Sunday 14 October 2018

Right where I should be


It's here!

...sort of.


Spectacular maple across the street from our house
- at Frensham Heights School



Well, dear reader, here we are. Finally the intensity of this year's hellish and interminable summer has diminished, although in the past week we have had numerous days in the mid 20s, and more worrying are the warm nights - temperatures of around 15-19ÂșC overnight! This is mid October, remember - and it's England. We are yet to have a frost here in the south-east.

Despite the perplexing temperatures, we have been enjoying the visual glories of this most wonderful of seasons.


Fruiting hawthorn with its vivid red berries


A nearby field offering a panorama of autumn colours


As if oak trees weren't beautiful enough, their sweet little acorns are worth waiting for - 
cylindrical, mahogany coloured nuts, wearing haute couture hats



Dwarf maples, and the sculpture affectionately referred to as 'The Elephant Poo'
- in front of our shed

The almost unreal colours of Virginia Creeper in early autumn
- this shot taken at my workplace


A very atmospheric, misty autumn morning in our backyard




I am absolutely delighting in rediscovering the Frensham local environs. My favourite walks of yore lead me past the most fondly remembered cottages, most memorable trees... it is like meeting up with old friends after a long absence.

The oaks (ah, the oaks!), many of them centuries old, spreading their gracious limbs protectively across the landscape. Jewelled holly trees, their red berries shining against glossy, dark green leaves. The gentle curve of hills. Shady glades. Dappled light.

I see all this and instantly any angst is washed away. 

This game plan of ours - to return to the UK, to wait for a vacancy at Frensham, and finally to wait for an opportunity to move back on-site... it's been well worth the perseverance.


One of my favourite oaks - truly memorable, with its gnarled and twisted exposed roots.
It's hidden away up a little incline, off a quiet lane only a few minutes' walk from the school.
I'm sure in the dead of night, this tree comes to life and wanders around the Surrey countryside


Hales Place - one of the grand homes nearby.
This is the best shot you can get - the house is cloistered away behind a gigantic yew hedge 
and an impressive gated entry (see below)


The main gate at Hales Place


The last of the brambles


Walnut Tree Cottage - one of my local favourites. It is country cottage perfection
(note the oast house immediately behind - the pointy tower)


This hot air balloon came silently drifting above me one afternoon, on one of my walks,
and I was only made aware of it at the sound of the flame being fired up.
It's advertising The Packhouse, a fabulous local antiques/gift emporium


Arts & Crafts architectural style in nearby Spreakley, just below the school


Spreakley Hollow - another of my favourite local homes.
I am a sucker for leaded windows and ornate gates


Weekly meeting of the Frensham Feline Secret Society
- plotting the downfall of the human race, no doubt!

How I love a turret!
Many of the local farms historically grew hops, and there is an abundance of
oast houses, some of which have been converted into housing
(this picture, and below)





The only real difference between when we lived here the first time, and now? 

Mud.

Ten years ago, even after a week or two of hot weather, there were certain paths that would still be muddy and boggy, perhaps they would even have retained their puddles, despite the dry weather. No more. The ground appears to be so thirsty now, particularly after a very dry year with six months of relentlessly hot weather, that there is no mud - even after a couple of days of solid rain. 

Climate change is a reality, and I am in fear of how this glorious landscape will change. I also think the change will come much faster than anybody - in their most doom-laden anticipations - dares to estimate.


Autumn sunrises really are the BEST - our garden in early October, at dawn


The last of the summer roses



This house, in the street next to the school, has some of the best views in the district.
I hope they appreciate it



Coochy-coochy-coo!
These adorable babies followed me, in an orderly line, across a field.
Perhaps they recognised a human whose skin didn't excrete the smell of consumed meat,
and who had an absence of leather on her person...


The church of St Mary The Virgin, in the village of Frensham - just below the school.
Parts of it date from the 13th century


In the churchyard of St Mary The Virgin in Frensham,
the tombstones range from grand Celtic crosses....


... to far more humble, simpler examples


The River Wey passes through the village of Frensham

We surprised a couple of deer in a field below the school, on one of our afternoon walks





This secluded path took me about ten minutes to walk - didn't see another soul... *bliss*

A home away from home for your beloved poultry while you go on holiday?
Yes, in Surrey we have it all


And what of our new abode, you ask?

We have just about got the place shipshape. Our first few weeks were a whirlwind of unpacking and trying to make our possessions fit, and a mad frenzy of online shopping to order window coverings, light fittings, bathroom cabinets and all sorts of other necessities. We've also sourced quite a few things second-hand - there are bargains to be had out there!

Thank goodness the departing family offered us their relatively new white goods at a reasonable price - which meant we didn't have to worry about that side of things.

We've also had our first visitors, with Fiona and Geoff calling in for lunch on their way to Heathrow. They were unfortunate in coming on the only rainy day we'd had for weeks, so our tour of the school was necessarily brief.



Our front doorstep
(made less picturesque by the dark green food recycling bin and electrical cabinets,
however this is real life)



Our entry hall - now sporting a cover on the ugly radiator, and how about that glam light fitting?
From naked bulb to *bling* - courtesy of Facebook Marketplace
(a £125 light fitting purchased second-hand, BNIB, for £30)

More dawn beauty in our garden - this is what we wake up to every day

These delicate roses grace our garden, courtesy of our next-door neighbours'
lack of gardening skills!
(they don't prune, feed, weed or water... we have the benefit of their climbing rose,
which I have been de-aphidising, pruning and watering since we arrived)


Our living room - not terribly large, but lots of light and a great outlook






Autumn's fruit bounty - blushing pears adorning our coffee table


Washing up with a view - outlook from the kitchen window



A wee spot of antipodean greenery.
We had New Zealand pittosporum in our garden in Australia
and although it's not very common here in the UK, I managed to find an online supplier
- six bushes now happily situated in my oversized planters 



Bistro seating now in place, bird feeders erected - 
all set for us to sit on the terrace and enjoy that incredible autumn light

Our drinks table awaits your delectation!


Our guest bedroom - please visit!


Kevin of course is thrilled to have his very own shed for the first time since leaving Australia, and he's spent quite some hours erecting shelving and sorting all his bike paraphernalia. 

We have more storage in this house than we've had for many years - it's wonderful to actually have proper places to store things. We've been 'making do' and squirrelling things away in odd places for so long... which of course has meant that when we needed an item that had been squashed into an inaccessible corner of wardrobe (behind the suitcase and shoe rack, etc), it's been a lengthy and frustrating job to get it out, and then to put it back again.

We do also have a third bedroom which I have named The Room of Perpetual Gloom. It's north-facing, which here in the northern hemisphere means it doesn't get any direct sun. It also adjoins our neighbour's bungalow, again limiting the direct light (we only have one short stretch of common wall - the house is all but free-standing). Strangely, our predecessors in this house, who had the entire place painted in a neutral shade of magnolia, elected to paint this one room a cold shade of lavender blue. 

WHAT THE???!!! 

This room is so offensive to me that for the first three weeks I could hardly bear to enter. After a couple of minutes I would flee, cursing and muttering dementedly about paint colours and gigantic mirrors. In that room I found myself losing the will to live.

It has now been reserved to house a small wardrobe and chest of drawers that couldn't be accommodated in the other two bedrooms, as well as a bookshelf, a small desk that we don't really use, and a blanket box.

I'm yet to paint the room, and I'm still on the hunt for an affordable large mirror - in the hope that it will generate a bit more light.



The Room of Perpetual Gloom
*the horror*


It is serenely quiet here. 

Both of our near neighbours very obligingly disappear just about every weekend - the gals next door are always off doing scuba diving or other outdoor pursuits, and the family behind us go back to enjoy the more metropolitan delights of their London home.

Thus most of the time the only sounds we hear are the wind in the trees, the barking of pheasants and the clatter of squirrels scurrying along overhead branches. Occasionally, if the wind is blowing the right way, the strains of the church bells from St Mary The Virgin in Frensham village drift up to us.

And at night, there is naught but the sonorous hooting of owls.

It is bliss.



This sculpture by Anna Gillespie graces the promenade outside the art studios
(right across the street from our bungalow)
- those are acorns, not warts!


An avenue of maples in front of the school's art and theatre buildings,
opposite our place

Autumn leaves festooning the school's main entrance

Yours truly, enjoying an afternoon stroll through the school's woodland

The only negative in all this is that my commute to work has increased by at least ten minutes. Doesn't sound like much, but when you were already spending between 45-90 minutes travelling to work, another ten can just about push you over the edge. Thank goodness for my vast library of music, and the fabulous offerings available from BBC iPlayer Radio. I've listened to more radio drama programmes in the past year than in my entire lifetime. 

On my first journey from Frensham to work I almost hit a deer that bounded out from the woods right in front of me, as I headed towards Farnham. I leave home at 5.45am in order to miss the traffic, so I'm afraid in this area wildlife is an added peril.

I'll have to seriously consider whether I can continue the drudgery of commuting to the other side of Surrey. Even at only three days a week it's a strain (I work from home on Wednesdays, and by compressing my full-time hours into four long days, have Fridays off).

Late afternoon light - taken from our little garden fence


Commuting woes aside, this beautiful place is where I am meant to be - I have no doubt of that.

This is now home.



A bright moon over a pink sunrise

Until next time,
- Maree  xo