Showing posts with label SotB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SotB. Show all posts
Menoffagin; Last Day SotB
Rounding up the posts on my visit south of the border... (not including all the animal posts that will appear hereafter!)
The hall itself is of the Elizabethan period and, I'm sure, would be worth a visit at some point, but as you know, it is the gardens I greatly enjoy.
We worked our way down to the gate little by little, as you do when parting is bittersweet. Dru caught one last 'selfie' of me...
Saturday morning dawned a little chill and damp, but not enough to prevent Dru from taking me to Levens Hall Gardens. Even if the name is not familiar to you, the images of topiary will surely ring a bell, for you will have almost certainly seen photographs from this place. It is world-famous.
The topiary is not of animals or other plants, but more fantastical - of an Alice In Wonderland quality. First trimmed into the various geometric shapes in the 1690s, using Box and Yew, the topiary remains pretty much unchanged. The height and depth of some of the growth is awe-inspiring, and when you add in the underplantings of some ancient flowering plants, this garden could truly be termed 'enchanting'!
I have five more lovely piccies, but you will see them in a Tuesday post in a few weeks (otherwise this will turn into a default Views post!). Suffice to say we thoroughly enjoyed our early autumn walk through this delightful place, chatting with a few of the other visitors, then dropping into the house bakery, where I purchased some eNORMous cheese scones and a sourdough loaf.
Then we took another short drive to the town of Milnthorpe so that Dru could pick up a parcel from the post office, and we dropped into the local supermarket for some basics like butter and milk. I stocked up just enough to keep me going for a few days, until I could do a full grocery run.
Back at home, we got stuck into those scrumptious scones with a cuppa and combined that with a lateish lunch/early tea arrangement. Dru and Stephen were to attend a wedding at four in the afternoon, so Nobby and I had personal time once again, which was lovely. At seven, I locked the door, and he went to his cage. I heard the carousers return a little before eleven.
Sunday morning was farewell time... We sat around another lingering cuppa and doggy cuddles were had...
There were mutterings of "you can stay longer if you wish", which was most generous (and tempting!), but I really needed to get headed back north as other things were looming and requiring attention.
Without a doubt, I will return to visit them at some point next year. I fired up the battery, and The Grey and I drifted away toward the North Yorkshire moors, taking our time and revelling in the damp and misty moodiness they offer. Teesdale in particular held much appeal, then up through the Northumberland National Park to my reserved parking spot at Corbridge Rugby Club. I had two nights there (in heavy rain), before continuing up the A68 and on to Hawick. Back on home turf!
Menoffuurrringgg...Animal Overdose
Picking up on the recent visit to Nobby and co, and the day out at Westmorland Show. I mentioned sheep... I warned of sheep... There was definitely an overdose of sheep! I am sad that I didn't get to the alpacas and goats. This all gave me the thought that I will have to ensure I am there next year and, what's more, be ready for the physical drain.
Just ever so slightly! There is no doubt that I was in some sort of heaven. Dru said to me several times that I was clearly enjoying myself. It wasn't until she kindly shared all the photos she took of me that I could recognise the change in my own face. This was a day which spoke deeply to my roots...
I hadn't quite realised the impact myself. Being able to talk to a few of the farmers also brought back memories and reminded me how much a part of my DNA this life is. The girl may leave the country, but the country will never leave her.
You see, I am a solitary sort of soul, for the most part. Being among crowds, surrounded by noise, covering a considerable distance, and interacting is definitely a buzz, but it takes its toll.
And boy, did I do some interacting, mainly with the animals, but also quite a few folk. While going around the sheep pens, I met up with Isla, a very enthusiastic Border Collie puppy... she and I had a lot of interaction, and her peeps were quite happy to share her with me. See for yourself - did I come away happy?
Up at the members' marquee, Dru enjoyed looking back over the photos she'd taken, we watched the Driving Assessments, and I met a few more locals... the gentleman you see beside me was a long-time friend of Stephen's dad, and is in his 90s. Fit as a fiddle - and a bit of a flirt!
Following lunch, Dru and I had a visit to the cattle tents. There wasn't quite so much to see there, as the main cattle event was the next day... but there are plenty of photos, and as previously threatened, I'll be sharing them in future posts after the sheep - but here are a few to whet your interest.
By four o'clock, I was quite ready to go home. Dru had noticed that I was fading a bit. This had been my fourth day in a row of being 'switched full on' and, sure enough, I woke on Thursday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. The CFS kicked in, and all I needed was a quiet day to myself. This was no problem, as S and D had to attend the show for the second day anyway, and this meant that I could simply rest and recuperate. I had healing balm of me-time with Nobby, which helped!
Don't let those sunny shots fool you, though. On this day, the weather truly broke, and there was a lot of rain; however, there were these amazing little breaks in between the strong showers, and we made the most of them.
On Friday, we simply socialised together, did some work individually, took a drive out for a bit of a view of Morcombe Bay, and some of the very pretty wee towns in the area.
Saturday morning found Dru and me doing something else... for that, keep watch for next Thursday's post!
Menolgent; Indulging In Indulgence
...if that title reads like 'overindulgence', that wouldn't be entirely wrong. There was a touch of overwhelm due to the joy of my visit South of the Border... You all have had intimations and glimpses in earlier posts. Here begins the tale proper of my time with Nobby and his peeps, Stephen and Drusilla. It's going to be more than one post - and you ARE going to get a lot of sheep. Take that as fair warning.
I felt most honoured when Stephen prepared our first meal together, taking into account my dietary requirements: cauliflower 'steaks' with a cashew masala sauce. He's an excellent cook - his sourdough bread is scrumptious, and his garlic-free hummus was like butter. He even prepared a little vase of Sweetpeas for me to decorate the van whilst staying there!
Having wound my way through the narrow Lakeland byways to the wonderful home where Nobby now resides, I was welcomed immediately with a cuppa and biccies on the verandah. You saw the photos from that in Tuesday's post. Nobby did his familiar hop, skip and run around the yard before making a beeline for my lap. That he was so quick to recognise me and seek that closeness brought a lump to my throat, as you may imagine. The 87 kissies made sure I felt truly loved by him. (You can see that shot at the bottom of his last post, if you haven't seen it already.) He's a generous pupster, though, and made sure that S and D got their share of cuddles, too.
The Grey was parked in the drive beside the garage, and I opted to continue sleeping in the van, but shared meals and lots of conversation time with the peeps, as well as a good amount of play time with Nobby. The yard around the house is extensive, including an orchard area, a water-feature area, the main garden lawn, and the bit that I termed the lower paddock, giving S and D the giggles, as they'd not thought of it that way. It's enormous, though, and would make good agistment for a small pony. As it is, it is a perfect park to play with pooches!
Spoiled, or what? I did not lack for stimulating discussions, some good laughs, proper 'getting to know you' moments, and such open-heartedness. We acknowledged that Gail had known what she was doing when seeking a place for Nobby to go - and that we felt comfortable building on the connection. I will add that Dru is equally good a cook, and her sweet potato and pumpkin curry the next day was every bit as delicious. On Friday, I added one of my paneer dishes to the table... safe to say, we all enjoyed our meal times.
Now, on the first evening (Tuesday), I was advised that there was a special day ahead... I was to accompany them as their guest to the Westmorland County Show. This proved to be one of the best days I've had in a long time! SHEEP!!! I love cattle and other animals, but sheep... Long-termers, here may recall that on my mother's side, we have a long line of shepherds (five generations that we account for, and likely more). My mother never lost her love of sheep, and more specifically, wool, being one who could wield the shears, take the fleece and work it all the way through to finished garment - and win ribbons and rosettes at any shows she submitted to. The spinning lark never quite grabbed me, though I greatly admire the skill, and I do have an appreciation for fine yarns, as well as the wool on the backs of the animals that produce it.
I will be sharing some of my sheep shots over the next few Nature Friday posts. The ones you see above are Lonk, a large hill breed (read more about them), with excellent wool quality.
Dru had expressed an interest and stayed with me the two and a half hours I spent going around all the pens, digging my fingers into fleeces and checking out formation... After her several years of attendance, it was only now, as I told her what was going on, that she realised how the judging was being run, including the 'feeling of the tups'... and no sooner had I explained this than we spotted a judge working his way under the tail of a Leicester Ram! She had also not known how the wool fibre was assessed, so there was a quick lesson from yours truly about staple length, crimp, colour and so forth.
If I'm brutally honest, I hadn't realised how much of this information I had retained all these years!!! I recall some of it from my grandfather, a lot from my mother, a good bit from attending a fleecing course in Australia, as well as what I had to learn when I worked for the East of Scotland College of Agriculture. It has been an age since I last attended a country show, and I was having the time of my life.
But let me leave this here for now and pick it up again next Thursday, with a little bit more from the show and some more Nobby shots. As mentioned, there will be sheep features for NF, sharing breed info and, hopefully, bring an appreciation you may not have realised you had! That might be followed by some cattle cuties. Jus' sayin'... Let's finish with an action shot of some Ryelands being judged.
Menondering Lonely As A...
After a fairly peaceful night by the busy roadside by Troutbeck Inn, I took the small and windy route through the Lakes to reach Rydal Mount, the historic home and gardens of William Wordsworth. What looked to be a little under a thirty-minute drive per the navigator turned out to be closer to forty-five due to road and traffic conditions. Heaving, in every sense of the word! Add that the roads are exceedingly narrow and quite often 'blind' cornered, driving was 'interesting'.
Those photos may not entirely display the precipitous and somewhat hazardous nature of that climb! It was as much adventure as I'd had in a while - or wanted.
No worries, for I never drive in a hurry. I did want to reach my destination with Nobby and co by mid-afternoon, but things soon showed it was going to be more like early evening... despite saying that parking was 'limited', what the website of the place completely fails to convey is that the property is halfway up an excessively steep hill ( minimum 45' angle) on a single track road, and that the 'car park' is the size of a handkerchief. I had the very dickens of a task to get The Grey turned around (drawing some admiration and cheers from observers!), then had a discussion with a lady who seemed to be directing matters. I had booked my walk through the gardens, so I expected that there would be a parking space booked as well. Not necessarily the case, it seems. However, "Pauline" pointed me to behind her car in a separate space and said I could park there. She was a lovely lady and was keeping her cool amid the frenzy that was definitely bubbling all about her.
Anyway, all the kerfuffle meant I wasn't walking the grounds until after 1 p.m. One thing to be said is that the weather came up trumps! It was perfect for such a visit. I didn't pay for the house viewing because I knew it would be difficult to access, but really, it was to be in the gardens and view the house from the exterior that I had made the spontaneous decision the night before to make this stopover. One thing that didn't immediately strike me, but came up during conversation with Pauline and the gardeners, is that Rydal Mount remains private within the Wordsworth family line... but is now up for sale! As you will see, the interior is not entirely period, as it has continued to serve as a working home, albeit the owners are not permanently resident... Pauline, it turns out, is something of a warden for the place. It's causing a bit of furore, locally, as you may imagine.
As tomorrow is FFF time, I am keeping most of the garden shots (and poetry) for that post. You've come to expect that of me, haven't you?!
This is not the only property which refers to Wordsworth. The immediate question that arose for me (and many others) was whether the National Trust might be interested; however, the issue with the road and parking access would be the deal-breaker on that. Pandemonium is a term that might be applied. The NT does run the larger house and garden at Cockermouth. However, even that appears to be under reassessment as to viability.
There is also another centre, not that far from Rydal, which focuses on Wordsworth's time at Grasmere. No shortage of honouring/cashing in on the famous poet's life and place!
The gardens are undulating, to say the least. The Rolls-later served me well, and I even managed to negotiate the very steep, very irregular steps at the far end of the grounds, rising up to the 'terraces' part of the property. This very adaptable piece of equipment can be collapsed and used as a mobile bannister to help me up the flight, and provides a seat to let me catch breath every third step!
Once up on the terrace part, it was a wander along to the poet's seat of contemplation... after another very short stair clamber...
The setting, the ambience, and the history all brought a sense of tranquillity.
Until the F-15s and Typhoons decided they needed to practice dog-fighting. The very rocks vibrated... They were on VERY low manoeuvres through the dales and all I could think was that there are people in the world for whom this is a daily and deadly onslaught...
By the time I got back to the reception area, Pauline had the news that a bus tour was about to arrive and the vehicle would be parking behind The Grey, hemming me in until closing time. This was not altogether bad news, as I was tired from my climbing expedition and needed to take some food and a cuppa.
Once back on the road, it was about an hour before reaching Nobby's place... all about that starts next Thursday! One last look at Rydal Mount...
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