Ages and Ages

It has been ages since I did a blog. It's not as if we have no news, quite the opposite.

Our holiday in North Yorkshire was excellent, but extremely tiring, up and out by 9am every day.

Day one, Fountains Abbey. It's a place I've wanted to see for a long time. For those who have not been, I thoroughly recommend it. But do get yourself a good guide. Ours was very knowledgeable, she made a ruin a living place, and answered all our questions. She was obviously a local archeologist, and historian, who has done a lot of work on the site. The day was very hot, and by we had finished, were to tired to also do the Water Gardens, which make the whole place a World Heritage site. The. Gardens will have to be done on another trip.

Day two we went to Castle Howard. A vast pile still lived in by the Howard family. Lots to see and do, walked our socks off both in the grounds and the house. Had a good lunch in their cafe and took a
tractor ride back to the entrance, where we visited the shops, and made a few purchases. In the afternoon we went to Harrogate, what a lovely place it is. Very hilly but full of interesting shops, parks etc. . Dad and I of course had to take afternoon tea in Betty's. Well what can I say, it was delicious, refined, decadent, expensive, and filling. Four different finger sandwiches, scone jam and cream, three different cakes, and that's each! We came out fit to bursting. When we got back to the hotel, we decided to give dinner a miss that night. Full English breakfast, a good lunch, and a splendid afternoon tea, is enough for anyone!

Day three. Straight into York. Dad and I decided our priority was the Minster. What an awe inspiring space. Took photographs which I will share at a later date. We tried unsuccessfully to book up a hotel in York, for the weekend. Everywhere was fully booked due to the races. Tourist Information said we would have to go some way out of the city to book anywhere, so we decided to motor on home on the Friday, and chill out. But I digress, on the third day in the afternoon we went to Beningbrough Hall and Gardens. A large House but on a smaller scale than Castle Howard. The setting was lovely, the house was a little disappointing, but contained some good art work on loan from the National Portrait Gallery in London. These included many images of the current Royal family, all very interesting.

In all it was a good holiday, the weather was very hot which made sightseeing exhausting. We must go back to North Yorkshire for a longer break and a chance to visit some of the places again in more depth.

This last week has been busy, shortlisting  candidates for interview for the post of Team Rector. We had five applicants and shortlisted four. I personally am not overly impressed with any of them, for one reason or another, anyway we will see how they interview in September.

We had a lovely day on Tuesday, we visited Jenny Gilbert in her new workshop, and had a good pub lunch.

On Saturday we drove up to Kent to join with others to celebrate Jo and John Sutton's Diamond Wedding Anniversary. Many people there we did not know, but all the family were present. We had a good natter to them all and took some photographs as well. We will share them when we meet up. Andrew and Francis were there. They are going out to Chicago I. September to see Christine. Who it sounds is pretty immobile now, and doesn't think she would manage visiting Francis..

Hope all have enjoyed your holidays look forward to seeing and hearing from you all

Chris