Silver Wedding

The fourth of July is celebrated in America as " Independence Day" but in our family it marks the wedding anniversary of Paul and  Michelle . Never more so than this year. Their "Silver Year"  Their 25th Anniversary no less.
So it was that last weekend Sunday 10th July we gathered at " Santos Higham Farm Hotel" for a family reunion and celebration lunch.

The "Lunch" had been postponed from the "official " date in order to allow members of the family to gather from the corners of the globe .

Namely, for Jessica to return from Melbourne, Australia. It was touch and go as even then she only landed in the U.K on Saturday morning.

Gary just makes it in time { stopped to wash his socks !]

 Michelle's brother Stephen from Sussex. Gary and family from Ashby de la zouche and us from north Wales and Pam and Ber from around the corner in Wingerworth. 

How it was  25 years ago ,

And Now !

For us the weather was kind the setting was good and the Lunch  excellent  . 
This Lunch is only one of the several Celebrations Michelle & Paul have planned. Family. Friends, Colleagues.

Where do the years go ?

Now and then

Wonder where we will be in 25 years ?

Michelle made the wonderful cake and did the all the decoration






Around up of the day and some old and some new 

Howard and Meg

Paul and Mchelle

Jessica and Alistair

Paul and Michell

The Happy couple

En Famile

Scotland and the Lakes. Holiday 2011. part the last

Last blog:

  Sunday came with a bright start .So I rose early and stole out to catch the early morning light and explore the photo opportunities .

I was not disappointed I knew from our previous sojourn where the possible vantage points might be .

  And felt well rewarded .


 
Later in the morning we went for a drive around the Lakes heading towards Coniston . On the way [down a narrow lane ] we passed this little jem,it is exactly the kind of house we are looking for on the dendrochronology project albeit in stone  .

 It certainly looks like a Tudor hall house. The gable end appears somewhat weakened by the intrusion of a doorway through the fire place, Notice the blocking of a window . A nice feature is the use of slate 'eyebrows' to help keep the rain from the windows.

The adjacent out buildings appear contemporary and the later farm house shows the continuity of occupation and all very nicely kept.

And so on to our destination, Brantwood the Lakeland home of John Ruskin the Victorian polymath, John Ruskin was born in London on 8 February 1819. He was one of the greatest figures of the Victorian age, poet, artist, critic, social revolutionary and conservationist.

We had a tour of the house and some of the pictures are taken through the windows that Ruskin would have looked out of.

We went to the coffee shop for our elevenses it was here that I espied an intersing looking flan.  What is that I inquired .Why that sir, said she in a Lakeland accent ,is pear and almond . Jean would like that, something unusual. Two slices then, I say . It's quite expensive says the wench £4.50 a slice . What ! Well it does take three days to make the pastry, qhoth she.
I blanche as the thought strikes me .Good job I did not order the 'thousand year old eggs' in the Chinese yesterday then .

Any way I bought a slice , and do you know what, it tasted  just...like three day old pastry.

It was nice to see the old steam boat still plying its trade on the lake and the contrast with the sail boats made an interesting scene.

Moving on . we had a little tour around some more of the Lakes and returned to our base. we were so full of pear &almond flan that we decided to forgo dinner and made do a snack instead. courtesy of a Tesco's meal deal .

Later we went for a an evening stroll and encountered a bevy of brides . whether this was the 'Brides of the Lakes Convention' or Hen Party was uncertain .What was certain was that they were laddettes ,very drunk and very silly . but they were having fun  . I am not sure which one was the 'Lady of the Lake ' but I can see why he kept the sword !

Home tomorrow!

Scotland and the Lakes. Holiday 2011. part IX

Saturday 2:
The town of Boweness is very 'bijou' and clings to the steep hill sides .
Its centre is a sort of cross roads where all of the many restaurants, eating houses, take-away, pubs and clubs coalesce interspersed with b&;b's and hotels of varying sizes.
We  passed through Penrith on our way to Bowness- in- Windermere where we are staying for the weekend. So it seems is the  world his wife and kids ! Shock .Horror.Gasp. There were so many people it was like a swarm of bees clinging to the lakeside. There were bodies all over the verges ,pathways  and any open space that could be found .


It was of course the last days of the half term holiday and was suitably very bright sunny and warm.

People had come to enjoy the Lake and rides on the boats .It was like Dunkirk with lines of people all queued up for their respective trips.

There should be some pictures to illustrate this but it was so crowded it was impossible to stop and take pictures until we had parked the car

Our Accommodation, Laurel cottage it was the old Georgian Grammar School

 and this meant driving around [ no easy task] the highways and byways of Bowness back and forth until It was through this morass of people and narrow streets that we eventually found our hotel and the last parking space in the Lake district.


We were to weary to go out and explore .

It looked like we were in for a very noisy night .

After an enjoyable and pleasant dinner in the restaurant close to the hotel, we went for an eveing stroll. What a contrast  gone were the crowds and only the detritus remained .

There was much activity in the pubs etc but it was all good humoured and lively . By late evening the noise and people seem to have melted away and we had a quiet night.

 Some peaceful scenes on the lake


Tomorrow is another day, as they say, more anon