The journey has begun

Well here we are at Knightcote Hall Farmhouse in Knightcote England. Knightcote is a small settlement of only homes and no shops or store or postoffice. The nearest locations for these
are two miles away at either Fenny Compton or Bishop Ichington. All villages are only two miles apart for the whole of England.

Our nearest town is Banbury, 12 miles away and yes it is the famous Banbury Cross Banbury.
The Property we are looking after is 35 acres, but 30 acres is leased to a neighbouring farmer so we can see the sheep with cute black faces from our window. We are in charge of the 5 acres of garden which consists of lots of areas consisting of woodland, herbacous borders, vege areas, potting sheds, wild walks and rose beds, a tennis court, indoor pool and sauna, a tower block and a gorgeous barn which is really a beautiful space for summer entertaining. I am absolutely in heaven being able to pick bunches of flowers from the borders. The paeonies are about to burst and the lily of the valley is like trees compared to what we grow. Lilac are in full bloom and smell devine.

We live in a little apartment with 5 rooms so only takes 3 minutes to vaccuum. Yay Yay Our duties are to manage the gardens and cook and clean for Susie the owner when she comes up. We have yet to meet her, but her son Olie and his lovely girlfriend Nic were staying for a couple of weeks when we arrived. They were wonderful to have around and gave us some tips on local treasures. Olie took us to a fantastic Italian wholesaler owned by a real character and passionate about anything Italian. Needless to say we bought some good wine and pasta.

Managed a good explore around Banbury last Saturday as it was raining and we could not do any gardening. Found a very good coffee stop and an amazing butcher/grocer/deli called Betts Butchery. The selection of stuff to buy was totally amazing. Well at least we have food and drink sussed.

John has had a turn at mowing (the first day we arrived) using both the ride on and the push mower. This is a heavy duty machine with a roller behind so you get stripes - there is considerable mowing, but mostly with the ride on. He also had great fun with a long arm, long bladed hedge trimmer for the hornbeam hedge. Took him no time at all to cut this extensive area. You can imagine the smile on his face when he finished.

Today we explored Oxford University town. Only a 40 min south of us. Very historical and busy with loads of students and bicycles!! We were unable to access most of the colleges as they were busy with lectures etc, but very interesting.


Notes from the Cook: Aaaah the AGA. What a beast.Have had a couple of go's preparing dinner for Olie and Nic but will spend some time at the main house this week cooking our meals to practice before Suzie gets here. Will do a couple of roasts etc. Food is very reasonable here-8 spuds, 3 carrots, 1 head of broccoli 2 quid!!!! Can also get 2 main meals at some pubs for 6 quid.Anyway wish me luck but once I get the hang of it it will be great.