Fourth Faves in May

It's Friday again, so soon.  I was gone for a couple of days and am catching up here at Willow's Cottage.  Here are my Friday Fave Fives for this Fourth Friday in May. (follow the link to join!)  

1.  Thank you for all the love for my granddaughter's track meet high jump.  Although she didn't make it to regionals, we are so proud of her efforts and tenacity.

2.  We took a quick two day trip north to Cleveland.  Since we had never been there, we enjoyed visiting a park on Lake Erie.  It was a fun spot to walk and see the outline of downtown Cleveland.

The metal artwork on the fence was fun and whimsical.

3.  The reason we were in Cleveland was to pick up my brother and his co-worker and drive them to where they were picking up two buses for the bus company they work for.  I haven't seen my brother in person for three years!  Oh, it was so so so good to spend even a few hours with him!

He drives big buses.

4.  The drive to and from Cleveland sent us through so much farmland.  You know what that means.  Old barns!

5.  Talking about doctor appointments isn't always the best topic, but I am thankful for two appointments, one with the dentist and one with the dermatologist, that went well.

This is Memorial Day weekend in the United States.  Let us stop, focus, and be thankful for those who have given all for our country.  Fly our flags proudly.

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland

 Berwick is a small town in northeastern England. In fact, it is the farthest north of any town in England, closest to the Scottish border.  After we left Holy Island, we were driven to Berwick by a very lovely lady named Sue who lives there (lucky woman!).  She dropped us off at the train station so we could catch our train south.

Since we had a few hours to wait, we walked over to the local pub to grab something to eat.  Older daughter and I explored the area a bit.  I have to say that Berwick is absolutely charming.  I think you will agree.

The River Tweed

There are always walls and pathways around them.

Eleanor agrees with me. Berwick upon Tweed is a lovely and friendly place.

I definitely want to return to Berwick someday and explore it more!

Third Fave Fives in May

 Friday Fave Fives for this third Friday in May.

1.  You know that excitement when you spot the tiny little green shoot popping up in the garden?  Snap peas!  Nasturtiums!  Zinnias!  Kale!  Yay!  The seeds are doing their thing.

2.  Rain.  Rain.  And more rain.  At least I don't have to water or worry about drought.  "I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit."

3.  Our granddaughter is a freshman in high school.  She is on the track team--running the 200 meter race and high jumping.  She's doing great!  And tomorrow we'll be watching her--the only girl from her school who qualified.  Yay!

4.  My sister-in-law has been my friend since high school, well before she married my brother.  We live far far away from each other, but we are committed to talking or texting as much as we can.  I value this relationship deeply and am so thankful my brother married my bff.

5.  Zooming with Younger Son so he could update us on what he is doing and some of his plans for the rest of the year.  Just seeing his face on the screen made me so happy.

Bonus photo:

A View of the Sea at Ventnor, Isle of Wight

Mother's Day, Gardens, and Hikes, O Yes

 Even in the midst of another whirlwind week, I need to slow down and reflect on the blessings I have noticed blowing my way.  This is one purpose of Friday Fave Fives hosted by Susanne who faithfully sets up a link so we can share our FFFs with others (thanks, Susanne!).  Here are mine.

1.  Our extra grandson stayed another week and we enjoyed sharing some of our favorite coffee spots with him.  He has also helped me in the garden--adding compost, carrying tools, pounding in stakes.  He has been a big blessing.  And he loves to hike.

2.  I am happy that my daughters love gardening, too.  During their childhood, that wasn't so.  But now, we pull weeds together, run off to the garden center together, talk about what plants are doing well.

3.  The Professor surprised me by putting something in the garden center cart this week.  A little gnome!  I had mentioned I wanted one, and he remembered.

My new gnome needs a name!

4.  Mother's Day!  Both sons called and chatted with me.  Both daughters and their families met up with us after church to share picnic lunch and then walk around in the park woods.  Truly, I am blessed to be mother (and grandmother) to these precious people.

5.  Probably, mentioning the dentist in FFFs doesn't sound quite right.  But my dentist is wonderful.  He understands my fears, my issues with my jaws not numbing normally, and he works with gentleness and speed.  Having an expert and caring dentist is a true blessing.

I hope you have had many blessings this week, too!

First Friday Fave Fives in May

Good evening. Yes it has been a busy day and week. But here I am to celebrate Friday Fave Fives with others who join to focus on our blessings of the week choosing five of them to share. Follow THIS LINK to read more or add yours.

1.  We have company!  On Monday, a young man we call 'grandson' (he's an honorary one) hopped on a plane in Los Angeles and flew out to visit us!  Lots of laughter, fun, serious talks, walks.

2.  Rain.  Sorry, West Coast desert friends who are experiencing serious drought conditions.  'Rain on the Roof' is a lovely sound, and the garden needs it.

3.  Garden?  Yes, honorary grandson helped me prep soil and plant tomatoes, basil and parsley...so far.

4.  Fun walks.  On not rainy days, we have been out walking trails so he can experience Ohio on the spring.

5.  I know this sounds like a "you choose this every week" Fave. But our weekly coffee chats with our friends are important to us. We enjoyed coffee in one of our favorite shops Buckeye Lake Coffee and chatted for at least two hours.

Bonus: I shared lots of photos from ONE DAY in our England trip.  Come back later for more!

Holy Island

You asked for it. Here it comes. 

Our first destination on our trip to England was Lindisfarne, or Holy Island.  A little background.  Why would my daughters and I be interested in hopping on a train and riding three hours north to visit an island? Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England which is the site of an abbey established by Saint Aidan in 635AD at the request of King Oswald of Northumbria.  Aidan, an Irish monk, came from Iona to establish a monastery. After Aidan, a monk named Cuthbert became bishop there. Unfortunately, about 150 years later, the Vikings invaded the area several times and destroyed the monastery. Eventually, a new church was built about 1150AD and later fortified for protection. During the reign of Henry VIII, the priory was closed but not destroyed.  We visited what remains of the abbey because... we love ruins and history.

But. That's not all! Lindisfarne also has a CASTLE!  It started out as a fort but in 1901 Edward Hudson bought it and built an Edwardian country home.   Pretty remote but pretty amazing.

And people live where they can see this castle every day from their fishing huts.

Yes, people live full time on Holy Island. They have farms, and they do commercial fishing, and they cater to tourists. And they live in normal houses, not castles or abbeys.

And of course, Eleanor made a friend.

Reappearing

 I'm back!  The mysterious disappearance of Willow for almost a month is solved!  That three+ week trip I took with my daughters also included New Boy and The Professor joining us.  Basically, five people were involved and all five of us had different itineraries.  Since Younger Daughter is an administrative professional, we assigned her to the task of buying our plane tickets, and although it took one and a half hours, she was successful.  Where did we go?

ENGLAND!  Be prepared for many many photos!

But before I embark on the photo dump, I want to write out my Friday Fave Fives.  What were the best blessings of our travels?

1.  The precious times with my two daughters for the first week.  Holy Island, Hexham and Hadrian's Wall, York.

2.  Safe travels for everyone, especially the solo flight home for Younger Daughter and then The Professor and New Boy flying to meet his mom and me.  And of course, our different flights back to the US.

3.  Easter in Canterbury.  That was very special as we attended morning service at St. Martin's Church, the oldest church in the English speaking world.  Then we went to Canterbury Cathedral for Evensong.

4.  Reconnecting with a college friend who now lives in North Devon.  But!  She just happened to be in London the exact same one day we were there!  So we enjoyed hours of conversation and catching up.

5.  All. The. Memories.  Glastonbury, Jurassic Coast including Swanage, Poole and Corfe, Canterbury, Isle of Wight.  Don't ask me to choose my favorite place.  It was all wonderful.

But I am glad to be home.

OK.  Here are a few photos.  Just to whet your appetite...

Lindisfarne Abbey, Holy Island

A piece of Hadrian's Wall near Hexham

 

A church near the wall

City Wall around York

Wherever you walk in York, you can see the cathedral.

Corfe Castle. New Boy's favorite place

Just a quick taste of the wonder, beauty and history we experienced. Come back for more!

Don't Be Foolish; Be Thankful

 Friday Fave Fives in a hurry today.  Heads up.  I will be traveling for three weeks, so I may be in and out of internet.  But I'll do my best.

Here are five things that I am thankful for this week.

1.  The blessing of zooming for a memorial service for a very dear friend.  He passed away and is with Jesus now.  We might have shed a few tears, but they were tears of joy for him.   

2.  My girls and I are off on an adventure!  We've been dreaming and planning and it's happening today.

3.  I'm done packing BEFORE departure time!

4.  I am SO SO SO thankful for The Professor!  He is the best.  He ran to the store to grab something I realized I needed.  He is going to be keeping two teenagers and a pre-teen for a week while their mommies are gone.  THAT'S LOVE.

5.  We got fooled this morning!  Snow on April 1st.  The fave is that it isn't going to 'stick' around.  Can you see the white in the photos?  Yep, that's snow.  Big flaky ones.

Let us hope the weather heeds my advice.  Don't be FOOLISH!