Aira Force

On our way home from Keswick in July we made a couple of small stops.  First, at Castlerigg, a stone circle that is older than Stonehenge though not as impressive in size.

Ella woke up with a fever, poor girl, but thankfully, the places KJ wanted to stop didn't require too much walking. We were able to park right outside Castlerigg on the road.

 

We next drove a little further for a picnic lunch with our friend Liesal, who we were giving a ride to the train station, and a short walk to see Aira Force, which is a great name for a waterfall, right?

There were some pretty magnificent trees, including this "money tree."

I have no idea how long this phenomenon took to happen.

Part way up the path there was a nice view of the lake.

The waterfall was really beautiful.

There was a pretty great view from the bridge.  You can see how steep the drop is by the stone stairs in the background.  I did a quick little video with my phone, kind of afraid that I would drop it to its death.

We walked down some steps on the other side to a peaceful pool at the bottom of the fall.  It was the kind of place you'd like to just stay awhile.

Except maybe not if you have a fever.

This spruce tree was pretty amazing.  KJ got this great shot of Ella beside it.

James found a small woodland throne.

And ever since the kids spent an afternoon learning about wildflowers at Fountains Abbey, they remind me not to touch the Foxglove, which is beautiful but poisonous.

Keswick

The very first time KJ and I came to England in October 2011 we planned to visit Beatrix Potter's house in the Lake District.  Of course, where we ended up was not her house at all, but that's not really the point of this story.

On the way there KJ drove us into Keswick and pulled up outside a building and said, "This is where the Keswick Convention happens.  It's very famous."  Or he said something like that, and I nodded vaguely and said, "Why are we stopping here?" or something to that effect.  Little did I know the Keswick Convention would be something I heard a lot about 3 years later.

The Keswick Convention has been happening for the past 140 years, and we were introduced to its present-day format a bit this past July.  It's free to attend and lasts for 3 weeks.   You can come for as long or short a time as you like.  There are meetings (services, as we Americans would call them) in the morning and at night, and there are tents set up for children as well where they sing songs, hear a story from the Bible, and make a craft.  We were there for about 3 days, as our planned week got a little cut short by sickness.  During the afternoons we spent time at the lake one day and went on a walk/hike the next.  

The Lake District is absolutely stunning.  

 

Keswick reminds me a lot of Gatlinburg, colder and with less touristy gimmicks.  But it's a very walkable town with outdoor stores and people camping and hiking, and on the last day we were there, I promise you I saw a Native American selling things in the square.  I have no idea what he was doing there, but it only added to my "Gatlinburg of England" theory.  Of course the main similarity are the mountains all around, even though they are different sorts of mountains.

 Ella brought me these lovely flowers.

It was not a very warm week, but the sun came and went, and there wasn't rain.

Our walk on Thursday was filled with loveliness.

We spent so much time resting here, letting the kids try to make it up that hill.  James's cries of frustration still ring in my ears.

The higher we went the better the views.  Aren't the mountainsides lovely covered in ferns?

The walk wasn't too strenuous, but this hill was killer.  I had to stop for lots of "breathing" breaks.

We were happy to make it to the top where the sheep grazed peacefully.  We tried hard not to sit in sheep poop.

I've heard more about the deforestation of England since moving here, and while it is sad to lose so many trees, you really can't beat these views.

 

I think if you plan a trip to England, you'll receive a lot more enjoyment out of coming to places like this than in seeing all the monuments in London, as fun as those things are.  I would allot more time for the Lake District.

Bits and Pieces

The rain is falling this morning, and I turned on the heat a little bit for the first time.  I'm not sure if anyone else in town has their heat on, but I just thought, you know what, why sit here feeling chilled? We had our first fire in the new house last night before bed.  It's not really cold enough to have your heat on full time, but it is 50 degrees.  

The night of Ella's birthday we decided we really needed to get to work on this moving thing.  So I painted for 3 or 4 days straight, and we had help last Monday moving all the big pieces of furniture. Since we cleared out our beds we started sleeping in the new house the night before school started, surrounded by chaos.

The rest of last week was KJ and I packing up all the bits and pieces and carrying it over in small loads.  I walked so many miles last week.  We had such a good time spending every day together, though.  Thank you for praying for us, because it was not as stressful as it could have been.  It was pretty easy, just lots of steps and stiff legs in the morning from so many trips up and down stairs carrying boxes.

In the midst of all the moving, the kids started back to school, and Ella started back at ballet.  She was very surprised and happy to go back and receive awards for the exams she took in the summer.  Her teacher also awarded her the special progress trophy of the year for coming in without having dance lessons before and doing so well.  She was quite thrilled, and I was thrilled for her.

We started back to our little home school yesterday, which was good but a lot of work, so we still sit surrounded by boxes, but my priority today has to be reading highway code and taking practice driving theory tests, because I have my test tomorrow morning.  It would be a very good thing for me to pass, because after passing, I'll still have to schedule my practical exam, and they stay pretty full so that won't be until November sometime, which will bring me to one year of driving in the UK with my American license, and that's all you get before having to pass their tests. 

I'm feeling 16 all over again, which is not what I expected at 33.  I'm actually quite enjoying reading the highway code, though, because there really are so many signs and road markings here that I don't know about, so this is a good thing.  It will make me a better and safer driver.  I've made a lot of progress in the past 10 months.  I only walk to the passenger side looking for the steering wheel 30-40% of the time now.

Ella Turns 9

Ella's always had definite opinions.  And she has stipulated that she wanted to have her birthday video only available on her blog, which I am allowed to link to on my blog.

So...you can watch Ella's 9th birthday video at www.ella-bella-blog.blogspot.com

It was a long birthday video this year; I couldn't help it.  It was a big year for her with a lot of new happenings.  She has, by God's grace, handled it all with grace and courage, and we are so thankful for all of you back home who have invested in her life and to all of her new friends and church family who love her so well.  You make our lives rich.