136. Hook Norton - UK - House and Pet Sitting - Episode 47

 And now...  For those of you who read the last blog entry, this is the antidote. 

Voila Shacky!  Short for Shackleton. As in Ernest, the explorer, (and who was also called Shacky by his friends, apparently) of which the homeowner was a fan. 

Arriving at Hook Norton, having driven through some of the most picturesque Cotswolds countryside, we felt like we'd died and gone to heaven. 

Peter and Adrianne welcomed us with great hospitality. Shacky was too busy having his dinner to pay much attention. We were fed beautifully made Thai chicken curry, plied with G and T's and lots of wine and given the home and doggo rundown. 

Shacky was absolutely delightful. He's a "beddy whippet", so a bedlington terrier x whippet, otherwise known as a lurcher. 

A lurcher, I discovered, is any sighthound breed crossed with a terrier, and they invariably end up looking like Shax. 

He was about the size of an Italian greyhound with boundless energy and just the right amount of wickedness (a terrier trait). 

He quite liked me, but fell head over heels in love with Paul. Apparently the owners had the same issue. SHE fed him, doted on him and spoilt him. HE was the favourite regardless. 

Shacky loved everyone and other dogs, BUT he hated cats. Just down the road there was a bruiser of a Tomcat who, when Shacky lunged and barked at him, instead of running for his life, launched himself at Shacky like an attack missile with furiously flying claws.  A whirlwind of fluff and sharp bits!  Paul and Shax survived, but we kept a good eye out for that mad mog from then on. 

Him so lovely ❤️

Gorgeous in anything!

This was our home for three weeks. It was a fabulous house and we really didn't want to leave. The best sized and equipped kitchen of all the places we've stayed. I was in cook's heaven. (And Paul was in happy belly heaven.)

The front of the house...

The back of the house...

And if you missed it, another view of the house 😂

Across the road was a bus stop containing another of the "libraries", though this one was big compared to most. 

Cotswolds heaven.  Beautiful houses, gorgeous thatch, quaint window boxes and adornments. 

Nearby, a few miles away, the standing stones of Rollright. 

As we were close by, we went to Clarkson's Farm. Having watched the series and some of the best television we've seen since The Vicar of Dibley, we thought we'd go and check it out.  We arrived early in order to avoid the queues, which were ridiculously long, but alas, you'd need to camp overnight to avoid that. 

We ended up not going into the shop because, you know, we only had a couple of weeks, but went to the little cafe instead. Daniel and Ellen had come for the weekend so we had a light bite, then took off to Stow-on-the-Wold and had a proper breakfast, leaving the hordes to their endless queueing at Clarkson's empire. 

This next photo was taken in Bourton-on-the-Water, a picturesque town and one of the busiest tourist destinations in England.  While gorgeous, it was waaaay too busy for us and we took our favourite dog and skedaddled. 

Many homes have beautiful climbing roses, clematis or wisteria growing over their walls. In flower, these places are spectacular, and completely add to the charm of already exquisite architecture.

I fell in love with a small villages called Broadway, about 45 minutes drive away. Just glorious and not too busy. 

And of course, the quintessential English summer gathering. So of course we went. 

I spent most of my time there speaking to a lovely women. I said to her that being local, she must know everybody. She said that yes, although some avoided her as she was the local vicar and they hadn't been to church in a while 🤣. 

We were invited back at any time to visit and stay with Shacky's owners and we just might, depending on where we end up. What a wonderful experience in such a beautiful part of the world. 

Apparently Shacky was a bit sad after we left. We were, too. We'd all bonded strongly.