Since the last post, we have been mostly in the English countryside. The Cotswolds, the Lake District and Yorkshire have all been beautiful and full of connections with literature and history. The Cotswolds were lovely - very pastorial with sheep, hedgerows and rolling hills. They were also full of Shakespeare (Stratford-Upon-Avon), history (Coventry and Warwick Castle) and long drives and walks. York and Yorkshire were full of history, from the English Civil War and royal succession, Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest, the Castle Museum in York which was so interesting and old city walls and bridges to Secret Garden vistas (Sowerbys and moors). Lastly, the Lake District has been an amazing reminder of home. The water - rivers, lakes and waterfalls - and the hills/mountains all seem like the Pacific Northwest. We've hiked, traveled high roads over passes, walked on trails by the lake here in Keswick, and seen lots of people with backpacks, hiking boots and fleece.

We will leave here for Ireland, by way of Liverpool, in two days so my next posting will be from there. Here are a few photos of our latest adventures. From the top: the countryside in the Cotswolds, an inn in Stow-on-the-Wold, one of several castles, sheep in the fields, and a frozen lake and day in Keswick.