Out in the Sticks!

Tuesday afternoon I packed my bags and headed on a fast train to Cambridge.
I am spending the week with the Kiddy's, a couple I met on the Orient Express a while back.

They have kindly offered me a cottage on their property where I can mole into and write, work and relax.

I met Gilly in town and we headed out in her Land Rover to pick up her twin girls, Cordelia and Pandora. They are 12 and VERY excited to meet me. They are both quite sweet and very curious about me. They burst out giggling as soon as I spoke since they never have met an American. Then they proceeded to take pictures and video of me with their mobile phones. Now I know how Brad Pitt feels.

My cottage is lovely and perfect. My favorite feature is the Aga oven. A one-ton cast iron heating machine with no temperature, you just pop a kettle on the top, chuck bread in the bottom and a dinner in the middle and it all comes out piping hot.

I had dinner at their charming Tudor home with the girls and their two boys, Travis and Jesse. After dinner I went with the girls out into the pitch black to feed the Basset Hounds, Jack Russell puppies and the horses. Thank God for mobile phone flashlights! All the animals were quite sweet but I was a bit worried about the massive Rottweiler that is chained up in the back. Gilly said if it saw me I would be a goner. Charming!

After the feeding we headed in, the girls took baths and Gilly, Jeremy and I had a cuppa before bed.
It is going to be a very Green Acres Week!

The next day I spent the entire afternoon writing and figured I would go to the house to use the Internet around 4.
I strapped on my duck boots and headed out. The road was ankle deep in mud and there was no way I was going to make it.

I turned around and called Gilly to ask for a ride to the house when she was home from work.
She came by with the girls to pick me up around 6pm and when I showed them the path I took to the house they all burst out laughing- I had taken the wrong road!
I felt like a total peanut.
It was dark last night! How was I supposed to know the route?
We then took the high and dry driveway back to the main house for a lovely dinner and some time catching up on emails.

Urban Dandy down one point