We're baaaccckkk!

I apologize for my lack of blogging the past few days. In our previous location, I had no internet connection!

To continue from where I left off at...

On our way to Ledbury we decided to drive through Bristol--a mistake--the amount of traffic was stressful indeed! We decided just to exit the large Portland like city as soon as possible. A spur of the moment decision took us to Wales where we visited the ruins of Chepstow castle which was first erected in the 1300s. It must have been a grand place indeed. The people in Wales were so nice and kind, mum instantly loved the small village. It was surprising to see both Welsh (is that Wales' language) and English on the information signs. When passing by a local pub, it said the "Hairy Bikers" were going to be cooking up something that night. That didn't sound appetizing at all!!!! Carol later explained that the Hairy Bikers are quite famous and travel all around cooking things. The English have such interesting titles/names!!!

Later that evening we were overjoyed to arrive at Carol Beaver's beautiful estate in Castle Frome, about five miles from Ledbury. We were instantly greeted by the lovely Carol and the two men of her house, Ringo and Tigger--her adorable dogs. Birchend Lodge, Carol's garden lovely home, has quite an interesting history. It was built in the mid 19th century (I believe) by a neighboring farmer for his mistress! Carol suggested we have a refreshment after such a long drive, and we tried what is called an elderflower cordial (always makes me think of Anne of Green Gables when I hear cordial...hope I'm spelling it right!). She added a little lemon/water to it and it was quite lovely. For dinner she cooked coronation chicken--proving my assumption that the British truly are superior--especially in cooking. Mum and I have been very fortunate that both of our wonderful host's have provided us with traditional English cooking and it is quite delicious! I am a fan. Carol--just wanted to give a quick shout out to you for being sooo wonderful and making us feel right at home. Thank you also for giving up of your time to show us around--we so appreciated you!! Can we adopt you into our family as well as the Slaters? Like Carol said, we feel as if we arrived at both stops as strangers, and left as friends. :) After discussing the next days activities with Carol, mum and I headed off to a very restful sleep. Aahaaaaaahhhhhhh