The end of a fabulous summer

2014 has been the first year that we've lived at White Moss House without welcoming guests to stay and dine. We've sort of retired, and currently we're just living on our own here at White Moss House. Lucky us!

We decided at the start of the year not to plan any holidays- just to see how the year went. It turned out to be a good decision, as the weather has just been outstandingly good. Dry, warm and sunny sums it up ( and we have noticed that is has been a bad summer in much of mainland Europe, so quite smug we decided to stay at home.)

Yesterday was a fabulous day, and we walked up Silver How- one of our favourite walks from the door. Today is looks as if we're moving into autumn. It's a little drizzly and grey. We're not complaining though. It's been great. If you want to walk from White Moss I've written a page about 6 circular walks from White Moss, taking in Grasmere and Rydal Water. You can read about White Moss walks here. This is a photo I took last week from the end of Loughrigg Terrace. Rydal Water looks an incredible blue.

I'll be dropping by this blog with snippets from my online writings, photos, and other points of interest ( well, that I think are of interest). Online writings? I've been writing for Squidoo for 5 years, but that has now gone, and we've been moved to Hub Pages which also seems to be struggling right now. However, I still keep writing.

Today I've been updating my page about sorrel. Read all about sorrel here . A couple of weeks ago deer invaded the herb garden and ate the sorrel down to the stalks, but it's now got some nice fresh new leaves. The late summer sun has suited it. I especially like a Jamie Oliver recipe for sorrel risotto that you can find on this page .

Not sure what sorrel is? Here's a picture.

Sorrel in White Moss House garden, Grasmere

See, you do know what sorrel is. It's easy to grow and has lots of uses.

Well, farewell fabulous summer. It was good to know you. Now that the days are shorter, cooler and wetter, I'll be tapping away at my blogs more. Every cloud has a silver lining. Why not follow me?

200 years ago this week Wordsworth moved to Rydal Mount

On  Mayday 2013 Wordsworth moved to Rydal Mount, where he lived until he died, aged 80, in 1850. It's a lovely house, and Wordsworth was happy there. He'd lived at Dove Cottage , Grasmere ( where he wrote his most famous poetry), and also at other places in Grasmere, including Allan Bank and the Rectory, none of which he liked for various reasons.

At last, in 2013 , rich and famous, he rented Rydal Mount, and for the next 30 years he played a big part in the life of Rydal Village.

Wordsworth bought my house, White Moss House, for his son, Willie, around 1830. He was concerned that his son should settle down and raise a family......rather like us today! To find out more about William Wordsworth, Wordsworth Houses and Wordsworth's Lake District click this link.

Photo of Rydal Mount thanks to David Willis and Cumbria Tourism, not for reuse without permission.