First Few Days in the Lake District

After much anticipation, I am finally back in the Lake District, staying with my Auntie Brenda and Uncle Tom. The house and surrounding countryside is just as beautiful as I remembered, and it is such a peaceful change from the city.

After my last entry, I left the library and met up with my cousin Catherine for some quick shopping (just taking advantage of being downtown), then went back to my grandma's house for tea. Once the rest of the family returned, we piled into the car and went to visit my great-Auntie Hilda in her flat. I had been warned that she was getting pretty frail and that the dimentia was really setting in, but she was as much of a spitfire as always, and incredibly excited to see us. (She took a liking to Drew in particular, and kept saying how much she loves boys...check back in about 70 years, and you will probably find me in a similar state!) We also stopped by to see my Grandma on the way home (who was having tea with her friends, so we just had a quick visit). We stopped by again the next morning (again, catching her having morning tea) to say adieu before heading over to Brenda's house. We took our time with the journey across, stopping at a walled garden that we stumbled upon, one of the forts along Hadrian's wall, and the site of the ancient temple of Mithras (which, of course, brought back memories of reading "The Crystal Cave" several years ago). The countryside grew more and more lush as we traveled along, and I am still enthralled by the sheep and cows in the fields (such a city girl, I know...). We spent the evening settling in at Brenda's, but did a bit of exploring the next day in town.

On our second day over here, after a brief spin through downtown Cockermouth (including a trip to the auctions to check out the wares), I went to Whitehaven with my parents to see the coast. The wind was pretty wild while we were there, but the sun was shining, and the view down into the town itself from the hills was quite stunning. (We actually saw a few boys jumping off the pier into the water, which was reportedly freezing!) As we were making our way through town early in the day, we met a delightful sight: a newborn calf with wobbly legs (whose mother, standing nearby, was complete with hanging afterbirth). The city dweller strikes again! In the evening, I opted to go back into Cockermouth (the nearest town) for a theatre event, since it seemed like one of my best opportunities to see a show while I'm up north. The two one-acts ("Unholy Congregation" and "All About Adrian") were by a local playwright, Michael Spencer, and produced using local artists and actors. To be honest, my expectations were exceeded (although they had not been incredibly high), particularly in terms of the writing itself. The venue (Kirkgate Theatre) reminded me a bit of BAC, which was comforting.

Today, I went with my parents over to Carlisle (a little less than an hour from Brenda's) to see the castle and pick up Amelia and Drew from the train station (they spent the last few days in Edinburgh). The castle had some interesting history of which I had not been aware (only the second place that I have heard referred to as "the key to England"...the other was Dover), and there were some pretty rustic places to explore, including the storage cellar that was converted into a dungeon (definite haunting potential!). This evening, we had dinner at the pub down the lane...we'll see what adventures tomorrow brings!