It’s been quite a while since we jumped from one housesit to the next with no break but that’s exactly what happened when we left Lymington and headed up to Cheriton near Winchester. In fact it was one of the reasons that we applied for the Winchester sit in the first place.
Leaving Lymington
Fabulous blue skies and high temperatures followed us as we got the train from Lymington Pier up to Brockenhurst. Unfortunately it was on to one of those ‘bus replacement services’ at that point, one of the downsides to weekend travel, but it was pretty smooth and we made our overnight stop in Eastleigh in good time.
Housesitting Planning and Filler Nights
When we apply for and book these various housesits and Helpx stays we try and arrange it so that the days fit neatly into our calendar but obviously there are lots of times that we have a night or two between bookings. If possible we use these gaps to visit our three sons, family, and friends but sometimes we just book a ‘filler night’ enroute. Our stop off in Eastleigh was one of those ‘filler nights’ where we just booked a Travelodge for £30 and had a lazy evening and morning mid-journey. Always good as we absolutely love Travelodge beds, they’re the best!
Not much to say about Eastleigh really, if you’ve been you’ll know and if you haven’t then don’t bother!
After a comfy night we treated ourselves to breakfast (unheard of) before walking the 100 yards to the station for our short trip up to Winchester. At the station Jo couldn’t resist annoying the very nice lady reading on the bench. Embarrassing sometimes.
Last year we spent a lovely couple of days visiting Winchester (A Whistlestop tour of Winchester) and arrived ready to meet Tessa who we would be sitting for. The village of Cheriton is around 15 minutes away so we were soon pulling up next to her fabulous thatched cottage. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we would get a chance to get back into the city for a bit more exploring.
Very kindly, Tessa and her husband Nigel had invited us to come two days beforehand and we were staying in their rental accommodation opposite the house. We felt like we were on holiday as the barn was fantastic.
Exactly the sort of place we would have booked if we’d wanted a week or weekend away from it all in our previous working lives. In fact, we kept saying ‘we could live here’. It really did have everything that we needed plus it gave us the opportunity to get to know Tessa and Nigel over dinner and go on a dog walk with them to get to know the area.
Now to the main reason for our stay, the dogs. They had two adorable terriers called Bloomer and Wispa who needed looking after and I’m not sure we have ever met two such affectionate friendly little dogs.
Inquisitive, busy, and into everything. We hit it off straight away. After a couple of nights in the barn we ran our hosts up to Heathrow Terminal 5 for their flight to India and then moved our backpacks across to the main house where we would be staying. A beautiful thatched cottage with so much character and history and I’m sure a story behind every door. We’ll look into that for a future post.
Our first day housesitting
Moving bags around and unpacking is pretty easy these days as we do it constantly and Bloomer and Wispa seemed to accept their new ‘staff’ with ease. A first walk in the afternoon up over the beautiful Hampshire hills was a delight and the village of Cheriton looks like it may have a few places to explore and find out about in the coming days. The weather has been unbelievable so far but I’m sure that’ll change tomorrow.
24/02 – 27/02/2019
JWalking 
We love Winchester and the surrounding area. How lovely to spend some time there.
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Lovely city with so much history. We will definitely try and get in to have another explore. Just enjoying the sunshine and this house at the moment though.
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That sounds delightful.
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It’s certainly a beautiful part of the country, especially in the current weather!
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Weather has been amazing but I think it’s just about to change. Can’t complain though as it is February isn’t it? Feels like summer though.
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It certainly does!
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I thought Jo was in some sort of space station too in that first pic…funny!
Aren’t those dogs just adorable. Oh it will be hard to leave those two 😉
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She’s a frustrated astronaut obviously. They are cute dogs aren’t they, very loving and fun to be around. could be a wrench to leave.
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What a beautiful thatched cottage & barn! You stay in some fabulous places! Lovely photos & two gorgeous pups ❤️ What a great life! Love the photo of Jo leaving the train/spaceship 😊
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Pretty lucky sometimes aren’t we? The house is full of character and the dogs are great so should be a nice stay. Didn’t know I was travelling with Nellie Armstrong did you?
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😂😂
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Very lovely, nice weather, adorable dogs and each other. Shame about the house (she said enviously :-)) xx
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Weather is just beginning to change, think we’ve seen the best of it. Hopefully the house and dogs don’t change at all . Pretty good.
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Agree with your comments about Eastleigh! Love Winchester though. There is a great walk to an abbey ‘behind’ the town area. The tourist office will have a map.
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We’ll try and have a look at that if we get the chance to get into Winchester.
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If you look out for signs to wolvesey castle you end up by the river and you can circuit the town.
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Not sure which I admire most – those cute dogs or rage amazing cottage! Picture perfect, all of them.
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It’s all pretty good. The dogs are ruling the roost currently but the cottage is very comfortable and so interesting.
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Amazing accommodation. If ever you’re coming back down under in Margaret River region, I’m sure we could oblige by offering you a house sit. Our accommodation would pale in comparison to your current digs though.
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Thanks so much for the offer Chris. I’m sure your place is absolutely lovely, everywhere is different.
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What cute dogs. And interesting house !
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They are too cute Sue, seem to be getting away with murder so far!
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What darling dogs! We only spent a day in Winchester but absolutely loved it. But then I have fallen in love with all of the UK. So wish I had the courage to drive on the left side of the road. I fear, however, I’d be dangerous never having tried it before age 70!
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Winchester is a unique city, so much history, I’m sure you’d be ok driving on the left, after 5 minutes it’d be natural. Same for us when we drove on the ‘wrong side’ in the US last year.
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Jonno I am thinking this house is one of the most adorable homes I have seen. Such a variety of acomodations you are finding in your nomadic life. The pups look adorable. As to Jo chatting it up with most everyone I would be doing the exact same thing. Dave has learned to just smile and pretend he doesn’t know me.
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It’s a fabulous house and they are such cute little dogs too. We’ve been pretty lucky in nearly all of our stays so far.
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I hope I wasn’t your only follower to think that the picture of the barn was THE accommodation. I wonder if the Cheriton in Folkestone has property like that. Is the barn a holiday property? I’d happily stay there for a few days. Have a great time.
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The Barn certainly is a holiday rental, will try and stick the link up in the next post. Really nice place to stay for a few days.
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That photo of Jo is very futuristic! In regards to bothering statues, we also do that all the time! They don’t seem to mind having their photo taken with us mad Aussies 🙂 . Lovely to read of your new digs and double trouble.
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Fellow statue-botherers eh? We should start a club or something shouldn’t we?
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Great idea or share our photos!
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Cheriton is a lovely village. The Flower Pots used to be a very good pub. Their beers worth trying. There is a well in the floor. Or maybe it’s been filled in. I haven’t been for a few years. Lots of nice villages and walks around that area.
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Not been in the Flower Pots yet Sue, may have to give it a try now. So many quaint little villages all around here, its a lovely part of the country.
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Villages are nice, but avoid Waterlooville town. It is a dump. Not how it used to be. Petersfield is better.
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I have several house-sitting gigs coming up in England this year, and I am so much looking forward to them!
Cornwall in May, Cotswolds in summer and hopefully Norfolk in winter.
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Sounds like a great year Andreas. You’ve chosen some lovely parts of England to housesit in.
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And the one in the Cotswolds is without any animals, even, so I will have time for long walks.
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Even better. That sounds fabulous.
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Good to see the sun shining on jwalking once again! Looks another great setting.
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Was a great stay and lovely place to stay for a couple of weeks.
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