My crazy landlord proved his craziness once again by taking myself and my charming spouse out to the country for New Year's. We stayed in a gorgeous old B&B that started life 650 years ago as a monk's college. It's called College Farm and is in the middle of Norfolk in a tiny village called Thompson. Check out the pictures. It's gorgeous!
It is run by a delightful 80 year old lady named Lavender who seemed completely impervious to cold. We were there for three days and despite the fact it was bloody freezing in the house she tottered around in her bare feet the entire time.
Despite the chilliness of the place, we had a fantastic time. The house was everything I'd always dreamed an English B&B could be. I suppose that includes the inclement indoor weather now that I think about it.
For New Year's Eve we went to the only pub in the village, the Chequers, which had fantastic food and a bit of a New Year's disco after dinner. We ate too much, drank too much, and danced too much. Then we stumbled home in the pouring rain and sleet with the help of my new magic phone which has a torch built into it. It was nice to see some genuine darkness again. The sleet was less welcome, especially by my landlord who complained at the top of his lungs literally without pause the entire 20 minutes it took us to struggle back to the B&B. It was truly an impressive performance.
Some time during the night the sleet turned to snow and we woke to find the grounds a beauteous white – a lovely start to the New Year.
The day after, we went horseback riding at a place called Middle Farm. Sinead is an experienced rider but the rest of us had only been on horses once before (on separate occasions) so it was all pretty basic. We did get to do a little bit of trotting and had a small ride around the farm, but that was about it. I was hoping to herd some cattle or chase some foxes or something. Oh well, Maybe next time.