Glandford

 This week I went on a walk with the Norwich Ramblers to Glandford in Norfolk. We saw all sorts of landscapes: farmland, forests, marshes, and coast. Tea break was at St Margaret's Church in Cley (rhymes with spy) and lunch break at St Nicholas' Church in Salthouse. Although we had to contend with some overgrown gorse on the path, for once my feet stayed dry! Also, an update on my nature sightings: I've finally seen a hedgehog—unfortunately, it was roadkill.

Glandford (image from Visit Norfolk)

Forests

Farmlands

View of Cley and Blakeney

St Margaret's Church, Cley next the Sea

Coast (in the distance)

Salthouse Marshes

St Nicholas' Church, Salthouse

Font at St Nicholas' Church

Sea of ferns (not pictured: gorse!)

Fredagsmys! Working on my crochet

Next week I'm trying Scottish dancing with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. Thanks for reading!

In Lincolnshire

I visited Lincolnshire for the first time this week and stayed with a good friend in Heckington. Here's a bit about what we got up to—teas, plum bread, and pizza included! Heckington has the world's only eight sail windmill (it's still in operation, too). There's also a large church, and we discovered the village library. At the charming, old-fashioned Kinema in the Woods near Woodhall Spa we saw the new film Firebrand. We went to a pub quiz, sampled plum bread with cheese, and made our own pizzas. In Lincoln, we had tea at Stokes High Bridge Café and visited the castle—which has one of four original copies of the Magna Carta—and the cathedral, home of the Lincoln Imp. There's much more to see, of course. I hope to be back soon!

Heckington Windmill

St Andrew's, Heckington (image from Google)

Kinema in the Woods (image from Google)

Exterminate!!

Firebrand film promo

Plum bread with cheese (image from Google—because, you know, I ate mine!)

Stokes High Bridge Café (image from Google)

Ginger tea at Stokes

Steep Hill, Lincoln

Tourist Information Centre, Lincoln

Lincoln Castle

Magna Carta (image from Google)

Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral interior (image from Google)

Chapter House, Lincoln Cathedral (image from Google)

Tennyson's statue, Lincoln

Homemade pizza, mmmm!

Thanks for reading!

Kendal, Penrith, Ambleside, and Carlisle

 I spent the last week in and around the Lake District! I knew I wanted to go on walks this visit, so I planned around a couple of walks the Penrith Ramblers hosted. I spent a day in Kendal on the way to Penrith, and explored the town and the castle. I had a nice time visiting the library, the yarn store, Waterstones, T.K. Maxx, and thrifting at the many charity shops—I actually found a complete version of a knitting pattern that I had with a missing page! I had cream tea at Farrer's (the Lakeland blend) and found blackcurrant black tea and lemongrass and ginger loose leaf blends to try. 

Rainy day in Kendal

The library was really busy!

Yarn room at Coolcrafting

The Shakespeare for lunch

Queen's Road

View from Queen's Road

Farrer's Tea & Coffee House

Happiness is being in the Lake District

River Kent

Kendal Castle

View from Kendal Castle

Lego town at the Airbnb

The Lakes are the best place to get advice on rain gear! Several people told me that though there are better and worse types of jackets, nothing will keep you dry when it's really chucking it down. I did find a rain jacket—but, of course, then it was sunny the next couple of days. Oh well, there will be plenty more days to test its strength. I do know that even if you don't need your rain jacket, you will want waterproof boots. We hiked on some quite boggy ground around Binsey and Carrock Fell. I noticed that many people had Swedish gear, like Fjällräven. I think they could benefit from using drying cabinets, though! 

I alternated days walking with days in town, in Penrith and visiting Windermere and Ambleside. The bus route from Penrith to Windermere took us through Ullswater, Glenridding, Patterdale, Brothers Water, the Kirkstone Pass, and Troutbeck. At the Rheged Centre, I saw an exhibit of Jackie Morris's illustrations. The Lost Words, which she created with Robert Macfarlane, is one of my favourite books. And at the Armitt Library and Museum in Ambleside, I saw several of Beatrix Potter's original watercolour paintings of mushrooms! My final stop this trip was in Carlisle, where I walked the Hadrian's Wall Path along the River Eden. Not as cool as seeing parts of the actual wall, but I couldn't get there this time.

Binsey

To the top!

And back down

Dash Falls (centre)

Binsey surroundings

Binsey surroundings

Back to Bassenthwaite

Beacon Edge, Penrith

Along Beacon Edge

Hedgehog Bookshop, Penrith

Penrith Castle

Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before

Illustration by Jackie Morris

Wren

Bramble

Beech

Moth

Ullswater (image from Google)

Near Patterdale (image from Google)

Brothers Water (image from Google)

Kirkstone Pass (image from Google)

Ambleside

View from Fred's Bookshop

Stock Beck River

The Armitt Library and Museum

Fungi by Beatrix Potter (turkey tail)

Fungi by Beatrix Potter

Nearby University of Cumbria in Ambleside

That's scone as in Wisconsin

Ambleside Library

Carrock Fell

Up the fell

Flooded path

Crackin' day!

The rocks of Carrock

Mosses

Carrock Fell surroundings

Carlisle Train Station

The Citadel

Carlisle Cathedral

Bookcase

Carlisle Castle

River Eden

Walking trail

Rickerby Park

That's all for now. Thank you for reading!