Month: June 2015

We arrived at Bunny, near Nottingham, and found our friends Bill and Sally in their RV next door.. Emily got home and we began the baby changing and feeding and playing! Slept well after a great lamb dinner ("baaaaaa… eat mor chicken" didn’t work for that lamb) Then we went to the pub named Radcliffe Arms and then… off to bed. This morning I met little Henry age 18 months in the hallway and he and I climbed back into bed to play with bunnies and teddies! Emily’s children are very cute. We are off to a National Trust Workhouse to visit how "the other side" lived and then we made plans to change the rental car … which makes Chuck real nervous but for some reason I got a refund of $100…. so with no questions I made the change (bigger car for the luggage, change the pick up and drop off date). On this weekend to Harriet’s in Bristol and her little one named Isaac. Busy busy!!!!! Off to the National Trust house and a pub on a river. Love and God bless you!

Yesterday Liz took us to a pub called the Barrisford Arms pub for a drink then on to Wallington for a gentle walk to the formal gardens and the big house. We saw such amazing art, oddities and collections of beautiful things and indeed I have 2 plates like ones I saw there.  We drifted away from there to come home and find Nick and head out to steak dinner at a pub where the guys were playing Quirts outside. Steak was locally produced from farm to table here in rural North of England. Liz shops at a market where she knows the farm lady who produces the lamb… they can visit the farm and see the lambs.. "baaaaa… eat mor chicken."  and then we closed the night with the Red Lion Pub.  I think we are getting fat.  I’ve switched to lime with soda rather than pint shandys (not all the time, but it cuts back on my beer intake! Chuck has not cut back.)  Today we leave the Northumberland nest and head south for Bunny which is a little village or hamlet south of Nottingham.  Thank you Liz and Nick!  God bless you!

Today dawned bright, sunny and clear (well, dawned is a loose term since I get up at 9 ish).  The boys were sitting and chatting and Liz was at work.  Laundry was already in the washer…  After a cup of tea, Chuck and I pegged the laundry and I sat out side in the sunshine and painted Liz’s garden while the laundry dried.  We pegged a second load and headed out to the north to Cragside a stately home and gardens built high up on rocks and cliffs.  We climbed up and up steps and paths and saw the gardens and the house… ate soup and a cheese scone (oh and had a pint at a pub)… Arrived back home to find the laundry we left hanging still damp from rain…. oh dear. No problem we will just peg it again tomorrow morning.  We are off to dinner at a local pub/restaurant in Carts Bog Inn in the countryside outside Hexham.  I just told Liz it is like riding around with Hugh Grant as Nick is tall, thin, light haired with blue eyes and a funny way of joking like Hugh Grant does!  Sometimes when he says things I find myself smiling…  Time to go eat! God bless you!

Actually we are west of Newcastle near Hadrian’s wall and driving well on what some call the wrong side of the road.  I rejected GPS and am using an AA map (In the US we call it triple A AAA) We haven’t gotten lost… made a few wrong turns at roundabouts but corrected easily. We had pretty good half sunny day on the day we landed in Harwich  and drove north.  I suggested we pull off the main road and do some side roads looking for a local pub for lunch and for two hours we drove on country roads…  found a restaurant that was nice, but Chuck was concerned we lost a lot of time.  We actually arrived at Nick and Liz house at 6:15 when I had planned 5pm arrival.  Nick came home from a cricket match and had planned to spend the day at local event next day (Sunday) playing cricket with village against another village… but oh the stinky weather gave us a black sky, wind and rain that cancelled the village festivities but ended up quite nice later in the day.  We walked to the hotel George and had a drink and then to the local pub for a drink and music (anyone is invited to play in a jam sort of situation and they sang American, English and Irish songs! )  Today, Monday Chuck and I drove to Hexham and Corbridge and walked through the towns and churchyards. Visited Hexham Abbey and shops. Later we returned to Hexham to a Waitrose (think Publix) and bought wine! Liz is feeding us too well and we are drinking too much beer and wine!!!!  Nick is taking us around tomorrow (Tuesday). We are really bundling on walks as it is cold… in the 50s and tonight is planning to go to 40s….  I painted today in the hotel garden and my fingers were freezing!!!  Friends are warm and hospitable so that’s all we need! God bless you.