Quite out of the Everyday

March is a month for having house guests for our family, which has been a delight in so many ways.  Here's a list of 5 out of the ordinary things having guests from home with us for the past two weeks has added to our lives.

1.  I went to Betty's twice!

If you come visit us and you want to do something very English, I'll probably take you to Betty's.  I took Seth and Lua, and then we had a girls' outing to celebrate their marriage and ostensibly to give some good advice on marriage to Lua.  All she walked away with was "to kiss a lot," but I think that should serve her well, right?

Your tea will come in a perfect pot with both white and brown sugar cubes, and you will feel very proper.  Ella highly recommends the Fondant Fancy.

2.  I visited York twice in one week.

This post is highlighting the things we like to do with guests.  If you go with me, as Seth and Lua did, you'll get the second-hand bookshop tour.

If you go with K.J., you'll get a little more focus on the York Minster and spend more time on the city walls.  I'm a fan of those places, too.

3.  I went out for dinner!

We very rarely, i.e. almost never go out to eat.  It's just never been something we do very often, and we've done it even less since moving to North Yorkshire.  We're slowly learning good places to go when the occasion arises.

4.  I photographed a bride.

I love this new friend.

5.  I went on a road trip to Wales.

This is the view from where we're staying.  Isn't it so peaceful?  It's been quite windy at times, but the sun has shone all day long today, and it's been so lovely.

I hope March has held some out of the ordinary events for you, too.

A Morning at the York Minster

On the last day of the kids' Christmas holidays we took Debbo and B.P. to the old walled city of York.  We can't help but still give it descriptors like that.  Everyone else would probably just call it York.  

There was still lots of rain going on so we decided to tour the Minster.  Not only does it offer a respite from the rain, but the architecture is beautiful, and there is such a long history associated with the cathedral.  Part of it is built on top of the ruins of a Roman fort, and you can stand near the place where Constantine was proclaimed emperor.

James really enjoyed his Little Explorers backpack, complete with magnifying glass, torch/flashlight, and a crown.

I really love the way the pulpits are built around columns in churches here.  I always think they are so beautiful.

This was the second time KJ and I have visited the York Minster, but there are, of course, so many things to see.  There are always new plaques and memorials to read that remind you of all the people that lived before you.  It's a little bit like that feeling you get reading old gravestones.  There are just so many stories to be told.

"We must trust to God that we may die bravely as Englishmen should do."

This one made me feel especially sad imagining boys who had been part of the Minster choir together leaving together for the war.  You're very much more aware of World War I in England than you are in America.  It took the lives of whole villages of young men.

My dad and I climbed 40 floors according to my Fitbit up the Minster Tower.  I imagine it's a really good view on a clear day, but on the day we visited you couldn't see much beyond the wall.  Though of course it was still worth the climb.

I guessed what this old art work was before reading the plaque.  Can you?

The King's Book of York Heroes, another reminder of the great war.

People don't change, though 1,300 years go by, do they?  Life always feels sweet to some when they are surrounded by books.

I'm not sure, but I thought that was probably special Christmas greenery.  It's so beautiful I'd like one in my own house!  Though I daresay it would need to be smaller.

After another very American lunch at a McDonald's, we took a stroll down a street that "assumed its present character" about 1400.

Franco Fridays: A Visit with the Great Parker Windle

Sadly, all of our time on French soil has been documented, but never fear, I thought I could drag out Franco Fridays by documenting our visit with an American in Paris visiting England.  How's that?

We were really looking forward to a visit from Parker at the end of last month. He flew over from Paris for a church-planting conference, and KJ talked him into staying an extra day before and after with us.  Of course this called for a little exploration.  The very old city of York is an easy drive away, and there was a certain bookstore by the Minster I was looking forward to re-visiting, so while the kids were in school Monday we had a nice little day out.  We had a good explore, and I took my time in each and every bookstore we came across.  It's much easier to do things like that without children with you getting antsy.

When it came time for lunch we weren't quite sure where to go.  It's so easy as Americans in another country to gravitate toward McDonald's.  It would never be my first choice at home (unless we needed a playground and free WIFI stat), but it's so familiar, and you know exactly what you're getting.  But we resisted the pull and found a place with a bit more character.

The Robert Burns Hotel was the perfect amount of charm and good pub food.  KJ asked our waitress if she could recite any Robbie Burns for us, but sadly no. 

KJ snapped this picture in which Parker and I are eyeing his onion rings with a certain amount of regret.

Why did I order the jacket potato?

After lunch we meandered a bit more (more bookstores!) and walked a bit on the city wall.



We ended the day with some good southern cooking.  I don't know what everyone else thought, but I felt like the biscuits were my best from scratch biscuits to date.  James enjoyed wrestling with Parker and having someone to play Super Smash Brothers with. 

I think my mama made biscuits with almost every meal, and I always like the sight of rolled dough and flour on the countertop.

Monday was nice, but then Thursday...look at this day.

The book of James says every good and perfect gift comes from above, and someone in Robin Hood's Bay must have known that, too.

The day couldn't have been more beautiful.  We ate lunch, and there was a wonderful playground for the kids, complete with a pirate ship.  On the way into town we looked up a little history of why this town is associated with Robin Hood and concocted scenarios of how the French pirates could have not made away with their plunder.  French pirates being captured by Robin Hood was the starring role in imaginative play for the day.

The town is charming, and if you have a day with skies that blue and clear, it is a nice day, even if you didn't have a bucket and shovel and had to collect your shells in a plastic grocery bag.