Bank Holidays!

Monday of Jubilee weekend was cool, but sunny. Scott and I decided to return to Muncaster Castle and Gardens as they were hosting an International Festival of Fools with lots of special events going on all weekend. We really enjoy our flat and our views of the harbour and hillsides, but  after the noise and crowds of the weekend we were looking forward to a leisurely stroll around Muncaster's gardens. The parking lot was crowded, but the grounds at Muncaster are large, and there was plenty of room for us to wander around. We watched a man carve an owl with a chainsaw (seriously, we did!), and we also watched the honorary Muncaster Fool perform some magic tricks for the crowd. When we first arrived one of our local chefs was just finishing up a cooking demonstration. He had whipped up some sort of sweet with strawberries, blueberries, and meringue, along with a few other ingredients. Scott has often attended business dinners at the establishment where he is the chef, and so Scott made sure to let him know how much he enjoys the food. Of course, even though he was in the midst of cleaning up the whole display, the chef stopped and made one of his treats for Scott. I didn't even get a taste, but Scott claimed it was yummy!

After he finished his treat, Scott wandered off to take some pictures. He always seems to take the most beautiful pictures of flowers, and Muncaster is one of his favourite spots.

After a few hours we were ready to leave Muncaster, and decided to go for a drive. We saw signs for an Art Show, so we followed them and eventually found ourselves in Eskdale. There were some really nice pieces of original artwork, but we decided to hold off on any purchases. While we were at the art show we ran into some folks from our church here in the UK. They told us that if we continued on the road we would come to a beautiful valley and from there we could continue on to Wastwater, one of our favourite lakes. It sounded like a great drive for such a beautiful day, so off we went. Suffice it to say that whilst we thought we were continuing on the road we, apparently, continued on a different road. We did not wind up in Wastwater at all. Instead, after a stop for lunch, we found ourselves at the entrance to Hardknott Pass. 

Hardknott Pass is tied with another road as the steepest road in England, achieving a gradient of 1 in 3 (33%). "Road" is a broadly used term over here, and the one over Hardknott more closely resembles a bike path. This road was originally built by the Romans, although heaven only knows where they thought they were going! In addition to the steep grade, there are a number of hairpin turns. Yes, there are plenty of warning signs at the entrance, especially for larger vehicles, and the pass is often closed for long periods in the winter because ice can make the roads impassible. But, Monday was a beautiful day and my adventurous husband decided there would not be a better day to embark on the journey over Hardknott Pass. I think our photos might tell the story best.....

Uh... yep. That's the bike path, er....road, actually! Ascending vehicles have the right of way. The Trick is to find somewhere to pull over so they can get by!

above the tree line!

We reached the top and Scott posed for this picture. We are definitely

not going down the way we got up here!

Still above the tree line, but headed down :)!

Arriving in a familiar little town on the other side of the pass, my only comment was, "We don't EVER have to THAT again!".

Along the way we passed some Highland cows. They are instantly recognizable by their fur. While they are not as common as the regular cows that we frequently see here, in fields, parking lots, and even roadways, they are not terribly uncommon. 

Monday evening, back at home once again, we watched the tall ship sail out of the harbour and enjoyed a peaceful sunset. I should mention that the sun does not set here until around 10 p.m. and it's back up by 5 a.m. Sometime Monday night it began to rain and it's still raining 4 days later. That's our weather here in Cumbria!    Cheers!

Tall Ship heading out.

A quiet sunset at the end of the day.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburg, Prince Phillip
No, we didn't actually see them in person. Scott took a picture
of our t.v. screen. This was during the Thames River Cruise. 

This past weekend Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. She has been the Queen of England for 60 years. The longest reining monarch was Queen Victoria who reined for 63 years. Elizabeth is approaching a record setting rein! The English don't seem to need much of an excuse to party and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee was no exception. Four days of parades, concerts, luncheons, dinners, and church services. Here in Whitehaven the annual Maritime Festival date was moved to coincide with the festivities taking place in London and the rest of the UK. We were treated to carnivals, concerts, fireworks, cooking demonstrations by famous chefs, a robot, live entertainment, and lots of food vendors and opportunities for shopping. The festival takes place along the harbour-front, so it literally happened at our front door. Scott and I spent some time walking along the harbour checking out the vendors and enjoying the sights and sounds. On Friday and Saturday evenings we had a front row seat for the fireworks, and on Sunday we invited our British friends Jenny and Phil to join us as we again had front row seats for the air show. The plane pictures are the Red Arrows. They were here on Sunday evening, and on Tuesday they performed over Buckingham Palace in London, for the Queen! Below are some of Scott's pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Tall Ship coming into the harbour.

Many boats were decorated for the occasion. 

The International Market was packed on Saturday and Sunday. We
got some tasty food and also bought some flowers and a bench for
our back balcony. 

Fireworks over the harbour!

OK. Am I the only one who didn't know that Britain's colors
are red, white, and blue?!!!!

The Red Arrows performing in our town.

The Red Arrows execute a tricky manoeuvre!

Monday and Tuesday were bank holidays, which means no work for Scott!! On Monday we went to Muncaster and then for a drive. More on THAT later! Tuesday was cool and rainy and we spent the day relaxing at home before Scott had to gear up for work. At least it will be a short week!