England 2016: For Lisl, Michael and Chris

Call this the unassigned bin or the misc. file or the leftovers from our England trip back in September last year.  Whichever.  But I don't want these memories languishing in a black hole somewhere.  So, this is for YOU...Lisl, Michael and Chris, the usual suspects.

Let's start with Chris, since he was the one who picked us up at the Bristol airport.

Chris is Astrid's "Big Brother."  

On the way to Lisl's from the airport, he stopped at the Stanton Drew Great Circle.

At 371 ft. in diameter, it's Britain's 2nd largest stone circle, after Avebury.

We had already seen Avebury with him in 2011, so this was extra special.

Lisl is Ginnie's "Big Sis."  

And that's where Chris took us that day, where Lisl invited him to stay for supper with us.

You could call Lisl the Queen of Tarts.  :)  (Yes, she can take a joke.)

Btw, I klept the top-left image of moi from Chris' Shutterchance blog.

And, yes, we're all Shutterchance photographers:  Lisl, Chris, Astrid and Ginnie.

"Big Sis" Lisl is a mother of 3 and a grandma of two, with this charmer as her youngest.

Astrid and I felt so lucky to meet him after hearing all about his birth earlier.

OMG.  I have never seen Lisl look so radiant.

We g'mas know, don't we!

Besides being a mother and g'ma, cook, and photographer, Lisl is also a true-blue scientist.

(She also walks the byways of England, bird watches, gardens, visits the elderly, WWFs, etc., etc.)

Lucky for us, again, we got to observe a rainy-day moth collaboration.

When I say "scientific," I mean it.

Moths are captured in moth traps (later released) and documented for what, when and where.

All this info is tabulated in books for "what's happening to the moths" in England.

If I'm reading it right, there were 15 different moths brought in that day by the group.

Can you picture yourself doing something like that?

Someone has to do it!

The day Lisl and I went off on our own to Wells Cathedral...

this is what Michael was doing as we left:  watching and listening to a symphony.

It really touched my hart and soul.

We have such fond memories of eating out with them.

Fox & Hounds has become a favorite...

and now, also, the Fat Friar, where the food is plentiful and better than good,

whether you like mushy peas or not!

Have you ever thought about how much we "fellowship" when we eat good food together!

It's becoming one of the most important parts of traveling for me, the older I get.

Hmmm.  I ponder this in my hart of hearts.

In the meantime,

THANK YOU, Lisl, Michael and Chris.

England 2015: Day 5--The Caen Hill Locks, More Churches, and the West Kennet Long Barrow

Are you still with me???  HA!  My head is swimming in images from that one week in England but here we are already at day 5 of 7.  And 8 more days before grandson Nicholas arrives!  You could say I'm running with the wolves right now.  :)

Day 5 was Friday, 19 June, when I was back with Lisl and Michael in Bath and Astrid was with us.  That day we covered a multitude of sins visual delights.

We started the day at the Caen Hill Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Wiltshire.

It's a flight of 29 locks rising 237 feet in 2 miles,
but we were are at the main flight of only 16 locks.

All I can say is that it's one of the wonders of the world!

We started at the top near the café and looked down.

Once at the bottom, we looked back up.

Who dreamed up such a technological feat!

All out in the middle of Mother Nature doing her thing.

Lucky for us, narrowboats we going up and down.

Some people live on these boats while others rent them for vacation.

If you're on such a boat, you're the one who operates the opening and closing of the locks,
along with some willing volunteers, if you're lucky.

Does this look like a fun vacation to you?

You'd never forget it!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

After the locks, we visited 3 parish churches which I will add to my list thus far:

8.  St. Mary the Virgin Church, Bishops Cannings, Devizes, Wiltshire, 13th century.

Right away you can tell this isn't like the other parish churches we've seen thus far.

This one seems quite more grandiose, doesn't it.

 Yes, indeedy.

I wonder if this would have been too big for my preacher dad?

 Or too grandiose?

But he would have loved the the old wood.  The hymnals.  The cushions.

9.  St. Mary the Virgin Church, Alton Barnes,Wiltshire, 10th century.

See how quickly things can change.  This one is from the late Saxon Period (410-1066)!

And it's still in use!

It even has a wee balcony with all kinds of photo ops.  How fun.

10.  All Saints Church, Alton Priors, Wiltshire, 12th century.

Just a hop, skip and a jump away, we walked to this hard-to-find church.

It was declared redundant in 1972 and is no longer used for regular worship.

But it's still open to all and was being set up for the summer solstice celebration in 3 days.

(I wanted to do a brass rubbing at that front door.)

It had a strange presence I still can't explain....

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Between the churches we saw things, of course,

Nature's church.  And English architecture.

And more White Horses.  We've now seen 3 (one from last year).

Lisl wants to walk the White Horse Trail to all 8 (of 13) remaining Wiltshire horses.

Knowing her, she'll do it...all 90 miles!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By mid-afternoon we were off to the West Kennet Long Barrow in Avebury,

a Neolithic chambered tomb built in (drum roll, please) 3650 BC.

Notice the Druids along the way, for the upcoming summer solstice.

The keepers of the gate told us no secrets.

We had to find them out for ourselves!

It felt like a desecration to see picnickers on top of the burial chamber,

but we held our tongues (hopefully not Ugly Americans??!!).

 Can you imagine being buried in there?

Many offerings were left in nooks and crannies.

And when we walked back down, we felt Mother Nature's gentle breeze.

The ancient whispers of the ages nearly rattled my bones.

How is it possible to see things this old?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Once back home we ate and drank to the day at the nearby Fox & Hounds Pub.

Good God.  Good Friends.  Good food.  Let's eat!

It doesn't get much better than this, folks.