September 9, 2018 — Furness Abbey

Church didn’t start until nine o’clock so we slept ‘til seven, had breakfast and then drove into Dalton to St. Mary’s. It is a pretty church and we found parking. Not many people at the only Mass so it’s a small but friendly congregation with a real organ.

Drove home and met our neighbors from Berlin who are leaving today. The landlord seems to be gone and it is rainy, windy and quiet.

I discovered I’d put in the wrong phone number for Hartley’s Restaurant so when I corrected it, we had no trouble making a lunch reservation for “half twelve.” We researched train and ferry schedules for tomorrow. Hope the weather is okay. I have a feeling my new raincoat will be put to good use in the Lake District.

At half twelve we entered Hartley’s expecting a crowd and were surprised to see it half empty. We had our table and ordered the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. There was a 70th birthday party for eight beside us that was fun to watch. They were mostly young women and were having a grand time. The restaurant never did fill up, but the meal was excellent. After lunch we went across the street to the Co-op to look for a flashlight and some groceries, then home to put them away. The Co-op is very nice; we'll enjoy shopping there.

After recovering from a large lunch, we decided to visit nearby Furness Abbey so set our GPS and left. Would have done better with a map. The GPS took us on scary-narrow back roads, but we did get there. It’s English Heritage so we got in free with our membership cards. The rain had stopped so we went directly out, saving the museum for later. The abbey is huge . . . in near complete ruins and held together by a support system, but still utterly magnificent. There were two fellows there flying a tiny moth-sized drone . . . funny. We finished our trip going through the museum and started home . . . this time staying on the highway. Click here for the Furness Abbey web site

While eating a light supper, we watched a mother peahen and her three chicks walk across our yard. I’ve never seen a peacock chick before. They are really cute. We finished our supper with Lindisfarne fudge . . . very good.

Excellent day.