MM #156: Simple Pleasures - Home and Abroad

One of the joys of returning to the UK, or to a place often visited, is re-experiencing the simple things - foods, sites, memories.

I have written a similar post in the past (March 22, 2020), but you'll forgive me for celebrating these uncomplicated moments (again).

A visit to Greggs for baked goods.

Strolling Hardwick Park with Spousal Unit and my in-laws.

English candy.

English breakfast (but not quite a "full"). The traditional full English breakfast includes bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast or fried bread and sausages.  Black pudding and baked beans are also often included.

Mooching around Durham.

It was a few days before Halloween, and these costumed characters gave candy to kids and posed for pictures.

Lunch at Vennel's Cafe in Durham.

Over 30 years ago, Spousal Unit proposed to me on the grounds of Durham Cathedral.  This year, in light of the recent engagement of #1 Daughter and The Boyfriend, it was an especially poignant experience to re-enact our moment.  I said "yes", again!

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We have been back in Montana for 2 weeks, and life here has its treasures as well.

Dear Neighbor Friend was cleaning out a bookcase, and offered me some children's books - that was a no brainer.  When I was younger, I dreamed of writing children's books; I am entranced by the art work and amused by the content.  What better way to spend a Saturday morning than reading them, along with my stuffed animal friends?

Fresh eggs from Dear Neighbor Friend.  (Do you sense a theme here?)

Pumpkin roll that we purchased from her grandkids in support of school fundraising.  Does it get any sweeter than that?

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Also linking to Wandering Camera this week.  Check out these other photo and art/creative themed posts!  Wandering Camera – Nearby Adventures – InkTorrents Graphics

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 #155: The Rolling Hills are Calling

The pandemic has written many stories of loss, of cancelled plans, of isolation.  I can only hope that the sequels contain joyous reunions, and adventures that were all the sweeter for the waiting.  It was certainly true in our case, as we traveled to the UK for the first time in two years, and were clasped in tight hugs by my in-laws upon emerging from immigration at the airport.  For the next two weeks, we indulged in all that we had missed ... Spousal Unit's childhood home, pork pies, the generous hospitality of his parents, British beer, pub food, outings with friends and our beloved walks through the countryside.  How fitting it was to find this sign along one of the dry stone walls. 

The UK is the 51st most densely populated country on earth, 8 times more so than the US.  And yet, you can easily find green spaces.  A trip "home" is never complete for me without a walk through Gypsy Lauren and past the Bunny Banks, a mixture of woods and rolling farm fields where Spousal Unit might have gotten up to the occasional mischief (see picture above).  I was delighted to see these dahlias brightening a home garden within the village.

My in-laws are avid gardeners, nourishing vegetables and flowers in the allotments directly across the street from their house.  We can always count on fresh vegetables for dinner.  These are just a couple of the carrots we savored during our visit.

On our fourth day in country, we drove to Leyburn, hoping that the weather would hold while we explored the Leyburn Shawl, a remarkable limestone terrace.  The name "Shawl" could possibly have come from "shalle", a local derivation of the Vikings "scali" meaning huts or dwellings.  Other historians suggest it is an abbreviation of "shaw-hill", "shaw" meaning a wood.  You may prefer the alternative explanation written below - probably not historically accurate, but far more romantic!

(you can click on the image to enlarge)

This rocky scar is often mentioned in local history books as the route taken by Mary Queen of Scots while making an unsuccessful attempt to escape her imprisonment in Bolton Castle 1586-9.  Legend tells us she dropped her shawl during her flight and hence the name of this formation.

The limestone terrace extends almost unbroken for two miles, gradually rising to 870 feet above sea level.  At this point, the limestone is about 60 feet thick, forming a very striking escarpment overlooking Wensleydale.

As we left the escarpment and descended to the valley floor, we passed this smokestack.  Despite a little sleuthing on the Internet, I have not been able to learn anything about it.

We had neared the midway point on our walk, and paused for coffee from Dad's flask, and assorted snacks.

As we left the grounds of the Bolton Estate, we entered the village of Wensley.  Despite the chance of rain and cooler temperatures, we took advantage of the covered part of the outdoor patio at the Three Horseshoes pub for an adult beverage.  Nearby, the grim skies lent a distinctly Bronte air to this church and its graveyard.

Two minutes further on, this garden delivered us from the gray.  I stood on the pavement, snapping macro shots, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a gentleman swinging a set of keys that promptly unlocked the narrow gate to - you guessed it - the garden!  

"May I come in and look more closely at your beautiful flowers?" I asked.  Well, no gardener can resist that opening!!!  We stood just inside the gate, immediately at ease as happens with people who share deep interests in common.  I was aware that I was holding up my fellow walkers, so after some minutes of discussing the history of his garden, the scourge of climate change and his passion for dahlias, I excused myself and took micro shots with some assistance from Spousal Unit.  What a find!

The second half of the walk took us through the fields we had observed from the escarpment above.  

Stone walls and hedges marked our progress, and autumn berries promised food sources for birds and squirrels to store up winter reserves.

As we reached the final uphill section to return to Leyburn, this barn anchored a corner of the field.  I wondered about the hands that had laid the stones, and painstakingly placed the slates on the roof.  Hands that squeezed a living from the land, creased hands that passed the legacy onto younger, softer hands.  Did they know the gift they would give to those of us just passing through, those of us answering the call of the rolling hills?

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 #154: The Engagement

Gray skies and spots of rain greeted our fourth day in New Mexico.  Not auspicious when our plan included viewing petroglyphs and soaking at an outdoor spa!  Nevertheless, internally chanting one of our family mottos -- do not stray from the quest -- we proceeded, fortified by blueberry pancakes a la Head Chef.   

The winding blacktop country road that led to the petroglyph trailhead follows an ancient route.  It began as a footpath between thriving Native American villages strung along the Santa Fe River.  Images carved into the rock cliffs watched over the villages and their visitors.

In the 16th century, the road became a branch of a colonial wagon road, El Camino Real De Tierra Adentro, the "Royal Road of the Interior".  This road was the earliest Euro-American trade route in the United States.  It tied Spain's colonial capital at Mexico City to its northern frontier in distant New Mexico.  El Camino Real was part of Spain's global network of roads and maritime routes.  El Rancho de las Galandrinas, two miles south of here, was the last paraje - a campground or resting place - that travelers used before they reached the colonial capital of Santa Fe, 15 miles upriver.

Under a slight drizzle, we followed the footpath and clambered over slick rocks to the ridge.  Right or left?  A scramble to the right yielded no petroglyphs, so we reversed course and found the ones in the mosaic below.  If the weather had been more favorable, I suspect we would have explored more thoroughly.

On the return to the car, I noticed some wilted leaves among the brush.  On further inspection, I concluded it was some sort of squash.  I know that squash is one of the "Three Sisters" (squash, maize (corn) and beans), the foundation of Ancestral Pueblo people's diet, but is this plant growing naturally, or something that was planted this year?  I saw several plants in the vicinity, but nothing to solve the mystery.

A short distance down the road, we parked at the Ojo Sante Fe Spa, ready for a relaxing afternoon.   For hundreds of years, travelers and seekers have journeyed to spring-fed waters for respite and healing.

Today, the spa is a refuge from the modern world, nestled amidst a lush 77 acres in Northern New Mexico's high desert.

We all relished the benefits of hydrotherapy in the thermal pools, and #1 Daughter and I also took advantage of the spa for massages.  Utter relaxation.

That evening, The Boyfriend asked that we visit the Cross of the Martyrs, renowned for its sweeping Santa Fe views from a hilltop park reached by a path lined with city history plaques.  #1 Son and I dutifully read the signs, while Spousal Unit, The Boyfriend and #1 Daughter went ahead to the viewing point.  When we reached them, I strolled past and was using a bush as a photographic foreground for the sunset.  I overheard The Boyfriend ask Spousal Unit to take a picture of them with the sunset in the background.  I could certainly see why.

Imagine my surprise when, a few moments later, he asked me to take pictures.  No questions asked, I took his phone and began to line up the shot when he got down on one knee.  What!?!?!  It was all I could do to keep my hands from shaking and my eyes from crying as I snapped away, doing my best to capture this meaningful, significant event.  

A handful of witnesses clapped as #1 Daughter said "Yes!" and The Boyfriend slipped the ring on her finger.   A couple of ladies offered to take pictures of the family, and we gratefully accepted.  Of all the snaps they made, I love the genuine nature of this one -- I still laugh every time I see it, and I get a little teary with joy, recalling this treasured moment.

Later, over dinner, The Boyfriend would recall the minutes leading up to his proposal.  His heart was about to pop out of his chest, while #1 Son and I leisurely read the historical information.  And I was shooting a picture of a bush, of all things, while he was trying to get me, the better photographer, to focus on what was about to happen.  Oh my!  And this is how wonderful family stories, ones that get handed down and told repeatedly, are made!

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 #153: The Village of Tyuonyi

For many visitors to New Mexico, the artifacts of the Ancestral Pueblo people inspire imagination, and perhaps none more so than the remnants of cliff dwellings found throughout the Southwest.  On our second day in Santa Fe, we toured Bandelier National Monument, named for the self-taught anthropologist and historian Adolph F.A. Bandelier.  Long before he first viewed ancestral homes in Frijoles Canyon in 1880, the Pueblo people had thrived among the sheer cliffs and year-round stream, constructing a village and utilizing distinctive cave-room architecture. 

They were farmers who grew maize (corn), beans and squash.  They supplemented their diet with native plants and by hunting deer, rabbits, other mammals and birds.  

As we looked down into the valley from some of the cliff dwellings, we saw several deer grazing near the ruins of the village of Tyuonyi (QU-weh-nee).

Archeological surveys show at least 3,000 sites in Bandelier, but not all were inhabited at the same time.  For generations these people lived in small, scattered settlements of perhaps one or two families each.  As the population grew, people began coming together in larger groups, and, by the mid-1200s, villages often included as many as 40 rooms.  In the following 250 years, fewer and larger villages were established, with some exceeding 400 rooms.  In Bandelier, the villages of Tyuonyi and Tsankawi (SAN-kuh-wee) exemplify this period.

If you look closely at the rendering above, you will notice dwellings nestled snugly against the cliff wall.  Today, you can still see the remains of these homes.  Long House is an 800-foot stretch of adjoining, multi-storied stone homes with hand-carved caves (cavates) as back rooms. 

I was fascinated by the ladders located throughout the site, which gain visitors access to the caves, many of them featuring carved-out cooking spaces and benches.  But the most amazing dwelling came at the end of the trail.  140 feet above the floor of Frijoles Canyon, the Alcove House was once home to approximately 25 Ancestral Pueblo people.   Inside the alcove today are the viga holes (where the beams were inserted), niches of former homes and a reconstructed kiva.

Four separate ladders were required to ascend the 140 feet.  You would want to be sure you had done everything you needed to before retiring for the night, lest you have to navigate those ladders by starlight!!!

No translatable records existed before the Spanish colonized New Mexico, but in their oral traditions today, Pueblo people remember the places where their ancestors lived.  The Pueblos of Cochiti, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara and Zuni have declared their strong ties to Bandelier.  Representatives from these Pueblos work closely with park staff to make decisions affecting their ancestral homelands.  "Spiritually, our ancestors still live here at Bandelier.  You see reminders of their presence here - their homes, their kivas, and their petroglyphs.  As you walk in their footsteps, value the earth beneath you and show everything the same respect we do when we re-visit this sacred place."  Affiliated Pueblo Committee

While I had hoped to find a souvenir with the logo, the gift shop did not carry many such items apart from this pin that #1 Son added to his pin collection.  I opted for these spectacular ceramic coasters.  I will remember this place with a sense of wonderment and awe.

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