One of our favorite house sits of the past few months was relatively unexpected. I would never have guessed that when we agreed to come to Herefordshire we would find one of the most beautiful parts of England. With the narrowest of winding roads, traditional hedges separating undulating fields, and the Black Mountains of Wales in the distance, we were truly impressed. Being able to look out the window at such beauty every day is enough to make a great stay, but it only got better from there...
The Mill House
Our joy intensified as we arrived at our home for the coming week, a beautiful mill house restored by our hosts over the last couple years. The view was stunning with sheep fields on one side and Dore Abbey visible from the other. The garden was immense and pleasantly arranged with all kinds of flowers. There was a chicken coop at the far end and a number of fruit and vegetable bearing plants - apple trees, fresh tomatoes, zucchini, runner beans, it was like the produce aisle of Waitrose.
Inside the house was so comfortable, it really had everything. A nice wood burning stove for the colder nights. So much counter space in the kitchen we could have slept on it (but we didn’t need to because of the super comfortable bed). Even a great book and DVD collection although Blair got a little overzealous with how much of it he thought he would get through in one week (nice try on all 1000 pages of 1Q84 though).
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We were a little wary when the sitters arrived. Sure they seemed like nice guys, but we decided to sit back and let our humans sniff them out first just to make sure. It didn’t take long for them to connect, but that’s no surprise. Our humans are very good at making people feel comfortable. They all went out to a dinner at one of the local restaurants and we were left to wait. Another invite forgotten. My nose told me they went to a place called Maximo’s in the old town brewery. We’ve of course never eaten there but it seems like it was a good meal from the smiles and smells they shared upon returning home.
The next day our humans left and it was just us and the new sitters. We trust our humans, and they trusted the sitters, so we decided we could trust them too. They were very friendly, happy to give tummy rubs, and great couch cuddlers. Best of all they loved going on walks, so we didn’t have much to complain about.
The next morning, we got into the car sad to be leaving all our new friends behind. We would miss the patter of paws across wooden floors, and the laughter of sharing a drink with good people. Still, I don’t think that is the last we will see of them, either back here in County Durham or perhaps we will have to stay at their stunning vacation rental in Greece, called MoonGrove if for no other reason than to liberate them of yet another bottle of their finest home pressed greek olive oil.
Either way, we will definitely have to return to the Northeast one day and visit some more places. Share with us, where do you think we should go?
The Roaming Blog
From Europe to Asia. From cities to villages. From mansions to cottages. Follow us on our journey as we celebrate a new type of travel - House Sitting. Learn how to start you house sitting career, tips for making the most of your travel, and the tricks for being the best house sitter you can be.
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