Summer at last!

I LOVE it when the sun shines and it's warm enough to eat outside.

I hope it's going to last!

'Home.'

I've been in Yorkshire, the county which I consider to be my home, in spite of having lived elsewhere for many decades. With every house move we are further away and find the journey increasingly hard. As we are getting slower everyone else seems to be getting faster! We had a bit of Dales weather. Never mind, we have the waterproof trousers, jackets etc.. no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing! Elder daughter joined us for a few days and we had the pleasure of walking the paths that she has known all her life, (initially in a papoose that became rather back-breaking for her parents!)

At Coverham we walked over the bridge and along the little-used road to Caldbergh. Note the peat-stained water. We had peat baths all week! We were never far from the sound of running water with many small becks running down to join the river.

The moss on the stones gives a fair indication of plentiful rainfall, but this old stable door suggests that there might also be enough sunshine from time to time to blister a bit of paint!

I don't recall a year when the wild marguerites were so plentiful. They covered the roadside verges on our journey north and were everywhere in the Dales, growing in every crevase, both sides of the bridges.

The local bridges are lovely structures, spanning the Rivers Cover and Ure.

A beck runs beside our property and if you walk up the beckside you come to this small waterfall. It is one of my favourite places.

A footpath cuts through the fields belonging to the houses on the southern side of the village. It is a lovely walk, although some of the styles are a bit of a challenge. Best to have long legs and no belly!

The travelling blacksmith was at work across the road.

We had a lovely, gossipy catch-up with friends, went to the book group meeting at the local pub and had some good walks. After several days of rain the sun shone and it was glorious. It is always the same when I am packing up to leave!

The planes flew in formation over our house today. What a noise, I heard them long before I saw them in the sky. What a ferocious noise there must have been eighty years ago today.

Half Term

We were on grandparenting duties over the half-term and on dull and damp days were busy with building blocks, drawings, books, puzzles and jigsaws. We FINALLY finished the Where's Wally jigsaw. Never again! On the fine days we went down to the beach, walking, as usual through the tropical garden where the sunshine has brought some of the plants into flower.

There was a stiff enough breeze to keep the kite flyimg well.

The boy went in for a swim before getting down to the serious business of digging and making sandcastles.

With a little bit of help from Grandad.

But the best thing was that we mostly got to just sit and enjoy the scene!