One day, I booked us in for afternoon tea at The Dome, a very old building in Edinburgh. I didn’t eat breakfast since I knew there would be a lot of delicious things to eat. The building is lavishly gorgeous and inside too: the flowers, wallpaper, chandelier. The doorman directed us up the stairs to the Georgian Tea Room.

Afternoon tea is a tradition started by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, in the 1800’s. She “complained of getting that sinking feeling” around 4, and wanted a little something with her tea to hold her til their usual dinner hour of 8 or so. Her friend Queen Victoria took to this and so it went. The afternoon tea of today consists of much more than it did then.

We started with the sandwiches on the bottom tier of the 3 tiers. Cucumber mint, egg salad, duck with chutney, smoked salmon buns, and vol-au-vent pastry with some yummy mousse in it. The scones are what I really go to tea for, with the clotted cream and jam. They’re just so good. Not really sure why there has to be dessert after that, but we managed a little sweet tart or tiny piece of cake.

After eating all that with numerous cups of tea, we staggered on to a bus back to our flat in Bruntsfield (a great neighborhood ) to drop off the box of leftovers from tea. We changed our shoes and set off to walk The Waterway of Leiith, winding our way through the city to the green and stone pathway that follows the river through old villages and other parts of Edinburgh.

Each neighborhood we passed through had its own character, and none were quite the same as the others. We took a slight detour off the path a few times; at one point, we saw a women’s lawn bowling club starting their evening game. And in Inverleith Park, it seemed to be nap time for some of the swans and ducks. I can’t resist adding these photos of the birds. They were all so relaxed, not seeming to mind humans moving around them and their pond.

It’s a good thing we’d eaten so much for our 7 mile walk. Will saw a post on the side of the walkway that we stopped to inspect.

It was almost dark when we began to see signs of the port of Leith, formerly seen as a ‘dodgy’ part of Edinburgh. It’s now seen as 1 of the top 10 places to live in Scotland, says the Sunday Times there. We couldn’t really see much of that in the drizzle that started, but the walk was really a great way to explore.

Our days in Edinburgh went quickly in the warm summery weather we had much of the week. I found another place that intrigued me for afternoon tea at Prestonfield House. It’s still in the city, but a ways out from things. Once a private home and now a hotel, it’s very elegant in style. Will added a bloody mary to his afternoon tea there. Before we walked in, I looked up in a tree to discover their resident peacock.

Edinburgh really is a city of contrasts, and manages to showcase them all in large and small ways. The people we met were welcoming and generous with help for directions or suggestions of things to see.

But we’ll go back. Many more walks to discover, and lovely people to meet.

Edinburgh is a city of contrasts: ancient and very new, stone and green, hilly and flat. Our first morning here we had breakfast at the Tree Cafe, situated a stone’s throw from Bruntsfield Links and the Meadows park. Our breakfast was great. Will noticed the golf clubs leaning in the corner of the cafe, available for use on the Links.

During our stay here, we’ve walked the Meadows and the Links on several times back to the flat we’re staying in in Bruntsfield. It’s been fun to see couples, a parent and child, or friends practicing their golf on the 35 acre Links, The park is free to all, and gorgeous views across the neighboring Meadows.

Sunday afternoon, the parks were busy with music, cricket being played in 2 areas, picnics and dog walkers. We’d looked down to the Meadows earlier when we climbed Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park. Holyrood Palace is the monarch’s residence when they’re in Scotland, and marks one end of the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle sits at the other end of the Mile. We meant to climb Arthur’s Seat, just beside the Crags, but there wasn’t any signage where we started. It looked pretty crowded up there anyway, and the views we had were outstanding

Earlier we’d walked the Royal Mile. There’s so much to see: people busking, shoppers, ancient cathedrals and the amazingly narrow closes (oedestrian walkways) that lead down and away from the Royal Mile.

One of my favorite things to see was the Floral Clock at the corner of West Princes Street Gardens. In 1902 a design of the Imperial Crown was laid out in small plants to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. The next year the Park Superintendent had the idea to add a floral clock with one hand. The second hand was added in 1904, and it became a working clock, manufactured and maintained by a Edinburgh clock making firm. That same firm maintains the clock still.

It takes 30,000 plants to make up this clock , and it’s done twice a year. Designs commemorate events important to the UK and/or Edinburgh. They first did a Winter Clock design in 2003 when a model of the clock was made for the its 100th year birthday. The model went to the Chelsea Flower Show and won the Gold Medal for Horticultural Excellence.

I’d completely missed this the first time in Edinburgh in 2019. Watching the clock actually move with these tiny plants making up the design is almost surreal. The current clock as you can see marks the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

There’s a lot of art in all forms all over the city. I like keeping an eye out for some of the smaller pieces too.

Ok, gotta quit here. There’s more to tell about Edinburgh, but I’m hurrying off with Will to go for an afternoon tea.

Tuesday was our day to leave Richmond and head north to Edinburgh. It became a day of experiencing “keep calm, carry on”. . We found a great taxi driver at the station in Richmond who wound his way through narrow streets and parts of highways to get us into London for Kings Cross station. Just as we got close, I checked the status of the train; it was cancelled! Damage to electrical lines from the extreme heat a few days earlier had all northbound trains from Kings Cross cancelled. I found there were trains from Euston station, and the cabbie rerouted us there in minutes. Will and I were sitting on a bench outside with our luggage trying to figure out the time of the next train when a kindly porter with a soft voice offered his help. Once he heard what we were looking for, he hustled us inside for a train due to leave soon. Platform was soon to be announced. The waiting crowd was huge in the main hall; as soon as the platform was posted, we blended in with the surge and started running down the cars to find one with seats.

The train kept filling, and when it started off, people were standing in the aisles and between cars. The conductor came on to say that the train would likely continue to fill up as we made more stops due to the cancelled line out of Kings Cross . He apologized for any inconvenience and said they’d do the best they could. The map below shows the line we were meant to be on, and the red shows how we went north. By Birmingham, we’d been on the train for several hours and it was unclear how long it might take to reach Edinburgh. What was remarkable in all of the chaos was how polite and helpful people were to each other. No one got nasty, and a little boy’s singsong with his father as he fell asleep was met with smiles.

After hours on the train with delays and more passengers coming on, we decided to take a detour to the Lakes District. I had wanted to take Will there at some point in the week to see some sights I love there and to stop at Nab Cottage where I was a Workawayer in 2019. I got us a room online. When we got off at Penrith, other passengers helped unearth our bags from the bottom of the luggage rack, and we caught a bus 10 min later to Keswick, a market town at the top of the Lakes District.

It was like being sprung from a crowded elevator. The walk to the lake in town shook out all the kinks and stiffness.

A few drinks and a good dinner later, we went back to see the sunset.

Knowing there was a planned rail strike for the following day, we spent Wed and Thur morning roaming around, meeting lovely people and walking trails by the lake and through town. There’s lots of good food in town: Cornish pasties, homemade fudge, and many variations on the “full English breakfast”. And SO many dogs. Every family and hiker seems to bring their dog(s) with them- and they’re all quite well behaved!

I really wanted to bring Will to see where I’d spent a month working and living 3 yrs ago, so we managed a brief visit Thurs morning before heading north to Scotland. Tim, the owner of the English language school at Nab Cottage, had lost his wife Liz suddenly a year ago to a heart attack. He’s running the language school for one last summer with his daughter Nikki; next year they will let go of the language curriculum and focus on mindfulness and yoga. I’m so glad we went. I was able to pay my condolences to both Tim and Nikki, and we saw the meditation room they’ve created with many photos of Liz and cards people have sent. Will got to tour parts of the house with me and met Wojciec, the cook I worked with.

Our bus took us back to Penrith for our train to Edinburgh- a short trip of just under 2 hrs, well crowded but only an hour late. The conductor again apologized, and passengers settled in as best they could.

It’s been 40 years since I landed at Heathrow and visited London. When some lovely island neighbors offered us the use of their flat in Richmond(part of Greater London), we couldn’t resist adding it to our travel plans. Delta Airlines was surprisingly easy to get on the phone and within minutes, our original first destination of Edinburgh was changed to London.With all the travel horror stories we’ve been hearing, we were really excited when the flight went off on time and even landed early.

Richmond is on the Thames, and has gorgeous views of the river, loads of history and good food to boot. Summer weather is in full force , so many of the gardens and fields looked quite parched. We took a boat on the Thames into central London on Sunday, happy to have a good breeze as the boat made its way along the river. It was fun to see different towns and a variety of boats along the way.

We walked the pedestrian-only Millennium Bridge that spans the river, sorta wondering if the bridge was going to ripple like it did in Harry Potter. (It didn’t.) It was very hot and crowded everywhere we walked, and yet it was also just amazing to see people from all over the world enjoying the city. I heard so many different languages being spoken. The “big” sights don’t lose their luster in the heat or crowds- Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tate Modern, etc – all hold their own in the wow department. The gardens and shady areas were cooler and colorful, a welcome respite from the hot sidewalks. We caught an air-conditioned train back to Richmond later, completing our day of taking several modes of public transport!

This year is Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year as queen. She’s the longest reigning monarch in Britain’s history. We saw tributes to her in many places and forms.

Now that Boris Johnson has finally agreed to step down, the race is on to see who will succeed him. I saw in the Times that many people feel the two Tory candidates who’re campaigning for that job are same old , same old. This sign caught my eye as I walked up the hill in Richmond.

Last but not least for this post, The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew did not disappoint, even with the parched lawns and heat-stroked rose beds. We climbed a spiral staircase to walk above the plants in the Temperate House. The craft of the conservatory was amazing in itself, with pipes for water hidden in the structure. Some women showed me the carnivorous plants; one was actually in the process of engulfing a fly. Very “Little Shop of Horrors”!

The Lily House was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The lily pads were about 3-4 feet in diameter, and the colors just popped.

One of the last places I stopped to study was this bronze tree sculpture. All around it on the wall were bronze ‘leaves’ with facts about trees written on them.

There were lots of leaves, and lots of facts, to read and absorb. This one was my favorite, so I’ll close with it.

More soon.

The growing season here is like our spring and summer combined. The flower pots I’ve seen in various places have combinations of plants that look to be quite hardy for cold. I see calendula mixed with other plants like kale everywhere- in the north as well as in Reykjavik.

On Friday, I visited the Botanical Gardens in Akureyri. It’s one of the northernmost botanical gardens in the world and only 50km south of the Arctic Circle. They have a lot of plants, trees and bushes, only about 400 of which are native to Iceland. Of course the Iclandic poppies were amazing, and so were many of their other plants. Because the climate is like more like our spring, the gardens were a mix of flowers that we see in the spring and early summer. The peonies were still in bloom and delphinium standing strong all over.

While I wandered the botanical gardens, Will and Charles were off on a whale watch that left Akureyri and travelled up the Eyja Fjord. They saw many whales and shared their photos with me. The sperm whales hang out in the northern part of that fjord to feed, and don’t seem to mind people watching them.

When Charles left us Sunday to return home, Will and did the long and at times, precarious, drive to the Westfjords north and west of Reykjavik. It’s pretty desolate and sparsely populated, and home to Latrabjarg Cliffs where many seabirds go to nest. The puffins were out in full force, zooming around and hanging out outside their burrows. We even got to see a young puffling peaking out of the burrow.

There’s so much creative thinking in Iceland, evident everywhere I look. It’s been inspiring to see so much creative energy and the ways it gets expressed.

Charles arrived early Sunday morning, and we headed north. The thermal river experience had us ready to seek out more warm soaks. As we drove, we were often surrounded by mountains with melting snow, waterfalls cascading in large and small crevices, and fiords slipping in between green fields and plains. Thanks to Will and Charles for sharing their photos of our various water experiences this week.

For our first post-pandemic travel foray, Will and I chose Iceland. We’d come up a few years ago on a brief visit and decided we had to come back in summer when the daylight lasts nearly til midnight. Traveling with masks on the ferry, bus, and plane is tiring for sure, and I was really glad to take it off once we were driving south along the Ring Road.

We stayed in Vik i Myrdal, a village in the south that has the Myrdalsjokull glacier up above it and beautiful cliffs nearby at Reynisfjara that attract lots of sea birds— including puffins. Watching them from the beach was incredible. The puffins fly really fast with their little wings, zooming out from their spot on the cliff and back again in minutes.

We left the puffins and beautiful black sand to make our way to north to get a ferry to Vestmannaeyjer (Westman Islands). It’s an electric ferry that makes the crossing in about 40 minutes. The islands are an achipelago, all formed by underwater volcanic eruptions- the newest island just emerged between 1963-67. We’d seen a film about Heimaey, the only inhabited island, about the volcano, Edfell, that erupted there in 1973, destroying 400+ buildings. Amazingly, no one was killed because bad weather the day before had forced the fishing fleet into harbor. Islanders were all evacuated. The volcano was actively erupting until July 1973. When it was over, the islanders rebuilt their houses and buildings to what it is today. We did our hike up the crater left from Edfell’s eruption at 9pm, marvelling at the light and views at that time of evening.

It’s a beautiful island with large cliffs everywhere you look, birds zooming in and out of crevices high up, lovely houses and restaurants, and art work or other commemorations of the losses from volcano eruption in the 70’s. There’s pretty tough golf course where golfers have to get their ball straight onto the fairway, or the ball goes into the sea; the campground is right beside it complete with a traditional turf roof house beside it.

Our final stop before leaving the island on Sat was at The Sea Trust Beluga Whale Sanctuary, which has a tiny aquarium along with a puffin rescue and home to 2 beluga whales brought over from their life in captivity in China. Icelandic museums are full of information in rather small spaces, and the Sea Trust lived up to that. The pufflings in their care are baby puffins found in the town or on the rocks, needing some tending before they are released back to the wild. Adults and childen in the town are on alert when the puffin eggs hatch in August and young pufflings may go astray. We got to watch them being fed in their tank, and then sat for half an hour communing with the remarkable white beluga whales.

The Sea Trust is currently building a protected place in the harbor for the belugas to live in more naturally. Because they were born in captivity, the first attempts to place them out there were short-lived because the belugas are accustomed to a lot of contact with their carers. The new plan is to make it between the tank and the harbor so they can go back and forth.

We left the island on a late afternoon ferry, and took on one more South Iceland adventure for the evening. Reykjadalur Thermal River is a spot we’d read about, and we (again) took advantage of the late light to take on the 2 mile hike to the thermal springs. It wasn’t sunny like the evening before, but I was ready to don the rain pants and go for it. I’ll admit- the uphill climb was tough though.

We saw about 25 people coming down as we did the ascent, and were lucky enough to have the river practically to ourselves. It was heaven to soak in a warm river and then move slightly to be able to get cooler water. It was an amazing way to finish our brief South Iceland tour. Once we picked Charles up the next day, our drive took us north. More on that soon.

A short flight over the North Sea landed me in Amsterdam airport, where it’s easy to get a train into the city. Will met me off the train with a big smile and huge hug. The houseboat we rented for the weekend was near where we stayed last spring. It’s a great neighborhood to explore, near to beautiful Westerpark and good local food. Will and I watched the occasional boat float by us through our large windows and enjoyed the beautiful details of our floating abode as we spent the weekend catching up on 4 weeks of life in different countries. It was pretty grey and rained a few times (including when we left Monday morning), but Amsterdam’s charm still came through. We took a late morning train Monday north to Den Helder where we got a ferry to the island of Texel, on the North Sea. Our short stay there last April convinced us we had to go back to do more biking and exploring, especially since their National Park there is dunes all the way up the north western side of the island. We rented a small newly built house that was on the edge of a farm, giving us sheep, goats, and chickens for neighbors- and the beach was less than 2km away. The North Sea sky welcomed us with huge clouds and the sun setting close to 9:30.

Our first view of the dunes was with the heather in bloom as we biked out to the beach. So gorgeous, AND windy. Once again, I was grateful for Will’s foresight in renting us e-bikes for the extra boost against the winds. The wind is really fierce.

Down the street the other way, I discovered a ‘cut your own’ field of dahlias.

When we’d been here in the spring, I’d wanted to cut tulips but had no place to put them on our brief stay. This time I happily paid the .15 per bloom and came away with an awesome bouquet. I placed the vase on the map of Texel to shoot this photo.

The bike paths run beside the roads mostly all over Texel, although sometimes off through the woods or dunes. Our bikes had saddlebags that could carry a lot, including the rain gear we needed often for sudden showers. It’s funny how it could be warm in town or in a sheltered place, but for biking I really bundled up with sweater and wind proof jacket. Will and I even wore thin wool hats on the cooler later afternoons and evenings when we biked home with lights on .

This is a panorama photo I took that shows how the bike path runs alongside the road, which hugs the field where the hay has been cut just recently. So many of the views as we rode were just fields with sheep, cows, horses and dunes; the sky and views changed with the wind and light rapidly. Farmhouses in the middle of fields like little oases. Then we’d get to a village and ride through streets with shops, ‘town’ homes, galleries and restaurants. We ate really well, everywhere, from local cheeses, bread and fish/meat. And I love their fresh ginger tea with orange or lemon. The cone bag is mixed nuts from a local shop, good snacking.

The sheep were everywhere, and we saw products from their wool in many places.

It was hard some times not to keep stopping to take photos.

We stayed in Den Horn, a small village not far from the dunes, with a sweet little ‘main street’ where the houses’ gardens were visible in some places. Lavender was in bloom in front of several houses; and others had vegetables or flowers out for sale.

The tulips we’d seen blooming in the spring were now being sold as bulbs in markets or near bulb farms.

So many people grow hollyhocks, and they were consistently taller than any I’ve ever seen.

Texel is 40 km long, has 7 villages, many farms and farmers with various animals, and birds from all over the world. We loved seeing many ‘V’s of geese in the sky coming in to land on the fields or wetlands as we biked. We biked everywhere we went, so we often rode 15-20 miles/day.

One day, we did a long ride up to the top end of the island, along dikes, through villages, fields, and long lanes with trees, to the lighthouse and a great restaurant beside it. The restaurant has a wonderful casual feel to it, sand on the floor and on the windowsills – and good food. We could see the beach as we ate, out of the wind, and watching so many dogs run miles in circles.

Thank goodness it stays light so late there- sunset isn’t 9:15 or so, darkness not til nearly 10.

It was a long ride home, with good lights on our bikes to help; Will’s battery died 2/3 of the way back, so I was the leader and he was on his own power completely against the wind on the final leg.

We watched spoonbills another day when we biked along a dike and the wetlands nearby. They’d stick their bills in the water and looked as if they were suctioning up the bottom from under their feet.

We were very fortunate with the weather. The farmers were happy too to get their hay cut, and formed them into these geometric piles in the fields, making them seem more artistic than practical. The forecast had rain in it for most days, but it seems like weather moves quickly there with the strong winds. Our last day started out mild, but it poured hard as I biked up to the beach near us to meet Will-he’d gone running up earlier to swim in the ocean one last time. I wore rain gear as I headed up against the wind.

Then the sky cleared and the sun emerged to make it a warm and beautiful day.

The week was full of small and large magical moments. Both Will and I loved being outdoors for so much of our days, no matter the weather, and seeing the ways another island culture lives and thrives. We saw artwork that reflected their environment and inspired me.

So many people were kind to us when they realized we didn’t speak Dutch or German (the primary visitors there), and applauded our bungled efforts to speak Dutch. Yikes, it’s a tough language to speak. Reading it begins to be a bit easier when you realize some of the words resemble English. I’m so glad Will and I could get back to such a spectacular place to cap off my summer adventures. Home on Tuesday. Thanks all for reading.

It feels like suddenly it was my last week at the cottage, and I still had so many things I wanted to do. My fellow Workawayers were due to leave 2 days after me and they were feeling the same way. It made for a busy week.

The photo above is a bouquet I cut for the sitting room on Sunday morning of my final week; cutting flowers for the house and studio was a job given to me the first weekend I started work. Not a hardship for me at all. Liz noticed this bouquet as she drank her tea one morning and told me it had all the colors of the rainbow in it. It’s already a lovely room- the flowers just add to its charm.

When I finished work on Monday afternoon, I grabbed my backpack and caught the bus to Grasmere. I was determined that I would do the walk up to Easdale Tarn, a lake formed by a glacier. The day was cloudy off and on, and pretty cool, so it made for good walking up the track beside a waterfall.

I’d heard about this walk from several of the students in the cottage, but I’d missed going several times with others because I was working. It stays light til nearly 10 still, so starting up the trail at 5:30 gave me lots of time to go up and back in daylight. The sun came in and out the whole way.

When I reached this pool, a family coming down told me I was nearly at the tarn. It was up a ways further and the sun showed it off beautifully.

I pulled my sweatshirt back on while I ate my snack sitting on the grassy bank; the wind was stronger up there. The views on the way back down were magical.The bus had stopped running by the time I got down. The final 3 miles ‘home’ go around Grasmere Lake. My legs were tired when I got back at 9, and I slept well that night.

I made 4 dozen scones Tuesday afternoon in a quiet kitchen I had pretty much to myself (cook’s day off). I’d asked Liz if I could make them since we needed something for breakfast the next day and I wasn’t sure how to make the bread they usually have. It was fun to practice what I’d learned with the students a couple weeks before. 2 dozen got eaten the next day and there are still 2 dozen in the freezer for another day. It was pretty awesome to be able to figure out the oven of the Aga.

The weather cooperated to allow a couple of us to get out in the canoe on Rydal Water, something I had been wanting to do. There is a lovely dog grave on one of the islands in the lake.

I got back up to Keswick for part of a day with one of my Workaway buddies to climb Catbell one more time. It turned out to be the warmest day we’ve had for ages. The heather on the fells was in full bloom.

It was a perfect day. We walked many miles and cruised back across Derwent Water to get the bus home.

Each week on Friday afternoon, there is a closing circle where the week’s work for students is celebrated and those leaving are bid farewell. Some people stay only one week, others stay for 2, 3 or more. Since 3 of us Workawayers were leaving, we were part of the closing circle. It was very moving. Tim and Liz, and all of the others thanked us for our work.

I took Sahara for one last walk around the lake before tackling my packing. We were having a big dinner and party Friday night but I wanted to be sure to get out with her. It was beautiful.

Rain returned Saturday morning as taxis came and went with various people leaving to make their trains. I managed to cut 2 bouquets for the house in between showers to ‘finish’ the job I would normally do Sunday. Finally it was my turn to hug everyone good bye and get into a taxi with tears streaming down my face. It was so hard to leave. The rain caused flooding and delays all along the train lines, but after changing trains 4 times, I made it to the airport for my flight to the Netherlands. On to meet Will and have a vacation with him before returning home; from the grey green of the Lake District to a houseboat in Amsterdam. More on that later.