Friday Show and Tell . . .

 

Yesterday was such a gorgeously beautiful day that we decided to take ourselves off . . . out and about on a little  adventure in the car. We ended up in my absolute most favourite place on earth (next to Vermont), a little village in Denbighshire in North Wales, called Llangollen.  I know . . . I have taken you there before, many times . . . but do let me take you there again.

 

Llangollen is such a beautiful little village . . . filled with quaint shops and beautiful buildings.  It doesn't seem to matter what kind of day it is, weatherwise . . . it is always filled with people and sight seers.  It bustles.  And never more so . . .  than on a sunny and warm spring day.

 

One of the first things we always do,  is to stop and have a drink and a cake at this lovely tea room.  If we can we like to sit outside.   We sit and dream of being able to buy a house here, which we know will never happen in a million years . . .  but a dream is a dream, and we all have them do we not?

 

And then we walk down to the bridge,  and spend a few minutes gazing down at the rail station . . . and up the river.  There is an old steam railway here and we keep saying that one day we are going to go on a journey up into the Welsh Mountains on it . . . and perhaps one day we will.  That is a dream that is well within our reach, and we really must do it, before we can't do it.

 

And then . . . we take a walk down the footpath that flows along side of the river.  It is a lovely, easy walk . . . down a winding path that weaves it's way along the river bank . . .  with the sunshine dappling it's music down upon your heads through the branches of the trees, which arch majestically over top . . . the sound of rushing white water glancing off  your ears . . .  birds trilling, bees humming . . . the sounds of laughter, and joy . . . so, so very wonderful . . . 

 

You never know what you will find here, and it does not seem to matter how often we have walked down this same pathway . . . we always discover something new.  Yesterday it was this caravan that someone had painted up to look like a tiny cottage.   It was sweet and so very . . . quaint.  One could almost picture using it for a guest house . . . and imagine the thrill of being invited to stay in it overnight . . .

 

I am a real nature lover and I do so enjoy all the greenery that manages to grab a toe hold in just about any place it can in this beautiful country . . . like these wild ferns which were growing in just about every nook and cranny  along the stone walls . . .

 

Or the forget-me-nots which were blooming profusely on the banks . . . reminding me that yet, once again, I had forgotten to plant any in my own garden.  Note to self . . . plant forget-me-nots for next year.  In the meantime . . . enjoy everyone else's  . . .

 

And then too . . . there was wild garlic in bloom everywhere.  You could smell it's lovely fragrance floating through  the air . . . Todd almost didn't believe me when I told him what it was . . . that is,  until I broke off a leaf and let him smell.  And then he found me to be quite, quite amazing in my knowledge of such things . . . and, we decided that we will grow some of that in our garden next year . . . we want to grow a lot of herbs.  Perhaps we will become natural healers . . . another dream  . . .



The river rocks were filled with young teens sun bathing and dipping their toes into the water . . . and wild ducks, mallards . . . green heads glinting in the sun,  floated on top of the water . . . we watched schools of minnows darting between the rocks . . . you would almost be forgiven if you had missed them . . . but every once in a while the sun would catch a glint of silver from the backs of a few and they were hard not to notice.  Once discovered, they were hard not to see . . . 

Isn't nature just so beautiful and mysterious and so very soul enriching??  I think so . . .



We sat for a while drinking it all in . . . hoping to catch sight of a king fisher . . . and watching the swallows swoop down over us . . . their wings almost touching the tops of our heads . . .  it was a most pleasurable sojourn . . . but . . .  it had to end eventually. 

We took ourselves back to the car and drove up to the Horsehoe Pass, up in the mountains.  We always do this,  and as usual it was full of bikers . . . teeming with them, but no matter . . .  they were up there doing the same thing that we were . . . enjoying the spectacular scenery.  You can see for miles and miles across the Welsh Valleys . . . there is no picture that can really do it justice.  It's stunning . . . just stunning . . . the land of big skies . . . and grande vistas . . .



The air is filled with the sound of bleeting sheep, which wander across the gorse and grass in abundance.  I remember the first time Todd and I took ourselves up there . . . I tiptoed through the grass trying not to step on any of their calling cards . . . but I eventually gave up, and just relenquished myself to the beauty of the moment and forgot all about them . . .



I do so love this beautiful place that love has drawn me to, and I have never regretted for a moment coming to live over here . . . and . . .  on days like yesterday . . . when I am able to go out and drink in the beauty of it all . . . and able to share that beauty with this very special person that God gave just  to me, a special gift all of my own . . .  my heart almost bursts with the joy of it all.  It is almost more joy than my heart can hold . . . truly . . .

 

Like all days though . . . it did come to an end . . .  and we had to return home, but not without having captured some more golden moments in our hearts, and weaving a few more threads into this beautiful tapestry that we call . . . life.

“Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad.”
~Jeffrey R Holland, Created for Greater Things



Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . .  a delicious Gingered Coffee Cake.
Happy Friday!  The weekend is here and the sun is shining!