English Country and a copper sink

As we drove down a narrow lane in the deepest heart of Shropshire, we peered out anxiously, looking out for the sign for our country retreat. “There it is!” I cried, “ Rooks Nest. Wow!”

The country cottage that we had rented for our anniversary trip was everything we had hoped for, and more. As we pulled up by the gate, a cloud of black rooks wheeled and cawed overhead, before settling in the elm trees that lined the single track road. Pushing open the creaking wooden gate, Mark and I breathed in the perfume of the roses, honeysuckle and lilacs which spilled in shades of pink lavender and cream over the tiny front garden.

Taking out the large iron key which the rental agent in the nearby, impossibly named, Little Dozing by the Beck village, had given us earlier, Mark inserted it into the lock with a flourish. The front door creaked open into a low beamed room, with a fire ready laid in the grate against the early summer evening chill. Big squashy armchairs in faded blue velvet flanked the fire place, and a low oak table with a beautiful hammered copper tabletop held a stack of country magazines and a copper container full of blowsy pink roses.

“It's just the way I dreamed,” I breathed. Mark hugged me, and gave me a warm, sloppy, husband-of- fifteen-years kiss. “I'll get the luggage.”

As Mark, ducking his six foot two height through the doorway, went back up the path, I moved towards what must be the kitchen. Bright with the late afternoon sun, everything gleamed with polished copper. Modern appliances were matched with antique looking wooden cupboards, an over sized copper range hood hung over the large iron stove that was flanked by a small fruit-wood table with a copper lazy Susan with a bowl of strawberries and a pot of cream, left by the owner as a gift, I surmised.  A gray stone floor which was cheered with a large multicolored rag rug with accents of polished copper tiles inlay within the stone.

As I moved over to the window, I notice that the sink was a traditional hammered copper farmhouse sink – my favorite. So warm and comforting, the gleaming surface reflecting the glint of the sun. It fit so beautifully in this lovely cottage, it just felt like the perfect finishing touch. I was going to spend many a happy hour over the next few weeks standing at that copper kitchen sink, looking out of the open window onto the voluptuous garden, in my own private English country cottage. It was going to be the very best holiday ever.