Poultry Cottage, Welshpool, Wales

[nanila]

[Humuhumu jumps off a stone outside the gingerbread Fowl House (strictly for the birds).]

On Friday, we piled into the car and drove to Wales to our fourth Landmark Trust property. It's become traditional for us to stay in one over the weekend nearest the bloke's birthday that isn't Valentine's that holiday which seems to have been designed to make people feel bad about enjoying being alone February 14th.

This one is called Poultry Cottage. Once it was part of a great estate that included a model farm. The estate is now broken up, and the Landmark Trust acquired the cottage (where the fowl-keeper lived) and the Fowl House (where the chickens, pheasants, turkeys, pigeons and doves lived). I'm afraid the keeper's cottage is rather plainer and smaller than the one intended for the galinaceous neighbours.


[Pretty Poultry Cottage, fit for humans.]

We used the cottage as a base for exploration nearby during the day, and as a cosy nest at night after the children were in bed. There was no mobile or data signal, no television and no internet connection. I'm not evangelical about disconnecting - we had some BBC programmes downloaded, mostly for Humuhumu to watch - but both the bloke and I do find it helpful for our mental health to be forced, for a few days, not to check our e-mail or spend our evenings constantly half-distracted by our computers.

Below the cut, some shots of the cottage interior, with children (and adults).


[The Fowl House from the front.]

We did go into the Fowl House, but as I was carrying Keiki and it was quite dark inside, I didn't get any decent photos of the interior.


[Keiki using a wooden stool to survey the living room.]


[Humuhumu in her sky-blue dressing gown, holding a daffodil. The bloke and Keiki enjoying their breakfast.]


[The bloke enjoys a book, a plate of birthday gift cheese and a glass of wine. Note egg-shaped lamp!]


[My glasses, cheese and crackers, glass of wine, and postcard of Fowl House, later sent to my parents.]


[Chicken decor, of which there was an abundance. Origami chickens are part of a treasure hunt from the log books. More about the log books later.]


[Humuhumu asleep in her room downstairs. She was very proud of her bravery in sleeping on a different floor from us and Keiki.]


[Me, feeling relaxed after a glass of wine.]

Comments

[lurkingcat]

The fowl house looks amazing. I do like the idea of the chickens living there in mock Tudor splendour although I expect it isn't nearly as grand inside.

[nanila]

The interior is very spacious but as you've correctly deduced, rather plainly decorated. The nesting box doors were attractive, as was the dovecote. I imagine in their heyday the simplicity of the interior provided a good foil for the fancy plumage of the inhabitants.

[lurkingcat]

My brain is still refusing to let go of the idea of chickens nesting on sofas and four poster beds and a guard chicken perched on a suit of armour :)

[azurelunatic]

There's a pair of pictures from my childhood of two of the favorite hens visiting in the house. My Calico is sitting on "the orange couch", an ancient flame orange burlap disaster which chickens *were* allowed on, looking quite cozy indeed. Miss Aurora is sitting on "the blue couch", a very nice wood futon with a high-quality cover, where chickens were *absolutely not* allowed due to the potential for messes, looking beautiful, calm, and absolutely as if she were supposed to be there. So Mama got a picture before lifting her off.

[lurkingcat]

Oh, that's excellent! That makes me so happy :)

[azurelunatic]

There is no picture of the time my dad smuggled Miss Aurora upstairs while Mama's Winter Solstice party was going on, and she wound up sitting on one of Mama's pillows. She was a very regal hen. Mama was pretty mad. My father had not got the memo that this was a no-chickens-in-the-house party.