Exploring England, Part 2

Barrows and Tors.  What are they? Why would we spend most of a day in Cornwall searching for these isolated places?

A barrow or carn is an ancient burial site.  (If you hang around the Willow family, you will discover that conversations about such places is commonplace, even at the dinner table.)

Ballowall Barrow, or Carn Gluze, is a burial mound with chambers where more than one person would have been buried.

The walk up to the top of the cliff was worth it for what we found.

We were warned to stay on the paths and not wander around because there are mines and holes left over from the tin mining that was done.

The view over the Atlantic Ocean was amazing.

 But we didn't really come just for the view.  We wanted to see this hidden treasure.

For a long time, this barrow was covered over with debris from nearby tin mines. Eventually, it was discovered and excavated by William Copeland Borlase in 1878.  According to the sign at the site, "His excavations revealed a unique and complex Bronze Age funerary monument."  

"Ballowall Barrow is one of the largest and most complex of the prehistoric funerary monuments that cluster along the West Penwith coastline.  Often located in dramatic locations, it is likely that the local communities which built them did so to provide striking tombs for the dead."

Older Daughter loves to explore these places.

Another site in the area is Carn Euny, an Iron Age village. According to archaeologists who have done excavations there, it was occupied from at least 500 BC through late Roman times.

 "At the heart of the village is its most intriguing feature -- a stone-walled underground passage know as a fogou.  This mysterious type of Iron Age monument is found only in the far west of Cornwall." (English Heritage site statement)

As we were walking up the path to the village, we met a couple who had been there before and they told us about the fogou and its importance.  Otherwise, I might not have been as impressed with walking through the tunnel.

Carn Euny Holy Well was on the edge of the path and we almost missed it!  

As you can tell, we are a family who love ancient history!

Friday Fave Fives, end of April

Friday Fave Fives!  I'm living in the recent past processing all those photos from our trip to England, but I'm also living in the present--reviewing this week and finding the blessings.  Here are my Five Faves from this last full week of April.  If you want, you can join me and others by clicking THIS LINK to our host Susanne's blog.

1.  The Professor did his magic and I have photos!  So far, I've published ONE POST with pictures from our trip to England.  I'm loving reliving our days there through processing the photos.

2.  Trip to Phoenix.  I don't necessarily love the hours we spend on the road.  But I do love the beauty of the desert and of course the destination which is PAL's house!  We took a hike on Friday and she was our 'guide'.

3.  Easter with our PAL!  I love celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and I love celebrating with my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  We attended their church for both Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday services.

4.  This week we received a couple of emails from former coworkers in Indonesia, telling us about a person who is writing a booklet about the history of our international mission in Papua.  She asked for our biography and some photos of us and our ministry there.  So I dug out my albums and found this picture of our family from 1988.

This also reminded me that I really need to get back to focusing on organizing and scanning all those hundreds of photos we still have sitting around.

5.  Our weather has been perfect for getting out into the garden and weeding, and there are lots of weeds to keep me busy.  I love to be outside and just gaze at the flowers while I'm cleaning up the weeds.

Lavender and Poppies on the bank

I hope you have had a blessed week!

Exploring England, Part 1

Are you ready for this?  Lots and lots of photos of England!  Be ready to be amazed and fall in love!

The Professor and I planned this spring trip to England so we could travel with World's Best Neighbor and with The New Boy and his mama.  We all met up at Heathrow airport and hopped the express train into London.  World's Best Neighbor waved bye to us and joined her husband's cousin for a visit.  Then we climbed aboard our Night Riviera train to Penzance.

May I say that I fell in love with Cornwall!  There is a caveat to that statement, though.  We found the roads in Cornwall to be...challenging. Narrow. Windy. Sometimes scary. Like when you meet another car on the one lane road with stone walls on either side.  The Professor navigated them with amazing ability.  I'm glad it wasn't me driving.

Lanes and roads notwithstanding, we all four loved Cornwall!  What do you know about Cornwall?  It is famous for tin mining and the birthplace of industrialization, for pirates (think Pirates of Penzance), for Cornish pasties, for remote moors and beaches, for ancient barrows, for legends about King Arthur.

We gave ourselves only two days in Cornwall so we had to choose carefully where we would go.

Cape Cornwall is almost the farthest west spot in England.  Land's End beats it by four miles.  But oh! The views!  I could live here!

Looking over the cape toward the Atlantic Ocean

That smoke stack tower?  You can hike right up to it.

Yeah. I could live here.

Walled gardens overlooking the beach and sea. 

Even a greenhouse!

While The Professor and I hiked to the tower, The New Boy and Older Daughter scrambled down to the beach and wandered around.

 

The view across to the other side of the cove!

There was once a church in this field.

This is just the beginning!  So. Much. More. To. See.  Come back for a continuing tour of Ballowall Barrow, Ancient Tors,Tintagel...

Back on Track

It's Good Friday!  I'm finally back online to share my Friday Fave Fives with you all.  Did you miss me?  Did you even notice I was absent?  I hope so!  Here are my Five Faves from the last four weeks!  (Was it really that long?)

1.  If you read my previous post, you will know that we spent three weeks in England. Yes, England!  Because our daughter wanted to take The New Boy on his first international trip during spring break, we tagged along to share the experience with them, and then we stayed for another twelve days to visit more new places.  I am thankful to this wonderful opportunity!

2.  I'm thankful for safe travels to and from England and all around the country.  We rented a car for the first week, we rode trains, and we hopped on and off the tube in London.  That was a lot of traveling, and I never take safe travels for granted.

3.  I'm thankful for good friends.  Because of a theft of cards, etc, we had to close our accounts, and people helped us by paying for accommodations and sending cash.  I am so very thankful for good, good friends!

4.  As usual, our friend picked us up at LAX, even in the midst of a huge airport traffic jam, at 11pm!  That's a true friend!  Then she drove us to her house where our car was parked and we hopped on a mostly 70 mph freeway and made it home safely at 1 am.  I'm thankful for yet more wonderful friends and a successful last leg of our trip.

5.  Have you noticed that there aren't any photos here yet of our trip?  Yeah, well.  I bought a new camera just a day before we left, and I pushed the wrong button (I 'knew' what I was doing, but not the result), so four days of my photos have not been easily accessible to edit and put my copyright mark on them.  What I'm thankful for is that The Professor is working on a solution.  The photos should be available 'soon'.

Happy Easter to all my friends who celebrate Easter!

Revealed

Oh, hey! Hi! Yes, I'm back! So, where was Willow for the past almost month?  Here are some hints.

Obviously, it was a long trip.  The New Boy was tired.

He revived.  There were special places he wanted to see that first day.

YES!  We were in LONDON!

Can I say that it is really fun traveling with an eleven year old boy?  His view of what's interesting was different from his mom's and ours, but he (mostly) happily went along with our sightseeing plans.  As long as it involved food.

I am still recovering from jet lag and still organizing photos.  Come back soon to 'see' the whole trip!

Rejoice!

Hello!  It's sunny and exceedingly windy here at Willow's Cottage today.  Oh, I'm loving the sunshine (the wind not so much).  And I'm rejoicing in my abundant blessings which I am sharing via Friday Fave Fives hosted by Susanne.  HERE is the link to how you can participate and choose to be thankful and be encouraged by others.

1.  My church has a regular women's event called Rejoice during which we celebrate achievements and milestones for all the women in our congregation ages middle school and up. (Yes, we include our middle school young women!)  Last Sunday we celebrated two weddings, a college graduation, two babies, and a (very sadly) moving military family.  I love how our people celebrate together.

2.  How can a fever be a favorite thing of the week?  The fave part was that I could rest, drink lots of herbal tea and heal quickly.

3.  March 14. Or 3.14.  Or Pi Day.  We celebrated 𝛑 day by--- eating pie.  Pumpkin Pie because it is almost my birthday and I prefer pumpkin pie to cake.

4.  March 15.  It's the Ides of March, that infamous day in history when Julius Caesar met his end by traitorous means.  Why is this a fave with me?  Long story made short--in college I had a marvelous professor who taught me so much about life, Biblical history and Biblical apologetics.  On March 15th, I took an exam in his class and wrote at the top of the page by the date, "Beware the Ides of March".  When he returned the paper to me, he had written on it by my A grade, "The Ides of March treated you better than it did Caesar."  I still have that exam because I still value all that he taught me (and yes, I do refer to my notes from the classes).  Every March 15th, I rejoice and think of him and thank God for that man's influence on my life.

5.  When March arrives, I always wear my shamrock necklace and earrings all month because it is my birthday month and St. Patrick's Day is my actual birthday.  My mother gifted the necklace to me when I was visiting her in Boston on my birthday.  It makes me remember my mom and rejoice that I had a loving, godly mother.

I want to let you all know that I will be off the blog for awhile.  You might think that I am backing away because of the Lent season.  No, actually, The Professor and I have plans to travel to places where I will not be carrying my computer, so I won't be online much except when I have wifi connections to use my phone.  We are leaving on Thursday.  I will do my best to write a post next week. However, I don't have any guarantee of having wifi available to allow me to post.  After that, I will be silent (mostly) for three weeks while we are traveling.  Where in the world will Willow be?

Spring is Springing

It's (almost) Spring!  And it's Friday, so it's Friday Fave Five time.  I hope you have had a good week.  I know I have!  Here are my Fave Fives for this happy springish week.

1.  After the last rainstorm (yes! another one, and this time there was thunder and lightning!), we have had sunny skies.  And flowers.  I know it is spring when the coreopsis and wild mustard are blooming.  Everything is GREEN and YELLOW.

2.  And ORANGE. California poppies always make me happy.  Do you know what time of day I took this photo?  Hint:  poppies are 'light sensitive'.

3.  March is my birthday month.  It's also my friend's (Blueberry Lady).  So we are planning our March lunch together.

4.  One evening I called my sister-in-law who lives in our town and said, "Come to (inset our favorite Mexican restaurant name) cuz we haven't had dinner and a chat with you for a long time."  We convinced her, and we had a wonderful time.  Our favorite server was surprised to find out that sil and The Professor are siblings--she has thought all these years we've been eating there together that we were just really good friends (which we are).

5.  Speaking of sisters-in-law, my brother's wife has been my friend since we were in late middle school.  One day this week, we chatted for over an hour.  So much fun!  I'm thankful for my family!

Fave Fives, Finally

Oh my.  I am very late with my Friday Fave Fives this week!  But, quickly, here they are.

1.  Rain.  Are you tired of reading that I am thankful for rain?  Well, we've been in drought conditions for years (maybe seven or eight?) and finally, the official word came out this week that our county is now No. Longer. In. Drought.  For an agricultural area, this is a huge blessing.  And as I am writing this, it is raining lightly. The best kind of rain.

2.  On Sunday, the women (high school and above) had lunch together after church.  The menu was very versatile and everyone had something they could eat.  The speakers were from our church.  I was sitting with several younger women, some whom I didn't know well--it was great to talk with them and learn more about them.

3.  Those women--we are all book lovers!  During our conversations, one younger woman pulled out a pen and wrote down everyone's suggestions for good, clean historical novels.  Then on Tuesday, she texted a couple of us the list.  I may have already popped over to the library to check out one of the authors...

4.  I am so thankful for cell phones.  Both of my daughters called me and talked for a long time this week.  Just wanted to hear my voice.  Phones make that possible even though we are thousands of miles apart.  It made my heart happy to hear their voices, too.

5.  An elderly gentleman who is friends with us made a comment about some events and people he has observed during his long life.  His final statement was, "So, don't be a grump."  Simple and true.

I didn't take a single photo this week. (must correct that!)  But here are some pictures taken during this week over the past years.  I realized that spring is a little later this year as in other years the flowers have already been blooming.  Enjoy!

Good Medicine

Hello Friday!  What a week it has been.  It just flew by and I'm barely keeping up.  The best part though is that I was able to stop and smell the daffodils (from my garden)

and laugh a bit.  That's why I am posting my Friday Fave Fives.

Have you heard that statement, "Laughter is the best medicine"? This week, I noticed several things that made me happy, made me smile and made me laugh.

1.  Saturday when we shopped at Trader Joe's, we noticed there were kids wandering around the store dressed in Hawaiian shirts, accompanied by store employees.  It was 'take your child to work' day!  The kids were helping in all kinds of jobs--serving snacks and stocking shelves.  Cuteness overload!  We loved it!

2.  Our nephew has two children, a boy and a girl.  Since they live not so very far away, we are often invited to dinners and birthday parties.  This week, we received thank you notes from them for the books we gave them last month.  They made us smile.

3.  We also received the cutest Valentine card from our PAL.  She's only four but she quite neatly wrote her name on it.  Awwww.  A little card like that can produce the biggest smiles from her Meema and Bapa.

4.  So.  I live in coastal Southern California where weather is steady, temperatures seldom fluctuate much and, according to legend, the sun always shines.  But.  This week.  On Thursday, we had HAIL. And SNOW on the coastal mountains--not more than 10 or 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean (Boney Peak--over 2,800 ft).  We drove over to a nearby national park (Satwiwa) and walked in to take some photos.  The place was packed with other people doing the same thing.  Yeah.  Snow on Boney Peak is a bit unusual.  It was so much fun to see it, and everyone we talked to was so excited.

See it?  It may not be much and it probably has already melted away, but it is amazing and unusual for us.

5.  Down in town there wasn't snow.  It was HAIL!  A friend posted on facebook that her son, after seeing the hail, asked his mom, "Is this a national disaster?"

Are you laughing now?  It's good for you!

Fiber Theme

I am so thankful for the ability to create beautiful things from fiber.  This week I've been focusing on finishing some things.  Other than the usual daily tasks, this is what I've done.  They're my Fave Finishes!  I'm sharing them for Friday Fave Fives with Susanne as our host.

1.  The main reason I have been focusing on the knitting is that I emptied the four drawers of yarn this week and reorganized them  My intent was to pull out and give away some of the yarn I know I'll never use.  The Professor told me I should have taken a photo of the bed--piled high with different yarns all in their little sections.  Acrylic. Wool. Sock. Cotton.  At least it's organized again and some is finding its way to others who will use it.

2.  A vest.  It's still in the beginning stages.  I love love love the yarn--wool and silk. Yum.

3.  Socks.  I've decided to work my way through a bunch of sock yarn.  You can't have too many warm socks when it's rainy and damp and cold.  I was working on this sock at the doctor's office this week and drew a lot of attention.  (Was it the sharp needles or the yarn?)

4.  Scarves.  It was almost Valentine's Day and I had some left over red and pink yarns.  What to make?  Another scarf!  I started it with warping on Tuesday night and finished it on Thursday evening.  I'll be wearing it to a Valentine's dinner tonight (Friday night). The colors in the photo show the scarf to have much more pink tones and less red.  In real life, the scarf is mostly red.

5.  Another bunny.  This one is for Easter.  Photos soon.

How did you enjoy your week?  Any creative outlets?

Time to be Thankful

Good afternoon! It's Friday Fave Five time.  Here is Willow's Week in Five short summaries.

1.  I heard a new to me term this week for the beautiful green grass that has grown on our mountains this winter (because of the rain we've had--see below).  The "emerald hills" of Southern California.  I love looking up and gazing at our Emerald Hills!

2.  Rain! More rain! Because of the rain storms which have blown through our area, we are no longer in drought. According to the official wording, we are now merely 'abnormally dry'.  Whatever the terms are, I am thankful for the several inches of rain we have had this season.

3.  And these have blossomed!

4.  This happened last week, but I am thankful for it still.  I was driving our car and noticed that a warning light came on the dashboard.  What it was for I wasn't sure, so I checked the information book we keep in the car.  Hmmmm.  Low tire pressure?  When I got home, I checked again.  Yup. Right rear tire was almost flat.  So I turned around and slowly and carefully drove the back roads to the tire store.  There was no charge and the wait wasn't all that long for the repair.  I am thankful for a good car, a reputable tire store and most of all safety on the roads. (and that it happened between rain storms!)

5.  A dear friend of mine is moving soon.  That's not the fave.  The fave is that we spent a couple of hours one afternoon nursing a cuppa at CBTL and just chatting up a storm.  We've decided that we need to do this a lot in the next few months.  She challenges me and encourages me.  It seems that until we realize we may lose something or someone, we don't carve out time with them.  I'm thankful for the reminder and for time well spent.

6.  A children's book I loved:  A Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

What blessed you and encouraged you this week?

TuesdayTalk

Karen at Over the Backyard Fence mentioned that she was doing a daily writing challenge in February to help her get over the blues hump of blogging.  I've been feeling a bit like that so I figured I'd jump in and at least try to write something most every day. Note: I didn't write anything on Saturday, Sunday or Monday because I just decided today to do this.

Karen wrote about how she keeps track of her week.  My way is similar but different.

I use 3x5" cards to write out my daily to do list.  I used to make a weekly list on a card but lately I haven't done that probably because The Professor and I keep our shared calendar on our phones.  That works well for us since we also share a car and need to make sure that we don't schedule over each other at times we both need the car.  Whenever either of us is scheduling anything, we immediately write it on to the phone calendar.  Hence the need for a 3x5" card weekly list is redundant.

Back to the daily card.  Either the night before or the morning of, I write down my to do list below the day's date.  My list includes emails I need to send, appointments, gardening, cooking, whatever is on my schedule.  For example, one day I may have a physical therapy appointment, but I want to work my shopping or a post office run around that time so I can be more efficient with my time and gas.  So the whole list gets written down including times if appropriate.

How do you keep track of your schedule?

Encouraging Words

Encouraging words can and do change people's reactions and perspectives.  That is why I regularly participate in Friday Fave Fives with Susanne who hosts us. (Follow that link to find her blog and connect with other thankful people.)  This is why:

It is now Friday early afternoon and I am home from all my wanderings and appointments of the morning. 

As I was sitting in Bible Study, I was reflecting on my week and thinking, "What can I write about?  It was one of those weeks when stuff happened and I need to focus on the good things."  Then I noticed I had a message on my phone.  It was my (new) pastor's wife, just checking in and telling me she was praying for me today.  OK!  Right there--that should count for ALL.FIVE.FAVES for this week!  She remembered.  She prayed.  She cared.  She told me.  She encouraged me.

That caused me to pull out my pencil and notepad and write down all the other blessings that suddenly popped into my mind.

1.  Today I wore a vest I knitted last year.  It's not my favorite although I love the pattern.  I made it from a heavier yarn and it just doesn't fit me right.  But.  Several people complimented me on how lovely it is.  Maybe it looks better than I thought...

photos of the detailed cables on the back of the vest

2.  World's Best Neighbor has a tiny patch of rhubarb in her garden.  She shared some with me and I baked a strawberry rhubarb crisp.  YUM!

3.  I finished weaving another scarf this week.  Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE weaving on my Cricket rigid heddle loom?  (photos soon!  I am in the process of blocking it.)

4.  Some younger women at church have expressed interest in learning to sew.  I offered to teach some hand sewing basics, and we started this week.  Something as simple as sewing a straight seam is bringing me so much joy.  I get to teach.  I get to become better friends with these young women.

5.  Apologies to all of you who are in very very cold places.  Including my daughters.  Here in Southern California, we are all excited about the rain.  It rained one day this week.  And we are going to get more rain starting tonight!  Maybe finally our decade of drought is ending!

When Others Encourage Me

My word for this year, as I wrote earlier this month, is ENCOURAGE.  I want to encourage other people, but this week others have encouraged me.  Here are five examples (out of many more I noticed this week) which I am sharing as my Friday Fave Fives.  Here is the link to Susanne's blog where she hosts our Gathering of Blessings and Encouragement.

1.  Out of the blue, I received a phone call from the mom of a former student.  For the last eight years of my teaching career, I taught homeschool students how to write--stories, essays, compositions.  Anyway, the mom called me and had her son tell me how as a jr high student now, he had been earning the highest marks in his class.  As he said, "I did what Mrs. Willow taught me and got extra credit."  Isn't that the most encouraging thing a kid could say to a former teacher?

2.  We have had a crazy week...just lots of 'little things'.  A younger mom from church assured me she was praying for me.  That's encouraging!  (and I'm supposed to be her encourager!)

3.  How can a memorial service be an encouragement?  Well, it was.  Yes, another funeral.  This week we celebrated the life of a younger man from our church congregation who was a great encourager.  Born with disabilities, he embraced life with the happiest and brightest smile.  He was a greeter at church and hugged everyone.  Bill's life was an example of how to be an encourager. And that encouraged me to 'be more like Bill'.

4.  On Sunday evening, I had a meeting and so did The Professor.  But they were at two different times in two different places.  Since we have only one car, I was blessed and encouraged when a friend who was going to be at the meeting with me, offered me a ride home.  Then we sat and chatted in her car for awhile--just because we could.  She encouraged me, and I hope I encouraged her.

5.  An hour or two later, the same friend texted me, "Look outside!"  It was the lunar eclipse which we didn't expect to see because our sky was clouded over.  But the clouds parted just enough.  I snapped this picture at about 3 minutes past totality.  I'm glad she encouraged me to go look!

How have you been ENCOURAGED this week?

And here are a couple of photos from our very very green wild landscapes as a bonus.  Where I live in Southern California, we don't have green mountains very often, so we revel in it when we do have the green!

There's not much green here, but you can see some new life returning after the Hill Fire burned through here in November.

Yes, we really were that high above the entrance to Hill Canyon.