Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Sleet, snow and strawberries

We both had cabin fever on Saturday, so decided to head for Keswick.  This is a good option if the forecast is iffy, since it's got shops to dive in if it's raining, and walks to the lake if the sun decides to shine.

Last time we went, it sleeted.  This time?  It sleeted.  At least at first, although by the time we'd huddled round the market and darted into the Wild Strawberry café for a coffee, the clouds were lifting and there was the occasional gleam of sun.  The café, by the way, was pricey.  As I said to Dave, the strawberry wasn't so much wild as livid at the cost of the drinks.

Since it had stopped sleeting we wandered down to the landing stages and mooched along the lake shore path for a while.  The sun had a smidge of warmth in it for the first time, although there was still a good covering of snow on the highest fells.  Add some sombre clouds swirling over Skiddaw and the mix was perfect for photography, although the picture above isn't mine - it's one I nicked off Google images!

After a quick lunch in Brysons (food average, prices also on the high side) and another wander round the town, we realised our car parking ticket was about to run out so scarpered back to the car, pausing just long enough to buy a long-handled squeegee-thing to wash the windows with from a market stall.  On route back to Windermere we turned off along the far shore of Thirlmere for some spectacular views of a very snowy Helvellyn range (more photos) then bounced and sloshed our way along the lane, avoiding some mad drivers heading too fast the other way.  It was only Dave's skill behind the wheel that saved one near miss being a full-on collision.  Worth it for the scenery, though.

4 comments:

Possbert said...

And, of course, you visited the Pencil Museum. Didn't you?

Fiona Glass said...

Not this time, but we have been before - it's surprisingly interesting for something that's all about... pencils. LOL

Possbert said...

What do you mean, "...all about pencils"?? There's pencils and there's...ok, it is all about pencils but they're lovely. And there's a little shop and cafe where they do delicious soup.

And pencils.

Fiona Glass said...

Heheh... Yes, we really enjoyed it on a horrible wet day - of which Keswick seems to get more than its fair share.