Saturday, September 4, 2010

Wordsworth and Peter Rabbit England Day 3

This was a day of endless driving. We set out in the morning for William Wordsworth's home, Dove Cottage near us in Grasmere. He lived in this house with his wife, sister and five children, sometimes other authors would come to visit and stay for a year or two. Whoa!! He had two floors, three bedrooms, but it would have been very crowded.

Their home had a beautiful garden divided into separate areas with stone steps and areas dug out from the sides of the rocky steep surrounds. We could only imagine it in the spring with hundreds of flowers blooming.


Whoops! Photos are out of place! I am feeling very lucky to be hooked up to the internet here for over 5 minutes!! This is the door way into Hill Top Farm, the countryside getaway for Beatrix Potter, where most of her treasured children's tales were written.


We believe this is the farm of her husband which is across the street from Hill Top Farm. We really grew to love Beatrix, not only for the wonderful stories like Peter Rabbit, which she left us, but also for her pioneering spirit, love of the countryside and her independent and strong life as a woman. She started the keep English countryside movement by buying up farms before the developers could grab them and finding leasors or renters to keep the farms functioning. At her death, all of the properties became part of the national trust and park system. Brilliant!


Below is a photo of a true traffic jam that we were involved in. A bus and truck met on the narrow raod and were not able to pass each other. This man, who also drove a lorry, was able to get out and direct both the large truck and the bus so they could pass and the traffic could resume in both directions. I like to drive fast, but these people drive with their tails on fire, 60-70 mph on these skinny country roads. I'm still getting used to Sue screaming "Get left, get left!" Or" too close on the curb here!"


A beautiful country lake with two old fishermen. When asked, they weren't sure what they were fishing for!


We are missing our grandbabies!! Isn't this little guy the cutest??









2 comments:

Miss Magpies Shoppe said...

I adore Beatrix Potter. I have numerous biographies about her life. She was such an incredible, gifted individual.

Kathie Truitt said...

Oh the beautiful English countryside. I miss it. I lived there for 5 years and loved it.