Hoping against hope - house hunting in Herefordshire

There's a lot of "H"s there.  A bit like "In Hertfordshire Hurricanes Hardly ever Happen"!  You will have to indulge me - or should that be Humour?!

Yesterday we set off to view two properties in the area between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.  No, we haven't got a buyer yet, but felt it was a good idea to check out two of the possibles on our list.  A friend has got an offer on her house and has been rushing round viewing properties, but faces losing her buyer as the property she has offered on has a vendor who also hasn't gone out looking yet.  I suppose there are two schools of thought, but we are in the camp that feels you should be able to move quickly if necessary.

I persuaded K to stop near Bwlch at the head of the Usk Valley so I could take some photos.  I've taken them there before, but couldn't resist the views.

It's a little further out than we ideally want to be, but it's tempting to consider properties this side of Abergavenny . . .

The fields lay dreaming . . .

We were early at the first house, so drove beyond it to the nearest village to see what it had to offer.  I had only seen the village on Google-earth, but it was every bit as pretty in reality.  A quiet, pleasant place with a pub, but not much else.

The house was one which, on screen, I had picked up on a lovely peaceful atmosphere.  Yes, it is a good deal smaller than our house, but suited us on all sorts of levels.  It was light and homely, with French windows out of the kitchen to the wrap-around garden (I've always wanted French windows!) It had an Aga-style cooker which provided cooking, heating and hot water (perfect). It had a small greenhouse and room for a polytunnel, and a big double garage for K's workshop/storage.  Two wood-burning stoves, and a master bedroom with a double aspect and en-suite.  Lots of boxes ticked. I was amazed to see a copy of a book about Edward Thomas on the coffee table and in the next room, scanned their bookshelves for more - which there were - and I had to be dragged from the room before I sat down and started browsing them!  So - we shall see what transpires.  A miracle may happen to send a buyer here for our house . . .

Anyway, our viewings on the two properties were mid-day and 2.30 so we had even more time to kill before the next viewing 2 miles up the road.  So we drove into Fownhope and stopped for a pub lunch, which was excellent.  Near the pub was this pretty cottage - it would do nicely but were it on the market, would probably be above our budget.

Although we ate slowly, we still had time to kill so after a walk around the village we drove up past the next cottage to get our bearings, and took some photos from the top of the hill.

Looking back at the village.

This was the view across the valley from above the next cottage, looking over at apple orchards.  It was a sublime spot, but unfortunately not the right place for us, as no outside storage and a steep flight of steps which although OK in the normal run of things, would have not been such fun when packing/unpacking for a Fleamarket or Antiques fair . . .  A shame as the garden had quite a few established apple and plum trees, something I always look for.

A glimpse of the lovely cottage.  Someone will fall in love soon I am sure.

Summer is passing so swiftly and there is more than a touch of Autumn in the air now, especially when it is a cold wet morning as it is today.  The red in the hedgetop hawthorn growth and sycamores and the Scarlet Herb Robert has passed and the predominant colours of the verges are pinky purple and lilac and cream from Willowherbs,  Knapweed, Thistles, Meadow Cranesbill, Purple Vetch, foaming Meadowsweet and tall Umbellifers of every description.