Happily Ever After...

It's Sunday evening, the children are in bed...well almost. My nine year old is prancing around above stairs singing "Feliz Navidad", his dancing footsteps translate to loud "booms" though the house. He's had a very exciting day and really should have passed out ages ago, but at this point, overstimulation is his fuel.

This morning we woke bright and early, readied the children and skipped breakfast altogether. None of us were really hungry and Mike and I had a coffee as we planned our day. His father would be coming 'round at about 1pm so all the things we wanted to do we would have to do before he got here. I was very eager to meet his father and so rescheduling the visit wasn't something we wanted to do. Not to mention, it would be very rude.

We piled the children into the near frozen car and set out towards the direction of the morning sun. The temperature in the car read -3 C and only just a few days ago the heater decided that now would be the best time to stop working. Surprisingly, it was rather comfortable in the car, i think heat oozes out into the car and perhaps its the blowers that don't actually work properly.

We made our way through the snowy contryside to the lovely town of Lincoln. I had seen from our last visit that there were altogether too many things to see in Lincoln and I was very excited to continue our explorations. When last we visited Lincoln we did a bit of shopping, it was crowded and we nearly killed ourselves walking down what felt like, miles and miles of cobblestone street, winding this way and that towards the bottom. These lovely little roads are lined with picturesque shops on both sides all packed in tightly together. Lincoln is certainly not lacking in charm.

This visit we decided to explore the old caste and the Cathedral. Upon entering the cathedral we were informed we would not be able to explore too far in as a church service was to start this morning. I looked at this ancient building and thought to myself how impressive it was that it was still used for its original purpose. We walked around taking pictures of the stone carved nativity scene, and entered into the Mary Magdalene Chapel, which i thought had a near magical quality about it. I know, i know, to associate magic with the church is blasphomy, go on then, burn me at the stake, it WAS magical. As though these walls held some hushed secret of time past.

After exploring the cathedral we walked across the shopping area to where the castle stood. Majestic and Mighty it seemed to puff up its proverbial chest on our approach. As though to say "I may be older than everyone you've ever known or heard about, but i'm still strong". We entered in and went towards the gift shop which is where you must purchase your tickets inside. My camera was low on battary power so Mike inquired about AAA's. I was shocked then as I still am, the GIFT SHOP didn't sell battaries!! I was thinking "What? You've got to be kidding me!" They of course will sell flashlights and various other novelties that RUN on battaries. Eventually we got ourselves inside and began walking around the place. There was a Victorian Edwardian prison, its red building seemed to whisper the screams and unhappiness of those who once dwelled within. Its circular backyard taking on the appearance of a "wagon wheel" design from far away was the only outdoor area for prisoners. My family and i decided the best vantage point would be to walk along the "curtain" or the high fortress walls which surround these buildings and gardens. I, not being fond of heights, was a rather nervous wreck but brought to bravery by the camera in my hand and what amazing shots we might take these hundred...perhaps two hundred feet in the air. ok...probably 100 ft. in the air. It certainly FELT higher! We looked out over the grounds at the sprawling "Court" building, which, if i heard the gentleman correctly, was still used to hold court today. Not "court" the royal court, but "Court" meaning, your bootie is brought before the judge kind. It too was an impressive building.

Walking along the curtain we could see the rooftops of the many homes in the city, a much better view of the cathedral and these quant little "terraced" homes that were tucked in behind the castle. We saw crumbling spiral staircases, not fit for use, and the strangest little chapel where each seat has high wood sides and the whole thing is altogether quite vertical. There is a picture below, you can vaguely see these round sort of gray balls in some of the seats, i do believe these were meant to represent heads of those who might sit there. It was a very strange experience this chapel and unlike the cathedral, it had a vibe of death and doom.

We wrapped up our trip with a nice visit to a local tea room and had toasted sandwhiches, coffee and hot chocolate.

When finally we were finished with our journey we came home for a quick tidy up and readied ourselves for Mike's father's arrival. We had a long, lovely visit after which we took the children (and our niece and nephew) down the street to the Farm shop. Nick (Mike's brother) lead the way through the trees on a well worn path that brought us out near a busy street. We continued on down the little hill and finally arrived at the Farm shop. This working farm has a petting zoo for the children, go-cart track, another sort of track with scooters and such, chickens everywhere, a small hatchery and other such animals you would typically see on a farm. We explored it all and as night began to fall we decided to actually make purchase of what we came for. Night settled in like an icy blanket over the land as we packed up our winter vegtables and birdseed and headed off home. Michael lead the procession as we walked, holding the littliest one's hand, the three older children followed and I at the end, making sure no one strayed. I suppose as we left this farm known for its rescue of hundreds of chickens, we ourselves looked liked a row of chickens or ducks, shivering in the cold as we walked home.

It was another marvelous day. Michael goes back to work tomorrow and finally the schools and local counsels will be open so i can call about the children's enrollment into school. Things should be less busy around here in terms of outings and so on, but housework begins. Its time to set into a normal life, though, i'm sure even with the laundry, it will be lovely.