Weekend in the Cotswolds - Day 4

On the Sunday of our weekend away we got up and again had pastries for breakfast, and then we set off out into Bourton. We parked at the model village and went in there. It's of Bourton and it's really cute. There is a model village in the model village and in that model village there is a model village - it's model villages all the way down. 

There is a miniatures exhibition in the model village which cost a little bit more but it was really cute, I'm glad we bothered. The haberdashers was really cute. 

We walked into the village centre itself and went over one of the pretty bridges and into a couple of shops. There was a craft fair on so we popped into there and I bought some soap. Then we went to the Motor Museum! It looks so small from the outside but it is huge, there's so many different rooms and things. Everyone took their time, which was a bit painful for me as I can't go too slowly or it really hurts my joints, so I looked at what I wanted to, and then I found a bench shaped like a cow to sit on. It was fine! We looked at so many motors, I took photos of my favourites. And there was a lot of the history of the area included too so that was cool. 

And this Motor Museum is where Brum lives! Lee and I stood with him and it was extremely joyful 

When we had done there - which took us way longer than we thought - some of us were hungrier than others so we kind of each did our own thing. Lee and I had a sandwich each and I think my cousin got a pasty or something. Then we went back over to the bakery we had been in on Friday and most of us got something - I probably had another slice of caramel shortbread cos I do love it. We sat in the sunshine at a bench eating them, which was really lovely. 

We went back to the cottage and relaxed - I managed to not nap this time. Lee made curries for tea so I helped with that and made a raita for us. It was really yummy! Peter left about 8pm as he didn't have Monday off so he needed to get home. But it was lovely to spend so much time with him, and as you can see, I got a selfie of us as usual. The rest of us just chilled out, and on Monday morning we just packed up and left! We got home at a decent time and relaxed with the cats for the rest of the day.

I am so lucky to be blessed with family that I am close to and love spending time with - but we do cultivate that too by making time to be together and by having a WhatsApp chat that is rarely silent! 

Sights around the model village

Peter and me, he is a love

The model village in the model village

The mini habidashers in the separate exhibition

And the other side of it

The river as we went across it

The temptation to stand in it was high! 

Next time I definitely would

It's such a pretty place, I want to go back! 

I love old cars so took a lot of photos. I would love to have a try at driving one of these one day!

I also really like old signs, so this was heaven

And these two old caravans were so cute too!

Some more cars

And more signs

I had to teach Peter how to use a rotary phone

My mum had a white Triumph before I was born that she had to start with a screwdriver, so I took this photo for her

These signs were outside, by the water wheel that belonged to the building when it was a mill

And here's Brum! 

Weekend in the Cotswolds Day 3

On the Saturday of our trip to the Cotswolds, we got up and had pastries and orange juice and coffee for breakfast which was perfect, then we set off to Cotswold Wildlife Park. When we arrived though Neil realised he had left his camera back at the cottage so he went off back to get it. The rest of us headed into the park and we were just in time to see the penguins being fed! It was a member of the public feeding them who had got like an experience thing - I want to do that! The penguins were all so cute and they ate all their fish and then they swum about and it was very lovely to see.

We headed into the greenhouses after that where Neil caught up with us not long after. We looked round all the garden area and then it was about 12.30 so we found a picnic bench and ate our packed lunch. We had sandwiches and crisps and apples, nothing too exciting. Then we walked through the rest of the park.

It's pretty big so it was a lot of walking for me. We went past the rhinos and the giant tortoises which were really cool. The rhinos were so big! They were cool to see. They were plenty of benches so I took rests. We went past the zebras which were cute and we saw the lions who were just hiding under trees in the heat so that wasn't very exciting. You can walk up a walkway to the giraffes which are SO tall, I really never realised how tall they are! 

The last part is like a petting zoo and some rare breeds and stuff and I was majorly flagging by this point so Lee and I didn't spend much time in there. We thought about going on the train but the queue was longer than I could stand so we didn't bother. We went back to the beginning and waited for the others, and had ice creams which were nice. It was a hot day!

We went back to the cottage and Neil and Caroline were pottering around getting things ready for the food that evening. Neil was sitting outside in the sunshine chopping up vegetables! Lee went in the shower and Peter was sitting with me. I pulled a blanket over myself and had quite a long nap! I was so tired after walking a long way that I slept for around 90 mins. When I woke up Lee, Caroline and Peter were all sitting on the floor doing the jigsaw. Lee said, "It's her condition, she needs to nap" which was very sweet of him. 

I felt quite a bit better and was hungry by this time so was looking forward to tea. Neil has a grill thing called a raclette where you can cook meat and fish and veggies on top and do like mini omelettes underneath. They had brought salmon, prawns, mushrooms, peppers, and some other bits. I am currently eating fish because I'm anaemic again and the nurse suggested I eat fish to try and get my iron levels up. So the salmon and prawns were delicious! It was really fun to do, too. We had salad bits alongside and we sat there for a long time eating and chatting. What a pleasure!

Then Caroline had made an apple and blackberry crumble for pudding, using some of t  he fruit that Neil had foraged the day before! It was delicious, I love crumble. 

Caroline, Peter, and Lee had finished the jigsaw so that had been worth taking for them to do. It's a bit of a family tradition of mine - we like to sit and dso jigsaws on holiday and there's something very communal about it as no one can resist picking up a few pieces. We played some quizzes in the evening but we weren't late to bed!

Penguins! They were Humbolt penguins so not very tall

Doing swimming

I wanted to steal this one and keep it in the bath

Cactuses in the garden area!

Prairie dogs maybe?

Giant tortoise! You don't get the scale here but it was huge

Rhinos! They're so big too, so lovely. They were playing in the mud

Camels!

Giraffes! They're way bigger than I thought they were

Zebras, they were lovely to see too

And finally capybaras, which are Lee's favourite

Lovely ice cream while we waited for the others

And finally the sky as the sun was setting, so pretty