Harry Potter and the Da Vinci Code -The title of the 7th book! (Just kidding!)
Topic: This and That
I can't believe May is over already, and that this year is almost half over already. "Time is a difficult thing."
Monday we wound up not really doing anything. I took Ryan in his stroller and walked around the Stray Fair. Ryan's still way too little for all the rides, so we contented ourselves with taking in the sights and sounds of the fair during our stroll.
Yesterday I took Ryan to Starbucks with me. We shared some yummy chocolate cake. I don't know what it is, but sitting in a cafe having coffee and cake is very relaxing - even with Ryan!
I am reading The Da Vinci Code right now. I'm about halfway through and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I also had to laugh out loud when Harry Potter was actually mentioned in the book (as well as in a review printed on the back cover)! "Harry Potter is inescapable." (To paraphrase a line from a Glen Cook book.)
The weather was great today. Ryan and I were out and about walking around, enjoying the warmer, drier weather.
Ryan was out of sorts today off and on. Not sure why.
A few days ago I noticed I had hundreds of page views for my website. I was stunned. After a little digging, I realized it was all web bots and web crawlers. Weird. A while back we found out some photos from my site came up in a Google image search. I realize that the internet is a public place, but it's still kind of weird to know that there are cyber creatures trolling for things and that anything posted on the net is fair game for the world. This site is for family and friends. I don't publicize it, so it's odd when someone I don't know finds out about it.
Today Ryan and I were at our next door neighbor's house when one of the girls who lives there asked me if I'd like to play "knots and crosses." I said I didn't know how. She started drawing a tic-tac-toe board. I said, "Oh! Tic-tac-toe!" Neither of us had heard of the other's name for the game!

Hard Rock Cafe
Topic: This and That
Yesterday wound up being a rest day, for the most part. Ryan and I were wiped out from three days of day trips in a row. Larry was wiped out from his work week and two days of trips in a row.
In the early evening though, we did go out. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Leeds, which Ryan and I had never been to. (For Ryan, that makes three Hard Rock Cafes before the age of two!) It was fun to go out for dinner, especially because we don't very often.
We stopped at Starbucks on the way back to the car. We own stock in it, so we feel we're reinvesting! :)
Not sure if we're going to do anything today yet. It's only 10:30am though, so the day is still young!

Memorial Day
Topic: Holidays
Today is Memorial Day. Let us all remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

Butterflies
Topic: Day Trips
I apologize for not identifying the picture in my post about Tropical World (and York). The photo is of big butterflies eating from a dish of what I think was fruit.
I hope to have more about our weekend posted soon.

Byland Abbey and Black Sheep Brewery
Topic: Day Trips
The York Pass we bought on Friday was a two day pass. We thought for our second day we would visit some places the pass covers that were outside of York. Saturday our first stop was Byland Abbey ruins, located in Coxwold. It's only about fifteen miles or so north of York. However, like pretty much anywhere over here, it took a lot longer to get to than you would think because there's no straight way to get there.
There's a picturesque inn across the road from the ruins, and a friendly attendant at the ruins' entrance. The surrounding countryside is beautiful. The weather was perfect for exploring. It was cool but not cold, and luckily not rainy.
The Abbey was gorgeous. A moody, cloudy sky was the perfect backdrop for the Gothic ruins. Everywhere we looked, we were greeted with amazing views. We were the only people there, which was nice. We let Ryan have run of the place, and run he did. As Larry put it, Ryan "ran around like an idiot in heaven!"
I took plenty of pictures. It was impossible not to. Click here to view our album. Byland Abbey Also here's a link to a website about the Abbey. Byland Abbey Website Interestingly, it is said that Byland's rose window inspired the famous rose window at the York Minster. However, Byland's rose window was actually almost an afterthought in the abbey's construction.
We spent about an hour at the ruins, just wandering around, chasing after Ryan, very much enjoying ourselves.
As we drove around that day, I couldn't help thinking that the countryside feels steeped in magic. There's something very old, in the sense of old traditions and long histories, that is palpable in the air and the land. It's no wonder so many tales of magic both ancient and new are set in Britain.
Our next stop was the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham. We got turned around a bit on our way there, then had some trouble finding somewhere to park. We did finally get there though. Masham is a small market town, rural and Gregorian. It was a pleasant place to stroll through on our way to the brewery.
All three of us were hungry, so we got something to eat in the brewery's restaurant. Over here, pubs and breweries and such are much more family oriented. The restaurant had a welcoming, family friendly atmosphere, which made our late lunch very enjoyable.
After we ate, we went on a tour of the brewery. Click here for the brewery's website. Black Sheep Brewery This was Ryan's first brewery. He was very tired at this point, but was a trooper. The tour itself was fun, with an enthusiastic tour guide leading the way. We got to taste some of the grains and handle the hops that go into beer. (Not being a beer drinker myself, I would rather eat the grains than drink the beer! :P The gains tasted a lot like Grapenuts cereal.) The hops were interesting. They seemed dry at first, but upon handling became oily. Apparently beer is not technically beer until the hops are added (for flavor). Until then, it's an ale.
At the end of the tour, Ryan got a huge pencil decorated with sheep on it as a parting gift. A half pint of beer was included with the tour. The brewery kindly let me and Larry combine our half pints for a pint bottle of beer to take with us, since we needed to get Ryan home.
We of course got some goodies at the gift shop before leaving. :) I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures though.
We all had a good time, Larry especially. Black Sheep Ale is his favorite beer here, and I think going to the brewery was a bit like going back to the mother ship!

Addendum
Topic: Day Trips
Since I posted my previous entry on York, I've added some comments and rewritten parts of the entry. If you have already read it, I would ask that you please take another look at it. If you haven't read it yet, then no worries! :)

Tropical World and York
Topic: Day Trips
The last three days have been a whirlwind of day trips. Thursday there was a baby sitting co-op meeting at a place called Tropical World. The photo to the right is my only photo of that trip. Unfortunately, between Ryan running around like a crazy person and the camera lense fogging up, I just wasn't able to take pictures. Fortunately, there's a website with plenty of photos. Click here. Virtual Tour of Tropical World
Tropical World is part of Roundhay Park, which is only about half an hour away from my house. I car pooled with two other members of the co-op. Tropical World is sort of a mini zoo/nature park type of place, with various areas you walk through. Each section represents a different environment, such as the jungle, the desert, etc. There are giant koi to feed, huge butterflies, and very docile ducks, among many other creatures. I tried to let Ryan out of his stroller to walk through, but he simply ran off. He was way more interested in running than anything else. I strapped him back into the stroller for the most part. They have a waterfall at Tropical World. Ryan was completely fascinated. He chattered away in his language and seemed quite enthused.
After we walked through, all the co-op members had lunch at Tropical World's outdoor cafe. It was an enclosed area, so we could let our kiddos run around. I think that was Ryan's favorite part!
I would like to come back at some point and explore the other parts of Roundhay Park. It seems like a nice place to just come and relax on a warm, sunny day.
As I write this, it's 10pm and there's still light in the sky. I love it!
There's a faire going on at the Stray right now. I can hear the fireworks going off. Unfortunately we can't see them from our house, even though we're a less than ten minute walk away.
I must interject something I forgot to mention about our trip to Lakenheath. On the way there, Larry and I saw our first honest to goodness scarecrow. Neither of us had ever seen one before.
Yesterday, Larry and Ryan and I went to York. As the crow flies, York isn't very far at all. However, since you have to take back roads to get there, then park and ride to get into town, it takes a while to get your day there going.
We went to the Tourist Information center, and bought a York Pass. You pay for the pass, then use it to get into various attractions rather than paying admission at each site.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe, then went to the York Minster, which is the largest Gothic church in England. Larry pointed out that it seems every cathedral we've been to in Europe has been an "est," of some description: largest, oldest, tallest, smallest, you name it! That made me laugh. I have to say that as awful as it may sound, for a while I'd been to so many cathedrals in so many different countries that I had started to get a bit dulled out. Now, however, the Minster is the first cathedral I've been to in almost two years (the last one being Westminster Abbey), and my full appreciation has returned.
This was Ryan's first time in a cathedral.
I continued my tradition of lighting a prayer candle in every cathedral I visit.
I did take some photos inside the Minster, but here is a site that has some nice 360 degree panoramic views. York Minster Virtual Tour Here is a great overall information site for the Minster.
York Minster Site
We also visited the Undercroft, Treasury and Crypt at the Minster. We listened to the audio guide, which I'd never done anywhere before. It was actually very interesting and informative. Part of that section of the Minster showed where the former Roman and Norman buildings and cathedral were. It was amazing to stand at the confluence of where the Roman, Norman, and present day structures all come together.
Ryan was really well behaved while we were there. At one point though, I looked down to check on him, and he had his hand down the front of his pants! Part of me was a bit mortified, especially because it was inside a church. However, the other part of me figured that as long as he was quiet...! *grin*
The treasury was the next section, followed by the crypt. There were two things in particular in the crypt that caught my attention. The first, Larry pointed out to me. There was a rock depicting demons pushing various bad souls down to hell. There were also frogs cleaning out the nose of a big demon. (Ew!) I didn't know frogs were considered magical creatures. (That explains some things.) It was interesting to listen to the audio guide info. on it. It was also very creepy. The other thing that caught my attention was an art display of dozens of plain white wax bowls. The viewer is supposed to project thoughts or prayers or energy into them. I found it interesting. In my mind's eye, in the bowls were balls of light in various colors. Some of the bowls were empty, but many of them seemed to have some sort of energy in them.
Overall, I was really glad we went to the Minster. Larry and I both very much enjoyed it. It was beautiful and very interesting. It felt good to be inside a cathedral again.
Our next stop was Clifford's Tower. It has a grisly history and is all that remains of York Castle. Click here for more info. and photos. Clifford's Tower Larry stayed with Ryan while I explored the Tower. There was a tight spiral stairway to climb to get to the top. I hadn't been up stairs like that in quite a while. The view from the top of the Tower was impressive. I was glad I got a chance to see it.
Next we went to the York Castle Museum. That was really neat. A lot of it is a recreation of Victorian life, in the form of streets and shops and buildings, all within the museum. There are many other displays from other periods as well. Click here for more info. York Castle Museum As museums go, it was very accessible and friendly. The displays had to do with daily life over various historical periods, and there were a lot of hands-on things to do, buttons to push, people in costume to talk to. It was very three dimensional, down to earth, and easy to relate to.
After visiting the museum, we hit Starbucks, then headed home. Ryan was a trooper the whole day, and was really good and well behaved. Thank goodness he seems to enjoy travel!
Here is an album of photos from our visit: York Enjoy!

Walking Up Our Street
Topic: Harrogate
Whenever Ryan and I go walking anywhere from our house (with Ryan in his stroller), I let him out to walk up our street on the way home. (It's approx. 200 yards or so.) There are certain yards and things along the way Ryan is interested in. There are two yards in particular he seems to like. (I try to keep him out of people's yards to respect their privacy, but sometimes Ryan gets in there before I can do anything.) One yard is at the bottom of the street. It's got a circular brick path with a small tree in the middle. Ryan loves to run around that path. There's another house near to ours that he likes to run towards, though I have no idea why. There's nothing obvious that he seems to be drawn to.
Along the way, Ryan's developed the habit of closing gates that are open. Not sure why. It's a recent development. Also, not too long ago, Ryan discovered jumping in puddles. What fun! ! !
We are fortunate to live on a fairly nice street. Most people keep their yards up well, and many of them have flowers of some sort. I especially enjoy that there are three different varieties of lilac on our street. I love lilacs. They come in beautiful colors, and have a delicate, wonderful fragrance. They also happen to remind me of my grandfather, Walt. He had lilacs in his yard, which I always enjoyed looking at, and inhaling their lovely scent.
Today the weather has been very crazy. It's only midday and we've had rain, sun, rain, hail, and back to sun. During a sunny spell, I took Ryan in his stroller and dropped off a comforter at the cleaners (thanks for throwing up on it, Misty). I went out in a raincoat and sunglasses. Then I thought about the fact that I was wearing a raincoat, AND sunglasses! That's the weather here for you. (That's not a complaint, just an observation.)

"Follow Me Home"
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Stream of Consciousness
Warning: Rant on something relatively unimportant coming.
I HATE HATE HATE it when I hear a song, fall in love with it, then see the video and go, "WTF???" I LOVE the Sugababes song, "Follow Me Home." It's a beautiful love song, both lyrically and musically. I just now saw the video for the first time, and... I want to know what the heck the Sugababes were thinking. Creepy old guys with seemingly unwilling young girls, all in a cold war spy era type setting? Again, WTF (what the f**k, for those of you who might not be familiar with the abbrev.)? *sigh* Anyway, just had to get that out.
(This is what happens when I've had a glass of wine, my computer is on my lap, and I type away at will!)

"Here Comes The Rain Again"
Now Playing: Rain outside, Blue purring.
Topic: This and That
The weather has been really screwy lately. It can't make up its mind if it wants to be warm or cold, sunny or rainy. I'm kind of used to it from living in Germany for so long. As long as the sun comes out once in a while, I'm ok.
Earlier today I was on my way to pick up Larry. The sun was out, but the rain was coming down on the car as if it were inside a car wash.
I am healing up ok, but I'm uncomfortable a lot. Before I had my surgery, I didn't really think about the aftermath. I sort of just thought I'd be sore a couple of days, then back to business as usual. Not so much.
Today I took Ryan for his WIC appointment. He's now 33.5 inches long, and weighs 25 lbs. and 8.5oz. He's grown almost two inches since January, and gained almost two pounds. He's right smack in the 50th percentile for height and weight.
Larry and I watched the movie, "Snatch" not too long ago. We really liked some of the music, so Larry got the soundtrack. My favorite track has a very unfortunate name: "F**kin' in the Bushes," by Oasis. Oh well. Luckily it's (mostly) instrumental! It's a very kick butt rockin' sort of piece of music, with a groovin' rhythm to boot.