We had another gorgeous day today. It just began to warm up in the afternoon. In fact it was an amazing day today. I had three hours of book writing and then as usual I left myself just five minutes to get Edith – from desk to nursery! I usually make it driving like a bit of a kiwi hoon, but today at the bottom of the hill I was met by hundreds of horses and hounds. Literally, hundreds of them.
The most marvellous thing about these riders on their horses was how polite they were. Just for stopping the car I got a hundred huge smiles and thank you waves. A hundred! I sat there in my car grinning at them and politely raising my hand to each of them, smiling and looking up at them on their horses, quietly wishing I could ride like they could.
We truly are blessed here. The sun shone. The polite people on their horses were out all day. We saw them in Kingham. We saw them in Cornwell and we saw them by Daylesford. They were even riding right up by our cottage at one stage.
As it begins to warm up I think back to the Summer out here last year and how glorious it was. The summer haze is beginning to show itself. I look at the fields and am sure I can see a bit of green emerging. It’s been so cold we haven’t wanted to go wandering through our lovely local villages. Adelstrop is my favourite – a pretty, untouched village not far from when we are.
It used to have a railway going through it but now it’s a sleepy little hollow. Each year they have a Village open day, with a dog show judged by Jilly Cooper, cream teas in the village hall, open gardens and a birds of prey show where the kids can have an eagle or an owl perch on their wrist.
And when we got home this evening after driving back through the country lanes with the golden orange sunset reflecting on the brown fields and the bare trees I realised just how lucky we are to be here in this untouched place where we can watch a giant blazing sun set over the valley without a house, a person or a car in sight.
In the winter there has certainly been a requirement for the four wheel drive but come Summer time I’ll wish I had a more eco friendly car like a Mercedes Hybrid to be driving the girls to school in. From my car digital dashboard design days I know electric cars are perfect for short trips – and out in this countryside I just want to see this wonderful nature left as untouched by pollution as possible.
Only yesterday evening I was watching a family of deer running through the field on the other side of our valley. Today we have seen foxes, sparrow hawks, a little baby deer and new lambs in the paddock just outside our front gate. It’s magic. Just magic.
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