Yorkshire Family

On our way home from Whitby we stopped at Castle Howard. Castle Howard is not a true castle, but is a stately home 15 miles north of York. This is where "Brideshead Revisted" was filmed. I have never seen that series but I was familiar with the title. The home and grounds were absolutely beautiful. There were very few people around which was a perk of going in the "off season"; we didn't have to deal with huge crowds (of course we hadn't been to London yet). The Howard family are not "titled", it is not the Duke and Duchess or the Earl and Countess...  just Mr. and Mrs. Howard. Many upper-class people open their homes to paying tourists. This is a good way to support the maintenance of the vast grounds and enormous houses. But... enough of Castle Howard and the Howard family... I want to write about my family.

This is my Uncle Derek's castle. Unlike the Howards, I am welcome at this castle anytime and at no charge. You may be surprised to know that there are seven residences within this one building. Derek and Dorothy live at one end of the house. As we approached the house Derek turned into a driveway that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was a dirt drive that led right along the front of the homes and came out again at the end of the row. One way in... the other way out. The pictures show the back of the houses which face the road. Derek has a beautiful garden which he maintains himself. In England they use the word garden like we use the word yard. Don't you think garden is a lovely word? Much nicer than the word yard. Even the word lovely... is a lovely word. Fortunately for some of the other residents, Derek's garden allotment is larger than just the front of his house. As you can see by the photos, he maintains about half of the property. I mentioned to Uncle Derek that he could come visit us in America and I'd be happy to let him spend some time in my yard, I mean... my garden.
In the close-up picture you get a better view of Derek and Dorothy's house which is on the right. The chimney is the dividing point. The bay window is in the living room. It is actually quite large. At the back of the house is a small kitchen. The window above the bay is the master bedroom. Derek and Dorothy generously gave their room to me and Caitlin. They slept in the spare bedroom (you can see the window to that room and the bathroom in the photo above). The little lean-to-ish part of the house that you can see is where we enter. The entire home is spotlessly immaculate and so cozy. I was impressed that Dorothy dusts and vacuums every day and Derek cleans the church every other Thursday all by himself. The church is spotless as well. Even though they are retired and could sleep in as long as they wanted to, Derek and Dorothy are up and about their day by 6:00 every morning. Derek, who is a tease, renamed Caitlin. Instead of Caitlin Rose Leger, he now called her Caitlin Rose Eventually, as she was the last one up every morning. Dorothy has a small washing machine in the kitchen. When we returned from York on Tuesday Dorothy washed all of mine and Caitlin's dirty clothes. We hung them on a drying rack and when we returned from Whitby on Thursday they were ready to pack.

I love these stone walls that you often see lining the roads in England. That is a farm exactly across the street from Derek and Dorothy's. This is one of the cows that you see at that farm. Very different from the cows we see in America.

My Auntie Mavis and cousin Yvonne came to visit us. Through the years I have only seen Yvonne four times (I'm really grateful for facebook where we can connect with our distant family). Yvonne is a lovely person and I enjoyed our visit. Auntie Mavis has been to visit us in America a few times. Caitlin was so excited that she got to see her in England. When Caitlin was a little girl Auntie Mavis visited our home one day. Caitlin invited her into her bedroom to see her dolls and toys. When Auntie Mavis was ready to leave Caitlin barricaded the door and wouldn't let her out. Although Caitlin doesn't remember that story... Auntie Mavis and I do.

Amid the joy of coming to visit Yorkshire and seeing our loved ones, there comes a time when we have to say goodbye. I am not fond of goodbyes. In the picture at the top of this post we are getting ready to leave for the airport. My eyes were filling with tears, although no one knew it. Saying goodbye to loved ones that we rarely see... or, wonder when we will ever see again is painful. I am so grateful to Uncle Derek and Auntie Dorothy for their goodness. They are great examples to me. I'm grateful that all of my children know them. All three of my boys and now Caitlin have been in their home. They treat us so well and we all love them. They have visited us a few times over the years (you can read about their last visit here). I hope they will come again (after all... my garden awaits). If not, I plan to go back to beautiful.... beautiful, Yorkshire.