England 2015 postcards -- Lyme Regis

Yes, I'm very much behind. This trip was two weeks ago! Above you see a view of the beach at Lyme Regis, taken from the Langmoor and Lister gardens. I took this on our first night, when the weather was mild and lovely, and the town seemed to glow with magic. The next day it poured for hours and hours, so we did some shopping, museum visiting, and lots of resting. Saturday was a gorgeous day of hiking through the Undercliff and fossil hunting on Charmouth Beach. A great trip overall, with lots of good follow-up research for a story I'm writing (inspired by last year's trip to Lyme). Yay!

Several days after our return, I dropped my phone and completely wrecked the display. Fortunately, most of my photos had automatically backed up to Flickr, and phone replacement should be covered by our maintenance plan. It's been quite an adjustment. Aside from the disruption to communication, I just like having my phone with me at all times for taking photos. That said, I have enjoyed experiencing Oxfordshire without the phone--it certainly helps one to live in the moment.

This weekend we will pack up for our Monday morning flight home. I love it here, and it's been a great summer, but it's time to get back to my house, my kitty, and my work!

[Cross-posted to Livejournal]

England 2015 postcards -- The Lake District

Catching up on postcards today with some shots from our July 16-19 trip!

Before I talk about the photos, I should mention that we first went to the Lake District many years ago -- to Bowness, in fact, near Windermere -- and it was one of the HOTTEST weekends I've ever experienced in England. This was in the days before smart phones with weather apps, so I packed for cool weather. Argh! It was so sunny that at one point my arms broke out in a heat rash and I felt quite ill. The nights, as you might imagine, were miserably sticky and hot.

THIS visit, to the northern part of the district, was much more to my liking. The skies were gloomy (but nicely dramatic in photographs) and the air was damp and cool. Rain was forecast for the entire weekend, but aside from a few minor sprinkles we only saw it the mornings before breakfast. For me it was perfect hiking weather, and we ended up covering a lot of territory!

Now for the photos -- above you see a shot of Keswick from Hope Park. Steve and I were both so impressed with the town. Certainly there were lots of tourists around, but the place did not feel the least bit overcrowded. Keswick is bigger than I would have predicted -- you'll find just about everything you could ever need -- and yet it manages to stay quaint and charming.


On Friday we decided to walk the perimeter of Derwentwater, which we'd been told was around 13 miles. No problem! It took a good portion of the day, especially because we stopped often and took afternoon tea at a hotel on the opposite side of the lake. I love this shot of the northeast side of the lake with gloomy sky above and Meadowsweet below.


Saturday morning we hiked to the top of Latrigg Fell, which offers gorgeous views of Keswick and the lake.


Then later that day we walked up to the top of Castlehead Wood and took a selfie, ha!

I have many more photos at my Lake District Flickr Album -- I hope you'll take a look!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

England 2015 postcards: Oxford Botanic Garden

Steve and I have always loved the Oxford Botanic Garden, and I've subjected you to many photos of it over the years. Can you bear with me once again? And perhaps help me with flower names? Above you see beautiful pinky purple flowers (I never pay attention to labels, argh) with Magdalen tower in the distance.


This is my favorite doorway in the garden wall -- I tend to take a photo of it every year.


A gorgeous burst of red by a window -- wouldn't it be lovely to have an office with such a view?


I love this riot of color! There are poppies in there, but what else? And what are the blue flowers?

Methinks I need to find a guide to English flora . . .

[Cross-posted to Livejournal]

England postcards 2015 -- Cornwall

We are back in Oxford for another summer law program at Brasenose College, and I intend to carry on last year's tradition of "postcards." This edition focuses on Cornwall, where Steve and I recently spent time with friends. Above you see a photo of the beach somewhere between Rock and Polzeath, which was taken early in our walk along the SW Coastal path toward Port Isaac. (We didn't quite make it to Port Isaac that day, but we did cover 14 miles!)


Here we are -- Dom, me, Bede, and Steve (Ben is taking the photo) -- in Boscastle, a pretty little town on an estuary.


A high point of the trip was our visit to Tintagel. How glorious was the sun!

[The above photos were enhanced with the "HDR" filter from Snapseed.]

See more photos and details in my Cornwall Flickr album. And stay tuned for more!

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]