Kendal

Both slept like logs last night in our very cosy and comfortable bed and woke this morning quite refreshed. Stepped out early in order to take photo's of this enchanting town before people and motor vehicles filled the streets. Lots of plaques on buildings explaining their histories. Found one building which was occupied by Captain Cook's sister - look for the photo. The fabulously wealthy Andy Carnegie was also a benefactor of Kendal and built a library for the town - look for that photo too.

Breakfasted at the Brew Brothers. Beautiful breakfast and it transpired that the woman behind the counter had spent several years

living at Wellington Point in Brisbane and 4 years at Toowoomba. She only returned to Kendal a year ago so that her children could get to know their extended family.

Made my way back to a quilting store, Reticule Bags, (www.reticule-bags.co.uk) which I hoped would be open by now. Met the delightful Christine and Dennis Marshall, owners of the shop who were absolutely lovely and gave me some very interesting information. A beautiful range of fabrics on the shelves and nothing that I have seen in Brisbane - look for photos of a couple of ranges that especially appealed to me.

Returned to digs for a bath. The bath in our room looked invitingly deep and I thought my achy calves would appreciate a nice soak in hot water. Surprisingly, what had at first appeared to be a lovely spacious and deep bath actually turned out to be not quite as generous as I had imagined. Or is it that my personal plimsoll line has moved. Just as well I didn't fill the bath too close to the rim.

A visit to the Kendal Records Office this afternoon revealed a couple of bits of information that I think is going to answer some questions in the Robinson history. So, happy with that quest.

During the mornings explorations someone told us about the Westmorland County Show. We thought that was worth a look so set off with our helpful navigator in search of this popular annual event. We arrived about an hour before closing time and upon finding that the entrance fee was fifteen pound each, we had second thoughts. $60 for an hour at the show was a bit of a stretch for our budget, so returned to town and here I am.

I had made an executive decision to return to Ye Olde Fleece Inn for dinner tonight to see what their Soup of the Day is today because last nights broccoli and blue cheese was so delicious. Sadly, it was the chefs night off so we had to look for an alternative.

Check out the "man bag" which got an outing this morning. It was such a relief not to constantly hear comments like ..... "what have you done with my wallet"? "you can look after my passport", "this camera is in the way" and so on. Honestly, a 6 year old is less helpless. Goodness knows how he is going to manage alone in Russia.

Below is a house that Bonnie Prince Charlie slept in.

Note the milk on the steps. Long time since I've seen that.

Many of the buildings here in Kendal have entrances on the side that would have been for horses and carriages in bygone days. These are called "Yards". Some of these are now shopping lanes with a cobbled strip in the centre and smoother flag stones on the sides. John thought that the cobbled section might be for blind people to follow. Check out the photo bottom right. ????

Motoring through the Lake District is the plan for tomorrow. I hope Mrs Tiggy Winkle and Jemima Puddleduck aren't venturing out too.