Fountains Abbey Snow Day

Five years ago today my family experienced one of our favorite days in England.  We'd only lived there 2 1/2 months, it was a homeschool day, and it snowed.

I love the snowy Black Bull.

The snow fell fast and furious for a while, but then it stopped, and there didn't seem to be enough on the ground for a satisfactory play in our garden.  I'm sure it was at my husband's suggestion that we got in the car and drove the 10 1/2 miles to Fountain's Abbey.  It was the right choice, because at a slightly higher elevation, the snow was still falling, there was more snow on the ground, and it was so beautiful.

St. Mary's Church, Studley Royal

The good folks of the National Trust had buckets of snowman-building supplies inside the shop.  We grabbed a scarf and hat, a carrot, and bits of coal and started off down the path.  Our walk to the abbey was soon distracted by a field full of sheep, though.

James cannot resist running through a flock of pigeons or seagulls, and we learned on this day that he also cannot resist running through a flock of sheep.

But let's carry on, shall we?

For a little while, we were the only people around, wrapped in the hush of newly-fallen snow.  K.J. and the kids built a snow lady while I took pictures of the River Skell.

Violet, the Snow Lady

While the kids put finishing touches on Violet, we heard a woman begin to sing in the abbey, taking advantage of the acoustics and the quiet.  The snow began falling fast again.

I had moved my camera to shelter inside the abbey, and the kids were playing on the stone walls when we all heard the happy chatter and laughter of a group of young women coming our way.  We thought they were speaking Chinese.  They spotted Violet and headed straight for her, cameras at the ready.

They wrapped their arms around our snow creation and took selfies that ended in screeches of laughter as all the close contact brought Violet's head tumbling to the ground.  Thus her life was short-lived but brought great joy.  And thus ended a happy outing indeed.