Starry Sky Ranch

along the river Ouse

 

"How lovely the little river is, with its dark changing wavelets! It seems to me like a living companion while I wander along the bank, and listen to its low, placid voice..." 

- George Eliot

 

 

of bagpipes and buttresses

 

My husband and I snuck away to Lincoln overnight last weekend. It was a fantastic relaxing trip.  The castle heights area near the cathedral was charming.  We walked and walked that evening and ended up back up the hill as the sun was setting. 

 

So, bagpipes.  You either love them or hate them.  I love them.  LOVE them. With a passion. There was an outdoor performance in progress when we got into the courtyard.  We took a short video with the phone.  Hopefully it won't make you dizzy. : )  Videographers we are not. 

Spring lambs in the Cotswolds

 

Fortune runs against the bias...

 

Queen: What sport shall we devise here in this garden,
To drive away the heavy thought of care?

First Lady: Madam, we'll play at bowls.

Queen: 'Twill make me think the world is full of rubs.
And that my fortune runs against the bias

- Shakespeare, Richard II 

The Castle Bowls (lawn bowling) club was in good form Sunday afternoon when my husband and I passed their way.  There were lively jabs exchanged and a fair bit of advice offered from the onlookers. We found ourselves oddly transfixed and cracking up at regular intervals. 

I should add that we apretty much know nothing at all about lawn bowling. So I haven't the foggiest idea who was winning, only that everyone was in high spirits. Wiki tells a fascinating story of the history of the game which made my eyes cross. So I still don't have the foggiest idea, just that it is charmingly British and made for a right jolly stop on a lazy afternoon out. 

Lincoln in springtime

 

“I have the European urge to use my feet when a drive can be dispensed with.”

-Vladimir Nabokov

We have passed a long weekend walking in Lincolnshire. Up and down steep cobbled streets, up and down spiral castle towers, and wandering through old cemetaries. Too tired to post more. Putting my feet and the rest of me to bed.  : ) 

 

enjoy the ride

 

tea with the queen

 

Because I am easily amused. : ) 

English Breakfast

 

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.” 

 

My older daughters and I spent a long girls' weekend in Bath with friends.  I hadn't made the reservations nor really investigated much ahead of time so our inn was a delightful surprise.  We decided not to stay in Bath proper but rather at a farm not far away. That of course is a real treat for a farm girl. : ) It is fascinating to see the many variations there are on this theme throughout the world. 

The mornings begin with a full English breakfast. I was familiar with the tea, but honestly never gave much thought to the term itself, much less how it differed from a continental breakfast. The continental breakfast, common in hotels in the States as well as on mainland Europe, tends to be served buffet style and is on the light side. Cereals, bagels, yogurt, and maybe cheese or cold cuts are common.  A full English breakfast is exactly that - full.  Huge. Hot.  Awesome. 

 

First came the steaming French press, brought out by the lovely gentleman who ran the place.  Jugs of fresh local cream sat on the tables topped by weighted doilies, presumably once meant to keep out flies but there were certainly none around.  Teapots joined shortly. On a side table there were already bowls of chopped fresh fruit and yogurt waiting. 

                                                                               
                                                                          

Then the courses began arriving.  There were eggs - boiled, fried, scrambled. Bacon rashers and sausages.  A side note on that too is that Americans tend to use side cuts for bacon resulting in what the English call streaky rashers.  The more common bacon here is back cut, more like Canadian. There was then toast and croissants. Fried mushrooms and tomatoes. Hash browns. 

 

                         The farm was bustling early in the day as farms tend to be. Horses were exercised and fed. Chickens, ducks, peacocks, and turkeys meandered just outside the conservatory windows.  A little slice of heaven.

 

B & B

 

“Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.” 

- Maya Angelou

sense and sensibility

 

Any guesses where my girlies and I are this weekend? : )