Day Out :-)

We jumped ship yesterday and had a day out in Cumbria , before the big rush of shows , starting next Thursday . Seems we picked the best day , it was gorgeous and sunny all day.

Our first port of call was Askew Rigg Farm ,where we stayed in the Summer , to see Ruth and Ernest Bird. They were very pleased to see us . We booked our caravan pitch for next year. We are only going up for three weeks instead of our usual six but it will be nice. There are quite a few shows to do during the time we are up there.This is a view of the farm i took during the Summer on one of the rare fine days . The four white blobs in the middle are caravans .
This is Ernest Bird of Askew Rigg sat on his specially adapted quad . We call it his Popemobile . It keeps him dry and enables him to still get up on the fells to tend his herd of Highland Cattle .Even though he's 80 he still puts in a full days work on the farm , helped by his son and grandson .

After having lunch with the Birds we just had to call in at Wool Clip . The car park was unexpectedly full . Perhaps it was the good weather that brought people out.

Look at all this yummy yarn . The little ehem!! pile in the foreground was mine . Well you can't go to Wool Clip and not buy anything , I'm supporting the local economy . That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I got some more lovely Herdwick for bags :-))))

After our visit to Wool Clip we went on to see Cecilia .
This face was at the window when we went into the woolroom. Cecilia is working very hard at the moment sorting out all the applications for Woolfest, single handedly ,so it was nice she could spare some time for us to visit . We had a lovely couple of hours chatting about knitty things and Woolfest. ( Only 31 weeks off ) Goat kept an eye on us the whole time we were there . I came home with 200 grms of Cecilia's home grown Blue Faced Leicester yarn . I am keeping this all for me cos I know exactly where it's come from.

We stayed long enough to see the Sun go down . This is the view Cecilia has from her lovely light workroom , imagine seeing this all the time . Another perfect end to another perfect day .

The Wanderer Returns

I am back . Bent but not broken . It's taken since last Thursday to get everything sorted.It has been the wettest August I have experienced in the thirty years I have been going up to the Lakes and the worst time show wise since I first ventured up there to work in 1994 . It has been unbelievably wet . So much so I hadn't the heart to blog after the first two weeks as I would just have been repeating myself . Wet , wet and more wet. By the 19th we had lost four shows and had to cancel one as DH was ill. Carol and Jeff decided to go home , they'd had enough . But we struggled on valiantly . After Carol and Jeff had gone the weather strangely picked up and we had four fine days so we played tourist and had some nice runs out.

Round the back of Blencathra to see the wild horse.

An evening stroll down by Derwentwater after a chippy tea .It seemed to lift our spirits and made us determined to carry on . Number 1 son had been up to see us .We had an hilarious phone conversation . Him on the top of Blencathra and me at the caravan , waving my arms frantically and shouting" can you see me " . He could see the van but I was to small and he didn't have his specs on. We paid a few visits to Woolclip . I now have a huge box of dyed Herdwick that I am going to make bags and rugs out of. As I write this DH is making me a Peg Loom to make the rugs . More about this later.

We blagged our way into the Grasmere Sports Craft Marquee and had a reasonable time . It clawed back a bit of lost revenue and the weather was gorgeous but it went downhill fast after that .

Bank Holiday Monday morning.

This was taken on the Bank Holiday as well . It says it all doesn't it . They where just standing in the rain looking miserable.

I could go on forever about the rain and the wet but it wasn't all bad . This is sunset over Keswick . On one of the rare days we had sun . I've taken some stunning photos of sunsets and sunrises and even one night we had a fabulous moon. I'll drop one or two pics in my blog over the next couple of weeks .

Meg found a pal at Grasmere Sports . How cool is that !!!! Her mirror image is a boy though. Meg is on the left. The chances of finding another dog like this must be awesome . They are the same age as well .

I've saved the best till last . If you have read my other Cumbrian posts you'll be aware that a Pedigree Highland Calf was born ,just after we arrived at Askew Rigg, and subsequently named after me . Well here she is . Isn't she beautiful . Mr Bird took me up to see her the day before we left and luckily the sun was shining.

The World Tour of Cumbria wasn't a complete disaster like the "Curates Egg " it was good in parts . We met some lovely people . Especially Cecelia and her friends . We had two lovely Monday nights at her home spinning , knitting and eating her DH's Apple Cake . We have to thank the Bird's of Askew Rigg , Ruth and Earnest, for there help and hospitality and their great interest in how we got on at the shows.

It was hard work but like Arnie " We'll be back "