Tick. Tick. Tick. 12th August, 2010

Hill Top Farm, done. Tick! Beatrix Potter Gallery, done. Tick! The World of Beatrix Potter, done. Tick! Boat ride on Lake Windemere, done. Tick! Steam train, done. Tick! Bobbin Factory, done. Tick! Deepest Lake, (Wast) done. Tick! Quality cousin time, done. Tick!
If only I could always be so concise…
Now that I look above, I am little surprised at feeling a bit weary. Today especially was long as we went out driving at nearly midday, and didn’t get home until about a quarter to eight. So much for getting the kids to bed at seven tonight!! (they have started sleeping in – a sure sign that they are not getting enough sleep, and a bad start to a day which you want to get lots done in.)
Hill Top was lovely, but not as atmospheric as I had anticipated. Perhaps it is the inability to immerse oneself, when one is also trying to watch three children, and prevent them from falling through thinly glassed display cases, sitting on antique chairs, and swinging on barrier chains. But gorgeous? The whole area is stunning and there is little wonder that Beatrix (and probably the majority of visitors to the area – including yours truly) fell in love with the lakes district, and her little farm there.
The gallery was where her husband’s solicitors offices had once been. (inHawkshead). The World of Beatrix Potter (in Bowness) is shamelessly a tourist attraction, and a very well done one at that. Models mostly, of all of her stories. The kids loved them, and we adults were pretty impressed as well. That was all done on the Tuesday, all of us going to Near-Sawrey and Hawkshead and then after our return to Windemere, Lee-anne accompanying us to the W. of BP. The other two were making use of the local launderette and because I can’t check my last post, I don’t know whether I wrote about my experiences there or not. Suffice to say the prices are highway robbery!
Yesterday we caught the boat cruise to Lakeside, where we then jumped on a steam train, to Haverthwaite. We probably should have checked out where to go from there, as we set off on foot expecting to find a nice little local somewhere for a lunch. Ha ha ha ha. Two hours later, and a wander through a couple of tiny hamlets, a substantial forest, under roads and over rivers, and finally along the verge of a very busy road, we made our way back to the station and caught the train back to Lakeside. Where we had a two thirty lunch…. Without complaint though really. Being lost in the English countryside is a rather pleasant experience….I just wish we knew where we had been!
Today we sadly farewelled Katie and Kylie, off and on their way to Scotland. It was really special spending time together this week, if not a little surreal at times. (just the fact that we were all so far from home.) After they left, the rest of us piled into the car (I sat in the back with Lilli on my lap, belt over us both) and headed off on the drive I began by mentioning. The bobbin mill was really interesting and we had a half hour tour and demonstration of how things worked. Two things of interest were 1) to switch off the machines at the end of the day, they had to slip the belt off of the working wheel which spun their machine, eg, the belt driving the lathe, and it would be slipped alongside to a free-spinning wheel, thus allowing the machine to stop. This belt changing was called, ‘knocking the belt off’….or ‘Knocking -off’. That is where we have borrowed the expression from in our daily lives when we talk about ‘knocking off,’ or ‘knock-off time.’ 2) All bobbins (of all sizes) had to be polished before leaving the mill, and this was mostly done in a rotating drum with balls of wax, taking about an hour. However, the large bobbins which were especially made for the carpet factories, had to be lacquered, not waxed, and this was done with a mixture containing Metholated Spirits. This mix had highly intoxicating fumes, and was consequently only allowed to be carried out in the last hour of the day, on a Friday. And this was called….quick, see if you can figure it out…. “Happy Hour”. Again, it is an expression we are all very familiar with. And now we know where it came from.
Tomorrow is another sad farewell as we pop Lee-anne on the train, off for her last two weeks in the UK. Actually, the cousin farewells are more fond than sad, as I know that I will definitely see them again, one soon, and one eventually, but definitely again. It is actually Lee-anne’s birthday tomorrow, and as last night was our last night all together we had cake for desert, and then there was a card and choccies from Katie this morning, so we figure that by tomorrow, Lee-anne is up to day three in her b’day celebrations. After she is gone we will be off to see a couple of last things in the district – don’t know what yet – and then it will be back here to pack and prepare for an early departure on Saturday. We are heading to Scotland, with plans to visit a couple of the forts, in Hadrian’s wall along the way.
Guess it could be Saturday by the time this gets posted. Oh well. Better late than never. Bye now.