Sometimes you just need some time away don't you to recharge your batteries don't you? We managed to book a few days off work and head to a beautiful cottage in picturesque Suffolk village last week, and we were relatively lucky with the weather too, so phew. As we were away for less than a week we chose somewhere that wouldn't take us too long to travel to, but somewhere that still felt "away" - our choices were Kent, Hampshire or Suffolk. Kent felt too close to home and more day-trippable and in the end it came down to the accommodation we could book.
And we weren't disappointed. Despite it being so close to Norfolk, a county we're familiar with, it felt different and its landscape was different too with it's timbered cottages, often pink and yellow cropped fields. The fields weren't the only yellow thing though, this welcome bunch of flowers of dahlias and jasmine on the kitchen table was a nice touch, as was the carrier bag full of purple snake beans. And the bottle of fizz in the fridge.
The cottage is a former granary and the kitchen still has the original first floor doors, and the walls were full of character - most noticeable in the pretty ground floor bedroom.
THE CHARACTERFUL BEDROOM WALL
It wasn't just the bedroom that was full of character, the whole cottage was and unusually for a holiday cottage the kitchen was full of useful items, and some decorative ones too.
There's those doors I mentioned before.
For me the kitchen was the best space in the cottage and the double height area meant those doors could really shine. The photo below is taken from the galleried upstairs and gives a good view of the kitchen (and all of our junk - I really should remember to take pictures before we empty the car!)
Upstairs there were a couple of comfy sofas, a church pew and a TV which we didn't even attempt to turn on, it was one of those restful holidays were our usual routine went out of the window. From upstairs there were also great views of the front garden of the owner's house which we were welcomed to use, along with their vineyard - more on that another day.
I think you can tell a lot about a cottage from its bathroom, and this one didn't disappoint with it's lino-ed floor, duck boards and toiletries.
Throughout the cottage there was some great artwork, the first two below hanging in the bathroom.
The French theme continued with the artwork in the bedroom with this "Le Journal de Mickey" something I've not seen before.
Upstairs though the walls were adorned with plenty of modern art, my favourite is below.
Although it provoked some debate amongst MOH and I - was it a stack of records, or blueberries or just purple shapes. I guess that's what modern art at its best does, provokes reaction. But I still think it's blueberries...
I was glad I'd packed a colouring book and some coloured pencils as it was the perfect peaceful evening pastime. I must remember to carry this on now I'm home!
Do you abandon your normal routines when you're away, especially when holidaying in the UK?
