Taking a break ....

The original plan was to buy some more decking for the garden but we changed our minds and went on holiday instead! 

I was wandering, as I tend to do, through Facebook and saw a cottage that looked just right for us in the Lake District.  Red How Lodge in West Cumbria booked from Friday11-18th February.  Our arrival time was to be 5pm, the journey time 3¼hours so we decided to make a day of it setting out from home mid morning and visiting a few places on route ...

First stop was Windermere and it was really busy even in early February.  We had a spot of lunch at the Boaters Bar where we could look out onto the marina ...

and then took a short walk along the lakeside ... so beautiful, so calming.

We had intended to have a look around Ambleside but the traffic getting out of Windermere was so bad that we decided not to stop  ...

and continued northwards passing Thirlmere

and snow topped and cloud covered mountains ...

to the pretty town of Keswick ... a quick look around and a promise to return here we continued on our way to ...

Red How Lodge ... how pretty is that!

 

After unpacking and eating dinner we sat in the lounge by the wood burner with glasses of wine whilst waiting for our eldest grandson to arrive from Glasgow.

Adam eventually arrived about 10:30 and we were so happy to see him and be able to spend time together.

Saturday dawned wet ... very, very wet.  The roads were like fast flowing streams and George did not enjoy the driving at all through the lashing rain and water but we did eventually reach the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop safely and purchased lots of gingerbread.  The rain eased and gradually stopped when we wended our way back to the cottage.  This time satnav took us a much easier route.

In the evening we visited the Kirkstile Inn at Loweswater where the three of us we relaxed over a very nice meal, Adam trying out the local brewery beer Loweswater Gold and I tried the Vanilla Oatmeal Stout which was nice but too much for me so it was finished off by Adam.  George had a very tasty glass of water.

Adam was leaving in the morning ... some people have to work apparently ... what's that all about!

Sunday was another wet day and it was hard to decide where to go that would allow us some shelter that wasn't a shop ..

We decided on the coastal town of Whitehaven and took shelter in the Beacon by the harbour.

The displays and information about the town was interesting but we thought the best was the exhibition in the gallery ... Cumbria through the Lens ... taken by local photographers.

My favourites were these two black and white photos.

We spent a good while in the beacon and then went to the Vagabond, a very unassuming pub which did excellent meals and was packed to the gunwales.  When we left at 5pm the sun was actually shining and 10 minutes later ... it was dark!

Monday 14th was a brighter day ... a day for walking ...

our lovely landlady Debbie suggested a quick scenic drive to Ennderdale so after  lunch off we went ...

It only too ten minutes and there was Ennderdale Water in the distance

The walk we took was along the back edge in these photos.

Photos of our Ennerdale Water walk and the remainder of our holiday coming soon.