Ponies, Bunnies, and Lambs

Ollie's newly rebuild old cottages
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When Oliver and Charlotte invited us for a visit we promised Chloe the chance to pet ponies, see rabbits hopping across fields, and sheep grazing.  And then there was the ace in the hole...meeting Baby Edward.  She practically dragged us on to the train, chanting "see baby, see baby."

I met Ollie ages ago when he was traveling in Minnesota during his gap year.  Over the past decade we've somehow managed to stay in touch and with each visit to England Ollie's always treated me to a fantastic party, tour of London, and even a field trip to the south of France to see his family's other house.  This time we got to see the old "cottage" that they rebuilt.  This certainly isn't a cottage by American standards.  The history of the house is quite long.  It is a part of the estate properties that cluster around the BIG house which Ollie's grandparents used to own.  The cottage dates from the 1700's and was one cottage, then combined into two cottages, and then rebuilt into one nice, large house with three floors, a big kitchen with an Aga stove, and a sunny back room for hanging out.  This is surrounded by gardens which are surrounded by fields with a forest and a lake nearby.

This certainly isn't a cottage by American standards.

Teaching Jim to pitch cricket
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Miss Chloe immediately settled in, played with the baby's toys, and make great friends with Kitty the dog. The house is right on the edge of a cricket pitch, so Ollie gave Jim a quick training session on how to pitch the cricket ball.  And that evening Chloe got the treat of fish fingers for dinner followed by strawberries and cream.  Talk about heaven!

The next morning Chloe got the promised pony meeting.  Charlotte has a pony and Chloe got to fed carrots to one of the ponies at the stable and see Charlotte ride the pony.  It was a bit intimidating, and she really didn't want to pat their ears much.  Kitty and Sam dogs are more her speed.

Chloe's new friend-Baby Edward
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After lunch and nap, we took a long walk through the forest (used as a POW camp during WWII) and down by the lake.  Then, much to everyone's disappointment, we headed back for the train.  I think Chloe would have been very happy to be left behind.  She didn't enough the slow ride back that was followed by the run through the rain to a steamy bus.