CIRENCESTER

I really like Cirencester and the surrounding areas.  We went for our drive to the dump and then took a scenic trip across and around the Cotswolds, ending up at a very nice Trout Farm where we had scones and tea.  Very English!  Since then we've been for several drives and explorations - on Rosemary's birthday (15th) going to visit Painswick ... the grounds of which are open to the public between February and October. Again ending with a cuppa and cake. I'll attempt to put a few photos up to give an idea of the area in the hopes that you might be as impressed as I am.

It's an easy stroll into the town itself where there are some really 'different' shops, very narrow streets (built in the days of horse and coach of course) and lovely eateries.  There are none of the normal stores like Marks and Spencers (apart from a food branch) but there's a market on the main street selling vegetables etc on a Thursday and it could well be on other days - with an Arts Market in a lovely old market place on various days of the week as well.

Today I drove the 20 minutes across to Gloucester to Karen and Hugh's housewarming/blessing.  It was good to see them so settled (after being in their new house for about 10 days) and see that they already have some good friends and colleagues around them.  

The sad bit of the afternoon was learning that dear old Tess died last Thursday.  How awful would I have felt if I'd had her (as originally planned) and left her to come over here.  She was very happy with Karen's folks in Cust and had settled in well - and it must have been a difficult time for them, losing their last link with the family, too.  It's always sad losing a pet - I feel rather sad because she was such a big part of old Wag's early life and somehow, she never seemed to have forgotten me even after all those years.

I wonder if I can still add photos ...