This has been a very busy week.

It started with Paula Downing and I attending the grand opening of Lawton Henry's new Salon for Beauty, which his lady friend, Louise Meek, will be running. We had champagne, cava, etc., and a great time visiting with everyone. The shop is really nice, and Lawton gave me some brochures for Corries. He's giving everyone there 20% discount on any of the procedures from there and his hair salon!

Now Monday was a beautiful, balmy day, and as we walked in the twilight of the day, looking at the Minster, you just couldn't possibly imagine yourself in a more beautiful spot. We went to The Waterfront, a restaurant on the banks of the River Ouse. We had a delicious meal and met a lovely couple from Hinckley. Afterwards, we walked outside and had a drink with them at a table in front of the Kings Arms pub. Boats were plying the river with their lights on, there was music being played, and the stars were out! We finally bade them farewell, got a taxi and headed home.

Tuesday was my last day at work for the week, and I went to the market to get MORE last minute items for Dale Brannon and Fran Bennett's arrival. I awoke on Wednesday and drove to Leeds/Bradford to meet their morning flight on KLM from Amsterdam. SURPRISE!! They weren't on it. I eventually found out, from them, that they'd missed their connection due to their flight from Houston being delayed by torrential rainfall in Houston. I went to Harrogate for lunch, messed around a bit, and returned to the airport for the 2:15pm KLM flight. Sure enough, there they were. We drove back to the city, got their stuff deposited in the flat, and then we struck out for the Minster. Along the way, we stopped for a pint at Ye Olde Starr Inn, the oldest pub in York, continued to the Minster, then to the Three-Legged Mare for a pint, then on down Coney Street stopping to view the River Ouse, and finally wended our way to the Red Lion. There we encountered Richard Kirby, with whom we had another pint. He, Liz and some others were on their way to the Yorkshire Dales on Friday for the weekend, and he invited us to come and stay the night or weekend. We said we'd think about it. We left there, went home, and I fixed dinner, and we all went to bed!

Thursday morning, I drove through the Yorkshire Moors to Whitby and the ruins of its famous Abbey. We had a grand time roaming the ruins of the Abbey, and searching for signs of Dracula, whom Bram Stoker mentions as having arrived in England in Whitby. We had fish and chips there, and as we left the restaurant, I looked up and spied HMS Endeavor arriving! The cannons fired, the band played, the school children waved their boaters in the air!! How lucky were we? We drove on to Robin Hood's Bay after that and had a lovely time looking and poking around there, then it was back to Strensall, where Richard and Liz live, to pick up a map to the house in the Dales, Hilltop. We'd decided not to spend the night, as we had too much on our agenda!! However, we did say we would come by on our way back from Haworth the next day.

Friday dawned beautiful: blue skies, white clouds, a light breeze. We drove to Haworth, and Dale and Fran enjoyed traipsing around the parsonage, church, cemetery and village of the Brontes. We lunched there, and poked around the village some more, and then about 5pm, we set out from Haworth. The directions weren't too clear as to the direction we should head out of town, and after a couple of false starts, we set on the right track! We eventually arrived in Askrigg, having seen some BEAUTIFUL scenery! From Askrigg we headed to Muker and then up a mountain with nothing but a goat trail on the edge! We arrived at the house, and Richard and Liz said they were VERY proud of my driving on the trail. The house and environs were just lovely. Sheep, rock fences, rolling green terrain, just so lovely! After a bit, we decided to leave prior to dark. Just as we got in the car, Richard said, "Don't leave, here comes Cain!" It was Rachel Addison and Paul Cain, and of course, there WAS no reason to leave, as there would be no room on the track! We greeted them, exchanged hellos, etc. They'd been to Florida for 2 weeks and were just back, looking very brown and happy! We finally struck out around 8:45pm, and we were back home before 10pm, tired but filled with lovely, beautiful memories!

Saturday morning was fantastic weather again, and we ambled to Betty's for breakfast, walked through the open market, the over to the Jorvik Museum. As I've been there several times, I took a pass, and Dale and Fran said they really enjoyed it. We then went to Merchant Adventurers' Hall, where we met 2 ladies from North Carolina. They were hoping to get to Castle Howard, but didn't have a way, etc. So, I said we were headed that way, and would they like to join us? We walked back to my building, got in the car, and off we went!! Everyone really enjoyed Castle Howard. We'd found where they could get a bus back to the city, and off they went. We drove on to a lavender farm, and then back home for the evening, after a stop for Fran and me to have a couple of libations in the outdoors beside the Red Lion. The tables outside were packed due to the lovely weather.

Sunday we got up to another lovely, sunny day, and off we went to the York Castle Museum. We saw some of the Canadian Geese and their goslings walking around, and had a good time at the museum. From there we went to lunch, and we had a delicious Yorkshire meal, of roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, onion gravy, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mashed potatoes and roasted potatoes. We then went to the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens. How lovely! The grounds were so lush, the River Ouse flowing, the ice cream vendors with their trolleys, people taking sun on the grounds, the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey....just the way you would expect a lovely spring day to be in England. We went into the museum, and Sally Corrie had told me of the Paddington Bear there. It seems that when Bruce first started working here, he was doing probate. A lady died in Acomb, and he had to go to the house to see if he could find a will. There on the bed was this Paddington Bear with a letter in it's hands. It was from the deceased who said that she wanted to make sure the bear had a good home, as her father had given it to her in 1914, and she didn't want it to fall into bad hands! She asked that it be given to the children's section of the msueum, as she'd given other things there as well. There in the first room is the bear and the letter, and to know that I have a very tenuous connection to it makes it all the more special. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

We are now back home, planning what will be for dinner. I hope you have all had as enjoyable a week!

Love,