Sunshine and solitude

What glorious weather! After the luxury of a slow start to the day, Norma & I headed to Jerevaux Abbey where the car was left in the shade of a tree and we set out on walk through the Park where I was struck by the variety of trees - solitary sycamores, groups of pines, ancient gnarled and thickened roots sprawling above ground, young spindly trunks stretching skywards. Perhaps trees are a metaphor for churches - or perhaps not. Maybe this is something to come back to - perhaps after the scores of photos have been added to this blog!!
A quiet half hour was spent sitting in the shade of a tree at the Abbey reading a book on the Psalms and basking in the beauty of the surroundings - an exquisite juxtaposition of nature and human endeavour and artistry.
As we returned to the car I was looking forward to lunch in the Tea rooms - so I was pretty disappointed to find it was closed! However, we swiftly returned to Masham and got a sandwich in the baker's which was consumed in the courtyard in the sunshine! Bliss!

An afternoon walk around Masham was as much as Norma could take in the heat - although she enjoyed meeting a black lab and a black & tan daschund - both of whom were most friendly! Many more trees were spotted, particularly in the church yard where yews and holly seemed to abound. I wonder whether there's any significance in this.