Wandering...as a Cloud

Another full and wonderful day in the English Lake District. I haven't mentioned that Sarah and I get to begin each day with a delicious breakfast at Buckle Yeat (freshly baked rolls, fresh fruit, eggs, toast, full English breakfast if we choose--the only thing I absolutly refuse to try is BLACK PUDDING--that is sausage made from dried blood. Can you believe that--No thanks!) The table is beautifuly set, and there is more silverware than I know what to do with! Helen and Robery Kirby, the owners are so kind and hospitable. Many of you were aware of how I struggled making a decision about accomodations. Well...I have to say we hit the Jackpot at Buckle Yeat!

After breakfast, we took an adventure of a bus ride to Hawkshead and Ambleside. The adventure being that the roads are so narrow and winding, that if one bus meets another bus or truck along the way , one of the vehicles has to stop, back up, and wait for the other to carefully pass. WHAT FUN....I am sooo glad that we are not drivng over here.

I went to the Armitt Museum and Library in Ambleside which is home to over 300 of Beatrix Potter's watercolors of fungi. What many people don't know is that Beatrix Potter, besides being a children's book author and illustrator, was also an expert naturalist who had great interest in mosses, fungi, and lichen.Her watercolors are exquisite, and she donated them to this small village museum. Unfortunately these drawings (and her scientific ability) were not recognised by scientists of her time becase she was a woman.

After my time at the Armitt, Sarah and I headed back to Hawkshead, where we visited the 400 year old grammar school that William Wordsworth attended (google his name and find the poem that begins, 'I wandered lonely as a cloud...'). I am constantly reminded that we don't really know what 'old' is in the US--especially when I see a bible that is 500 years old!

After supper this evening, Sarah and I followed a public footpath to Far Sawrey (pronounced 'sorry') for our evening walk. The path took us past baaaing sheep, frolicking calves, a babbling brook, and up to a beautiful old church and graveyard on a hill. Honestly...I don't know how much more charm I can take! One can certainly understand why Beatrix loved and was so inspired by this corner of the world.

Thanks for reading, I hope you are all well.

Your aff friend,
Kathy Hawkins