Mosaic Monday #173: Cleaning out the Leftovers

Just three days remain until our flights to the UK, so it's high time to clean out the fridge, literally and figuratively!  I am boxing up last year's October/November visit with this buffet of leftover photos.  Bon Appetit! (And yes, there's more than food!) 

On our last night in Skipton, we ventured to The Royal Shepherd, the only pub in the country with this name.  It is thought to have been named after George III at the beginning of the 19th Century.  He was nicknamed Farmer George after creating model farms at Windsor, and The Royal Shepherd was named in his honor in keeping with Skipton's agricultural and sheep farming connections.

The food was plentiful and delicious.

A vacation is not complete without a little retail therapy, so we had a thorough look 'round the shops in Skipton, dodging the rain showers as we did so.  The Craven Court Shopping Centre, being enclosed, was ideal for this type of weather, and it also featured a handful of quirky stores that I adored. (And the architecture, as you can see below, was an attraction in its own right.)

I bought a necklace, and a new case for my glasses.

All this shopping made us hungry; we opted for the Three Sheep since Spousal Unit and I had eaten there on a previous trip and remembered the quality of the food.  We were not disappointed!  Three of us ordered the Ploughman's (shown below).  A Ploughman's lunch is a cold meal based around bread, cheese, and fresh or pickled onions, usually accompanied by butter and "pickle", which in Britain denotes a chutney-like condiment.  I believe this is the best Ploughman's I have ever had the pleasure of consuming!

On our way back to the car, we passed through Skipton Castle Woods, which I also wrote about previously.  Given the rainfall in the preceding week, the stream was voluminous and the waterfalls a sight to see.  Check out the videos!

It warmed my heart to see my in-laws strolling arm-in-arm; I suspect they were holding on to each other to keep from slipping on the mud!

With love - I ask you to sit here and enjoy nature

With love - I ask you to listen to the trees

With love - I hope you find peace and contentment here

            Sharon Elizabeth Kemp  (from the plaque on the bench)

At the cottage, we played Mexican Train.  And earlier in the day, my mother-in-law had discovered this cupboard on the landing of the stairs - look what was hiding inside!

 

Sometimes it's the little things that get my attention, such as the snail and the mushroom in the collage below.  In the end, I love the sights we see and the history we learn when we visit my in-laws.  But the most important aspect is investing time with them, and being with my dear Spousal Unit, free of the perceived duties at home.  United Kingdom, here we come!

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. Tuesday (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 #162: 2021 - That's a Wrap!

Thirty minutes to midnight on December 31, and I have been pondering the year that was 2021.  How to capture 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days?  12 favorite posts?  Key accomplishments?  The best photos of the year?  Or perhaps a focus on loose ends?  Resolutions for the New Year?  So many options!

The temptation to make a matrix is almost overwhelming, but it is possible to over-engineer these things!!  So, let's just go and see how it develops!

Our year was filled with many blessings, and I can think of no better way to start this than to give thanks for my rock, my partner in crime, the guy who puts up with my many foibles with a knowing grin.  2021 marked 30 years of marriage, and the adventures continue - hiking, skiing, camping, traveling.  

After 2 years' absence, we finally returned to the UK and, with great relief and joy, were reunited with my in-laws.  Weekly video chats are better than a phone call or no communication at all, but hardly substitute for a full-on body hug at the airport!  We made up for lost time, walking in the countryside, visiting our old haunts, and a week-long getaway to the Skipton area.  I know I shed a tear or two, watching my in-laws stroll arm in arm in the woods near Skipton Castle.

Together with Man with Hat, I logged 105 miles of hiking, including three back-country camping trips.  Trust me when I say it was downright difficult to choose one picture that represents the beauty, solitude and glory of Montana.  In the end, I chose a photo that was taken by my nephew the day before we started our epic back-country camping trip in the Belly River.  The picture below is in Glacier National Park - Hidden Lake with Bearhat Mountain in the background.

Did I mention 2021 was filled with blessings?  In early August, #1 Son received the long-awaited news: he landed a job, a nuclear engineering position within the Idaho National Laboratory.  I jumped up and down for joy; he has been in job search mode since May 2020, and all of us were thrilled for him that his patience and perseverance paid off!  On December 21, just in time for Christmas, he was informed that his security clearance came through and that he would start work on January 17.  Praise God!

It is inevitable, with adult children, that they will develop lives of their own, and family vacations get more challenging to arrange.  So, we jumped on the chance to be together in Santa Fe in October.  Each of us had our favorite aspect of the trip - Bandelier National Monument for Spousal Unit and me, Los Alamos for #1 Son, Mexican food almost every night for The Boyfriend.

But I think it is safe to say that the trip will be forever remembered as the site of The Engagement!

2021 was not all wine and roses.  On April 28, my Mom went to heaven.  I was so fortunate to spend time with her a couple of weeks before she died, and it was cathartic to write this post in her memory.  Since then, she often crosses my mind.    I miss her, and it makes me sad that she won't be here to see #1 Daughter get married.  Mom, I love you, and I take some consolation in knowing you are watching over all of us!

One of my brothers had a heart attack in November, and I traveled to Ohio to visit him in the hospital.  He is home now, but has a long road to recovery.  Maybe it's an inescapable aspect of getting older, or maybe it is down to COVID, but it seems we hear more frequently about friends and family with serious illnesses, or worse.  As I wrote in my December 5 post, "Life is not simple, or predictable.  At any moment, life can turn upside down.  I can't take any pleasure in the fact that it's someone else who is in the hospital, but I can count my blessings every day."

With that in mind, I turn my attention to 2022.  How will I make the most of this year that lies in front of me like freshly fallen snow, untracked and ready to be explored?  Some things are given, such as reveling in time with my Dear Neighbor Friend - skiing, walking, kayaking or chit-chat over a coffee. 

I will probably do some cross-stitch.  At last count, I have one project underway and at least six others to choose from!   I also hope to try my hand at Spanish Blackwork.

I will continue volunteering - the 63rd Whitefish Winter Carnival kicks off formally next weekend.  You'll also find me at the North Valley Food Bank, the Whitefish Historical Museum and serving as co-leader of the Flathead Chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby!

You can be sure I will be outdoors, whether it is in the garden, hiking or kayaking.  Who knows what new critters we will see?  Each year we get a few surprises, such as the pygmy owl that crashed into our windows in June (and survived). 

We are already planning travel for this year - beginning with a late February ski vacation/visit to my brother and sister-in-law in Utah (and we will pop in to see #1 Son on the way down and back).  In the Spring, we will fly to the UK, partly to mark the 61st wedding anniversary of my in-laws in April!!  After that, avoiding most of the "mud season" in Montana, we hope to finally complete the long-awaited family scuba vacation to Grand Cayman - we should have been there in May 2020 to celebrate the college graduation of #1 Son.    

Sounds busy, doesn't it?  Of course, contemplating a New Year is not just about WHAT we plan to do, but HOW we plan to do it.  I thumbed through my prayer journal from the last 12 months, and the following words spoke to me: gratitude, faith, understanding, "do not be afraid", forgiveness, mercy, compassion, patience, discernment, good cheer, encouragement, letting go.  A tall order, to be sure.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."  LEO BUSCAGLIA

"If the will to walk is really present, God is pleased even with your stumbles."  C.S. LEWIS

 

I hope and pray that, together, we can experience joy, thankfulness, compassion and good health throughout 2022.  Happy New Year to you and yours!

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. Tuesday (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

Could it be April Fools' Day?

Do you feel you're living in a dream?  I keep hoping I will wake up and no-one will know what I am talking about.  

Or maybe this is the most sophisticated April Fools' joke anyone has ever pulled.  If only that were true.

We've all resorted to COVID-19 humor to pass the time and bring some levity to the otherwise horror-movie scenario.  Today I am doing my part to contribute distraction by pulling from my archives and linking up with my blogging buddies.  Please visit these linky parties, and maybe in the comments below, you can tell us about the best April Fools' joke you ever performed (or were subject to).  

*****

March 30, 2020

LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color hosts I Like Thursday, and don't we all need some positives right now?  Head on over there and you're sure to find something inspirational.  I just cried my heart out at her 3/29 post featuring the "For Good" duet by Kristin Chenoweth and Rachel Levy.  It's a perfect tribute to what many of us bloggers mean to each other.  This post covers many of my "likes", from Montana sights to critters to food.  Enjoy!

Amazing Crepes Restaurant - March 2019

I've said before I am motivated by food.  It just brings me bliss. I have no doubt that it springs from the delectable meals prepared by Head Chef every day.  Having said that, I am looking forward to dining out.  Being served.  Enjoying a cocktail I don't make at home.  Feeling the vibe of other people, as laughter and conversation ebbs and flows.  This longing came over me as I looked back at some of my restaurant meal photos - something we took for granted not so long ago.  Check out Friday Bliss, hosted by Riitta, to see what bliss means for some other blogging friends.

Spotted Bear Distillery - March 2019

Red Columbine - May 31, 2019

The advent of April prompted me to pull out my gardening journal, and my plans for spring planting that were developed six months ago.  With that came the sudden realization that I should be sowing Columbine seeds soon.  The official guidance recommends sowing on top of raked soil 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost.  We live in Hardiness Zone 5a, and its average date of last frost is April 15.  Yikes!  I need to get moving.  And wouldn't you know, the next day I woke up to an inch of snow?  So, this is a Columbine picture from last spring; you can find more current flower photos if you link to Floral Friday Fotos.

Last May, I was helping my Dear Neighbor Friend with some of her students, and I had some spare time before one of the sessions.  I recall that it was a glorious spring day; I was drawn to walk the neighborhood around the school, and I made a terrific discovery.  The East Side Historic District of Kalispell is in the National Register of Historic Places!  It features no less than 74 buildings, mostly homes, each one sporting its own plaque with a detailed description of the building and its history.  I photographed nine homes that day, which are worthy of their own post sometime.  For right now, I will show you my favorite and link up with Betty at My Corner of the World, who is making the world a smaller place one week at a time!

McIntosh House - Queen Anne style built in 1894

Animals are never far from my mind since we live in the woods.  I have only to look out the window and I will see some sort of wildlife, most commonly birds and deer.  A couple of weeks ago, I offered to collect the trail cam disks for one of my neighbors, and I am sharing just a few of the resulting pictures in this post.  To put some other "wild" into your life, pop on over to Saturday's Critters, hosted by Eileen.

Mr. Coyote out for a stroll

Father shows Son the ropes

Not sure if the turkeys think of the driveway as a runway or a red carpet, but they sure like to strut their stuff!

You might not be a flower person, or have access to wildlife, but everyone can see the sky.  Be it blue or gray, dotted with clouds or studded with stars, the sky has been a fascination for man through the millennia, so it is no surprise to me that Skywatch has a multitude of participants every week.  I have been saving this picture from our visit to Skipton Castle Woods back in October, and I think this is the time to let it fly!  Be sure to look heavenward over at Skywatch!

We are cat lovers in this house, so I never need an excuse to visit Brian's Home.  Dolly, Simon, Zoe, Seal and Brian are always up to something, and it is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.  (It may be a wry knowing smile, like "yep, my cat does THAT too!")  In this case, we are joining Thankful Thursday, because I am particularly happy this week to be the lucky recipient of the 2020 Little Bird Calendar from Sylvia.  Thanks again, Sylvia!

I feel better the minute I look at this charming little birdie!

Optimistic we will have a baseball season!

Tom the Backroads Traveller has been a faithful participant in Mosaic Monday, often linking up twice.  Thanks, buddy!  He also hosts entertaining linky parties such as the Barn Collective, Tuesday's Treasures and Willy Nilly Friday, which I am joining this week.  Just as the title implies, you can post anything!  If you are in a willy-nilly mood, or WANT to be spontaneous, check it out! The ideal opportunity to show you some murals that were outside the American Sign Museum, which I wrote about here. 

Hopefully you have found some diversion with my post today.  I will leave you with a final mural.  The future is out there waiting for us.  Have faith.  Show a little kindness to someone who needs it today.  Say a prayer for the health professionals who are putting their lives on the line.  Until next time!

Mosaic Monday #68: 15 Miles on a Skipton Canal

A market town is a settlement that obtained the right

in the Middle Ages to host markets, which distinguished

it from a village or city.

As many times as I have traveled in Northeast England, I am still pleasantly surprised we can locate new places to explore.  This post is about one of those spots, and continues the documentation of our visit to the UK in October 2019 (see previous posts here, here, and here).  On a glorious autumn day, our destination was Skipton, a market town in North Yorkshire that is only 90 minutes from my in-laws' house.  Despite its proximity, this was a first visit even for Spousal Unit!  

We began with Skipton Castle, built in 1090 as a wooden motte-and-bailey, and strengthened with a stone keep in the 12th century to repel attacks from the Kingdom of Scotland.  The Castle elevated Skipton from a poor dependent village, and its protection attracted families to the area.  The Castle is now one of the most complete and best preserved medieval castles in England.

We were greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable docent just under the entry to the castle.  He explained the self-guided tour, and sent us on our way.  Immediately, we were struck by the sweep of the grounds leading to the central castle, and the towering beech trees clothed in fall colors.

Shortly, we entered a Tudor courtyard, the Conduit Court, which contains a yew tree, reputedly planted by Lady Anne Clifford in 1659.  Yes, that means it is 361 years old!  I have to say this is the first castle I have seen (and I have visited many) that has a tree growing in the middle of it!

The castle contains no furniture, and on this autumn day, it was easy to imagine how drafty and cold it must have been back in the day.  No surprise, then, that each room had its own fireplace, including this oversized beast in the banquet hall.

Most castles stand on hilltops or perch on rocky outcroppings, chosen for their defensive properties.  In the modern day, this translates into fine views in all directions, particularly since no skyscrapers rise into the sky to block the vistas.

In 1645, the Castle was "slighted" when it was taken by Parliament.  Slighting is the deliberate damage of a building; in this case, the walls were shortened, disabling the height advantage and the means for the Castle to fire cannon.  Lady Anne soon gained permission from Oliver Cromwell to rebuild - on condition that the walls were weaker and the roof unable to bear the weight of the cannon.  In the picture at left, her new wall can be seen on top of the "slighted" original.  She is said to have given Skipton special care because it was her birthplace.

Under the protective gaze of the Castle, Skipton became a prosperous market town, trading sheep and woolen goods; its name derives from the old English sceap (sheep) and tun (town).

Having thoroughly explored the Castle and grounds, our rumbling tummies sent us in search of a tea shop.  We soon located The Three Sheep - its bustling atmosphere suggested good food could be found within.  How right we were!

Fortified once again, we set off to explore the town.  During one of the periods when we lived in the UK, our house was near a canal system, and I fell in love with the walkways that always parallel the waterways.  So it was deeply appealing to me when I learned that Skipton has an extensive set of canals.  We encountered this map and used it to guide our wandering feet for the next few hours.

As we returned to the town center, we found a canal boat waiting to get through a bridge.  Check out this video - after some initial difficulty, the bridge was opened.  You may be surprised how it works!

No visit to a UK town is complete without stopping in at least one ancient church.  This day, our outing led us to Holy Trinity, a church that has stood at the top of the High Street for more than 6 centuries.

The magnificent oak choir screen dates from about 1533 and may have originated from Bolton Priory.

Upper left: Altar with Great East Window - depicts the crucifixion of Jesus

Lower left: the Clifford Tombs - this structure, along with a vault below the altar, contains the remains of

12 members of the Clifford family

Upon leaving the church, we briefly re-connected with the canal to gain entry to Skipton Castle Woods.

We had taken the above picture of the map in the car park when we first arrived, and it was a handy reference as we sauntered through the Woods back to our vehicle.

This wonderful, rare, ancient woodland has been a feature of the landscape for at least 1000 years.  It was once part of Old Park, a great medieval hunting forest.

Rich hunting, fishing, timber and an easy to defend location made this an ideal place for Norman baron Robert De Romille to build his castle 900 years ago.

Fast forward to the 1700s and the wood helped power Skipton's industrial revolution, supplying building stone, timber and water to the mills nearby, all aided by the newly built canal network.

Eller Beck

In the 19th century, Skipton emerged as a small mill town connected to the major cities by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.  One of the oldest mills in North Yorkshire, High Corn Mill, is powered by the waters of Eller Beck, and dates to 1310 when it was owned by Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford.

The town's economy shifted to tourism in the 20th century, aided by its historic architecture and proximity to the Yorkshire Dales.  After our day-long tour, we can certainly appreciate the attraction and charms of Skipton.  

In fact, as we lingered over coffee and dessert in a nearby village, we made a declaration that we would return for a longer stay on our next trip to the UK.  Watch this space!

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