sizergh castle

 On a lovely sunny and warmish day

we stopped at a castle along our route back to Scotland.

It was a Saturday so the "home" was not open to the public

as the family has full use of it on the weekends

but we were able to wander through the gardens and

also enjoy the view of the castle.

 These apples are growing sideways, just a foot off the ground.

It certainly would make for easy picking!

 I have to confess -

I took a leaf from this tree.

It reminded me of Canada. :)

 This lake, called Mirror Lake, gives a perfect

reflection of the castle.

That was the intention and it works well!

back roads

 Traveling the back roads in the UK can be a challenge.

All is fine and lovely until you meet someone coming toward you

 careening around a corner.

Often there's a hedge or a stone fence on either or both

sides of the road

so making room for two cars is a challenge

especially since the Brits tend to drive very fast for the road conditions!

 But apart from the danger of those back roads

the beauty certainly makes it worth the risk!

Back on an "A" road. 

It's a bit more comfortable and spacious. :)

hawkshead and a bit beyond

 The gorgeous village of Hawkshead is just a few miles

north of Hill Top Farm.

I would think that Beatrix frequented this village quite often

and there is a small museum here of more of her drawings

and paintings.

Love this view!

 This was a surprise!

William Wordsworth lived and went to school in this little village.

 According to the tour guide at the school,

the boys had 2 hours of "down" time each day.

They brought their pocket knives to school and spent that time

carving everything in sight!

This is where William himself sat to do his "studies"!

 No space is left unmarked!

 More of the view.

 We got lost on the way to our campground so we ended up taking

a very short ferry across Lake Windermere.

 That worked out quite nicely!