MM #52: A Few of My Favorite Things

(to be sung to the tune of My Favorite Things, made famous by Julie Andrews)

Sheep on the hillside and grouse on the moor
Pretty carved pumpkins light up the front door
Time with the family, it's always a fling
These are a few of my favorite things

Ponies at the seashore, ice cream to boot
Hiking the footpaths, do we know the route?
Parsnips and leeks, the garden it brings
These are a few of my favorite things

Mushrooms are popping all over the place
Old country barns that fall down with grace
Wine at the pub, a drink fit for kings
These are a few of my favorite things




Yes, we have been in the UK for nearly two weeks, and most of the activities I hoped for have come to pass.  Spousal Unit and I walked the footpaths near Reeth, and although we technically lost our way, it did not diminish our enjoyment one iota.  The River Swale punctuated our walk, as we followed a loop that began and ended near the river.

The Reeth Swing Bridge.  The original bridge, which stood for 80 years,

was destroyed in a flood in September 2000.  The current bridge was

completed in 2002 and perfectly replicated the original.

As we climbed higher on the moor, the classic view of farm fields in a patchwork formed by dry stone walls lay before us. 

Red grouse rose regularly from the heather, winging away with their characteristic call.

Look closely - a grouse is standing in the water

I will never tire of these moments; I stand above the valley, attempting to soak the vista into my very bones.

Top: a grouse butt is typically a stone structure used to conceal hunters

Time with family has included days out and relaxation at home.  Our customary trip to the seaside town of Whitby offered an extra bonus since it was also Goth Weekend, which drew scads of visitors in costumes ranging from Steampunk to Victorian.  The town was heaving (read: crammed with people), and it was almost impossible to take quality pictures, but perhaps you get the idea with the mosaics below.  We were fortunate to find a restaurant without a long queue; you can't leave Whitby without sampling the fresh fish and chips!

Upper right: Pony rides   Lower right: A section of ruined Whitby Abbey

Lower left: How I feel some days - just kidding!  People used parts

of the ruined Abbey for other structures

Upper left: Jewelry I purchased at the craft fair

Upper right: More Abbey ruins  

Lower left: Never too cold for someone in England to be in the sea 

At home, it's been running, playing Mexican Train, afternoon walks, a bit of stitching and my mother-in-law's tasty home cooking (hence the running and afternoon walks).  

Upper left: English bacon, fried egg and mushrooms.  English bacon is akin to eating thin slices of ham!

Middle left: A leek and carrots from my father-in-law's garden

Bottom left: Pan Haggerty made with the leek and carrots from the garden, plus potatoes and corned beef

Center top: Parsnip still in the garden       Center bottom: Spotted Dick with custard  

Far right: Shepherd's Pie with Carrots, Leeks, Green Beans and Corn

A feeling of deep contentment comes over me when I sit in the front room, working the felt applique on my ornaments, and chatting with my mother-in-law.

To celebrate Halloween, we carved pumpkins using patterns that you can buy in many shops.  The weather was brisk but sunny, so we worked outside.  An ideal autumn day in my sentimental world of traditions.

I will tell you more about our stay in the UK in future posts - you can expect more countryside, and historic buildings.  But as the metaphorical sun begins to set on our getaway, I have saved the best for last to close this entry.  If you read my October 13 post, you'll know that I was hoping to see a hedgehog (as I always do).  Can you believe it?  While we were in Hamburg, my in-laws found two (two!) hedgehogs in their garden, the first time in 40 years!  Check out the videos below.  It may not have been the in-person encounter I wanted, but it was good enough for me.

Due to our return travel, I may be delayed in commenting.  See you then!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #24: No Hurry

All's calm at Lake McDonald - Glacier National Park

In Northwest Montana, this time of year is often referred to as a "shoulder season," a quiet time in between bouts of tourists - those that arrive in winter for skiing/other winter entertainment, and those that flock to the area in summer to visit Glacier National Park.

I find myself in that lull; our employment as Mountain Ambassadors has come to an end for the season, and yet it's too soon for many of our summer activities.  And when presented with ample time, less seems to get done.  "I have plenty of time for that," the thinking goes.

Then I heard this Zac Brown song on the radio.  It captures my sentiment completely.  Jettison the "to do" list, folks, and relish some life in the slow lane.

NO HURRY

Forget the dirty car, bills, cleaning and laundry!

You know my old car needs washing

And the front yard needs a trim

And the telephone keeps ringing

And the bossman knows I know its him

And the bills ain't gonna pay themselves

No matter anyway
'Cause I ain't in no hurry today

Stitching and American Idol by candlelight

There's nothing wrong with an old cane fishing pole

And the smell of early spring

Sit down in a fold-up easy chair 

On a quiet shady river bank

Let the world go on without me

Wouldn't have it any other way

'Cause I ain't in no hurry today

Sweet Peaks Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Neighborhood sky (and more stitchin')

Ain't in no hurry

I'd be a fool now to worry

About all those things I can't change

And the time that I borrow

Can wait till tomorrow

'Cause I ain't in no hurry today

A little night-time reading

More stitchin'

Cocktails at Spotted Bear Distillery

When I must return

To the cold cold ground

Have 'em take their time

When they lay this sinner down

Heaven knows that I ain't perfect

I've raised a little cain

And I plan to raise a whole lot more

Before I hear those angels sing

(Gonna get right with the Lord)

But there'll be hell to pay

Coffee and cake doodles; Bird-watchin' with Maggie the Cat
Clockwise: Ruffed Grouse; American Robin; Turkey; Flicker

But I ain't in no hurry
Ain't in no hurry
Be a fool now to worry
About all those things I can't change
And the time that I borrow
Can wait till tomorrow
'Cause I ain't in no hurry
Ain't in no hurry
Ain't in no hurry today
Songwriters: ZACHRY ALEXANDER BROWN,WYATT DURRETTE,JAMES ALLEN OTTO © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.,REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING



Happy Easter, everyone!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mosaic Monday #6 - We Interrupt This Programming

I'm looking outside at the snow-capped mountains, and I just sealed the envelope on the last of my Christmas cards.  17 days until the red-suited man comes down our chimney, and I probably should be writing a Christmas-themed post.  But the sun is bright, and the skies are blue, and it puts me in the mood to return to summer material.  So here's Chapter 6 of my summer series (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5).

The scene is the south and east sides of Glacier National Park.  The time is mid-July 2018.  The players are Spousal Unit, his parents and me.  To facilitate access to the Park, we are staying two nights in one of the cabooses on the grounds of the Izaak Walton Inn.



(Let's be real -we also chose this lodging 'cause it's just so darn cool.  Who wouldn't want to sleep in a caboose?  When we first arrived in Montana, a friend of ours clued us in about this unique feature of the Inn, and we began to look for an excuse to stay there!  When my brother and his wife visited us in October 2017, they helped us complete our reconnaissance, and the deal was sealed!)

Caboose interior - do you see the black handle in the upper left of 

the picture on the left?  It is positioned next to a narrow set of

steps/shelves - this is how Spousal Unit and I reached the bed

in the cupola of the caboose!  Watch your head!!!

In Marias Pass - yellow penstemon

Our first night in the caboose, we enjoyed beverages on the deck while Cedar Waxwings twittered overhead.  As twilight deepened, we devoured the curry Spousal Unit had cooked up at home - what is it about being outside that increases your appetite?  The next morning, a simple breakfast in the caboose was followed by a day trip to St. Mary's Lake.  Along the way, Highway 2 threads through Marias Pass, which was charted by John Frank Stevens, principal engineer of the Great Northern Railway, in December 1889.  The location of the pass had been rumored for several years beforehand, but it took Stevens and a Flathead Indian guide named Coonsah to discover it.  The pass proved ideal for a railroad, with a valley ranging from one to six miles wide, and at a gentle grade that would not require extensive excavation or rockwork.  When you look at it now, it is hard to imagine that the Pass was so hard to find - it is broad and flat and seems obvious.

Mountains on north edge of Marias Pass

The approach to the St. Mary's Lake entrance to the Park is diametrically different to the topography on the west side of the Park: the land is flat and then is suddenly interrupted by a thrusting mountain range.  This means you can see the mountains from quite a distance.  The wildflowers dance in the space between your car and the peaks, and an occasional fence arcing into the distance appears to point the way.

Trees finally begin to crowd the road and block most sights from view until you reach the edge of St. Mary's Lake.  It was our lucky day to snag a parking spot at the launching point for trails to Baring Falls and Sun Point.

It's odd now to recall that it was a hot day, and it was tempting to dip our toes in the rushing torrent of the falls.  Clouds were piling up on the mountains like a bunch of neglected dust bunnies, but they did not flow into the valley or drop any precipitation.

Left: Man with Hat on the trail to Baring Falls

Middle: Fireweed       Right: Baring Falls

We picnicked near our parking spot, and then a different return route dropped us into a construction zone, where we waited 10 - 15 minutes for a pilot car.  It was a blessing in disguise - right next to us was a rolling meadow with bountiful wildflowers (and some trash - funny how you don't see these things when you are taking a picture).

Can you see the yellow cup in the lower right hand picture?

A hot summer day is not complete without ice cream, so we took advantage of the little shop in East Glacier for some refreshment.  My mother-in-law asked for two scoops, and was shocked at the amount the staffer put in her bowl - almost flowing over (but not more than she could eat)!!!

On our second (last) night at the Inn, we had a beverage in the Flagstop Bar, a classic bar environment on the lower level of the Inn, chock-a-block with historic memorabilia.  Dinner followed on the veranda of the restaurant.  We had a ring-side seat for the flowers in the garden, as well as the Empire Builder Amtrak passenger train, if only it was running on time …  Unfortunately, on this day, the train was significantly delayed and no-one was willing to stay there and wait for it, especially in the dark.  It just means we have to go again!

Mosaic Monday

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Rosthwaite and Buttermere (Showing off a "Small Island" Part 10)

"It is a walk in heaven."

Rosthwaite

So says A. Wainwright, waxing lyrical about Rosthwaite.  Who's A. Wainwright, you ask?  Only the architect of the Coast to Coast Walk in the UK.  And Rosthwaite?  A village nestled in Borrowdale in the Lake District of the UK.  Thoroughly confused?  Then let me start at the beginning.

From Wikipedia: Alfred Wainwright MBE was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator.  His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his hand-written manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the English Lake District.  Among his 40-odd other books is the first guide to the Coast to Coast Walk, a 192-mile long-distance footpath devised by Wainwright which remains popular today.  (From that guide, I drew the quote above.  Yes, we own a copy!)

In reviewing the guide for this post, I was amused to note his dedication: "Dedicated to the second person (unidentifiable as yet) to walk from St. Bees Head to Robin Hood's Bay".  I wonder if it would surprise Mr. Wainwright to know that these days, more than 5,000 people complete the walk every year?  Just imagine the footfalls since the guide was originally published in the Westmorland Gazette in 1973, and since first formally published as a book in 1992.  A whole industry is in place to support Coast to Coast (often abbreviated C2C) walkers - from outfitters that will transport spare clothing and other necessities for pick-up at key points, to farms that welcome campers, and every level of service in between.  Keep in mind that the walk absorbs 12 - 14 days ….

Spousal Unit and I number among the 5,000 that traipsed the C2C in the summer of 2004; we stayed in a different B&B every night, which I think is a rather civilized way to do it.  (It should be noted that my father-in-law has ambled the 192 miles at least twice, and my mother-in-law once.  We followed in fine footsteps!)  If you would like more information about the walk, you can start at this link - or simply go on the web!

And so it is that we often take visitors on short sections of the C2C, especially those that are picturesque and within reach of my-in-laws' house.  Or in this case, a short drive from our B&B in Keswick (see previous posts about this trip to the UK - last summer - with my sister and her husband - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9) .

Middle left: a swimming hole that has hosted our kids on more than one

occasion, as well as one of my nephews

Bottom: Spousal Unit communing with a dry stone wall

On the same day as our visit to Rosthwaite, we sauntered 4.5 miles along the fern-and-moss festooned shores of Buttermere, a scenic lake also found in the Lake District.  We have brought other family guests here, given that the route around the lake is fairly flat, and offers views of fells in every direction - notably the High Stile to the southwest, Robinson to the northeast, Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks to the southeast and Grassmoor to the northwest.

When we are hiking in Montana, Spousal Unit and I often quip "Where is the pub?  Where is the tea shop?" which springs from the quintessential English walk, which always has a tea shop or a pub (or both) at the midpoint of the hike, and certainly at the end.  This day, I was not disappointed when we encountered an ice cream truck halfway through our walk.  I just had to have a '99'.  

The origins of this name for a scoop of vanilla with an inserted flake of chocolate are uncertain.  According to Wikipedia,  one claim has it coined in Portobello, Scotland when Stephen Arcari, a shopkeeper at 99 Portobello High Street, would break a large "Flake" in half and stick it in an ice cream.  Hence the name originated with the address.

Another possibility - Italian ice cream sellers were honoring the final wave of conscripts from the First World War, born in 1899 and referred to as the Boys of '99.  The chocolate flake may have reminded them of the Alpine Regiment's hat, with a long dark feather cocked at an angle.

The Cadbury website says the reason behind the name has been 'lost in the mists of time,' although it also repeats an article from an old Cadbury works paper, which states the name came from the guard of an Italian king which consisted of 99 men, and subsequently "anything really special or first class was known as 
'99' ".  

Well, then - our outing in Rosthwaite and Buttermere was '99', don't you think?

Linking to:

All Seasons

Mosaic Monday

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Sharon's Photo Souvenirs

Skywatch Friday

Wednesday Around the World