Despite Storm Boelo throwing everything it had at us, Louise, Lee and Niamh made it to the Scottish Borders without incident on the 25th October… and just before we had our first power cut of the autumn!
There’s something about Louise & Niamh visiting around this time of year and power cuts. It happened this time last year when they both visited in the middle of Pete’s chemotherapy. That time I ended up driving all the way back to McDonalds in Carlisle in order to feed them! 🤣🤣…
Luckily, this time we had already planned to head to Hawick for an Indian meal for Lee’s birthday and, fortunately, the power was back on by the time we got home so at least the house was warm!
The Indian meal was really nice – well, Louise’s, Pete’s and mine was but, naturally, the birthday boy was served the wrong dish and then had to wait for the right one to be cooked and served which was a shame. Still, even that was better than us all sitting at home in the dark! 🤣🤣🤣
We had a great few days with the family enjoying some long (time-wise), and sometimes very wet, walks in the woods shrooming and a trip to Bird Garden Scotland CIC which had a surprising array of birds to see (& feed!) which we all really enjoyed.
A walk in Newcastleton Woods
A visit to Bird Garden Scotland CIC
A visit to Bird Garden Scotland CIC
A bit of tree hugging & a walk around Byreburn Wood, Canonbie
Shrooming in Byreburn Wood, Canonbie
After the kids left on Thursday 29th October, I had a few hours work on the 30th before we packed our bags & the car again, and then headed off to Grinton on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.
What a fantastic drive we had last Saturday (31st October ) taking the back roads from the A69 to Alston (which brought back happy memories of our Pennine Way adventures with Mum & Dad) and our final destination of Grinton – beautiful sunshine & countryside until the last 30 miles or so when we dropped down into a valley and a clingy, deep fog which made driving on the country lanes just a little more hairy! Especially as the sun peeked through every now and then, reflecting off the fog & blinding me! Still, we eventually made it safely & without falling out too much 🤣🤣
We have enjoyed our week here immensely – with long lie-ins, relaxing strolls every day, far too many cakes & a fabulous bonfire & firework night too…
A walk along the River Swale from Reeth
Bottom L / R = Treecreeper / Lomg-Tailed Tit
We even had a drive out to Richmond so we could take a walk to Easby Abbey, according to English Heritage, one of the best preserved monasteries of the Preminstatensian order… founded in 1152.
A walk from Richmond down the River Swale to Easby Abbey & back
Bottom L = A bird’s nest…
And another drive out to Leyburn for a 4-mile round walk down the River Ure to Wensley & back…
A round walk from Middleham Bridge , along the River Ure to Wensley
Top R = A distant view of Leyburn; Middle R = Cranesbill;
Bottom R = Wensley Church
This was the longest walk we have done for a while. Pete was pretty tired afterwards but quickly recovered after we got back to Grinton & had a cuppa. The tiredness is more to do with a lack of oxygen in his blood stream with his pipes not working 100% we think…
It was a nice walk – the weather threatened rain much of the day but we stayed dry! And Leyburn gave us a chance to buy a travel steamer to cook our veggies & a Christmas pressie for Mum too – which, apart from getting something for Pete, means the extent of my Christmas shopping is probably completed now 🤣🤣🤣
A round walk from Middleham Bridge , along the River Ure to Wensley
Top L = Ducks including Teal;
Middle = Blurry pic of Lapwings in flight!
Bottom R = Fieldfare (there are loads of them around here!)
Yesterday (5th November) was Bonfire Night in Reeth so, as we knew would be walking into the village, we decided to take things pretty easy with just a short walk (about 2 miles) along the river towards Marrick Priory…
Top L = Sheep & bike on top of the pub (Bridge Inn) roof – apparently it was put there to mark the Grand Depart of the Tour de France when it was in Yorkshire back in 2014!
Top R = Dipper; Bottom = lovely Robin singing his head off
Top R = Grinton from the road to Marrick Priory
Today (6th November) is my birthday… It’s been another great day starting with chocs (courtesy of Lou & the kids) and coffee (courtesy of Pete!) in bed followed by breakfast and the our last walk (for this year anyway) down the River Swale to the stepping stones and back via the Swing Bridge… Once back at the cottage, there was time for cheese, crackers & cake, a relax, a bit of packing & a shower before heading over the road to the Bridge Inn for dinner… it’s fair to say I’ve a great day – thank you hubby! It’s been the perfect way to end a perfect week…
A happy birthday to me walk along the River Swale!
A happy birthday to me walk along the River Swale!
St Andrew’s Church, Grinton is also known as the Cathedral of the Dales which is quite something for a village that has a population of around 200 people… It is a beautiful building which, during the medieval period, served such a large area that, as it was the only burial ground, corpses could be carried here from as far away as Keld which is 16 miles away! Because of this, the footpath linking outlying villages to Grinton became known as the Corpse Way.
Our time in North Yorkshire might have been a bit grey & overcast, but we have had a lovely, relaxing week. It’s been fantastic – thank you Yorkshire! Oh, & Pete for setting a roaring fire going each night! 😊❤️
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