So, to be a bit more cheerful I thought I'd tell you about an article we read last weekend in the UK Country Living magazine. We regularly buy this or Period Living to drool over the gorgeous stone houses and the lush countryside of England. This week came with an added bonus - an article titled The Floating Farmhouse about a couple living on a narrowboat! The couple have a 32 acre small holding on the Oxford Canal and live on their moored boat. It sounds a rather idyllic life with growing a vegetable garden and fruit trees, breeding chickens, and having the best of both worlds by being able to cruise in their floating home. I want that life!!
They are along the Oxford Way walking path and over the years have begun serving tea and cakes/cones to passing walkers. Now on a sunny Sunday they have up to 100 people stop at their little "alfresco vintage tearoom". A Rayburn stove, floral vintage china, an extremely pretty location beside the canal... lovely.
I did a Google search and see Andrew Denny visited back in 2006 and called it a floating farm shop. Perhaps things have changed a little since then.
http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2006/05/the_floating_fa.html
And Andrew provided a link to a map showing where it is.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=448875&y=219545&z=3&sv=448875,219545&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf
And again in early 2010 he mentions Jane Fanner winning Smallholder of the year.
http://www.grannybuttons.com/granny_buttons/2010/01/jane-fanners-floating-farm-shop-wins-smallholder-of-the-year-2009.html
The article about Jane's entry to Smallholder of the year.
http://www.countrysmallholding.com/home-search-smallholder-of-the-year-entrant-jane-fanner--221961
