Time to Head Home

Wednesday, May 16:  Our last morning in the Lake District.  We will catch the 11:45 bus to Windermere for the train back to Manchester.  Tomorrow we fly home.  The air this morning in Grasmere is cool and damp.  I hear birds cooing and calling and an occasional 'baaa'. . . .

Grasmere - Rydal Mount

There was a light mist covering Grasmere when we got up Tuesday morning (May 15th).  The view from our rooftop deck at Heidi's Grasmere Lodge was all that I'd hoped for. . . .

Grasmere - Dove Cottage

In April 1885 nineteen-year-old Beatrix returned to the Lake District with her family for a short stay in Ambleside with a Mrs. Clark at Laurel Villa, now Lakes Lodge.  She mentions in her journal that she drove up Langdale Valley and "Saw also the attempted revival of linen hand-weaving at St. Martin's College, Elterwater, under the superintendence of old Ruskin...."  I mention this to show the contemporary connections of the people whose homes we visited while in the Lake District.  She goes on to write...

"The mother of Mrs. Clark, of this lodging, had the farm at Rydal, and was very familiar with the Wordsworths, particularly the old lady [Wordsworth's sister].  Wordsworth is always referred to as the poet in these parts, and local tradition says Dorothy Wordsworth was the greater poet of the two.  For some years before her death she was subject to fits of madness, which her brother could generally control.  During these, though a pious and sensible lady, she used to swear like a dragoon.  She had a craze for putting her clothes on the fire, and they at least got a fender up to the ceiling.  She left a great many of Wordsworth's furniture and odds and ends, such as a large clothes horse, to Mrs. Clark's mother." 

Besides being mentioned in Beatrix's journal, her connection to William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was through both their desire to preserve the Lake District.  Wordsworth was instrumental in helping to stop the railroad from going any further than Windermere and Beatrix would later work to stop an aeroplane factory from being built at Bowness-on-Windermere where the plan was to use the lake to test hydroplanes.  Grasmere, where Wordsworth would live the last 51 years of his life, would be our base for the next two nights from which to explore the landscape that Wordsworth wrote about. 

Even with that to look forward to I awoke Monday morning at 5:30 with mixed feelings about moving on.  I spent the early hours of last morning in Near Sawery basking in what I saw out my window. . . .

Beatrix Potter Nature Walk

When I left you in my last post we'd just walked the two miles from Hawkshead back to Tower Bank Arms in Near Sawrey.  After freshening up we went down to "our" table for supper.  Tonight they had a lit candle on our table!  Was it because it was Mother's Day or because it was our last night there. . . .

A Day Away - Hawkshead and Ambleside

Saturday, May 12, 5:54 a.m.  Woke to fog blanketing Near Sawrey. . . . .

...And Far Away

We woke up to gray skies Friday morning--the day of Susan Branch's Picnic. . . .

Over the Hills. . .

We'd arrived in Near Sawrey late in the morning, toured Beatrix Potter's Hill Top after having lunch at our inn, Tower Bank Arms, and now were eager to head out on our first "ramble."  But first we must get fortified with Cream Tea at Sawrey House Hotel just down the lane. . . .

This & That - October 2016

October has turned out to be mostly about animals in our yard.  First it was these two bucks that I saw one morning outside my desk window. . . .

Eats Shops and Buildings

Proper punctuation makes all the difference.  I did not eat shops and buildings!  This post is about eating and shopping and the beautiful buildings in Mexico.  And when you're in a foreign country the way you pronounce a word can make all the difference, too.  For instance, Bebe means "it drinks" and bebé means "baby."  Fortunately, Ken knew enough Spanish to get us around and our son and daughter-in-law speak it fluently and were with us on several occasions.  Other times a stranger would help us translate.

Getting around Merida was easy and inexpensive with the readily available cabs.  Understanding how to shop and what to eat was another matter.  I've shown you where we slept in Merida.  Now I'll show you where we ate and shopped, as well as the architecture we passed on the street as we walked to the shops and restaurants.  I've already mentioned we shopped at a Mexico-made guaybera shirt shop the first night we arrived.  We were soon to learn that overly-helpful people were receiving commissions to steer customers to certain shops where the prices were often higher.  My first advice on shopping is look around before you buy so you can compare.  You will see many of the same items in most of the shops or in the street markets like the market set up in the Grand Plaza every Sunday.  You may also want to have a calculator on hand to help you compare the pesos price to dollars.  I was constantly trying to divide the price by 18 (the exchange rate) in my head.   These slippers were  $180 pesos--$10 USD, an easy calculation. . . .

Out and About - October 2015

♫Loreena McKennitt♫

October was filled with family time.  Last month, as you will recall, ended with our mini-family reunion when Ken's older brother and his wife came for a visit.  Their RV camper needed a new engine which meant they'd need to stay an extra week.  Well, as things happen, there was a problem with the installation of the new engine which required an extra two weeks to repair.  Thankfully, they were wonderful to have around. ☺︎ The first week it rained a lot so we went to several used book sales.  Finally, we were able to do some more sightseeing.  We took them to the Rural Heritage Museum. . . .

Julia Child

I recently visited the Food exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History....

     
One of the exhibits was on Julia Child's kitchen.  Here is a cute "Remix" of Julia talking about the art of cooking....
            

My love affair with food ended in my 40's when the object of my love began hanging on to me--you know, the kind of relationship where they attach themselves to you in unhealthy ways--like around your waist and thighs.  Eating became less enjoyable at that point--it was hard to enjoy something that left unwanted results, so it followed that cooking would not be as enjoyable.  That's why I can't get excited about cooking shows and recipe books like so many people can.  However, I greatly admire Julia Child's devotion to excellence and the strides she went to to encourage people to try more interesting dishes.  That's why I wanted to see the exhibit.

I've always been a good cook (according to my family) and enjoyed preparing good tasting, nutritious meals for my family of four guys, but after doing it for 40 years I was more than ready to let my husband take his turn in the kitchen when he retired.  In fact, some weeks he does most of the cooking, especially if you take into consideration the bread making.  Yes, I can hear some of my readers already planning their strategy if I should go before my husband.  But I digress.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the photographs I took of the exhibit.  We were not allowed inside Julia's kitchen, so you will see the glare at times of the glass enclosing it.  If you click on the first photo, it will be enlarged and you can go through the photos as a slideshow....

For more information about the exhibit at the National Museum of American History here:  Food: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000  From there you can find links to blog posts, videos, and websites with more about Julia Child's exhibit.

Bon Appetit!