We have moved from our cozy little B&B in Harrogate into a holiday cottage in the middle of Yorkshire farm country. We are in Scot Beck Cottage #1 on Low Lane in Darley. The cottage is made of stone and is very cute and comfy. On the first floor we have a fully equipped eat-in kitchen, a living room with a gas fireplace and a tv/vcr. On the second floor are two bedrooms and the bathroom. Additionally, we have access to a washer and dryer in the utility room and a patio. The surrounding countryside is absolutely beautiful. We have been blessed with lovely warm sunny weather lately -- very unusual I'm told for this part of the country. The last couple of days have been more seasonably cool and windy with occasional showers. Even during bad weather, the landscape is stunning. The only downside is that we only have one car with a standard transmission. Since I won't dare drive on these twisty turny roads unless I have an automatic transmission, I'm stuck in the cottage while Brad is at work. He's been able to take time off during the day, however, and right now I'm at the base library using the computer with free Internet access.

Penney, our sponsor's wife, very kindly offered to drive me out to Pocklington on Tuesday, so that I could visit our cat Ginger. Aside from the driving in Harrogate (which I find to be terribly congested and confusing) the drive was not too bad. Once we got out of the Harrogate city center the roads were clearly marked and lightly traveled. It took us no more than an hour to get to the quarantine kennel, also situated near the small town of Pocklington, on the other side of York and in the middle of nowhere. The quarantine section is a maze of chain link corridors and enclosures. I was given admittance by an attendant who unlocked one door after another until I got to Ginger's cage. At which point she asked me how long I wanted to visit and then proceeded to lock me inside Ginger's enclosure! It truly felt as if I was visiting someone in prison. I was heartened, however, to see that Ginger appeared to be very calm and content. His enclosure is on two levels, above he has a cat bed to sit in and windows to view either his neighbors or the birds in the countryside; he has two litter pans below. Ginger perked up when I said hello and he came right to me. I groomed him during my visit and he purred the whole time. He did not appear to be stressed in the least and looks well fed and cared for. What a relief! After our visit, Penney, her two sons (aged 10 and 12 and now on summer vacation) and I had lunch at a pub in nearby Allerthorpe. The weather was nice enough for us to sit outside and the food was great!

We have been house hunting lately and have seen about a half dozen properties so far. They range from tidy little cookie cutter houses in suburbia to rustic farm houses in the countryside. We still haven't found one that suits our needs yet. The biggest problem is room size. In most cases, we fear we will not be able to move our queen size bed into the house. In other houses, our living room furniture will not fit. Some of the houses, particularly the ones in the newer areas of Harrogate, have really garish decor: big bold prints on the wallpaper (often themed for young children with clowns or daisys or some such design), screamingly bright colors. The older houses feature broad wooden beams, neutral walls, stone construction and plenty of fireplaces. We will continue our search in the next few weeks. We don't feel too pressured to make a decision right away...it will take a while for our household goods to get here and Ginger won't be released from quarantine until August 8.