More fun in England

I can't even begin to describe the wonderful time I have been having here in England. Helen and Dennis have been delightful and patient hosts and have arranged to show us a number of their favorite places. We've been on the go so much that I've not had much time to fully absorb it all. Before falling asleep each night, I've made a quick list in my journal of the various things we've done and places we've been, which is a good thing or I would surely be mixing things up already. But I've taken a lot of pictures and once I'm home I'll be able to organize it all.

In the meantime, here are a few photos to show what we've been doing:

Helen and I went to a pottery festival on the grounds of this gorgeous stately home, Hutton-in- the-Forest.

While in the lake district, Helen's mum and dad toured us through the hills.

Having realized how close we were to the Scottish border, Roger, Caroline and I took the train to Edinburgh for the day. What a gorgeous city with ancient buildings in every direction. We'd walked the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh castle and along the way I took this picture of the Governor's House.

We took a side trip to the city of York for a few days where we found more gorgeous old stone buildings.

While in York, as part of Helen's birthday celebration we had a deluxe afternoon tea at Betty's, where they apserved the most perfect raspberry tarts I've ever seen.

Which brings us to today, where all of us are camped out on lovely squashy couches at a cafe called Cedar Farms Cafe. Here is Helen on the couch beside me, reading a bit of the Sunday paper.

And now we are off for more adventures. AND after all of this, Festival of Quilts next weekend in Birmingham. I am a lucky, lucky woman.