Lovely holiday weather -

a little sleet, a little snow, some drizzle and an occasional sunny interval. I’m glad I brought gloves and a scarf – and that Wensleydale reminded me that we keep a spare fleece in the back of the car. It lives there for emergencies – I wouldn't normally wear it, as it is in National Geographic’s delightful colours of nappy brown and yellow [a freebie, needless to say]. But it’s an extra layer for when we’re out and fortunately the cottage is lovely and warm.

We did manage a walk before the weather deteriorated. I have written before about the disappearing River Skirfare. It has clearly been a dry winter here because it has disappeared even more than usual.

 

 

 

We were able to walk, on the grass and in the river bed, upstream to the sink hole [where the river disappears into the earth] and beyond.

 

 

We spotted some delightful bijou residences on the  edge of the river – or where the edge of the river used to be. There were about half a dozen of these doorways, of which this was the largest. Not sure who lives there – they seemed big for any of the water animals I can think of, but a bit close to the water for foxes or badgers – but of course you may know better.

 

There are still a few puddles in the river bed, many of which have turned this dramatic browny-red colour. The water here has a lot of iron in it, which is responsible for the colour – although Wensleydale did suggest it was Irn-Bru …

Today we’ve been for a Cheese Experience. I’m glad we went because I learned a lot about how cheese is made, but  won’t bother going again. [There are lots of other places round here to buy Wensleydale – and at home.] As W. said, it was like the Isle of Wight – full of old people. [Why is it that so many people of my generation walk through a door and stop dead on the other side – it drives me demented!]

The forecast for tomorrow is ‘chance of snow’ – I can’t wait!

Home again

after an enjoyable holiday in [you’ve guessed it] Yorkshire. We were very lucky with the weather apart from one very wet day when this -the River Skirfare in April -

 

 

looked like this.

The river bed is usually dry, due to a sink hole upstream, so for it to get this high there must have been a lot of rain. Not that it worried the sheep.

 

However, as it was so wet, I persuaded Wensleydale that we needed to go somewhere with a roof. Like Gawthorpe Hall, home of the Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth collection of textiles – not that that influenced my desire to visit it, of course.  :-^)

It is a lovely house in its own right – I could imagine living there quite happily. And the exhibition is lovely – very useful for C&G students researching either the history of embroidery or foreign embroidery – if you still have to do that in the new version of the course.

We also explored Nidderdale,  because we had discovered that Wensleydale’s great grandfather had been born there - or rather                     here.

Not that the family owned it – neither of us come from families with that sort of money!

Yesterday we were intending to go up to the Royal Parks to cheer on Babybel’s mum, who was running a half marathon. Unfortunately we didn’t quite make it, but we were able to catch up with the successful athlete later – 1 minute inside her predicted time, despite suffering from the after-effects of gastro-enteritis, seems very impressive to me!

Despite his apparent exhaustion, the dog didn’t run the marathon with her.

And Babybel seemed to be thinking about stepping into her daddy’s shoes – although she’ll have to grow a bit before they fit.

I haven't fallen off the planet -

I’ve been on holiday. [This is a long post because my fried A. said she was looking forward to reading what I wrote – so blame her if you get bored!]

The co-grandparents, R&S, had told us about the cottage in the Yorkshire Dales they have been to several times. Wensleydale has had a very busy time governing recently so when the chance to go there came up at short notice we leapt at it.

When we got there we understood why R&S [and Skye, their amazing footballing border Collie] love it so much – this is [part of] the view from the front door. The cottage is in a village of 35 houses up a single track road a looooong way from anywhere.

This is the water supply for the cottage - the water is filtered and irradiated and perfectly safe although it is the colour of over-watered Scotch.

In the photo of the fosse [waterfall] you can just see the end of the footbridge over the river which is at the foot of the garden. From the opposite bank you can see the cottage at the right hand end of this building.

Lovely as it was, we did leave the village on most days. We went to Hawes but it was full of retired holidaymakers [!] so we passed up the Wensleydale Cheese Experience – after all, I have that all the time.

We went to Bolton Castle instead, which was much quieter. It is one of the many castles Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in - an embroiderer, so of course she appears in my magnum opus, the History of British Embroidery.

We followed a school party in but there were only a minibus full and they were better disciplined than the coach parties in Hawes - they didn't mill all over the place or suddenly stop in front of you.

I didn’t explore the castle fully – I don’t like heights or spiral staircases. I do like windows and there were lots of interesting ones, so I photographe

d them while Wensleydale climbed higher. Then we had a cup of tea in front of the log fire in the tea room, and took some photos from the garden of the thunder storm approaching down the dale.

We also went to Fountains Abbey – in fact we liked it so much we went twice. We are National Trust members [it's obligatory for retired teachers, you know] so we got in free – and of course, like most Trust properties it has a very good tea shop. Fruit cake with Black Sheep Ale, anyone?

I was fascinated by the contrast between the ruins of the Abbey and the 19th century church. by William Burges. in the grounds. The church looks fairly plain on the outside but the inside is a little more elaborate.

I think you either love or hate Gothic Revival – I love the intensity of colour and pattern on every surface. Unfortunately I neglected to take a photo of the organ housing made to look like a medieval house, b

ut this is the Lion of Judah. The sun was shining weakly - it

must look magnificent with strong sunlight through those windows.

On the way back from the Abbey we went to Brimham Rocks. Wensleydale remembers going there as a little boy and having a wonderful time climbing around. We were a little more restrained this time but I did take lots of photos. They are natural formations although some look as though they have been carved. This is just a sample - they cover several acres [or hectares if you prefer].

We also visited Skipton and bought cheese in the market - mostly Wensleydale, naturally, but also some called Bowland, which is the local area my grandmother was born. We also visited Skipton Castle -another Mary Queen of Scots connection, and more windows.

I bought some postcards of portraits of former owners of the castle to go in the magnum opus. [You thought I’d finished that, didn’t you?] These were 16th and 17th century residents and their clothing was embroidered, so I had to have them. Plus they were only 20p a time. I also bought a book on the Bayeux Tapestry to add to the three I have already …

We had a very relaxing time but it was good to get home and Quality Control was glad to see us back. [She did have a cat sitter while we were away, my first DIL Ginge who used to own her - thanks, Ginge!] [No, she wasn't christened Ginge.]

We were struck that in Yorkshire the daffodils are still out and, as you can see from the photos, the trees are only just beginning to come into leaf. At home the trees are fully out and our apple trees are in blossom. The weather is pretty much the same though – sunshine interspersed with gloom and occasional rain.