The town of Stamford ....

I just want to say I am thinking of the people affected by Hurricane Sandy.... my love and thoughts with you all.......

 

 

The town of Stamford is a nice drive from the farm.  It is an old town (records from 1000 years ago) and has some lovely park areas and interesting little shops and buildings....

 

After our drive Maddy needed a stroll with the ducks.....

 

 

and a chat with the swans .....

 

 

here we are with a lovely view of the town......

 

 

lots of stone buildings......

 

 

This is Browns Hospital with All Saints Church in the background..... Browns hospital was established as an almshouse in the 15th century......

 

 

All Saints Church....... wherever you go there are lovely churches, when the country was established it was deemed very important that all people should be living within walking distance of a church.... and they have lovely steeples so they can be seen easily....  they seemed like olden day GPS to me....

 

 

Righto, Gotto Go...... places to explore.....

 

I am managing to read blogs but not much commenting.... some lovely sewing going on......

Saying Goodbye......

Those of you who have known me for a while know that we had such sadness in August when our nephew Chris passed away at only 21 ..... although we have lived in different countries for the last 12 years my children and their cousins always spent a lot of time together and formed many wonderful memories..... Chris was the youngest son of Hubz's only brother.

 

Besides being able to spend time with our own children this trip was our opportunity to say goodbye to this young man ......... this post is a way of showing my respect for Chris but the area is lovely and I thought you might like to see some of it

 

We visited the lovely church where his funeral was held.......

(it has quite an interesting history which you can read more about HERE)

 

 

very beautiful stained glass window.....

 

 

the church is a lovely building and apparently has the tallest tower in Norfolk
as with most of these lovely big old churches the doors are huge and quite beautiful
Grandieboy#2 looked in amazement at the emormous doors and asked "Is that how big God is?"

 

 

 

we  walked by the pier and beach where Chris enjoyed spending time....

 

 

Even Jane Austen liked the town.....

From "Emma" by Jane Austen (1816): "You should have gone to Cromer, my dear, if you went any where Perry was a week at Cromer once, and he holds it to be the best of all the sea-bathing places. A fine open sea, he says, and very pure air."

 

One of the lovely buildings at the edge of the Cromer reinforced cliffs.....

 

 

Donations contributed by friends and family are being used to sponsor some woodland nearby ..... we were able to go there and have a lovely walk through the trees.... this is part of the area that is being sponsored in Chris' name.....

 

 

In the local village where the family lives we all gathered to plant an oak tree and bury his ashes in the village park area.  All of us, including the children were invited to help add the soil to support the young tree.  A bench will be added in due course and this will be a lovely spot to sit.....

 

 

It sounds odd to describe saying goodbye as a good time but it was important for all of us and I think the family have managed to draw strength from each other and create some special ways to remember Chris.....

he will always be much loved and fondly remembered......

 

Righto, Gotto Go..... tears to wipe.....

Beach side......

Wherever in the world it is lovely to be by the coast

 

We took a small boat (of the 22 people 11 were one family - OURS!!)

 

just a short trip down the river from Blakeney and round the corner to the beach to this lovely sight

 

 

The common seal...... such a puppy-like face!

 

it was so funny to watch them wobbling around to move.....

 

 

the girls and my english grandiekidlets.....

 

a cold english seaside - I imagine the seagulls were having a chat about the weather..... 

 

beach huts for those summer time days.....

 

however cold it is........ little boys have to chase waves ..... 

 ... of course with the cold weather we had to have some warm food....

a self-saucing chocolate pudding with icecream.....

A wonderful few days with our family ..... very special..... we did lots more ....

 

Gotto Go...... pictures to sort.......

On the Farm......

Once upon a time a young man went to England all the way from Africa to study at Uni.  He had to work to cover his board and lodging and one day he went to work on a turkey and wheat farm and happened to fall in love with the farmers daughter. 

 

Lucky for me they live and work on the farm and now there is a wonderful little grandiegirl Maddy in the family too....... and she took Hubz and I on a tour.....

 

out through the gate....

past the barns.....

.... and the big machines.....

through the hay bales......

.... the turkeys came to have a look at us......

..... admired the fields of winter wheat.....

..... found some puddles to splash in on the way....

...... farmhouse accommodation.....


..... best use of a haybale is for sliding down.....

.... and we had some time at the playground too.....

 

Lovely farm tour... thanks to Maddy......

 

Righto, Gotto Go..... Maddy loves storytime......

Rellies in Yorkshire ......

Hubz has a cousin in Yorkshire
(which also happens to be the area my dad originally came from!)

 

Now, I am extremely fond of this cousin - he is such fun, very charming, a wonderful host....

 

and a CHEF...... 

 

We arrived to a light lunch.... smoked cod chowder......

 

...... and DESSERT.....

..... then off for a gentle stroll....

 

..... yes, we were going to that tower!....
(this was taken at about the half way mark)

..... almost there....

.... you can't see the inscription well here but Darwen tower was built to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.... it was opened in 1898 - so old but so sturdy.... built good and solid

 

we climbed to the top of the tower..... outstanding 360 degree view

..... some more view....

such a lovely walk....

 

lovely dinner that evening...... English hot pot....

 

with DESSERT....

 

Cuz has a lovely house where we stayed... this was the view from our bedroom window the next morning....

 

Full English breakfast in the Conservatory beefore setting off on the road 

Surprisingly enough I discovered that jeans shrink when washed in the English water!!

 

Righto, Gotto Go..... farm visit in Northhamptonshire.....