Our return to the UK after five years back in Australia has been overwhelmingly
positive, despite the anticipated (and some unanticipated) trials. We continue to revel in our beloved Surrey
countryside. We’ve managed to catch up with a good proportion of friends, and
have revisited many of our favourite old haunts.
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| My favourite oak tree at Frensham Heights |
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| Main House, Frensham Heights School - at dawn |
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| Main House, Frensham Heights - view from the front lawn |
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| Early morning light on Broomfields Lane, below Frensham Heights School |
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| Field below Frensham Heights School (Broomfield Lane) |
After a week at Frensham housesitting and
guinea pig minding for friends, we spent five days on our first official
TrustedHousesitters.com assignment. We looked after Monty, an elderly collie,
and were lucky enough to also spend a bit of time with Monty’s owner, Diana – a
delightful woman who is a retired Chemistry teacher.
We’re now happily ensconced in Abinger
Common (near Leith Hill), about 15 minutes drive outside Dorking. We’re here
for a whole three weeks, which is the longest we’ve been in one place since June.
When we originally lined up this housesitting assignment we were expecting to
be in a beautiful 3-bedroom cottage with conservatory, looking after an elderly
Labrador, a cat and chickens and ducks. Unfortunately the house was badly
flooded during that terrible period of rain and flooding last Christmas, but
the homeowner had been confident that the house would be repaired and restored
to order well before we arrived in August.
Sadly, no.
The homeowner had to remove the entire contents of
her home in July as the insurance assessor decided the whole house needed
rewiring and redecorating from top to bottom. She herself has been living in
the ‘flat’ which is a very bijoux space indeed, in the building across the
cobbled yard (which used to be the stables). So that is where we are perched
for our time here. It’s a bit rough and ready, and although the homeowner did her best
to make the flat more comfortable for us, time ran out and so when nature calls
we have to exit the flat into the stables, climb a very high wooden staircase up to the studio in the loft (the homeowner is an artist) where there
is a functioning loo. Not ideal but then again the beautiful surroundings make
up for it.
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The driveway into our housesitting assignment near Leith Hill
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| The former stables, where our accommodation is located |
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| The well-house |
We are in a locale designated as an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty. All around
us in every direction, for miles and miles, is dense woodland and forest. The roads surrounding us are mesmeric green tunnels. They twist and turn under a canopy of woodland
foliage – oak, alder, birch, beech, larch, rhododendron, holly, yew. The driving skills we gained living at
Frensham – that of negotiating narrow lanes with 2-metre high hedgerows on
either side, and being adept at quickly nestling into the slightest verge to
let another vehicle squeeze past – have stood us in good stead. Driving in the English countryside requires a
vast amount of driver civility! Whoever’s closest to a slight widening of the
road pulls in there and flashes their headlights to signal the other vehicle to
pass.
Since we last lived in Surrey an additional
element has been added to the perils of driving these roads – the cyclist! After the 2010 Olympics there was an explosion in the number of riders. Of
course having a keen cyclist in our household means we are more aware and
tolerant than most motorists, but Kevin and I both are agog at the lack of
visibility – nary a cyclist wears high-visibility clothing, it’s even more rare
to see a rider with front or rear lights, and many don’t wear helmets. They are
bonkers.
Kevin, of course, is excited to be in this area for that reason…
and would be even happier if his bike had actually arrived from Australia. We
have had major issues with the company we engaged to send our excess luggage.
It still has not left Australia, despite Kevin having given it to them 10 days
before we left the country!
The basic accommodation notwithstanding, our
current housesit is wonderful in so many ways. Sadly, the aged Labrador died
early this year, but we still have responsibility for five chickens and two
ducks, all of whom are doing their duty and keeping us in fresh eggs every day.
There is a pond with goldfish, and then there is Bella the cat who has really
been earning her keep this past week, having deposited at least one (thankfully deceased)
mouse at our feet every day. Today she presented us with three. We make a fuss, tell her what a
terribly clever girl she is, and then Kevin delicately removes said mice to the
stables where Bella disposes of the body with great efficiency.
Despite this carnivorous quality she really is the sweetest little cat –
very sociable and enjoys a cuddle and a scratch.
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| Bella, mouse-exterminator extraordinaire |
The veggie garden is nearing the end of its
summer abundance but we are making the most of its bounty. I confess I am
starting to run out of inspiration for zucchini – so far we have had zucchini
fritters, roast zucchini chunks and grilled zucchini slices on home-made pizza.
There is rainbow chard, kale and spinach, all of which I’ve sautéed, steamed
and tossed into salads and stir-fries. I’ve also managed to use up a great
quantity of the large, flat French beans, and Kevin has been snacking on fresh
broad beans. There are potatoes, red onions and garlic. We got the last of the
blueberries when we first arrived, but sadly the carrots are not yet at
maturity.
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Kevin feeding 'the girls'
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Some of the bounty from the veggie patch
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We have consumed what must be close to our
own bodyweight in blackberries in the last few days, and on a walk from Abinger
Common through the Wotton Estate we gathered a kilo or so. In an attempt to
assuage the guilt at eating almost as many berries as he was gathering, had you
been passing at the time you would have heard Kevin exclaim ‘Antioxidants!’ And you would then have
heard my rejoinder ‘Vitamin C!’
before I popped another luscious berry into my mouth.
Despite limited kitchen supplies and
utensils, I managed to turn our hoard into a delicious blackberry cobbler that
evening (even if I do say so myself).
The other day on a walk we struck foraging
gold – wild raspberries!!!!!!!! Those of you who know me well will be aware
that raspberries are my favourite food. Ever. I can’t get enough of them. I
literally do a little dance at the sight of them. Spying these tiny red gems in
the hedgerow nearby made my day, though regretfully the supply was at its end.
We ate as many as we could find before I reluctantly moved on.
In the past week we've made the most of our proximity to some of the most famous viewpoints in southern England. Leith Hill is literally a couple of minutes' drive from us and we climbed the Tower which is owned by the National Trust. The view is beautiful - across the Surrey Hills and to the English Channel to the south, London to the north. We then did a 90-minute walk through the Wotton Estate.
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| Kevin with Leith Hill Tower in the background |
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| Inside the tower |
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| Aaah... the view! |
Box Hill, location of the famous picnic scene in Jane Austen's Emma, was thronged the day we visited - the English making the most of their last days of summer. We did what was supposed to be a 2-hour walk, however we completed it in just over an hour despite the steep descent from Box Hill viewpoint down to the river, then up the VERY steep hillside around the other side.
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| The view from Box Hill Viewpoint |
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| Stepping stones across the River Mole |
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| Making our way back up... |
Denbies Hillside just outside Dorking also provided us with a couple of hours of pleasant rambling, with lovely views across Dorking and the village of Westcott.
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| View from Denbies Hillside over Dorking |
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| Belted Galloways on Denbies Hillside |
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| Old Man's Beard (a type of clematis that grows wild in the hedgerows) |
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| Looking towards Westcott |
Something we have not missed about the English countryside is the peril of stinging nettles.
What a sight I must have made as we ambled along a heavily wooded trail through
the Wotton Estate, arms held aloft to avoid brushing the enemy on all sides. If
you’ve ever come within cooee of stinging nettles you will empathise. The
merest touch leaves you with intense stinging pain that lasts for HOURS. Clever
me – I managed not only to brush my wrist and finger whilst plucking brambles,
but also to get an entire nettle frond up my three-quarter trouser leg where it
proceeded to sting a good portion of my calf. This was still stinging at
10.00pm that night, and I had two large, hard white welts under the skin.
Luckily we knew a remedy for temporary relief –
picking dock leaves (which always grow nearby) and rubbing on the affected
spot. It soothes for a while, but the sting usually returns and really you just
have to wait for it to wear off.
So where to when the housesitting ends?
Kevin starts his new job on 1 September,
and he’s already spent half a day at the school, getting to know some of his
colleagues and learning about his timetable. After more than two weeks of
looking at rental properties in Epsom, Leatherhead and Dorking, we’ve decided
on a place in Epsom – mainly for reasons of convenience. Kevin can cycle to
his school in about 15-20 minutes, or even walk there in about 45 minutes. There’s
also a bus service. I’m more likely to get work in Epsom or close by, or even
in London occasionally – and being in Epsom will make my commute easier. Epsom
is bigger, busier and closer to London than we would ideally have liked but
we’re being practical for the moment. Home will be a two-bedroom Victorian ground-floor
flat – a building that was once a hospital, we believe, and which was converted
into flats about ten years ago. We will have a guest bedroom so we look forward
to visits from friends and family.
We would have loved to find a place in
Dorking – we really have fallen in love with it – however everything in town
was miniscule with no parking (usually) and nowhere for Kevin to store his
bikes. The places out of town were problematic in terms of Kevin
cycling in winter. The rents in Epsom and Dorking are the same but Kevin would
have been paying about £170 a month in train fares from Dorking, plus we might
have had to purchase a local council parking permit for another £80 per month.
It just didn’t add up. So Epsom it is.
Meanwhile, here in Abinger Common I am
experiencing the same wistfulness that I had living at Frensham – that of
wishing I had the resources to own my own little cottage in this beautiful part
of the world. It’s the life I was meant for, this country existence, and I have
to wonder at the cosmos for instead placing me in a hot, sunny nation with flora
that generally does not appeal to me. I don't regret growing up in a place
like Sydney, nor spending many years in Canberra with its proper winter and uncrowded roads. I am fully aware there are many people from colder, wetter
climes that would eagerly have swapped places with me. But I have never felt
truly at home in Australia, under the constant blinding glare of an unforgiving
sun. I hate the heat. I love the rain and cold, and most particularly I love GREEN. The closest I have come to feeling like I might be able to live out the rest of my
days in Australia has been on our many trips to Tasmania, and we both still feel
certain we will end up there one day. Surrey with its vast woodlands and forests is a constant source of delight for me - every day I thank my lucky stars to be here.
Well, thus begins our second Surrey life. I’m
looking forward to sharing our adventures with you and of course I welcome
comments and feedback.
Until next time,
- Maree xo
