…summer in the city…walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head.”
I’m in Southern California for their most recent heat wave with red alerts and warnings being issued left and right. Temperatures over 100 degrees are about 25 degrees above my comfort zone! When I get home on Tuesday to the cooler Northwest I’ll fill you in on all the hot doings down here.
Hope your days are moving along nicely.
I started my Beatrix Potter Figurine collection on my first trip to England in 1973. I also bought a complete set of the books that Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated. We knew about this shop in Gloucester and were determined to visit it while we were in Gloucester 41 years after I started my collection. 
There are lots of shops relating to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit in England.
This shop had a lot of fun displays filled with memorabilia.
Here is my “Tailor” and the books I purchased in 1973. Some of them are a little worn. I have 27 figurines. I’m just going to share a couple more for this post.
Here is Pigling Bland. The book to the right of Pigling Bland is Little Pig Robinson and when Josh was a little guy he figured out that this book was one of the longest in the series so he’d ask to have that one as his bedtime story knowing sleep would be delayed just a tad longer.
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is one of my favorites.
Of course Peter Rabbit is the most recognized of Beatrix Potter’s beloved characters.
Have you read Beatrix Potter’s books? Who is your favorite character?
Gloucester Cathedral is so full of amazing things to see. This first photo is a small view of the Nave of the cathedral. The other photos will be of The Chapel of St. Andrew.
“The frescoes and the decorations in this chapel of Saint Andrew were a labour of love on the part of Thomas Gambier Parry of Highnam Court and were erected by him to the Glory of God”
I will give thee a Crown of Life
Behold the Lamb of God ~ Master Where Dwelleth Thou
The Path of the Just is as the Shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day.
You really need some time to take in the beauty and history of a cathedral like Gloucester. You start getting redundant with your adjectives when you walk through all the grandeur.
Back here in the state of Washington we are working hard at keeping our days straight because of the Monday holiday. We hope that Thursday is the last day that the bathroom renovators will be in our bathroom. Time will tell.
We were so happy to be able to go inside Gloucester Cathedral this visit. We visited in 2004 with our daughter Katie for her “graduation gift trip” but we arrived to Gloucester when it was closed. This will also serve as my ABC Wednesday Post for the letter H since these beautiful halls were filmed as part of Hogwarts School. If you haven’t read or watched the Harry Potter books or movies you won’t know what I’m talking about but you can still enjoy these beautiful Cloisters and for ABC Wednesday you can call them hallways!
The cloisters were used in filming a couple of the Harry Potter films. You can read about it here. I know some of my friends have avoided reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. My family has enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s writing and the battle between good and evil.
We were amazed with this part of the cathedral and there was still so much more to see.
Thank you to the ABC Team and to Denise Nesbitt for ABC Wednesday!
Have a good first week of September!
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Roslyn, Washington.
Roslyn is that city made famous for the T.V. series called Northern Exposure. We enjoyed a little road trip there. It’s just off of I-90 going over the Cascade Mountain range in Washington State. Since I referenced Northern Exposure here’s a photo from Roslyn that you will recognize.
Thank you to Beth and Sally for hosting InSPIREd Sunday. Click on over to see some pretty church spires from around the world.
Wow! We’ve had five Sundays in August this year. It’s labor day weekend so of course we are laboring. How about you?
I must keep moving along with my England travels before Fall is upon us!
Day 8 of our English holiday was a travel day with stops in Bourton on the Water and Gloucester. I ran ahead showing the outside of Gloucester Cathedral before showing you our first stop which was “Venice of the Cotswolds”.
It was a charming little village to stroll through. We did indulge in a treat from “Bakery on the Water”. So many wonderful baked goods to choose from. On our way back to the car park we strolled by Birdland and I saw a bird I had never seen before in person.
A Stork!
Here we are at the start of Labor Day Weekend. Dear will be home earlier than usual today to beat the traffic. Our plans as usual are to labor on this weekend. It’s so American don’t you think? Dear has started a siding project. The weather does not sound like it wants to cooperate with this outdoor project. I’m throwing a hunk of meat in the oven for sandwiches to last us for the weekend projects. For those of you that kind of keep up with the goings on at this old house I wanted to let you know that the bathroom is not completed yet. It’s usable but needs the last cosmetic touches and boo boos fixed. I really do hope that I have a completed bathroom to show by the end of next week!
Have a wonderful long weekend! Are you laboring, too, or are you taking it easy?
My fences this week are from a trip Dear and I took a couple years ago to Long Beach, Washington. These fences are in Oysterville, Washington.
The texture that the moss or lichen added to this fence was very interesting but the damage to the wood is probably significant, too.
This is the oldest house in Oysterville. We enjoyed walking through this little town and also reading up on the history.
You can click over to TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch to see other fences from around the world.
Can you believe we are coming up on Labor Day Weekend here in the States? Got any plans?
On day 8 of our trip in England we traveled from the Paxford in the Cotswolds to Ross on Wye stopping in Bourton on the Water and Gloucester. There were two places we wanted to visit in Gloucester, the cathedral and the “Tailor of Gloucester”. More on the “Tailor” at a later time.
I’m linking these photos of the exterior of Gloucester Cathedral for ABC Wednesday. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC team.
Here’s a great source for information about the cathedral that I found online. Click on Sacred Destinations to read about the cathedral.
Although all periods of medieval church architecture are represented at Gloucester Cathedral, its two main building phases – Romanesque and Perpendicular, are of outstanding interest and importance.
To read about the history of the cathedral and architecture click on this link. The cathedral has some interesting links with America that I enjoyed reading here.
The interior of the Cathedral will take a few posts. This cathedral has so much beauty and interesting history to share.
I posted a recipe of Spicy Dark Chocolate Cookies my sister shared with me over at the “Girls” blog (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) These cookies have a nice surprise with a touch of cayenne and chili in them. Click here to get the recipe.
Before we left the Cotswolds we wanted to take a walk about the land around Fox Cottage. The lanes were so narrow getting to and from the cottage that I wanted to walk out and take some photos because I was paralyzed when driving them wondering what we might encounter around the next curve.
A couple of these lanes were not right outside Fox Cottage but on the road between Chipping Campden and Snowshill.
After we walked to the end of the clear path we headed back to the cottage.
The driveway back to the cottage.
Our next destination would be very different from our cottage in the Cotswolds.
So here we are back in the states for almost 6 weeks now. Our bathroom is still not totally done. Maybe by the end of this week. Our weather continues to be dry and warmish with a few thunderstorms thrown in here and there. Dear and I worked real hard at this old house on Saturday pulling weeds, clearing two trash cans full of pine needles from planters, cleaning out the garage and taking a huge load of stuff to Goodwill.
Now here we are in the last week of August! Our son Josh and Laura celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary today. All of our kids are in the state of Washington again. We thank God for bringing them all safely back here from road trips and work assignments. Nothing big on the calendar this week. How is your August winding down?
On our first full day in England we visited Chipping Campden and walked past St. Katherine’s Catholic church on High street. We left Chipping Campden and went on to Snowshill and walked in the church yard of St. Barnabas.
Thanks to Beth and Sally who inspire us each week with InSPIREd Sunday.
Our church was inspired today to go out into our Community to help spiff up our local schools and get them ready for the school year. So this is a little view of what our Sunday looked like outside of our buildings with spires.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 