Shepton Mallet, UK

I think I will do a long put-off blog on our visit to Shepton Mallet when the weather was warmer. We visit our friend Sophie in a little village where she is house sitting the place above for some friends. Wow! I instantly love the place and think it is exactly the style I will one day do my own place in. Now that we have a place I am studying these pictures again. The kitchen is the best place to hang out...as always! There is a nice country feel to the room. It has a Belfast sink, which normally sits below the counter and an Aga cooker. An Aga is an amazing thing. They are traditional range cookers that stay on all the time (fueled by oil, wood, electricity or gas). They radiate heat and was the traditional way a house got warm. They have several ovens of varying heat depending on how close to the heat source it is. Agas are perfect for roasting because nothing ever burns. Aga is of course only a brand. There are many other traditional range cookers and coincidentally there is an Esse dealer right behind the house...in a barn! Sophie sits on the lounge chair in the heated kitchen. On top of the Aga sits two burners. They have hot lids which stay down unless you are using them. You can't adjust the temperature so one is hotter than the other. An Aga can also heat the hot water for the house. And they definitely come in smaller sizes than this! This one is unusual because it has 2 gas burners on the left. A great picture of the double Belfast sink. The back door has a lot of charm and Sophie pointed out the special entrance for the mice (bottom right...near the cat entrance!) The living room has such a relaxing charm that you can easily curl up on one of the chairs and fall asleep.