Peace Comes Dropping Slow

 I've never been one to lounge in the sun by a pool, so my holidays are normally spent doing things - visiting castle ruins, or stately homes and their gardens, and although I'm not a long distance hiker I do like a gentle forest trail, or an amble along the coastal path. For a long while though I've been wanting to try a different sort of break, one where I stop rushing around, and just relax.  You would think perhaps that's there plenty of opportunity to sit around doing nothing at home once you're retired, but I find there's always something - laundry, gardening, whatever - that catches my eye and demands to be done. 

With Covid having left me drained and erratically exhausted, the idea of taking a day or two to just relax was especially appealing. When an email about riverside cabins arrived from Canopy and Stars, it seemed fortuitous. I've been ogling their website for years - dreaming of staying in a wooden hut in an orchard, or an isolated stone cottage dwarfed by surrounding mountains - and my youngest daughter had given us an IOU for such a break. This seemed like the moment to follow that dream. 

An important aspect of our choice was to find somewhere not too far away; neither of us felt up to travelling far, and certainly didn't want to spend the majority of time in the car. We picked The Arc, a cabin in the grounds of Island House by the river Nene in Cambridgeshire - a ninety minute drive, far enough to way to feel like a holiday, near enough to take our time on the journey and still arrive mid-afternoon. 

I always feel a little trepidation when arriving at a holiday cottage but I can't imagine a place that would have been more perfect, both inside and out. 

Inside, the Arc is furnished with a mix of industrial chic and faded opulence - metal kitchen worktop and basic taps with a squashy sofa, fabric-covered shutters, a hand-painted bedstead, small vases of flowers, and a cake to welcome us. So quirky and charming.

There were even throws that matched my favourite striped cardigan!

Stepping out onto the verandah though was the moment when the idyllic peace of the place washed over me. By luck as much as judgement, I'd found exactly what I was looking for; somewhere where as on Yeats' Lake Isle of Innisfree, 'peace comes dropping slow'

 So I flopped into one of the comfy chairs (not the hammock;I'd never have got back out), and listened to bees, children playing nearby, and the birds further away. Even the distant drone from the A1 somehow added to the immediate peacefulness. I could happily have sat there till night fell, but decided to tale a very short walk to see the sunset by the river.

The next day started, rather late, with tea out on the verandah, watching butterflies and birds fluttering about, followed by a amble to the sunhouse on a slight rise by the river.

Here, there were books to browse through, and paints, crayons, and sketchpads to encourage artistic expression, so I fetched my own from my bags and tried to capture the atmosphere. I think the stillness required for drawing focuses your attention on the moment, encourages you to just watch the breeze in the trees and the river flowing by, and absorb the peace and quiet.

Late in the afternoon we took a walk by the river to the nearby village of Elton. Though short and pleasant, it still proved to be too much for me, so then it was back to the cabin (just before rain fell) and a game of Scrabble. 

I wondered if, in part, I'd been influenced by the fact that the weather had been wonderful for our stay, but heavy rain fell overnight and the next morning was drizzly. Stepping out onto the verandah, that all-pervading feeling of tranquility was still there. No butterflies or bees, and the birds seemed more subdued, but it did't take away the peacefulness, which with the dampness really did come 'dropping slow'.

I'm so grateful that my daughter encouraged me to take these couple of days. The whole experience was a delight. I came home refreshed and feeling more like 'myself' than I have since having Covid. I'd like to return to The Arc sometime - to relax, and to explore the area a little more - but I'm also eager to try other Canopy and Stars or similar properties to see if they hold the same magic.

More about Canopy and Stars generally  here and The Arc specifically here