Sledmere in York

 Nice chookies

 On the weekend, we stayed in York for a night, in a little village called Langtoft.  We visited Sledmere estate, where my great great grandfather (paternal) worked as a gardener, and raised his family in a cottage on the estate.  This is the house owned by the Sykes family, passed down for generations.

 Sledmere church

 The potager garden

 Tulips in bloom

 Inside the walled garden

 Everywhere we've been, there have been swathes of daffodils

The parterre garden

We didn't take many photos in Edinburgh, it was very drizzly and foggy there, might have a look through them when we get back.

Lakes District

 Herdwick sheep on Latrigg from Skiddaw.  Andrew climbed Skiddaw today while I wandered around Keswick, where we stayed for 2 nights.  Amazing being surrounded by peaks and lakes.

The path up Skiddaw.  A climb of 500 m in about 2km.  Andrew was very tired afterwards.

Alfie the cat at the place we stayed, another very friendly cat

Derwentwater behind us

Derwentwater from Friar's Crag

View of Derwentwater from Castlehead lookout.

The Bridgehouse at Ambleside where a family with six children once lived- the original tiny house!

We have now arrived in Edinburgh, where we'll spend three nights.

A day in Cornwall

 We had a very busy day in Cornwall today, first, we visited some graves of my Cornish tin mining ancestors.  This is at the church cemetery in Sithney, where my great, great, great, great grandparents are buried, Henry and Sarah Champion, along with their 6 year old daughter.

 There are a lot of wind turbines around Cornwall, we also saw a number of solar farms.

 We went all the way down to the Lizard, the most southern point of the UK

 And then on the Port Isaac, where the TV series Doc Martin is filmed.  The white building at the bottom of this photo is Bert Large's restaurant, with the smaller stone house above it to the right is the Doc's house and surgery.

 Doc Martin's house, also known as Fern Cottage

And a sweet shop which is used as Mrs Tischell's pharmacy

Today we leave Axminster for the Lakes District.

Hello from England!

 Andrew and I have been in England since Monday, staying in Axminster, Devon.  We've just completed two days of cookery schools at River Cottage, Gluten Free cooking and Chocolate cookery skills.  Both were very interesting and we've come away with a lot of food!

 We took a few snaps of the garden that features on the TV show.

 The barn where one of the cookery schools was held- this is the one that burnt down a bit over a year ago.

 They also use it for functions, the work benches are portable, and can be wheeled out.

 Pudding, one of the River Cottage cats.  He sat by the door most of the time, and stood up and meowed every time someone walked past.  He likes a pat.

 New ducklings- they kept running back into their house when we got close to the fence

It's been a great experience, and we've learnt a lot.  Hope to update every now and then before we come home in a couple of weeks.

In the garden...nearly harvest time

 Grapes and more grapes not super sweet, but not too tart either

 Trombocinos climbing up the fence

 Chook mix (autumn/winter) from Greenpatch organic seeds, a mix of oats, barley, spinach and bok choy.  I won't be feeding it to them from the box, or they might eat the foam.

 Last of the echinaceas

 First of the anemones- must be autumn

 Andrew's watermelon (moon & stars)

 One of Liv's pumpkins

 Chillis

Linking up with Jacqui this week from Dusty Country Road, sharing what's happening in the garden.  You can head over to her blog  and leave a link in her comments if you have a garden post to share this week.

From carrots to carrot cake

 Fresh picked carrots this morning plus fresh eggs from our chickens equals

 Yummy carrot cakes!

That's what it's all about