After a long journey with very little sleep, Dan and I were finally walking on the stone sidewalks to our little cottage. We turned onto a narrow one-lane street with high stone walls on either side. A little unmarked wooden door was in the middle of the wall and Dan unlocked it with an old-fashioned key. When the door opened I imagined we'd enter into an enclosed space like a garage but instead there was a beautiful courtyard garden. It was such a happy surprise and we climbed all over the stone ledges and looked over the walls at the view of Blenheim palace.

Then we slept and slept and slept, and bathed and bathed and bathed. It was only about 6PM when we'd finished with all that, and we ventured back outside. It was a picture book. Caroling children filled the street with music, and the town was decorated with Christmas trees and white lights. Everything is made of stone. It was the most idyllic Christmas scene either Dan or I had ever seen.

We're absolutely freezing though, the radiators and hot water heater are as old as the cottage, so we're all huddled up in jackets and blankets. There is also an old servant bell system, and Dan keeps buzzing for me all over the house.

Deanna xx