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Although I escaped from my small,  provincial town as soon as I could, in the past few years I have become nostalgic for all the country town aspects I ran away from!

I blame it on middle age and I have decided that it’s easier to embrace it, then deny it.

I therefore convinced my reluctant family to buy a holiday house in a small country town and three years ago we

Friends and music

became the owner of a cute, little miners cottage in Maldon.

The day we took possession of our cottage the neighbours came to say hello over the fence.

I liked them immediately. 

Two lovely ladies, retired school teachers, who welcomed us and filled us in with some local knowledge.

While I was talking to them my friend Susan, who leaves only 30 minutes away, came to visit and when our new neighbours saw her they recognised her immediately: they used to be Susan’s high school teachers!

I knew instantly that this was my kind of town.

Connections, networking, people who know other people’s business and yes, a bit of healthy gossip as well!!

A few weeks ago, with Sofia away and Julia old enough (and very willing!) to be left alone, Nigel and I went to the house, Nigel for the week-end and me for the week.

A blissful week of country life!

In my bucolic dreams, I see our little cottage filled with friends dropping in and out, endless cups of tea (I only drink tea in Maldon, I have my beautiful china cups bought on ebay and lots of cute tea pots!); evenings by the fire and meals shared in our cosy kitchen.

I see myself becoming part of the community, people saying hello in the street, neighbours stopping by and endless hours spent to potter and watch dvds of tv series I missed out on.

A fire makes a home

I am happy to say that my week in Maldon was exactly like my dream!

When Nigel left on sunday my friend Carol arrived.

We live on different sides of the city and we rarely see each other so having three days to spend with her was a real treat.

Being English, Carol appreciates the importance of “oldness” and we both immersed ourselves in the old world charm of the town and the house.

We read our books in the garden, chatted, sewed (well, Carol did shorten some jeans for me and she taught me how to use the sewing machine so, when she left, I made a cushion’s cover!) and, of course, drank tea from my lovely cups!

In order to follow my dream about being part of the community we attended a yoga class at the Maldon Neighbourhood Centre.

The class was in an old church and there were only five other women.

When we walked out we started chatting and I found out that one of the women was an Italian teacher at the community centre!

A lovely Australian lady with a passion for Italy and the Italian language.

We exchanged phone numbers and she dropped in a few days later for a chat and…a cup of tea! We talked about the possibility of me going to some of her classes and about organising Italian movie nights and spaghettate with her more advanced students!

I caught up with Susan in a nearby town and had lunch in a café I had heard it was owned by an Italian man.

And so I met Luca, from Biella, not far from my home town.

We talked and talked like I can only do when I meet a fellow Italian!

Fast and loud, sharing personal details of our lives in a far away country, becoming instant friends and, promising, of course, to meet for dinner soon!

My network is growing very fast, I feel more and more part of this community and I love every minute of it!

When Carol leaves, my neighbour calls me over our shared fence and she invites me for dinner that evening.

And so I find myself eating a beautiful meal of asian fish and old fashion Eton mess, hearing all about life Maldon, a life I can relate to, a country life.

Eton Mess

On Thursday I wake up realising I still haven’t finished watching the first series of Offspring and I only have a day to go!

Where is the time gone?

So I have breakfast in front of the tv and leave a couple of episodes for my last night.

Then I wander into town for a massage, after all this is my dream week and I always have a massage in my dreams!

My other neighbour knocks at my door before dinner, she has bought an old piece of material in France, to make a curtain but the piece does not fit any of her windows, would I like to have it?

An old piece of linen from France can certainly find a place on one of our windows, or door 🙂 

I leave on Friday afternoon and, as always, I am already planning my next trip.

As I drive home I think of my week and all the weeks to come and I feel extremely lucky and privileged to have the ongoing opportunity to be a country girl again.