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We have nearly forgotten what warm weather was, but are now pleased to report daytime temperatures of 20+ degrees can apparently happen in this part of the world, not often mind you, or one after the other or anything like that, but a warm day with sun is a delight not to be ignored. Even if the wind can be strong and chilly. The other photos I'll attach will depict a little of the warmer joy of our first spring and summer here.... Well, yes our second spring/summer really, but this is the first warm season where we have been able to get out and enjoy ourselves. Last year we were new to the country and trying to get settled in, much of our spare time then was spent looking for a place to live and just trying to figure out which way was up. Ahh,,memories,,,So, yes, we have clocked up our first whole year in our Wetherby home this month. Although, to be honest, we feel that we have only really been living in it since the renovations completed. That however would make the first anniversary next May and far too long away for an excuse for a champagne celebration.
As the title of this months update suggests, we have been having a particularly nice time of it since last we wrote. We have been up to Scotland for a week, got Leeds council to inspect our renovations to the house and give us a Completion Certificate, seen the migratory and very cute Puffin birds on Scotland's west coast and also on the East Ridings Yorkshire cliffs, (that's it for our Puffin watching, been there done that now). Gail is ecstatic to have discovered that we have our very own hedgehog at the bottom of our garden. Greg went to the cricket at Headingly and watched from the members stand (and bar) as a guest of our neighbours David and Carolyne, Gail gained even more MRi skills by achieving complicated procedures of BAU scanning for specific examinations and we were blessed with our first, post-renovation house guest, Cath, with whom we went canal boating through the North Yorkshire countryside. So for some background and photos, first up....
SCOTLAND
We were most chuffed and more than a little bit honoured to be invited to spend a week in Monreith 
with David and Carolyne our neighbours.
For those of you with memories long enough may recall the Book/film titled 'Ring of Bright Water' by Gavin Maxwell about his life in west Scotland with his tame otters. Monreith is where his family home is and where he wrote about that part of his life. We are re-reading the book now and his somewhat intense and laboured descriptions of the local and nearby environment paint a detailed and accurate picture of the stark beauty of the region. The area remains however the unfashionable part of southern Scotland 
without the glens, bens and lochs but it is blessed with it's own rugged beauty. It does have a couple of villages famous as Scotland's 'book town', Wigtown (store after store of book shops old and new, a bibliophile's paradise), 
and Scotland's up and coming Artiste town, Kirkcudbright.. such a lovely old town right on the river Dee, flowing into the Solway Firth from Loch Ken..Lots of lovely homes and galleries, we were tempted to buy in, found a nice place we dreamed we could make a go of....but have yet to do anything rash.... Probably won't do anything as we fall in love with every nice place we find....can't own a bit of all of them.. Monreith is a beautiful if quiet backwater of Galloway and Dumfries, that's the district you would drive through to take your car from England/Scotland by ferry from Stranraer port to Northern Ireland. Of course we strolled all the beaches
we could and visited the coastal spots Dave and Carolyne favoured. We went to the 
Mull of Galloway
to see if we could see the Puffins, saw just one lonely one among a huge swarm of seabirds. 
Went to Port Logan where we had the most delicious lunch of scallops, pigeon breast, pork, fish and vegetables, all local produce but not all in one dish of course....It was a taste explosion of starters and mains followed by a long walk on the beach and a drive to Portpatrick for an ice cream to satisfy Gail's sweet craving...
with David and Carolyne our neighbours.
For those of you with memories long enough may recall the Book/film titled 'Ring of Bright Water' by Gavin Maxwell about his life in west Scotland with his tame otters. Monreith is where his family home is and where he wrote about that part of his life. We are re-reading the book now and his somewhat intense and laboured descriptions of the local and nearby environment paint a detailed and accurate picture of the stark beauty of the region. The area remains however the unfashionable part of southern Scotland 
without the glens, bens and lochs but it is blessed with it's own rugged beauty. It does have a couple of villages famous as Scotland's 'book town', Wigtown (store after store of book shops old and new, a bibliophile's paradise), 
and Scotland's up and coming Artiste town, Kirkcudbright.. such a lovely old town right on the river Dee, flowing into the Solway Firth from Loch Ken..Lots of lovely homes and galleries, we were tempted to buy in, found a nice place we dreamed we could make a go of....but have yet to do anything rash.... Probably won't do anything as we fall in love with every nice place we find....can't own a bit of all of them.. Monreith is a beautiful if quiet backwater of Galloway and Dumfries, that's the district you would drive through to take your car from England/Scotland by ferry from Stranraer port to Northern Ireland. Of course we strolled all the beaches
we could and visited the coastal spots Dave and Carolyne favoured. We went to the 
Mull of Galloway
to see if we could see the Puffins, saw just one lonely one among a huge swarm of seabirds. 
Went to Port Logan where we had the most delicious lunch of scallops, pigeon breast, pork, fish and vegetables, all local produce but not all in one dish of course....It was a taste explosion of starters and mains followed by a long walk on the beach and a drive to Portpatrick for an ice cream to satisfy Gail's sweet craving...Monreith is also the home of a wild life park,or hobby farm really, where we got to play with otter, owls, llamas,donkeys
, and a selection of rare little furry things. But most enjoyable was talking to the owners who were a delight of passion and good humour about their enterprise.... Not far from the Monreith cottage we stayed in are woods and forests which have trails and wildlife watching platforms. The wild animals didn't get the the news we were coming so were not at home when we called but the walks were beautiful. That is probably enough about Scotland.
, and a selection of rare little furry things. But most enjoyable was talking to the owners who were a delight of passion and good humour about their enterprise.... Not far from the Monreith cottage we stayed in are woods and forests which have trails and wildlife watching platforms. The wild animals didn't get the the news we were coming so were not at home when we called but the walks were beautiful. That is probably enough about Scotland.BEMPTON
This is a tiny little village on the very edge of the Yorkshire Wolds (just south of the Yorkshire Moors), clinging to the cliffs to the north of Bridlington and below Scarborough. It is here that the Puffin birds nest for spring and while we do not have any of our photos that show the birds we did see lots of puffin and had a great day out walking the rugged coast with the blast and smells of sea spray and seabird guano punctuating the glorious vistas.
SKIPTON
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Skipton nestles towards the top of the Pennines about an hour from Wetherby and sports a collection of canal boat hire companies where you can hire day boats or fully catered floating B&B type barges from which one can putter along the extensive canal systems and marvel at the passing scenery.... no photo will do it justice but these perhaps give you a flavour of the day. We managed to all have a go at steering Rosie along the narrow waterways. Greg did manage to get us grounded and Gail and Cath both discovered a strong disenchantment with opening and closing the road bridges that impede a canal boat's progress. Despite these small tasks and the breakage of a couple of wine glasses you can imagine the day was spectacular..JPG)
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WETHERBY
As I mentioned earlier, the council has approved all the works done on the house, the garden is nearly complete and we have our very own ark of wildlife in the back yard which provides endless entertainment and challenge. We have a pair of black birds who have just raised their kids, we called the dad and mum Four, and Twenty. A hedgehog 
originally called Russell because of the noise he made in the brambles over the rear fence, is now called King Russell as we have built him his very own hedgehog castle to hibernate in over winter....And of course the american grey squirrels,
which are seen by everyone but Gail as vermin as they have out-competed the English red squirrel for habitat. But they are small and furry so Gail can't resist them. I think I have finally found a way to feed the birds without feeding the squirrels and so harmony reigns again at our little home. Our rear yard is a veritable aviary with visits from wood pigeon, collared doves, chaffinches, and great tits, blue tits, coal tits, dunnocks, chiffchaffs, thrush, robins and magpies, we have a kingfisher in the river across the road etc,etc...you can probably tell Gail bought me a British bird guide.
originally called Russell because of the noise he made in the brambles over the rear fence, is now called King Russell as we have built him his very own hedgehog castle to hibernate in over winter....And of course the american grey squirrels,
which are seen by everyone but Gail as vermin as they have out-competed the English red squirrel for habitat. But they are small and furry so Gail can't resist them. I think I have finally found a way to feed the birds without feeding the squirrels and so harmony reigns again at our little home. Our rear yard is a veritable aviary with visits from wood pigeon, collared doves, chaffinches, and great tits, blue tits, coal tits, dunnocks, chiffchaffs, thrush, robins and magpies, we have a kingfisher in the river across the road etc,etc...you can probably tell Gail bought me a British bird guide. Anyway, that too is now probably enough about what we did in June '08. We are looking forward to a long warm summer and Gail has a few weeks holiday July-August but we are yet to decide what we will do then. You can rest assured I will update the blog if anything interesting happens or if we remember to take some photos.
