cumbria - the close of my summer travels (this post has been a long time coming!)
from scotland i made my way south into the lake district...
...where i was to join paintedfairy and the genin orchestra at rydal hall.
i stopped first at castlerigg stone circle, slept!, wandered up to visit the stones - the world looks like it drops away behind them most spectacularly *smile* i was struck by a much stronger sense of them as a circle this year, and still as a very tolerant space. then i slept some more! (i seem to have done a lot of sleeping at stone circles this summer *smile*).
i started out early in the morning to visit dodd's wood and bassenthwaite lake to see if the ospreys are still nesting there, but was initially thwarted and frustrated by the access arrangements *unsmile* a bit of ranting and rescheduling (thanks mymouse and paintedfairy for your ears and understanding)... and breakfast and a wash... later, i got up the hill to the osprey view point... and there were ospreys *smile* a couple of (the 3 this year) young birds on the nest and flying to and from it; an adult beautifully perched and plumaged; and one of the young birds fishing over the lake *smile* i also enjoyed finches, tits, goosander, grey herons, swans & peregrine too, and a spectacularly close buzzard *smile* before making my (facilitated/escorted) way back down the hill, into keswick for dinner, and onto rydal to meet paintedfairy.
i parked in familiar field (though it took a while to find a comfortably level spot), and enjoyed the space that rydal hall offers, and the open friendlyness of the genin orchestra... and some really lovely time with paintedfairy *smile* i spent a lovely four days dipping in and out of time and space to myself, with paintedfairy, with others, and with music *smile* i seemed to also spend a significant portion of time wandering in the grounds in the rain trying to maintain a mobile 'phone signal - keeping in touch with 'home' (heart/hearth, not strictly geographical... tho also the practicalities of having people living in my home), and rearranging my travel plans ...
i found myself so tired at this point in my travels. and so rydal hall and paintedfairy also gave me space for, and suppported, my resting up enough to drive home. i was sad to have to cancel the south-western part of my tour, and to cut my travels short, but it was so very the needed thing to do.
i left to the sounds of shostakovich... and arrived home some hours and roads later.
...where i was to join paintedfairy and the genin orchestra at rydal hall.
i stopped first at castlerigg stone circle, slept!, wandered up to visit the stones - the world looks like it drops away behind them most spectacularly *smile* i was struck by a much stronger sense of them as a circle this year, and still as a very tolerant space. then i slept some more! (i seem to have done a lot of sleeping at stone circles this summer *smile*).
i started out early in the morning to visit dodd's wood and bassenthwaite lake to see if the ospreys are still nesting there, but was initially thwarted and frustrated by the access arrangements *unsmile* a bit of ranting and rescheduling (thanks mymouse and paintedfairy for your ears and understanding)... and breakfast and a wash... later, i got up the hill to the osprey view point... and there were ospreys *smile* a couple of (the 3 this year) young birds on the nest and flying to and from it; an adult beautifully perched and plumaged; and one of the young birds fishing over the lake *smile* i also enjoyed finches, tits, goosander, grey herons, swans & peregrine too, and a spectacularly close buzzard *smile* before making my (facilitated/escorted) way back down the hill, into keswick for dinner, and onto rydal to meet paintedfairy.
i parked in familiar field (though it took a while to find a comfortably level spot), and enjoyed the space that rydal hall offers, and the open friendlyness of the genin orchestra... and some really lovely time with paintedfairy *smile* i spent a lovely four days dipping in and out of time and space to myself, with paintedfairy, with others, and with music *smile* i seemed to also spend a significant portion of time wandering in the grounds in the rain trying to maintain a mobile 'phone signal - keeping in touch with 'home' (heart/hearth, not strictly geographical... tho also the practicalities of having people living in my home), and rearranging my travel plans ...
i found myself so tired at this point in my travels. and so rydal hall and paintedfairy also gave me space for, and suppported, my resting up enough to drive home. i was sad to have to cancel the south-western part of my tour, and to cut my travels short, but it was so very the needed thing to do.
i left to the sounds of shostakovich... and arrived home some hours and roads later.