Village Life

There are beautiful little villages scattered throughout the countryside here, and one of our favorite things to do is to pick one to visit and spend a while walking around. A few weeks ago we followed a little footpath in one of the villages and it took us through horse pastures, over little fences, and through fields of crops.


There are public footpaths like this all over the area and I can't wait to explore some more of them. It was a perfect morning.

A lot of the villages also have published historical walks you can take through them that show buildings of interest and dates, etc. I can't get enough of the thatched roofs and flower boxes on all the little cottages. It is so fun to be surrounded by so much history and so much beauty.

Visitors

My sister, Robin, and her husband, Darren, came to visit last week! We have been so excited to have family come and stay with us. We finally got our shipment of our household goods just two days before they came, and one of our cars broke down the week before they came and still isn't fixed... so we might not have been the best hosts, but I think it was still a successful visit! :)

We took them around some lovely little villages in our area and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. One thing we are good at doing is walking, walking, and walking!

We visited Warwick Castle and really enjoyed it, even in the pouring rain.



A few of us spent a day in Oxford, and I loved it even more than last time. The architecture really is amazing there. We ate lunch at the pub where Tolkien and CS Lewis used to get together to talk, visited a lot of the University buildings, and let Anna lead the way with her little map.



Robin & Darren spent a day in Ireland, attended a Manchester United soccer game, and hung out in London for a couple of days. It was hard to say goodbye, but we are so glad that they could come and visit and we had such a great time with them!

Searching

Both Joseph and I have ancestors that lived in England. Joseph's mom sent us a list of some family members that are buried in the surrounding area, so after church for the last two weeks we have ventured out to little villages to search for them.


We haven't had any luck yet in finding their headstones, since most of those we have looked for were buried in the early 1800s. Sadly, most of the stones that old are no longer legible.


We bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the afternoon, looking at beautiful old churches and cemeteries. The kids actually really enjoy it, and it has been so much fun to introduce them to family history work in this way.

One of the churches we visited was built in 961 AD and was absolutely incredible. I can't believe we are visiting places that are a thousand years old!

Oxford

We spent a day in Oxford last weekend. We took a boat ride on the Oxford Canal, rode a double decker bus, visited the Oxford Castle, and hiked to the top of the Castle Mound to get a good view of the city. It was a really fun day and we can't wait to go back and visit more of the University buildings and other areas we missed.





p.s. I just started using Instagram so you can check out some of my pictures on there if you want! My username is catgedge.

Edinburgh, Scotland

Last weekend we were able to visit Edinburgh, Scotland. We weren't necessarily looking to travel quite yet, but with a four-day weekend ahead of us, and an empty house while we wait for our belongings, we decided to head out. It took us about 7 hours to get there, and it was a beautiful drive! I couldn't believe how green everything was.


We visited Edinburgh Castle, built high up on the rocks overlooking the city. It was so interesting! We loved walking through all the old buildings and the view was absolutely incredible.


We also visited a cute farm on the outskirts of the city and picked the most beautiful raspberries and strawberries. You could see the city and the ocean from the farm, and I think it was maybe my favorite part of the trip.

Edinburgh goes right up to the oceanfront, and we were able to walk along the beach for a little while. Again, the view was amazing (we kept pinching ourselves that we were actually there!), and the kids loved running around and playing in the sand. Matthew and Anna did so well on the trip - they had to walk a lot, but they were great sports and really loved everything we got to do.


It was a great trip and such a lovely country! Definitely my favorite place we have traveled here so far. :)