Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jul 7, 2020 13:08:19 GMT -5
I've found a nice, relaxing activity for these heat wave days when it's just too hot to safely be outside (especially for us older folks): I go to England. Well, only through a tv program. I've found one titled Escape to the Country on a channel called DABL. There are 3 hour long programs daily, with 3 houses each visited by folks who want to escape the city life.
There are similarities to HGTV's programs, but the differences are that (a) the homes are in beautiful English, Wales, Scotland or Ireland countrysides, and (b) the homes are similar but in many ways different from American homes, and (c) each program includes a side trip and educational clip on some aspect of life in the area of the house hunting folks.
Many of the homes have "utility rooms" off the kitchen, something so very practical. They're large enough for a pantry with ample storage as well as a washing machine. How I would love to have one of those!
Many of the doors are of wood, but not the slab kind I've seen here. They're made of 4+ individual, vertical pieces of lumber, often with wrought iron latches, something like this:
www.wayfair.com/Agave-Ironworks--Hammered-Large-Round-Clavo-CL0050-L6490-K~AGIR1035.html?refid=GX99081640642-AGIR1035_13455769&device=c&ptid=177764808082&network=g&targetid=pla-177764808082&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=82043854&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=13455769&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqrHf7eG76gIVSr3ACh2kfwESEAQYBiABEgLC5PD_BwE
The sense of country, of log homes, is instantaneous. I couldn't help counting the number of doors I have and trying to guess what it would take (or cost) to replace them. I loved the inclusion of so much wood in the homes; it really sets the tone for a different kind of home.
The yards and English gardens are beyond description: pocket gardens, formal gardens, any kind of garden you can think of. I now keep a sketch pad close by so I can jot down notes if I can think clearly enough to do so.
Another soothing aspect is the proximity to sheep and cattle farms. The hills, dales, grassy areas populated by browsing animals is so calming and so restful. It's almost like seeing a tour of James Herriot country.
One of the side trips included a visit to a house being rethatched. I've always wondered about thatched roofs, if they wouldn't allow moisture and insects. Apparently the thatch levels are so thick that somehow they absorb moisture but it doesn't penetrate the roof. At least that was the position of the contractor. Watching a thatch roof being applied was a unique experience.
Another side trip was to a seashore, collecting a certain kind of seaweed for inclusion in a special kind of bread, the name of which I've already forgotten.
There are standardized portions of the series, discussion of prices, etc., but I usually mute those while I'm daydreaming about the gardens and the wide open spaces. So, of course, I want to visit the English countryside, as much of it as possible. In the meantime, I'll visit vicariously.
What new and diverting activities have others discovered during this troubling time?
There are similarities to HGTV's programs, but the differences are that (a) the homes are in beautiful English, Wales, Scotland or Ireland countrysides, and (b) the homes are similar but in many ways different from American homes, and (c) each program includes a side trip and educational clip on some aspect of life in the area of the house hunting folks.
Many of the homes have "utility rooms" off the kitchen, something so very practical. They're large enough for a pantry with ample storage as well as a washing machine. How I would love to have one of those!
Many of the doors are of wood, but not the slab kind I've seen here. They're made of 4+ individual, vertical pieces of lumber, often with wrought iron latches, something like this:
www.wayfair.com/Agave-Ironworks--Hammered-Large-Round-Clavo-CL0050-L6490-K~AGIR1035.html?refid=GX99081640642-AGIR1035_13455769&device=c&ptid=177764808082&network=g&targetid=pla-177764808082&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=82043854&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=13455769&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqrHf7eG76gIVSr3ACh2kfwESEAQYBiABEgLC5PD_BwE
The sense of country, of log homes, is instantaneous. I couldn't help counting the number of doors I have and trying to guess what it would take (or cost) to replace them. I loved the inclusion of so much wood in the homes; it really sets the tone for a different kind of home.
The yards and English gardens are beyond description: pocket gardens, formal gardens, any kind of garden you can think of. I now keep a sketch pad close by so I can jot down notes if I can think clearly enough to do so.
Another soothing aspect is the proximity to sheep and cattle farms. The hills, dales, grassy areas populated by browsing animals is so calming and so restful. It's almost like seeing a tour of James Herriot country.
One of the side trips included a visit to a house being rethatched. I've always wondered about thatched roofs, if they wouldn't allow moisture and insects. Apparently the thatch levels are so thick that somehow they absorb moisture but it doesn't penetrate the roof. At least that was the position of the contractor. Watching a thatch roof being applied was a unique experience.
Another side trip was to a seashore, collecting a certain kind of seaweed for inclusion in a special kind of bread, the name of which I've already forgotten.
There are standardized portions of the series, discussion of prices, etc., but I usually mute those while I'm daydreaming about the gardens and the wide open spaces. So, of course, I want to visit the English countryside, as much of it as possible. In the meantime, I'll visit vicariously.
What new and diverting activities have others discovered during this troubling time?