A day in London

This is what they're driving in London these days...

Returning to England

After more castles, lighthouses, waterfalls and distilleries we have returned to England. We had a beautiful drive through Yorkshire, where all the buildings are of brick or stone. We came into York, a walled city in the heart with cobblestoned, crooked streets and it's awesome York Minster. We wandered the streets in the evening, looking at the little shops, stopping in the pubs and viewing the Minster in the moonlight. We enjoyed our stay in a little b and b that served a hearty, full English breakfast. I'm not kidding; that includes eggs, fried bread, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, sausage, bacon and toast. You have to walk for a long, long time to take care of that! The Minster is fabulous. We lucked out and toured it during a service so the organ was in use. It definitely added to the atmosphere. After York we traveled on to Cambridge and visited our childhood friend, Kate King. It was great seeing her and her family again and walking all around the colleges in Cambridge. More fantastic, old stone buildings and lots of bicycles, pubs, and chapels. We are now home with Tamar for a week and will take on London.

Another day, Another castle

Scotland is amazing! There is a castle for every type of person. They are really incredible. Unfortunately, we missed a sighting of Nessie by about 3 minutes but never the less, the scenery was beautiful. We stayed at a hotel right on the loch. One of the best things about this trip is getting to have salmon every day. There seems to be a distillery around every corner. I think that's why everyone is so friendly...... this photo is of Urquhart Castle, at the south end of Loch Ness.

How'd we get here?

Stan and I arrived in England at noon yesterday and within the hour we were viewing our first garden. We came prepared for rain and cool weather but so far it feels like summer. It's great to be here with Tamar and Martyn. Tomorrow we will all pile into the car, stuff our gear into the "boot" and take off for a week in Scotland.

Laine's first camping trip

Laine loves camping in Gunnison, Co. So far, she doesn't know about s'mores and we're trying to keep it that way, but she already knows how to sit around the campfire.....

This past year...

What can I say?? I've really fallen down on the job! This year was one of the longest and one of the shortest of my life. It seems the older you get, the more you have to do and the longer it takes to figure it out. Of course, I'm speaking for my brain only! Meanwhile, it's all pluses in our lives. The house is done, we have a beautiful granddaughter, and a wonderful, new daughter in law.

I Modannari

This weekend was the annual chalk art festival at the Santa Barbara Mission. Our friends, Greg and Karen Goforth were here so we went over to check out the progress the first day. The artists were out in the baking sun, working away. They have huge trays of pastels. Their hands were covered with all the colors of the rainbow. Today Stan and I went back to see the end result. It is truly incredible!! And to think they only last for a week or so...