When Julia (my English friend and host when visiting the UK) and I discussed what we should do with our time in the Cotswolds, we frequently kicked around the possibility of visiting Jeremy Clarkson’s concerns – The Farmer’s Dog Pub and Diddly Squat Farm Shop.  Both of us are fans of the show, and we were going to be right in that neck of the woods.  Our only hesitation was the tourist attraction factor.  Neither of us wanted to wait in lines and mingle in crowds, but we kept it as an option. (Before I get further into our visit, let me add a disclaimer.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Jeremy on his journey into farming, documented on Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime.  There are some beautiful moments on the show that celebrate hard work, productivity, and the miracle of nature, champion the plight of the family farm, and explore

You can read my 2026 Shelling Diaries Part One HERE and Part Two HERE. Jeff jokingly said we should bring shovels to dig in the whelk graveyard, but then he actually found some decent sand shovels in the garage of our rental house, so it wasn’t really a joke anymore.  We were going to visit that spot again and, this time, we were going to do some serious shelling. The morning was brisk, in the low 50s, so we all bundled up, and I wore my wool socks and wellies.  Packing the boots was a last-minute decision based on last year, when I thought I might get hypothermia walking barefoot on the beach.  Last year, we were at Isle of Palms during an unseasonably cold stretch, but I was not prepared for it.  All I had were swim leggings and tunics, linen dresses, and leggings.  I was cold most of

While we’ve all been getting lots of steps from walking on the beach. Jeff has been the grand champion with over 24,000 steps each day. (I’ve been clocking in 15,000-20,000.)  Since he’s been covering so much ground, we asked him to do some shell reconnaissance for us.  He found some gray olives and whelks for me (he’s redeemed himself from his traitorous act earlier in the week ), and some pink whelks for my mom, but he also found a bountiful stretch of beach we might want to drive to. I have walked that stretch before, when I stayed at Wild Dunes, but there wasn’t much of interest when I made the trek.  This time, though, Jeff said there were a bunch of shells collected around an area where large rocks were arranged to act as a retaining wall to prevent further beach erosion and protect some cottages at risk.