Country Sunday

 Because of General Conference, we didn't have a typical Sunday routine.  So, the girls and I went for a walk in the fields across the street.  I know Cami is a city kid at heart, but she's still enjoys country pleasures once I get her out of the house...

Kettlewell Traditions

 Every year after the Scarecrow Walk, we let the kids throw rocks in the River Wharfe.  It's a gorgeous place to play in the water.

Bread meant for the ducks.

Are They Scary

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival 2012

Tea Party in the Maypole.

 We have established the summer tradition of going to the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival.  It's such a neat event -- charmingly rural & really clever.  The villagers put up scarecrows all over & the children can follow a map to find clues to a puzzle.

 With London 2012, there were more than a few nods to national pride.

The Yorke Arms

This group of blog posts should probably be subtitled:  See?  We did do things this summer.

August 8th is kind of a busy day for us.  This year marked Jason's & my eleventh wedding anniversary.  It also was Graham's seventh birthday.  And we celebrated how?  With Jason dropping me off at the ER and taking the kids to the park. 

Actually, that's not entirely true.  It was a fantastic Graham-centered day until about 3 p.m. when I cut my finger with the immersion blender while making Graham's birthday cake.  Jason drove me to the ER & he & the kids went to the grocery store to buy Graham a cake & then on to the park while they waited for me.

But before any of that happened, Jason and I had reservations with our friends the Meskins to go to The Yorke Arms. 

It came about because Aaron & I talk about food.  A lot.  He even is teaching a class this term about the Philosophy of Food.  When he, Sheryl, & their son Ethan came over for a barbeque, he told me about a Michelin-starred restaurant run by a female chef in Pateley Bridge -- a GORGEOUS village about 15 miles from our house.  He'd been wanting to go for a while, but he & Sheryl had't made it yet -- & I said, "Let's do it."  He reminded me that it would be expensive -- I grabbed the calendar, pointed to the little sticker that says "Anniversary" on August 8th & replied "Jason owes me." 

So, the next week, the Meskin & Turner adults went to have a grown-up lunch.  I took the camera inside, but then felt too conspicuous to actually take photos of the food. 

The restaurant has a lovely garden & chickens running around, both of which are used in the kitchens.  Of course, the veal, lobster, & fish had to come from somewhere else.  The only thing that disappointed me was the lobster.  It was tasty lobster, but it was a "lobster cannelloni" where the unflavored pasta just got in the way.  To make up for it, though, where the most incredible cherry tomatoes I'd ever had.  I don't know how they were prepared, but I wish I could do that. 


After lunch we changed into some jeans & went for a walk in the countryside. 

See the English Flag? It's not the Union Jack.  But super-impose some blue triangles & a few extra red diagonals & then you represent the United Kingdom.

A former railway station converted into a house.  Jason said he'd be glad to live there.

Summertime Walk