We wanted to rent a house that was near Leicester and found one in the small town of Redmile, England. The house is the
Green Man Cottage, which appealed to us since the description included a playground and a pub nearby.
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| Green Man Cottage, Redmile |
The house is very comfortable and fit the four of us perfectly. We loved the wood stove in the living room even if it wasn't strictly necessary in March.
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| Living room |
Even better was the little care package for new arrivals including plenty of stuff for breakfast: a loaf of bread, some jams, tea, coffee, local porridge, and fresh eggs from the chickens next door (can't get more local than that!).
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| A delightful surprise! |
The house had plenty of Green Men decorating it too, like the fellow looming over the food.
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| One green man |
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| Another green man (who's really green-colored!) |
No one really knows how the tradition of decorating a building (secular or ecclesiastical) with faces surrounded by leaves (if not made from leaves) started, but
green men are popular in many different cultures. They seem more dominant here in England. People think the symbolism represents rebirth or fertility or springtime. After a very cloudy, damp, and dark winter I can see the joy in celebrating the coming of springtime.
In the back garden, we were surprised to see a more famous icon of British culture, though we did not see the inhabitant wandering around.
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| The TARDIS?!? |
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| View from the back garden of the house |
The nearby church has both a graveyard and a playground next to it. We chose to visit the playground, which may have been J's favorite part of the trip. He liked playing basketball with a hoop his size and climbing the rope ladder not attached to the ground (it looked very difficult). L loved riding the camel. J and L rode the camel at one point and sang the Wise Men song "Riding on a Camel" from their Nativity play last Christmas.
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| The playground |
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| More of the playground |
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| J's basketball skills in use |
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| J makes the tough ascent |
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| L on a camel |
Sadly, the local pub was closed. Fitting in with the nativity theme, there was no room at the inn!
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| The Peacock Inn, ready for new management |
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| No rooms at the Inn! |
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