Another swoon-worthy location in the Cornwall countryside…

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The main living area in the house, including a den through the door at the far left end of this open area, is spacious and comfortable with every possible amenity, including Netflix on the new high-quality, high-def TV.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Bodwin*:

From this site:
“St Petroc’s Parish Church in Bodmin is totally out of proportion to the current size of the town. It was the largest church in Cornwall until Truro Cathedral was built. The current church dates back to 1469, on foundations believed to have been laid by St Petroc around 540AD. You can have fun on a treasure hunt inside the church, looking for the man with five fingers and a thumb immortalized in the carved misericords (hinged seats in the choir stalls). Easier to find is the 12th-century font, the effigy of Prior Vivian lying on a chest and the holy well of St Guron in the churchyard.”
* Based on the fact that we are in a relatively remote farm location surrounded by many wonderful small towns, our Fascinating Fact of About….” will include some surrounding areas. Bodwin is the largest town in the room with a population of 12,788, which is approximately 20 minutes from our new location in Treveighan/Tredarupp.
All the walls are stone including in the kitchen and baths.

The drive to Tredarupp to our new holiday rental was longer than we’d expected. Leaving Falmouth at 10:00 am and with check-in at 2:00 pm, we decided to take a longer route and visit the town of St. Ives. A popular tourist location was suggested to us by Barbara and Chris at dinner last Tuesday night.

The owners thought of every possible amenity included insulated grocery bags available for our use.
Unfortunately, as often is the case in the UK, it was rainy and cloudy, and we were a little disappointed with our photos. We’ll share those from St. Ives and more over the next several days when we’ve chosen to post photos of our new temporary home today.
Although it’s very cool now, I doubt we’ll use the wood-burning stove, preferring not to make a mess.

Before our “stuff” began cluttering the spacious house, I zipped around and took photos while admiring every space before us. There wasn’t a single aspect of the place we didn’t like.

We’d lived in another 300-year-old house in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, in 2013. It’s a 300-year-old property renovated but holding to its original stone structure and thick stone walls. Here’s the link to photos of that property. 

This is the area where we’re seated now as I prepare today’s post, sitting on the sofa on the left while Tom sits in the plaid chair to the left, all very comfortable.

However, the Italian property had several obstacles, some of which were hazardous. See our link regarding those issues here.  However, this property in Tredarrup does not have obstacles other than accessing the back entrance, where parking is located, via eight uneven stone steps to the house. I’m extra careful.

The den, an area we’ll be unlikely to use when there are windows and comfort in the living room.

When we walked in the door, we immediately felt at ease, seeing that everything was even more lovely than depicted in the photos.  The lovely owners, Lorraine and Graham, were greeting us when we arrived, reminding us to notify them immediately if we needed anything at all.

This morning, we had breakfast at this dining table.  Note the size of the refrigerator. Although not full-size, it is much better than the “shortie” we had in Falmouth. But, there again, we improvised and made it work during our two weeks by the sea.

The only item I may need is a large bowl, but there is every other kitchen gadget imaginable. I’ll wait a few days and see how I can improvise without it, perhaps using the largest of the cooking pots, of which there are plenty.

The king-sized bed in the master bedroom.  The bath is not ensuite but next door to the master bedroom.  

What can I say? We’re immensely comfortable in this house and slept like babies in the king-sized bed with lush linens, blankets, and pillows. I never awoke once during the night.


Both bathrooms are located on the lower level resulting in the necessity of going downstairs many times a day, again, great exercise for me. I’ve already been up and down about ten times as we continued to get organized.  

This is the guest bathroom with a nice tub with a shower (inside the tub).

This morning we drove to the tiny town of Camelford to the “Food Co-Op” market for groceries. Yesterday, we visited a local farm where we purchased all the meats we’ll need for these first seven days. (More on that tomorrow). 


Tonight we’ll grill two lean ribeye steaks on the Weber grill on our veranda accompanied by sauteed mushrooms and a salad of fresh greens and veggies. The weather continues to be dreary, rainy, and dark.  

The second of three bedrooms.  We placed our open suitcases on each of these twin beds for easy access as we live out of our bags, ideal during these short two-week stays.

Of course, I can’t wait until it dries up a bit to walk out to the paddock and see the pygmy goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese. Most definitely, photos will follow shortly after that.

The master bath with a shower and lo and behold a medicine cabinet, ideal for our toiletries.  Few bathrooms in houses throughout the world have ample counter space or cupboards in the bathroom.  Cruise ships typically have more storage space in the toilets than in holiday homes.

As for today, we’ll stay put. On Monday, I am committed to preparing our tax information for our accountant. I have tons of receipts to scan (using the camera) and log into the system. It’s a tedious task, but I am determined to put this nagging task behind me.  

Our accountant arranged for an extension since I was in no shape to tackle that daunting task only days after I got out of the hospital for the two surgeries on my legs. Tom does the “heavy lifting,” cooking, laundry, and researches our future cruises and travels, and I do the “paperwork.”

The entrance to our new home, Mill Barn, a finely renovated 300-year-old stone house.  It’s extraordinary!

Once I am done on Monday, we’ll be heading out on the first sunny day. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for us during our remaining 13 days in this part of Cornwall. It will pass all too quickly!

Accomplishing dreaded tasks is a fantastic way to feel uplifted and immensely accomplished. May your month of September be so fulfilling.

Photo from one year ago today, September 7, 2018:
The lions were very far from us, and thus, these photos aren’t as straightforward as we’d have liked, but we were always excited to see them.  For more photos, please click here.

An interesting road trip on the way to our next location…

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This has been our view for the past two weeks.  This has been an excellent place to stay!

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Falmouth

“In 2016, the town was credited with the highly prestigious accolade of GB High St Best Coastal Community.”

_________________________________

We’re packed and ready to go.  Tom hauled all the bags downstairs and now has to haul each 23 kg (50-pound bag) up two flights of stone steps to reach the car.  
As it turned out we have a choice parking spot and once at the top of the steps, he can begin loading the bags into the car.  Our lovely and helpful neighbor Sheena came by to assist Tom in hauling the bags!
Check-in time at our next location is 4:00 pm but the owners promised to notify us if we can get in earlier.  Most likely, we’ll dine out tonight in our new town, St. Teath, Bodmin, Cornwall.  We won’t have room in the car for groceries if we stopped to shop on the way.

We’ve decided to do as we’d done in Falmouth, we didn’t unpack.  We lived out of our suitcases after taking out only toiletries, a few clothing items, and odds, and ends.  If we need something else, we can dig through the bags to find it.  It made packing quick and easy.

At this point, both needing new clothes, which we’ll purchase in Minnesota (there’s no state sales tax on clothing, saving us 8%) we’ll continue to wear the same items over and over again, saving a few nice items for outings. 
We’ve had a good time in Falmouth, having a chance to scour the area and we’re left with great photos and memories of our time in this charming seaside town, the largest city in Cornwall with a population of 27,700 as compared to Cornwall’s over 555,0000.
Overall the house has been comfortable having everything we’ve needed.  As mentioned in past posts, the only drawback has been the parking situation and the 25 uneven stone steps to reach the road.  But, we’ve certainly had the benefit of some extra exercise while here.
I’ll always remember Falmouth for another reason…it was here that I finally became well after coronary bypass surgery when I stopped three medications.  I began the weaning process while in Ireland, completely stopping them while here in Falmouth.
Finally, after all this time, I can walk, climb steps, and bend over for the first time in almost seven months.  This morning I dropped my phone and it ended up under the bed.  I was able to get on my hands and knees to retrieve it when only three weeks ago, this would have been impossible.  
No words can describe how pleased I am to feel better.  It’s not perfect and it may take a full year before I am 100%.  But, in the interim, I am capable of enjoying our world travels with the enthusiasm we’ve come to know from the beginning on October 31, 2012.  Soon, we’ll celebrate our seven-year world travel anniversary!
In only 63 days, we’ll be in Minnesota to spend time with our family.  In the interim, we’ll continue to revel in the wonders and fascinating scenery and history of Cornwall from three different perspectives and one in Wales.
We’ll be back tomorrow with all new photos from today’s road trip and arrival at our new home.
Be well.
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Photo from one year ago today, September 6, 2018:
Two Ms. Bushbucks and the baby, waiting for the pellet delivery.  For more photos please click here.

Changing our criteria…Last full day in Falmouth…Tomorrow, “on the road again”…

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Our holiday home is located in this colorful grouping of attached yet individual dwellings.  We captured this shot from across the harbor.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Falmouth

“Falmouth was made the Royal Mail Packet Station in 1688. In 1805 the news of Britain’s victory and Admiral Nelson’s death at Trafalgar was landed here and taken to London by stagecoach.”
Tomorrow at 9:45 am, Tom will load our bags into the car, and we’ll be on our way to our following location, entitled Mill Barn in Tredarrup, Treveighan, St. Teath, Bodmin (yes, all of these).
A red barge with a crane, seen from across the harbor.

From what we can tell from the photos, the property is ground-level and has a master bedroom with an ensuite bath on the main floor. This will make moving in and out much easier than it’s been in Falmouth.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve loved this location but getting our three 23 kg (50 pounds) bags down from the second level of the house, following the walkway to the stairs, and then hauling them up 25 steep and uneven stone steps is no easy task even for Tom who is quite strong.

Fishing ferry for rent.

I’m of little assistance since I must carefully navigate the steps to avoid a fall while still a little unsteady on my feet. He won’t even let me haul any of the carry-on bags up the stairs.
In the future, we’ve agreed to be more mindful of renting properties with relatively easy access. We don’t mind a flight of stairs leading to the bedroom. It’s a good exercise, especially when I tend to go up and down a dozen times each day.  

As we drove as far as we could along the oceanfront roads, it was easy to see how close properties were to one another.

But, a one-bathroom house with the bathroom upstairs is bothersome. From now on, we’ll strive to book properties with at least a ½ bath on the main floor if it’s a two-story property.  Otherwise, one bathroom is satisfactory.  

As for the parking situation here, or the lack thereof, we’ll also investigate the availability of a designated parking spot, whether close to the property or nearby.

The blue sea and bright green neatly trimmed oceanfront property.

Otherwise, everything else here has been suitable for our needs.  However, we’re grateful Tom isn’t taller than his six feet. If he’d been three inches taller, his head would have hit the kitchen ceiling.  

But, we understand the nature of oceanfront properties and the limitations that may arise when they are remodeled with the intent of using every available inch of space to enhance the potential rental income.
Many of the small towns in the area have banners flying to the main part of town where shops and restaurants are located.

We’ve enjoyed our time here, and yet we’re ready to move along.  How do we like staying in one location for only two weeks? These four properties in England will give us a clearer view of whether we prefer shorter-term stays instead of our usual two or three-month stay.
We’ve been living out of our suitcases except for a few items we each stored in drawers and cupboards. Packing has been quick and easy. We’re both done packing except for the toiletries items we’ll use in the morning, the non-perishable groceries, the digital equipment, and a few odds and ends here and there. 

Entrance to a pretty park in the neighborhood with park benches.

There’s no more packing required today. We can sit back and relax, reveling in a sunny day with marvelous views. Since Tom landed a close parking spot, we won’t be heading out today to ensure we hang onto that spot, making loading the car more effortless in the morning.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll prepare a post, upload it before leaving. On Saturday morning, we’ll share photos of our following location. We won’t be posting “final expenses” until after our stay at the fourth location, grouping all the English countryside properties into one total.

May your day be meaningful and stress-free.

Photo from one year ago today, September 5, 2018:
My friend Little was lounging in the garden. It’s not easy lying down and getting comfortable when you have tusks. For more, please click here.

Dinner at a pub with new friends…Two days and counting…

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Chris, Barbara, and Tom are standing in the pub at the Boathouse.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Falmouth

“Some of the surrendered German U-Boats were dispatched to Falmouth at the end of World War I. It is thought that this was for ‘explosive trials’ testing for weaknesses in their construction. According to the Atlantic Scuba Dive Centre, the UBoats now lie off Castle Beach, Pendennis Point, and Dodman Point.”

It’s always a special occasion to have the opportunity to meet new people. Barbara and Chris are local property owners and summer residents of Falmouth, which made the evening all the more meaningful.

Their knowledge and love of the area were inspiring and educational. They had a captive audience with enthusiasm for this fantastic seaside location rife with history and neverending charm.
We returned to the Boathouse Pub and Restaurant since it was a convenient walk for all of us with their property only a 15-minute walk from the pub and ours, a mere five minutes, downhill on the way and somewhat challenging on the uphill return.  
Seafood chowder with tomato sauce, scallops, hake, mussels, clams, and prawns. It probably contained more tomato sauce than I should have in a single dish, but it was delicious!
We appreciated they were willing to walk further than us on the hill roads. I suppose the locals who walk these hills become pretty fit. We’ve seen several seniors who seem to be managing the mountains with ease. Undoubtedly, after years of walking up and down the hills, they acquired quite a degree of fitness.

When we walked in the pub’s door, Barbara and Chris had already arrived a few minutes before our planned 5:45 pm. It was such a pleasure to meet them both, referred to us by theirs and our friend Liz from Bristol, where they spend most of the year. They have several rental properties in Falmouth which are not necessarily holiday rentals. They arrange the rentals in such a way they can spend the majority of their summers in Falmouth as avid boaters and outdoor enthusiasts.
Tom’s bacon cheeseburger with chips and a side salad.  He handed the salad over to me.

Their adult children and grandchildren come to visit while they’re here during the summer months while they all take advantage of the many water-related activities readily available in Falmouth and its surrounding villages.

As it turned out, our meals at the Boathouse were fantastic. I had one of the best dishes I’ve had in a long time, meeting my dietary requirements; a rich seafood chowder made with a sugar-free tomato sauce. The portion was huge, and I savored every bite.

Tom, not much of a seafood kind of guy, had a burger with chips. He blissfully devoured my mini-loaf of crusty bread, which usually would be used to “sop up” the juices in the chowder.

Barbara and Chris’s shared plate of fried calamari.

Barbara and Chris also had seafood, sharing a massive pot of mussels and a platter of fried calamari. The conversation was lively and animated as expected…a friend of Liz’s would be a friend of ours!

Back at the house, we watched a few shows, drifting off the bed by 11:00 pm. We both had a good night’s rest feeling refreshed and invigorated this morning. We gathered the last few items of laundry to wash in preparation for tomorrow’s packing. With the cool and humid seaside weather, clothes can dry for days.

At this point, I’m 90% packed, with only odds and ends we’re using around the house. We’ll have consumed all of our perishables and packed such items as coffee, coconut cream (for coffee), tea, and spices. With our concern for baggage fees, we purchase all new spices each time we move from location to location.

Barbara and Chris’s pot of cooked mussels.  
This will be the second time since 2012, we’ve been able to drive to the following location, taking our remaining foodstuff with us. This time, the packing is easy when we have no concern about the individual weight of our bags.  

The weight of our bags won’t be a concern until we fly from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 8th (after the upcoming transatlantic cruise). It’s hard to believe we’ll be in the US in a mere 65 days!

For those of you still working, enjoy “hump day,” and for those retired folks, enjoy yet another day in the life…
Photo from one year ago today, September 4, 2018:
In the late afternoon, we had so many visitors. We lost count. For more photos, please click here.

Bookings for England completed…Monmouthshire, Wales…Lowest rent of the four properties…

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Street view of the Monmouthshire, Wales, holiday home. We’ll be staying there from October 11, 2019, to October 22, 2019, for a total of 11 nights. The total cost for this period is Euro 664.30, US $749.41, averaging at Euro 60.39, US $68.13.The tremendous cost of this fine, tiny house enabled us to book a few more expensive properties, balancing our budget. For more details on this list, please click here.

“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”
Ireland is one of the best countries in the world for gender equality. They have had two female presidents.”

This morning, we drove to Clifden to shop. We needed to purchase wine for our guests arriving tomorrow, both red wine enthusiasts.  Whatever is left won’t be lost on me.  

When driving on the winding roads, Lisa and Barry will be staying in a nearby holiday home, no more than 10 minutes from us. We’ll spend two days and two evenings together.  
The design is pleasing to the eye with its excellent affordability.

We’d offered to have them stay with us in this three-bedroom house, but they insisted they wanted their visit to be easy for me, knowing how much fussing I could do. Instead, we’ll make lunch when they arrive.

We met them on a cruise in November 2017 and have stayed in close touch since that time. We spent most days and nights together after completing the Rendezvous Bar for the Captain’s Club complimentary cocktails between 1700 and 1900 hours, 5:00 and 7:00 pm. We had such fun together and built quite a bond.

Tom and I and Lisa and Barry, friends we look forward to seeing tomorrow at noon.  For the link from the day this photo was taken, please click here.

While in South Africa, we had the most opportunity to see old friends than anywhere else in the world. We feel so fortunate to have met such lovely people in our travels. The excitement we feel about seeing our friends again is indescribable.  

But, here in Ireland, we didn’t expect to see anyone. In this remote location, it’s not easy to make new friends, especially when we haven’t been out much due to my recovery and the recent inclement weather.  

Also, a 90 day period in a remote location doesn’t allow enough time to build relationships, although South Africa was a rare location.

We’ll only stay at this property for 11 nights, and thus, the smaller size is okay for us for this short period.

We’ve arranged with Ann, our excellent cleaner whom we ran into at the grocery store today with her husband Michael, to come tomorrow at 8:30 am instead of the usual 9:00 am. By noon she’ll be done, and the house will look spotless and ready for guests.

It will be so enjoyable to catch up with Lisa and Barry. A lot has happened for both couples in the past few years, and no doubt, we’ll have plenty of stories to tell. They, too, are avid travelers. Barry is an airline pilot, which provides them with plenty of opportunities to fly worldwide.  

They are 20 years younger than me (not so much Tom, who is five years younger than I am), which is often the case with friends we’ve made. But, those 20 years are negligible and unnoticed in conversation and interactions.

In many properties we’ve booked, the bedrooms are located upstairs.

Today’s photos of the property in Monmouthshire, Wales is the last of the four-holiday homes we booked for the 62-nights upcoming in the UK beginning on August 23, 2019, and ending on October 24, 2019, when we’ll board Celebrity Silouhette in Southhampton for a 15-night transatlantic cruise, ending in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

John, the fish guy, stopped by yesterday with his truckful of freshly caught fish. We purchased Euro $50, US $56.47 of a variety of fish, including two types of smoked fish, which need to be reheated.  

Tom’s not much of a fan of eating fish, except for lobster or fish and chips, so I’ll be eating this on my own for several meals. We had to freeze multiple portions, which I’ll have at a later date since we’ll be dining out with Lisa and Barry both Thursday and Friday evening.

That’s it for today, folks. Thank you for all of your readership and for all of the kind and caring messages we’ve received for my health and recovery. It’s meant the world to me.

Cheers!

Photo from one year ago today, June 5, 2018:

One of two barn owls in an outdoor cage. Deidre from Wild & free released this own into the wild last night. Here is the video from the release. For more details, please click here.

Bookings for England completed…Falmouth, on the south coast of Cornwall with fantastic views…

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A gorgeous view from the front door of the house. We booked this property from August 23, 2019, to September 6, 2019.  The cost for 14 nights is Euro 2125, US $2395.96, which averages to Euro 151.75, US $171.14. This amount is higher than we’d usually pay, but we’ve balanced the budget by choosing varying prices on all four properties. For the listing on this cottage, please click here.

“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”

“The average family size in Ireland is four, two kids with two adults.”

When booking holiday rentals throughout the world, particularly in or near busy cities, it’s often difficult to find houses or cottages. Generally, the most affordable properties are apartments, condos, and townhouses.

As we perused available countryside properties in England, we found many were a part of a grouping of converted buildings, including houses, barns, and other outbuildings. We have no problem with these types of properties.

The living room/lounge in the Falmouth cottage.

Avoiding apartments prevents or reduces being subject to the sounds of loud footsteps, doors opening and closing, and cabinets being slammed shut. Also, we avoid the noise of parties, loud talking, and a general lack of privacy.
Then, you may ask…why in the world would we like cruising when it feels as if we’re staying in a floating apartment? For us, cruising is a multi-faceted experience resulting in spending little time in the cabin.  

The social life we enjoy aboard a ship is outstanding! Some passengers order room service and spend a portion of their day in their cabin. Not us. As soon as we’re up and showered, we are out the door, only returning if we require a short nap or get ready for dinner.

The kitchen appears to be modern and fully equipped.

In most cases, on cruises, we spend most of our days (when not on tours) in the barista/coffee area, comingling with other guests, working on our posts handling any business or financial matters on hand.

Why would we work on the financial details of our lives while on a cruise? Based on the fact we don’t have a home or apartment anywhere in the world, these critical “business-type” details must be handled wherever we may be.  
It’s a short walk to the town of Falmouth for shopping and restaurants.

With a great VPN (a virtual private network) such as ExpressVPN, we can avoid other Wi-Fi users having access to any of our details and information. We feel entirely safe and protected logging in to any of our financial accounts and bank.

When off the ocean or river, we always prefer to live in houses where we can enjoy privacy and our routine, unencumbered by the needs of others.  

While searching in England recently, we encountered a few properties, but that included a shared laundry. This is highly undesirable for us. With our small inventory of clothing, we often wash every second or third day.  

Fantastic view from the cottage’s veranda.  

We don’t want the hassle of waiting for an available washing machine and hanging clothing outside in a busy area. As we read details on the properties we selected, we entirely avoided these scenarios for which we paid a deposit.

We’re comfortably situated here in Ireland in a lovely private home, a distance from the owner’s home, with gorgeous green vegetation and ocean views. We’re reminded how important a secluded environment is to us.

As our regular readers know, we love having friends visit, either staying with us or dropping by for a short visit. We’re enthusiastically looking forward to Thursday this week when friends Lisa and Barry will come for a day’s visit at 1300 hours (1:00 pm) for the afternoon and evening when we’ll head out to a pub/restaurant for drinks and dinner.

Soon, we’re on our way to Carna for a few items we need for tonight’s dinner, and then tomorrow, we’ll do our extensive grocery shopping and a visit to the pharmacy for more bandages for my leg.

Have a pleasant day and evening. 

Photo from one year ago today, June 4, 2018:

Soon, there were nine until the tenth arrived. At this point, the three warthogs were on the scene; a mom, an auntie, and a tiny baby. For more photos, please click here.

Bookings for England completed…Devon property…Our cup of tea…

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A glowing nighttime photo of the Devon, England property we rented. We booked this house from September 20, 2019, to October 11, 2019, for three weeks.  The total cost, including fees and taxes, is Euro 2102.55, US $2348.95, which averages Euro 101.12,  US $111.85.  We felt this property is reasonably priced, fitting well into our budget.

“F Full details may be found here. fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland.”

“Ireland has been inhabited for approximately 7,000 years.”

When we asked friends Linda and Ken for a great place to stay in England, their home country, they suggested Devon.  After searching online for several hours, we couldn’t find anything suitable for our needs and budget.

A few days later, on Saturday, we decided to try the search for Devon one more time. Whether the house suddenly became available for our dates or missed it the first time we searched was of little relevance.  

We may not use the pool due to the cool weather in England in October.

What mattered to us is that we found it and, after reading through all the details at this link, we went ahead and booked it.  Summer is short in England, with inclement weather on both ends. Based on September/October dates as listed above under the main photo, we are thrilled.

This was a tie with another property we found to be ideal is listed in yesterday’s post, as you can see from those photos.  The two properties are only 90 minutes apart but possess the opportunity to see entirely different villages and sightseeing venues in each area.

The comfortable living room/lounge.

Of course, both properties are situated on farmland, and each has several adorable animals in residence. It always was a dream of mine to stay in the English countryside and here, once again, a travel dream will be fulfilled.

With these short-term bookings, we didn’t ask for special pricing. We don’t hesitate to make offers on properties where we’ll stay for two or three months. Over the past years, we’ve been able to negotiate some excellent prices on our long-term rentals.

The kitchen looks perfect for our needs.

But, the owners of short-term rentals from one to three weeks aren’t willing to negotiate when they’ve learned that if they wait, they’ll eventually rent their property for their preferred listed prices during their busy season.

How does the cost compare when renting these four properties and the hotel near the port for the two nights in Southampton? Due to the above without discounts, we’ve been able to stay within the parameters of our monthly budget.

What an adorable Poll Dorset lamb on the property!

The total cost for the four rentals, including the two nights at the hotel (for which we used some accrued points from our account at Expedia.com), is Euro 7412.68, US $8381.40 for the 62 nights averaging Euro 121.00, US $135.18 per night.

Add in the cost of the rental cars (pricy in Europe) plus groceries, dining out, and sightseeing. We’re still within the bounds of our monthly budget. It was through careful research and planning we arrived at these numbers and conclusions. 

More Poll Dorset sheep on the farm.

The last property, booked for 11 nights, is the least expensive of the four but appears to be surprisingly lovely considering the low price. Tomorrow, we’ll share those photos and financial details.

We’re counting down the days until our friends Lisa and Barry visit on Thursday for the day and evening. 

Geese on a walk on the grounds.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, June 3, 2018:

While at the fence between Kruger National Park and Marloth Park, we counted 30 to 35 elephants. For more photos, please click here.

Bookings for England completed…Cornwall property…Four exciting properties over 60 days…Sharing photos over the next few days…

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There are a few different cottages on the property. Of course, our favorite was the most expensive, but we couldn’t resist. It’s located in Cornwall, near Port Isaac, where Doc Martin, one of our favorite shows, was filmed! We selected this property from September 6 to September 20, 2019. Our cost for the two weeks is Euro 2498.51, US $2707.94, an average daily rate of Euro 172.72, US $193.42, which is much higher than we typically pay. We’ve selected other properties at lower prices to compensate for this higher rent to balance the budget. To see details on the listing, please click here.

“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”
“Leprechauns are a huge part of Irish tradition. In Irish folklore, they are tiny men who can fit on top of your shoulder. They are completely harmless and are believed to have buried numerous pots of gold throughout Ireland.”

It’s been a busy morning, and I got a late start on today’s post. This morning we were busy with our continuing bookings for England for 62 nights on August 23, 2019.  

Also, this morning Tom made his favorite coconut banana bread recipe while I made my favorite low-carb coffee cake which I’ll wait to savor until after dinner tonight with tea. Tom’s already dug into his banana bread.

With the date coming up quickly, we knew we’d better get the show on the road. Yes, we did book four different properties, two for two weeks and one for three weeks (our favorite, of course), and another for 11 nights, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

This lounge/living room looks very comfortable with pleasant furnishing and a fireplace. It’s almost summer here in Ireland, and we’ve used the fireplace. It may be cool in England while we’re there, and we’ll use this fireplace.

In the interim, now that we knew we’d be flying into Exeter, England from Amsterdam instead of Southhampton as initially planned, we had to cancel and re-do our rental cars. There are no cancellation fees for rentalcars.com.

We booked a rental car for 30 days and then another for the additional 30 days to receive the benefit of insurance coverage provided by our credit cards, but only if rented for a maximum of 31 days.  

Thus, we’ll return to Exeter one month later and get another car, or we may be able to renew it over the phone. We’ll play that by ear. We’ll spend the last two nights of the 62 nights in a hotel in Southampton, which we’ve already booked.

Booking the four separate properties and getting the dates to be strictly sequential was tricky and time-consuming. We love the idea of moving every two to three weeks to experience new areas of Cornwall and the English countryside.  

This roomy kitchen will be ideal for our needs, especially with what appears to be a refrigerator and freezer.

However, it took way more time than we usually spend in arranging bookings. Many properties were already booked for some of our dates, so we had to figure out how each of the four would work. We did it and have paid deposits for each property.

Today, I’ll enter all the information on our spreadsheet and in our free online Cozi calendar. As soon as I enter the bookings, Tom can immediately see the bookings on his phone or laptop. This app has been beneficial for us over the past few years since we began using it.

Initially, we downloaded this app for the time we spent in Minnesota visiting our kids and grandkids for them to be able to see when we were available.  

We can already see ourselves sitting on this outdoor furniture enjoying coffee and tea in the morning and cocktails and wine in the evenings.

We gave them our user name and password, and they could enter information at their leisure. We’d then receive an email that a new entry had been made and the general information about the booking.

Alas, they seldom used the app, if at all, calling or texting to see when we were available. It was the first time in Tom’s life he used texting when he wasn’t allowed to use it while working on the railroad.

Once we left Minnesota to travel the world, we found we could only text using Facebook Messenger, which is free. Any other means was costly. I stay in touch with friends and family through Messenger, more than by Skype or phone.

We’ll have an opportunity to engage with pygmy goats and other barnyard animals on the farm.  To watch these little goats jumping around is hysterical. We can’t wait to share videos of their funny antics. 

Here we are now, “old-timers,” and we prefer to use technology instead of phones. Of course, once we arrive in the US in November, we’ll purchase US SIM cards from such providers as Verizon, T-Mobile, or AT&T, which will enable the kids to contact us by text. During that period, we’ll need to pay more attention to our phones than we do now.

The SIM cards will work anywhere we travel in the US since once we leave Minnesota, we’ll be on our way to Nevada and Arizona for several more weeks. We plan to purchase two new phones to have them waiting for us at our hotel in Minnesota. The next day, we’ll head to a phone store to buy the SIM cards. No contract is required when using SIM cards for calling, text, and data.

This morning, Tom booked our flight from Amsterdam to Exeter on August 23, 2019. We’ll pick up the first of the two rental cars and drive to the first of our four holiday homes.

Port Isaac, which we’ve loved seeing in the TV series Doc Martin. It’s a short drive from the holiday home.

Over the next few days, we’ll post photos of the upcoming properties in England, one per day to avoid confusion. This helps us during this inclement weather to prevent the necessity of going out sightseeing. Once the weather settles down, we’ll be heading out. We have several venues in mind we’ll be sharing here.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with another of the four-holiday homes in England, not in any particular order, including pricing as we’ve shown here today.  
 

Also, this morning we got some exciting news from friends Lisa and Barry, whom we met on a cruise in November 2017. We are so excited to see them once again! We’ll all be going out to dinner this coming Thursday.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, June 2, 2018:

What could be more fun than stopping on the way to dinner to let these magnificent beasts cross the road? Most likely, this was a mom and growing youngster. For more photos, please click here.

Rental car hell…Disconcerting rules, regulations and conditions…

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Cows…they are cute.

“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”
“Sports are huge in Ireland. Irish people take their sports seriously and get very into soccer, hurling, camogie, and handball.”

We’re running out of photos and need to get out to take more. With the cold and rainy days this week, continuing today and possibly into Sunday, any remaining photos are at a premium.  

Today, we’re working on the various holiday houses we’ve selected for the 62 nights in England beginning on August 23, 2019, where we’ll stay while we are awaiting a transatlantic cruise to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ending on November 8, 2019.  

We’ll spend some time in the US visiting family and friends.  During this period, we’ll head to Nevada, where we’ll see son Richard and sister Susan, who live an hour apart and take care of some “business.”

We’ll need to renew our driver’s licenses and also our passports which will expire in 2021. It makes sense to renew our passports while already in the US, which requires us to mail in our current passports while the renewals are processed.  

Donkeys are highly regarded as rescue animals in Ireland.

We don’t want to send our passports to the US Department of State while in another country. It’s unsafe to be without our passports in hand and based on our history. We cannot depend on the mail getting to us in a timely fashion.

A few nights ago, we rented a car for our time in England.  Like those in Ireland, prices are higher than we’ve paid anywhere in the world over the past almost seven years.  

As we often do, we use tentalcars.com to book rental cars since we’ve found their prices to be the most reasonable. Also, we’re able to select a vehicle from the many providers they work with, including Hertz, Avis, Alamo, Europcar (our favorite), and others.

We recently booked the rental car from Rentalcars.com with a company with which we weren’t familiar Easirent.  In error, we failed to read the terms and conditions of their car rentals.

When we arrived in Dublin, Ireland, almost three weeks ago, we discovered a few disturbing shocks; one, the Easirent pick-up location was far from the airport, and when we called for the shuttle, they explained their shuttle was “down.” We’d have to take a taxi, paying out of our pocket.  

Shearing sheep is a popular business in Connemara.

This was ridiculous. I was determined not to let this fact slide. I spoke to a manager at Easirent and insisted they send someone to pick us up or we were going to cancel our three months rental. We waited outside for about 30 minutes for the arrival of a driver.

Once we arrived at the Easirent office, we were shocked once again. No doubt, our error wasn’t reading the terms and conditions in advance of making the booking.  Little did we know that this company charged an additional Euro 2800, US $3135.57 for the excess, a fee to cover costs in the event of an accident which were charged to our credit card, not just “held.”

After we paid all the fees (not including insurance) Euro 4826, US $5404.37 including a “fuel fee” (Euro 95, US $106.39), we were frustrated we’d had to have this entire amount charged on our credit card and…that it would take three weeks after returning the car for the excess to be returned to our card.

The actual cost for the car was Euro 1471, US $1647.29. What a ripoff! As we perused rental car options a few evenings ago, we bypassed every Easirent offering knowing full well it wouldn’t be acceptable. 

Europcar only charged a refundable security deposit Pound Sterling 250, US $316 and Pounds Sterling 1200, US $1517 for the “excess” (on a credit card hold on that portion of the credit card used) and fully released from the card a few days after returning the car.

Here again, the little horns are growing. Here’s a link on why some sheep have horns and others do not.

As a result of the differences and procedures for Easirent and Europcar (and Avis, Alamo, and Hertz), we will never book a car through Easirent again. The prices for the actual rental car itself are similar amongst all the cars, depending on the value and style selected. 

It’s all of these other charges that made a huge difference, along with the inconveniences we faced when we arrived in Dublin, exhausted from the long flights from South Africa and dealing with immigration in South Africa.

Today, as we book the multiple holiday homes in the UK, we’ll be mapping the various locations for the most convenient options. Once booked and approved by the owners, we’ll share some photos and details.

Once again, we’re reminded of the importance of reviewing the terms and conditions for all travel venues, whether rentals, cars, cruises, hotels, and flights.  

This was the first time we’d failed to review the terms and conditions, but we’ve learned our lesson and won’t avoid doing so in the future. I can only excuse us for being distracted when we booked the car only a few weeks before  Sleavingouth Africa for Ireland.

Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll have pinned down our time in England and have news to share.  

Have a fantastic weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, June 1, 2018:

Frank, our resident Francolin, who’s decided to make our yard his permanent residence.  Francolins are highly territorial and extremely noisy when other francolins invade his space, except, of course, for Mrs. Frank. They’ve been building a nest. Francolins are monogamous and mate for life. They nest in grass-lined low-lying shallows. The incubation period is from 18 to 21 days carried out by the female.  Once the eggs hatch, both parents tend to the chicks until their first winter.
We’re looking forward to Frank’s and the Mrs.’ chicks.  For more photos, please click here.

Figuring out where to stay in England at the end of the summer…

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A portion of the Twelve Bens mountains.

“Fascinating Fact of the Day About Ireland”

“Funerals are sad occasions in Ireland, but they are very seldom a sad event. Family members use funerals to speak about the deceased life and share memories. Funerals are held in churches and often include food and drinks. Many churches tried to ban alcohol years ago but failed in doing so, and now allow alcohol at each funeral and wedding.”
This morning we lit the fireplace using some of the plentiful supplies left for us by our thoughtful property owner, Eileen. There’s firewood, peat, and the equivalent of Duraflame logs. It was easy for Tom to start the fire.  

It’s 14C, 57F, and yet after 15 months in the heat and humidity of South Africa, we’re feeling the cold.  There’s a unique solar system for the house, which includes a range used for cooking and warming the house. Here’s a photo of the range, which we’ve seen now and then in photos of potential rental properties throughout the world.
This is a Rayburn range used for heating the house, cooking, and the water.

This is our first experience operating this type of system, and Eileen stopped by this morning to ensure it provided enough heat to keep us comfortable. She’d explained how to use it the day we arrived, but we were so exhausted after an overnight flight that we neither remembered how to use it except for the oven.

There’s a well-prepared loose-leaf binder here with instructions for literally everything in the house. But neither refer to these instruction booklets unless there’s an emergency after we’ve usually read it within days after our arrival.

Ireland is undoubtedly known for being green and aptly named “The Emerald Island” with its cool, rainy weather.

Now, with her instructions, we have heat in the house, certainly, enough to take the chill out the air and the fire burning in what appears to be an “insert” type of fireplace rather than an open hearth.

Yesterday, we continued the tedious task of finding where we’ll stay in England for 62 days, beginning on August 23rd and ending on October 24th. This hasn’t been an easy task.  

Connemara ponies as described here:  From this site:  “The Connemara’s origins are shrouded in mystery. Some believe that they are descendants of horses brought over by Vikings, and others that they are descendants of the Irish Hobby, which was once hugely popular but is now extinct. There is also a legend that Andalucian horses found their way ashore after the destruction of the Spanish Armada and bred with the local ponies. It is known that many of the ships which survived the initial attack subsequently were wrecked off the coasts of Scotland and Ireland (partly due to severe storms), and so it is at least feasible that some horses (and humans) would have made their escape to shore. This may be why Connemaras are notably finer than most native breeds, although there was also extensive cross-breeding in the 18th century, particularly with Arabs and also Thoroughbreds and Hackneys.”
Prices are high in the UK, and with our requirement of including unlimited WiFi and preferring a house, cottage, townhouse, or condo rather than an apartment, the challenges are escalating.

Yesterday, Tom had an ingenious idea (to us anyway) that rather than book one property for the entire 62 days, we should book three or four properties in different areas for sequential dates. At first, I hedged over his suggestion when thinking about packing and unpacking every two weeks or so.

But, after careful consideration, I agreed this was an exciting idea. Now the challenge is finding suitable properties in four distinct areas with dates matching accordingly.  

Gorgeous views of the countryside.

Over the next few days, we’ll continue the research, mainly using the HomeAway link on our website to take us to the thousands of listings in England. In the past few years, HomeAway purchased several vacation/holiday home websites, leaving them number two next to Airbnb as follows:  

“A major vacation rental website is HomeAway, and it is one of the main competitors to Airbnb. The company is now owned by Expedia (as are Vrbo and VacationRentals.com).”

“Which Is Bigger: HomeAway or Airbnb? HomeAway and its companies (such as VRBO and VacationRentals.com) have over one million listings in 190 countries. However, with 2.3 million listings worldwide, from 640,000 hosts across 191 countries, Airbnb is the clear winner of the size competition.”

Why don’t we use the larger company AirBnB?  We have used it a few times. But, overall, we prefer HomeAway because they have a more liberal deposit program as opposed to paying 100% of the cost for the rental at the time of the booking.

Sunset view from our house.

Occasionally, we may book a property a year or more in advance. We do not want to lay out the entire amount for a two or three-month rental so far in advance. Plus, Airbnb has a considerable amount of shared housing situations, none of which appeal to us.

So, back to the drawing board today as we continue our search. We hope that by the end of the weekend, we’ll have this wrapped up.

Tomorrow, we’ll share a frustrating car rental situation. Please check back then.

Enjoy your day, your weekend, and everything you do.

Photo from one year ago today, May 31, 2018:
Excellent nighttime viewing. Kudus seem to be intimated by zebras due to their powerful kicks and, thus, won’t join in on the snacks. For more photos, please click here.