No Laughing Matter

An escape to the countryside sparked a new idea for the McDermott family’s own home.

WORDS by PAT MCDERMOTT

A few years ago, on a driving trip through England, I caught sight of a ‘picture perfect’ cottage. “Stop here, stop here!” I shouted. The MOTH (Man Of The House) dutifully slammed on the brakes and pulled over. Our Budget rental car squealed to a halt on the edge of a deep ditch with a chorus of blaring horns from behind us on the winding country lane. We were a few kilometres short of the charming wee village of Grimley on the Severn, where we planned to spend the night. The MOTH waved apologetically, and repeatedly, as a cranky cavalcade of lorries, school buses, cars and caravans grumbled by. Children on the bus stuck out their tongues on the way past. “Very ‘un-British’,” I sniffed. “But you’d get that from…

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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2022

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