We certainly packed our second day in England full of many adventures. Because of different circumstances, mainly our search for internet, it got to be much later than we realized. It was my driving shift and I was tired. Hence, it was time to find a B & B.
We started looking for signs and saw one pointing to the top of a hill with a beautiful view of a valley. The B & B was called the Kremlin. Hmmm. . . well, it's worth a try. After all, it's good to combine cultures in a foreign country. Why not support the Russians? We entered an intimidating door to find a group of men watching football (soccer) on a big screen television enjoying their beers. We stood there for about 10 minutes before being acknowledged. Not a good sign. The innkeeper/bartender finally looked our way and we inquired about the cost for a night's stay. He quoted us some outrageous amount that I have now forgotten (purposely) and we left.
Next up was the Angel B & B. I vaguely remember seeing somewhat of a halo around it. Well, maybe not, but desperation had set in and the look of the place was far superior than the Kremlin. We inquired at the door, interrupting the woman innkeeper from her dinner. Unfortunately, no room at the inn. She kindly suggested that we try the next town called Ludlow. Surely there are many options there.
We drove another few miles to the center of Ludlow. Alas, at approximately 10 PM, we had success and found the Bull Hotel as our home for the night. Whew - that was a close one. After getting settled in, I adamantly told Monique that we would heretofore find a place to stay by 6:30 PM each night. There - problem solved.
This is Holly Farm. According to the guidebook, it is an award-winning B & B. That is how we chose to stay here in Llandrindod-Wells. As you can see, it has lovely grounds. Still no horses, though. Just sheep. 
It was fun to see the just-born lamb. The mother wasn't taking good enough care of her baby, so she was put in this pen. 
Our innkeeper was quite a character. I think she was fascinated by us Californians. I would say something and she just stared at me. Possibly she was translating in her head from English to Welsh. I'm not sure. I must admit it was a bit intimidating. It caused me to fill the empty space with more words. I find the memory quite amusing.
The pictures cannot capture the size of the plane or feeling we had being out in the middle of nature and having our revelry interrupted so abruptly. We laughed for hours afterward at our experience. It's a good thing our slow reflexes didn't endanger our lives! I think the pilot must have had a good laugh at us and the look on our faces. I think he may have been messing with us.
About 10 minutes into our stay, we were overtaken by a class of Welsh students on a field trip. They stared at us and discussed among themselves (in Welsh) who we could be and what we were doing there. It was fun to listen to them speak the native language. There was a time in recent history when it was forbidden by the English to speak Welsh. It's good to know that it is currently being taught in schools. 
We headed out to see the coast. We found a small bay to explore and stick our toes in the water.
I had envisioned our "farm stay" to be out in the countryside. As it turned out, it was just 1/4 mile from the center of town. Conveniently located - I could live that. Sadly, no horses on this farm. Just a name I couldn't pronounce (too many consonants), chickens, cows, cats and a dog (he looked like Jake - I miss my dog!).
During the night, a calf was born. Therefore, it was named Suzanne. Pretty cool, huh? Somewhere in the Welsh countryside my namesake is chewing on her cud.
Although some of my farm expectations weren't met, the beauty of Wales overrode any disappointment I may have felt. . . 
. . . And with this amazing view to get me ready for the day, I was smitten with my first stay on a farm.
Welcome to Wales - land of much beauty, friendly people, narrow roads and the most foreign language I've ever laid eyes (or ears) on. For instance, to pronounce the double "LL", you need to almost make the jowls of your cheeks shudder while saying "SHH". Anyway, difficult to explain and even more difficult to say. Monique aptly said it this way: Welcome to Dolgellau, Machynlleth, Trallwng and other names we can't pronounce!
We enjoyed a late lunch in Welshpool (that one's easy) and visited the tourist center. It was there that Monique had a revelatory guidebook find that transformed the way we found our nightly accomodations. It's called "Stay on a Farm!" 
For those of you who don't know, I've always wanted to live on a farm (if only for a short while) in order to have a horse. Could this be more perfect? The woman at the center gave us a recommendation, I called the number and it was set. We were to stay on a farm in Dolgellau, a short hour drive from Welshpool. 
I guess we sort of went backwards because our next stop was Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace and the current residence of the Duke of Marlborough. In fact, that's the Duke's Range Rover parked out front. I'm not kidding!
The beauty of the grounds and the enormity of the palace were hard to capture through pictures. Here's my best attempt to show you what we saw.
My favorite part of our time there was enjoying the of serene landscape that's been well-kept for many generations. It's a sharp contrast to the mania of Paris or Los Angeles. 
I'm looking forward to sharing my Africa adventures. So many stories. My friend Monique came up with a good summary by stating we fit one year of experiences into three weeks. Therefore, expect it to take me some time to tell you about them. I assure you, it will be worth the wait.