Trip to Keswick

It has been unseasonably warm of late and feels more like summer than summer did! So today, rather than doing all the jobs I had planned, we decided to down tools and visit the Lake District.

Setting off about 11am, we drove through Barnard Castle, which was a bit dull, weatherwise, and out the other side into great sunshine. The weather was lovely in Keswick, with bright sun and really warm. It was t-shirt weather, which we havent really had all summer. In fact, it was probably warmer than anywhere we have been except our first day in Athens in April!

One thing I really love about Keswick is there are several book shops, both new and second hand, including an Oxfam shop. So after a really nice (and reasonably priced) lunch of tomato and basil soup with warm bread, we headed off to find them and browse. To get there, we had to walk through the market, which was thriving and bustling with many stalls full of crafts, homemade meat products (like sausages), cheeses, and two photography stalls, selling beautiful pictures of scenery in the Lake District. I really need to try harder with my own photos and really get to grips with the techniques. I did take some photos, but I doubt they are anything like as good as those we saw at the market.

Finally we got through the bookshops and I managed to buy one which will be a Christmas present. So I'm not posting the name of it, because it might spoil the surprise!

After that, we went down to the Lake and that's where I took the photos. The water was sparkling in the sunshine and the boats were all lined up along the edge. I will post them tomorrow, when they have been downloaded onto the computer.

One ice cream later (complete with flake, of course) we set off to return home. Lovely day and lovely surprise, as we didnt expect to be going out at all. The plan had been laundry and gardening. I guess that will have to wait for another day....