatives, and remembered playing Racing Demons with Rachel and Phil, and having a lot of fun. I dug out some rules, bought a pair of packs with different coloured backs (most important) and we gave it a go. It took a few minutes to get the rules, as there are 4 different groups of cards in play which you can do different things with. But halfway through the first game it felt easy. We played 20 hands or so, and Martha roundly beat me. Despite that, it was still fun. Probably more so - and certainly would be more frenetic - with 3 or 4 players. And a large enough table to play it on!

It’s also called Pounce and Nerts, by the way. Another recommendation

Bourton is, thankfully, not fitted out with a Starbucks, a Costa or a Ritazza. But we do both prefer more ‘interesting’ coffees than straight instant or filter ones, and so after a morning’s strenuous window shopping, we thought teacakes and latte / mocha was in order. The Mad Hatter tea shop looked good from the outside, and inside had some good Alice-in-Wonderland murals, but everything else seemed a bit uncared for. The tables were peculiar as they were covered a large doily covered with a thick pane of glass. Probably easier to keep clean, but they made me uncomfortable, particularly as between the two were tucked large adverts for a local B&B. The teacakes were OK - though why do they always have to go cold so quickly? - but the drinks weren’t. Delivered in mean-sized tea cups, which bothered Martha, the froth on the top looked suspiciously artificial, and the liquid appeared to have any coffee and milk that once been in there filtered out. I hardly ever complain in places, but this time I didn’t drink or pay for it.

We went in search of a better one, and as we were looking we went into a Christian books/gifts store on Moore Street, that looked like it was run by volunteers. The display of new and second-hand goods was pretty good in places, but still a long way from the professional but commercial of a Wesley Owen shop. It had a little café, adorned with a complete jumble of every kind of Christian poster and prayer. We got 2 lattes to takeaway, and were told that there was no charge for them, though we were invited to leave a donation and/or a prayer for God’s work in the Cotswolds. The coffee turned out to be less than impressive, but I think the attitude they had was. It seems a bold sign and reminder that God provides, and that they were trusting him to do that. And within that it allows hospitality and aid for those that can’t afford it - a concrete way of showing God’s particular concern for the poor and oppressed. (Though, you do have to wonder how many poor and oppressed are likely to be living in or visiting a small Cotswolds village?)

To bring this too-long story to a close, I’m happy to report that the next day we hit success at The Riverside Cafe, overlooking Kings Bridge. They produced a pretty good latte and mocha, in generous-sized glasses. (And good soup and danish pastries as well.) So, it took a day, but now we know where to get a good coffee - which they also do take-away. Recommended.

[The next few posts will appear a few days after they were written ...]

After more than 2 weeks off work with stress, it’s half term and Martha and I are taking a short break in Bourton-on-the-Water. The aim is to take it easy, and for other people to look after us for a change. As Martha’s been ill - or at least out of energy - as well recently, it’s been a difficult time at home. We have done a few things to help, such as getting the supermarket to deliver to us rather than carting a heavy trolley round. (Though, the first time it takes just as long, as we get to grips with their website. Next time it should be quicker as we can use some of the same details from last time.)

We’re staying at Meadow Rise B&B a minute’s walk from the River Windrush that slowly flows through the centre of the village. Our room at the top of the B&B is good and large, and looks out over fields and to some hills. At first glance it was a boring large grassy field, but in a different light I saw that it was more ridged than I’d expect. Perhaps they’re barrows? Maybe Saxon Kings are buried under it? Maybe that’s why there are no crops or livestock on it. It’s also quiet, which is wonderful. The B&B owners are very attentive and the full English breakfast was very good. (Though as one of the them is originally German, and still with a strong accent, I couldn’t work out whether she was offering me fresh prunes or prawns. I didn’t risk either.)

And our eating place last night can also be recommended. The Old Manse Hotel had a wonderful menu - too good, really, with enough really tempting dishes to last a whole week. Shame we don’t have that long. It has a very warm décor and candles, and a wine list with a good range of wines (including my fave Rosé grape, White Zinfandel), all of which were also offered by the glass (both 175 and 250ml). This is rarely true in my experience, often with only the ‘house’ red and white on offer by the glass. We rarely drink more than a single glass, so buying a bottle between the two of us always seems a waste. The wines also came at appropriate temperatures: the rose quite cool, but the red not cold at all.