We have had to wait six years but we are having the English summer we heard does happen. From the last post and this one I hope you get an idea of it.
Couple of lines of news, Gail had a non major birthday. I thought it would be nice to treat her to a couple of days of luxury. Starting with a typical Yorkshire Lunch at the William and Victoria restaurant at Harrogate . I had the belly pork and her the Lamb Henry sharing a fine French red.
Then a night and breakfast at Rudding Park Hotel, with a spa experience, and champagne and a health lunch. It was a sublime birthday celebration.
The other news for this month is that I started my new job as a white van driver in training.... I will update the blog on what I think of it at a later date, when I know. Initial impressions are that life at the bottom of the corporate feeding line is very different to what I remember and there are many ways I can see to fix the many things I see than need fixing... So i am not worrying about it like I did the gallery job and Gail says I am nicer to be around. I have some way to go apparently tho.
Anyway , as I said the days of summer roll on and when we are not working we get around to pubs near water. We like English pubs and water. This here are photos around East Kilvington in North Yorkshire, some minutes from our place.
This little bloke sort of took to following us along the riverside path, he belonged to folk staying in the rather posh caravan park down the farm track from our favourite lunch pub
It seems Gail and I have been elected permanent judicial staff at our neighbour's charity fund raising event she has called the Bentley Bark after her Great Dane ,Bentley. Last year was the first and this year was, yep, the second Bentley bark event. I was judge of such things as most handsome dog, prettiest bitch , best trick, best young handler and a bunch of other classes.
Here are Graeme, Bentley, Cate,, and Oscar's bum. Cate organised the event and Graeme does as he is told. Oscar the lab, a second dog in their house is obviously feeling left out.
Some other events were judged by Emmerdale stars. Its an English soap opera shot just up the road from Wetherby in a little village in the grounds of Harewood House, a big old pile with Royal connections. Gail is shown doing her ribbon marshalling role.
The best in show award was presented by the Emmerdale stars which comprised as far as we could figure, the good looking bloke, his wife and a kid. I guess you have to watch Emmerdale to know. He was a nice enough bloke, treated his fans nice, lots of pictures and autographs.
The summer rolled on and we had cause to go to the Midlands to meet a person. Being as we were travelling we decided to find a pub by the water for a lunch and stumbled on one in a place called Market Harborough.
In a walk along the canal we found another house we want to own. It has a place to park the canal boat, and is close to the pub.
There are nice fields across the canal, and Market Harborough is a nice big market town with lots of restaurants and things. Sort of like a grown up Wetherby. We must win that lottery.
That night we stayed at the Premier Inn, Harploe. A tatty version of the brand but a nice enough base to get into Northampton where our meeting was.
For the evening meal we found a pub by a river and enjoyed that.
I write this last little entry having just consumed a dessert of fresh picked hedgerow blackberries and Cornish Ice Cream. Gail and I picked them this afternoon at Alderborough, which is on the River Ure, where there is a pub. We had lunch there before a walk through the countryside . Past Ellenthorpe a quite substantial farm house which is shown below. Alderborough is about a 20 minute drive from Wetherby, the Ship Inn pub produces some fantastically sized meals which neither of us could finish. But yummmm.
Hopefully Summer will linger and allow us more pubs and rivers , I'll let you know.
