Here is the massive Aga stove in the kitchen, with the menu for the day’s lunch and dinner on the board beside it. These stoves stay warm all the time, so the kitchen can be pretty hot when we are working in there doing the dishes and prep for meals. The lowest right hand oven is a warming oven for plates and bowls, the top right is the hottest, and bottom left is yet another different temperature. You can see the giant kettle there sitting between the two hobs; when it needs to be boiled, the cover on the left is lifted for the kettle to sit on there. It heats in a short time. Someone is always wanting a cup of tea, so the kettle is kept filled.

Yesterday, I was working for the afternoon until 8 in the evening. I did the clean up from lunch, made marmalade from canned Seville oranges (a first for me), baked some frozen bread, hung laundry, fixed trays for dinner to be served outside (photo above) and laid the breakfast tables with cutlery and dishes for the morning- and more things I can’t think of. There is a lot to running this big house with many comings and goings around the classes. It was a busy day of learning the ways of a well organized place. And I loved it! The students, who are all ages from 18 up to probably 75, are on a rota to help serve the meals, clear plates, and take orders for tea and coffee after meals. The Workaway helpers are also on a schedule for working, and we try to make the next person’s shift easier by prepping well (like breakfast table setting). The whole thing feels like a combination of working in a hotel/bed and breakfast, and a restaurant.

It was a gorgeous evening to eat outside.

Ellie, a student from Germany, decided to eat the nasturtium I used to decorate the cheese plate.

Another task I was asked to on the weekend was to cut and arrange flowers for the dining tables and some other places in the house. The gardens aren’t large, but offer a good variety of flowers to choose from. There is a newlywed couple here from Spain, so I made an extra special bouquet for their room.

After working hard all day Saturday with my Workaway colleagues doing the change over of rooms, laundry to hang out, etc, I went out to eat with 2 women students, 1 from Catalonia and 1 from Italy. We went to Ambleside where we shared a bottle of Prosecco with our meal and talked about all sorts of things.

Last night after work, I walked to the pub with my fellow worker Alle, who is from Italy, and two Dutch women who are here to improve their English. They’re sisters who wanted a holiday together while learning. We had the most interesting conversation about WWII, the books we have read about that time, and what we know of it from our parents’ or grandparents’ experiences. Alle and I sat outside when we got back, with cups of tea and biscuits, to watch the moon rise.

Excuse the flash on the photo- I forgot to turn it off.

I love the work and the people here. I’m part of a hard working team and having fun too. Everyone takes advantage of the natural beauty around us by walking or exploring historic sites, and people help each other figure out routes or ways to get somewhere. Today I knew I was settled in when I asked Sahara, the dog, to walk with me. We walked 3 mi around Rydal lake, with her stopping to check with me about which trail I wanted to take. The fog was just burning off of the hills nearby.

And a night heron kept watch for fish.

Yesterday I wandered around Keswick for a few hours before I got the bus down to my home base for the next 4 weeks,Nab Cottage, in Rydal. I wasn’t sure which bus stop to get off , so I used my Google maps to keep an eye out for the stop closest to Nab Cottage. I got off and walked a mile dragging my wheeled suitcase behind me, not very grumbly since the view walking beside Rydal Lake is amazing.

The “cottage” is home to an English language school in the summer, run by Tim and Liz, with an amazing young Polish guy who turns out meals (mostly vegetarian) that would rival any restaurant I can think of. This week there are 3 Workaway helpers, and 1 Workaway teacher; there are two student groups here currently: English teachers coming for teacher training, and students from many different countries who’ve come to learn English. Everyone who comes to learn commits to speaking only English while here. I felt welcomed from the moment I arrived and can feel already what a special place this is. And there is a wonderful resident dog, Sahara, who is happy to sit with anyone who wants a canine companion.

My first full day here today was pretty remarkable. I had a leisurely breakfast , then walked the trails across the road up to see the caves on the side of the fell. The weather was so weird, very English- warm, misty, then sunny, then grey. The cave was easy to walk into and not at all scary as I thought it might be.

I followed the public footpath for another 3 miles to the village of Ambleside to poke around and get a couple things. Very sweet place and an easy ride back on the bus in time for lunch- a gorgeous homemade walnut crust tart with roasted veggies. I ate outside with a few of the teachers. My task for the afternoon was to pick fruit from plentiful fruit bushes. Again the sun went in and out, so I never got too hot, and had the beautiful view across the road to see when I straightened up. The gooseberry bushes were loaded, so they were the first to fill a large bowl- I think they look a little like grapes with thorns on their branches. In all, I picked 6+ kilo of fruit- green and red gooseberries, and raspberries. The skies cleared for the late afternoon, so I sat in the sun and cleaned all the fruit of the stems so they could be frozen for later use in a crumble or other dessert.

After dinner outside, I joined a group of women going into Grasmere to help at a church who were making rushes for the annual Rush Bearing Parade on Saturday. Tim and Liz’s daughters had all been part of the parade when they were younger, and they have offered for their students to go to help prepare the rushes and learn a bit about the tradition. I won’t try to explain too much since you can learn from the link above, but it goes back to the days when churches had earth floors and covered their floors with rushes. It was really fun to sit with a group of women, 2 from Germany, 2 from Spain, one from Japan, one from the US, as we learned from an English woman how to wrap/bind crosses or other things that will be carried in the parade on Saturday. It was also really challenging, and we laughed a lot as we talked about what other things we have made in our lives. None of us had ever done anything with rushes before.

A drink in the pub after, and we were all ready to head to bed. What a varied and amazing day.

This is my new travel blog. I’ll be posting from England (and other places) this summer as I do a Workaway in the Lake District in England.

I arrived last night in Keswick (silent w) in the northern part of the Lake District for a day or so of exploring before I head to Rydal for my Workaway job. Keswick has so much to see and do as it sits on the shore of Derwentwater, a lake surrounded by fells and crossed by beautiful old wooden cruisers that drop off, and pick up, passengers from piers dotted around the lake.

I gazed out at The Catbells from the shore of Derwentwater lake this morning as I waited to board the launch that would take me to the foot of the trail to climb it. It wasn’t too steep, but I was glad to have my walking stick with me.

This is a panorama I took about half way up the trail, looking back at the lake and the path I was climbing with many other walkers- some of whom had very good dogs with them. I walked the whole trip with a man from Northumberland named Steve, and his sturdy Cocker spaniel Henry. Henry would hop up onto rocky outcroppings or benches to politely beg for treats from Steve’s pocket. His treats were baby carrots. I shared my apple with him at the end of our hike.

After I parted company with Steve and Henry, I decided to push on to climb another fell, Walla Crag, before the expected rain arrived. More gorgeous views of the lake and surrounding fells interspersed with farm animals hanging out on steep inclines. And I managed to get lost 3 times walking open fields looking for a trail the map swore was easy to find to get me to a bus back into town. I eventually re-traced my steps down towards town.

The rain never came, except for a few drops here and there. I managed to find my way to Castlerigg Stone Circle, a 5000 year old circle of 38 stones “mysteriously laid out on a line between the two tallest peaks on the horizon”. Very cool to walk this circle in the middle of a field, with my extremely tired legs somehow feeling energized by gazing up at the peaks beyond. In the photo, the other big peak is to the left. Both quite huge.

A great end to a day of natural beauty. I managed to trek my weary legs the 1.5 mi back to town to a fantastic dinner downstairs in the my hotel. More to come after I settle into my new “job” tomorrow.