As I mentioned in the last blog, we’ve been selected to do a house-sit for 3 months in Stanhoe, West Norfolk. This is our first ‘assignment’ since we joined the ‘Trusted House-sitters’ group so we made the journey up with some trepidation, not knowing what to expect. We were met by the friendly house owners, Virginia and Joss, at the garden gate of their stunning property – Honeysuckle Cottage.

After a cup of tea, a get to know each other chat and a quick handover, Virginia and Joss set off on the drive to their other property in the South of France. And Steve and I were left in charge of this absolute dream cottage!

We unloaded the car and unpacked our belongings to make ourselves feel at home, didn’t take long to feel settled. Took a little drive around some local areas – Burnham Market (so gorgeous but expensive looking!) and then into Fakenham – to get our bearings and to do the inevitable food and drink stock up. Bearing in mind our nearest supermarket is 10 miles away, we stocked up big time. Stanhoe is picture perfect but pretty remote – it does have an excellent pub however we’ve been told so all is not lost. And …. we have royal neighbours you know – Sandringham is just 4 miles away.

The driving and loading/unloading of luggage has been pretty arduous for Steve as he has a fractured metatarsal … but he soldiers on. The hospital have provided him with a ‘nice’ walking shoe. I think he decided the agony to his foot in driving was preferable to being a passenger to my driving – I can’t say I blame him! Adding to the pain unfortunately is the fact that the doorways in the cottage are built for midgets – every 5 minutes I hear yelps of pain and find Steve holding a newly grazed bump!

The foot issue also means we will not be able to do the coastal walking as planned – well not for 5 or 6 weeks anyway – hopefully, we’ll still have time towards the end to fit some in. Steve will probably be climbing the walls not being able to run …. and I’ll need to wait on him hand and foot to encourage him to rest up. However, what a perfect place to rest up …. I’m not complaining – and I have my trustee Yoga mat with me to keep me exercised.

We had a great first night’s sleep and woke up to the most perfect morning of sunshine and clear blue sky. Sadly, Steve had managed to bump his head in the night on a beautiful antique cabinet beside his bed, with particularly pointy corners – he had stuck tissue on it to stem the bleeding and it was such a funny spectacle to wake up to. Shouldn’t laugh, his head is getting such a battering.

So it was breakfast in the garden, looking over on to the pond with baby ducks and geese being paraded around the water, carefully watched by their doting parents. There’s some amazing bird life here and the farm next door has an abundance of bunnies running around its field as well as horses. We have been forewarned however that the farmer and his wife are infamously rude, so we’re not to worry if any unpleasant words are exchanged – that could be interesting! And it smells of the country, in a nice way, the country air is so flowery, fresh and clean … and it’s unbelievably quiet. Can you tell I’m smitten!

We’ve managed to spend the first day so far relaxing, reading, blogging, enjoying the scenic views … oh and we’ve lost the internet. When it does appear it’s slow and intermittent – I’m going to have to have the patience of a whole host of saints to keep any sort of blog up on this stay away.

Planning a few easy days now for maximum metatarsal rest and then hopefully get out and about around Norfolk. But for now, ‘best foot forward’ is on hold – it’s all about ‘feet up.’

❤️ Country living