Farnham, Elstead, Shackleford - 4 hours on a bike with my camera

I was awoken this morning by a light knocking on the door, followed by the voice of Mr. Michael Gough-Allen, my gracious host.

"Anyone alive in there?"

I didn't respond, I didn't want to be alive yet.

"Any life?"

I groaned.

"Great! Here's a cup of tea to get you started!"

I was barely alive after a 40 hour stint of consciousness that had taken me across the Atlantic, the English countryside and then some. It was 10am, good time to wake up, but I felt like hell. It must have taken me about 15 minutes just to sit up in the low canvas camp bed that is currently my home. 

I got up and joined a quick trip to the garden center, farm stand and finally the grocery store. Each was an experience in itself.

The garden center was a huge, sprawling complex. Even in the rural-ish villages of England, where everything seems to be just that much smaller, room has been made to accommodate. 

"The British love their gardens," explained Michael as we made our way through a maze of tools and pots. Quick side note, what would be called a "yard" in America is a "garden" here in the UK. Took me a few times of being told to "try in the garden" when searching for cell phone service before I realized that there was no "garden" as I knew it, only grass.

The farm stand was more of a smaller sized grocery store, probably family owned and operated, with densely packed shelves on nearly every wall. The doorways were narrow and the displays littered with curiously worded signs. Here are a couple interesting ones I noticed: 

The grocery store was, well, a grocery store. The one interesting thing I did notice however was a do-it-yourself system unlike anything I have seen in the U.S. It seemed that shoppers would register their information with the store on their initial visit, then pick up a barcode-scanner-mabob at the entrance of the store and basically check themselves out as they went along, scanning each item as they placed it in their basket. Genious? Or customer service nightmare? I suspect the latter.

After returning home, I decided to set out on a bike ride through the surrounding villages and farms. I thought it would be a good chance to familiarize myself with the surroundings and, of course, take some pictures. A few select images follow, more are on flickr if you want to check em out.

Well that's about all for now, I have yet to make a plan for tomorrow but if it doesn't rain I think I'll be taking off earlier on a bike in the opposite direction on the hunt for more pictures. 

Also, here is a better look at where I am staying:

Don't freak out, it's really just the white cottage that is inhabited. The other buildings are currently unoccupied and being used for the storage of farm supplies. Either way, pretty sweet I think.

More to come tomorrow...