November 2018: England in the Autumn

 November 2018

We hadn't managed to line up our house-sits perfectly (it's rather hard to do so) but my best friend Joy had kindly offered for us to stay whenever we liked in the gaps, so we popped back to England just in time for Guy Fawkes. 
In the UK, the 5th November is called bonfire night, and unlike our own New Zealand Guy Fawkes which consists of fireworks (often set off at the beach), in England they build a great bonfire and stick an effigy of Guy Fawkes known as the 'Guy' on top to burn (not bloodthirsty at all). 

The actual history behind the burning of the Guy is pretty interesting, from 1606 the 5th of November was remembered with a thanksgiving service (as a thank God he didn't blow up the King I suppose) - though over the years this event became mired by religious strife and  the night often culminated in violent mobs. This religious conflict led to the burning of an effigy of the pope on the bonfire, and indeed it became common to burn whatever political figure was disliked at the time. Thus it wasn't until much later that burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes became commonplace. 

 

Back to our own burning experience, we went to a public show to get a real feel for it, and was certainly impressed with the bonfire size! Not sure about the effigy on top though. 

Of course one must expect true English weather - wet rainy and muddy, Joy and I were well prepared with exciting gumboots (or should I say Wellies).

The bonfire once lit up was ridiculously hot from a surprising distance away, and with the fireworks going off overhead was incredibly pretty! Plus the night was freezing so it was a welcome warmth.

Brief trip over, we headed for our next house-sit, out in the countryside of England, located in Burton-Upon-Trent, not too far from Leicester. 

The owner was kind enough to pick us up to take us food shopping, as public transport was non-existent, and we of course did not have a car. 

Here we were looking after two cats, whilst the owner who specialized in working in conservation with orangutans was off in Borneo in the jungle somewhere (and mainly out of email and phone range). 

Luckily, after the last cat experience, this was the dream. Jose and Mika was the two chillest cats, who loved to hang out and purr. Mika (pictured above) was my favourite cat ever (and that record still stands). Look at all that cuteness!

The cottage was cosy as anything, with an adorable fireplace that we deeply struggled to light (never have I used so much lighter fluid or fire starters in my life) I think we managed to get it going properly exactly once, and that was because the owner had kindly left it all set up for us. 

Ok so we weren't great at fires... luckily I could practice my other skills, such as cooking! The place had a walk in pantry, where we had been told to help ourselves, so of course we did! Here I am, having attempted to make a loaf of bread in a dutch oven (it didn't taste as good as it looks). 

Unfortunately unlike many country cottages, this one didn't lead off onto cute country roads, instead the road just outside was a high speed 'main' road, with cars wizzing along and no footpaths - or even really a ditch - to walk by, making it much too dangerous to traverse by foot. 

We were therefore, rather stuck in place, aside from a morning meander up and down the very (very very) long driveway every morning, past the one sheep that always baa'd aggressively at us in surprisingly deep baritone. 

One more pic of Mika, because, how can you resist that face!?