Our annual escape on the border of Dorset and Wiltshire ....

After a long wait it was finally time for our annual escape. We left with rain but once on the ferry the sun broke through ....

After have spend our first day in West Sussex to visit The Country Brocante Fair we arrived on our first cottage the next day.

We were both a bit flabbergasted because the cottage situated on Heath House Farm was a real gem, inside and out ....  

With gorgeous views around the whole house ....

And felt at home as soon as we entered ....

With lovely surroundings on our doorstep .... 

There where even lovely books to relax with, especially this book of Reader's Digest  ....

The view from our window on the garden of the owners ....

And enough wildlife to photograph ....

I especially loved this one, hard to photograph because of his speed and not common in my home country, the Pied wagtail ....

And still my all time favourite, the little Robin ...

So much beautiful city's to visit, like Bath where we indeed needed an umbrella ....

And beautiful Bristol ....

Another one on my to-do list was a visit to the wonderful town Frome ....

With the gorgeous street Catherine's Hill ....

Full of quaint shops, even one with a sewing school ....

And not unimportant I found my first keepsake in this street, this lovely small jug from

Hogben Pottery ....

The perfect way to unwind, connecting in line behind number 49 ....

Before we started our climb towards Cheddar Gorge ....

And this was only just the beginning ....

Being observed during our climb ....

Despite the height still so much to see ....

And as a wonderful reward this magnificent view ....

When we came back to the parking area this one was waiting for us to share our bread ....

The next day we visited the picture perfect Castle Combe ....

With lovely details everywhere .... 

In love with these cream foxgloves so I took some seeds from Sarah Raven home with me ....

Real front door envy ....

But what I loved most was this small stall in front of a house with homemade cakes and just couldn't resist to buy some which really tasted delicious ....

The beautiful village church ....

and beautiful cemetery ....

Having the privilege to actually live here ....

But I would also settle for this so easily ....

From one beautiful village to another, lovely - and often used as a television and movie set like Pride and Prejudice and Downton Abbey - Lacock ....

Where you really go back in time with for instance this lovely bakery ....

Not only by interior but also by the clothing ....

On our last day we visited the beautiful estate Stourhead which was so overwhelming I really think it deserves a blog post of its own ....

Couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to this wonderful area with a visit to the beautiful town Shaftesbury , which treated us with this view ....

I would love to share our next stop, our almost second home county West Sussex, next time with you.


Till then, have a lovely weekend!

Anita
 ~xo~

A trip down memory lane ....

About two weeks ago we went together with my two sisters and their husbands on a four-day trip to Luxembourg 

Not just an ordinary trip, but one down memory lane.

When we were kids we went for a couple of years on holiday to the little village Beaufort , and now again one of the villages planned to visit. 

Now our parents are no longer with us it seems our bond only became stronger.

While you sometimes hear that families fall apart when the parents pass away, with us it's certainly not the case.

I think that as we - by circumstances - haven't lived as a real family that long, our close relationship and the few precious family memories is something to be treasured.

A collage of some pictures from our childhood holidays showing our - I now think - very cool transport, and the visitors during that years including my dear gran ... 

So not long after our mum died last May we planned our first holiday as adult sisters together!

We booked three rooms next to each other in a family hotel near the historic town Clervaux .

When we arrived two weeks ago and went up to our room this was our view ...

After unpacking our suitcase we went exploring the little town and its environment. After a walk and late lunch we walked to the end of the town towards the abbey. Not really knowing if we went the right direction we asked a resident who directed us further into the forest.

What happened next during our walk through the woods made me really feel the presence of my parents, as if they guided us on our journey.

Because out of the blue there was this - for us not really common in a until then completely silent forest - magical moment ....

After first thought we might have misunderstood the good man, the sound of the bells and this view through the trees made it clear that we were well on our way ....

And there it was the Benedictine Abbey Clervaux ....

And all the beauty around it ....

Surrounded by the scent of blossom ....

And such a wonderful new experience, walking together in nature ....

The next day we went to the capital Luxembourg ....

A beautiful historic city with so much flowers and greenery ....

This is the view from above to the lower situated park ....

A park designed by the landscape architect Edouard Andre as an English garden filled with all sorts of flower beds ....

There were all kind of rhododendrons but I especially liked this one ....

Because the park is much lower as the city there's no noise at all, only birdsong ...

We also admired the view from the promontory in the north-eastern corner
of Luxembourg's old historical district ....

And especially this fabulous located veggie plot ....

And still - in many ways - flowers everywhere ....

On our last day we visited the campsite where we stayed during our childhood holidays and
saw that little had changed.
Everything still so very lush and green, only much larger trees in the adjacent forest ....

I was determined to light a candle in the village church but unfortunately it was closed. So sorry that I couldn't go inside the church ....

My father was known for his rather vivid imagination and loved to take people fooled. All those years ago he made us believe that - in the castle just outside the village - lived a clown. He meant the character of a - in our youth very popular - television series. And of course we believed him and were always on the look for "Pipo de Clown" when we visited this beautiful castle  ....

My dad would be so very pleased to know his joke is still such a living reminder ....

Our next stop was the tourist town Echternach where we payed a visit to the beautiful abbey....

and lighted a candle ....

Our last stop on our trip down memory lane had to be the beautiful Mullertal also known
as little Switzerland ....

Where the waterfall seemed much smaller than I remembered as a child. But still impressive though as nature never fails to do ....

I think my mum and dad must have had a very satisfied sight from above , seeing how their daughters memorised their childhood together.
One thing is for sure, this was our first but certainly not our last trip together. New memories will be made and I know two people who will make that very happy ....


Anita
~xo~