0 Ireland! Ferry from Holyhead-Dublin through Monasterevin

Crazy bridge in Wales. That's right, we drove our left-side drive U.S. spec Element, Watson, over to Ireland.  He's well traveled.  Also, please note his flair on the right.  We're members EVERYWHERE.

Can't wait to explore Wales!!  Or slaughter their language with my attempts to pronounce this!

As a little (Irish) girl standing near me on the ferry said when we could see the island, "Ireland, YAY!"

The full sign says "Greed is the knife/The scars run deep."  Just outside of Dublin port.

Bridge in Dublin.  We only drove through, but I can't wait to go back and see the city!

Interesting building.

Puzzle building.

Our first night we stayed in Monasterevin.  This is the door to a church there- its got a dog!

Our B&B greeter, Badger.  She thoroughly inspected Watson, then allowed us to scratch her.

The drive to our B&B.

Moore Abbey.

0 In June, This Happened:

This is the bottom of our bed nearly every morning.

Yes, this is a mole.  Yes, he's in our house.  The poor guy was terrified, and surprisingly fast as long as he wasn't running into corners, so I took his picture then liberated him with a shoebox.  He promptly dug straight down under the hedge, never to return to "that place" again.

We had a rare few days of sunshine.  The sunshine princess basked in its glory.

I got a free Wallace and Gromit Cheesy Cookbook for sending in the wrapper from my Wensleydale cheese.  

 We had (more commonly) a rainy day, which Sloan and I ignored and went to Brimham Rocks anyway. On the rocks I got this view.

The we came home to this rainbow.

Lastly, I was driving home one day, turned onto our lane, and there was a cow walking down it.  With no herd.  And no farmer.  She stopped to peer over this fence, so I stopped to take her picture.  Then I told the farmer and he went to interrupt her stroll. 

0 York, mostly the Minster

With our friends visiting, we of course headed to York. (Click on the York label to the right or at the bottom of the post for past visits.)

The longest running pub- I think it's been in business 400 years, or something.  

Just outside the Minster, a street performer!! YAY!

Some details of the windows from the outside.

The rose window.

We climbed the tower!

Right in the center is the house for the Dean of the University of York.  Clearly I need to go into higher education administration.

Some of the grotesques in the Chapter House.

The ceiling of the Chapter House.  It's not really this yellow, that's the lights with no flash. It's really this beautiful, though!

As we were leaving York the skies grew stormy, giving the Minster a much more ominous backdrop.

0 A Day in the Dales

 Some friends came up to visit us and they brought their dog along, which was really fun, since Sloan and Max haven't ever had visitors of their own.  Naturally, one of the days of the visit we headed into the Dales, since that pleases humans and dogs alike.

 A family picture, courtesy of Garrett Smith.

My new favorite!

After our ramble we headed into Grassington to one of the many dog-friendly cafes- overall, an excellent day for everyone!!

1 Knaresborough Bed Race 2011

Last year I was delighted to attend the Knaresborough Bed Race.  I discovered, however, that prior to the actual race there is a fantastic display of the beds and runners in all their costumed glory- which I missed. This year Paul was excited to go with me (he missed last year's), but, because of a work event for him, we weren't able to stay for the race.  We did make the parade, though...

The theme this year was "British History."  There were 90-odd beds entered, and while you may feel like there are a lot of photographs here, there most certainly aren't ninety.  Some ideas were repeated, like Robin Hood, Henry VIII's wives, the King James Bible's 400 year anniversary, but others were more novel.  Enjoy.

Regal knights.

A chippy (fish and chips shop).

A miner's picket.

A-ha!  The silliness!  Some queens?

Great British Seaside Holiday.

Hmm... more knights.

Robin Hood!

English gentlemen a-motoring.

Some sort of Robinson Crusoe-esque boat and crew.

The Women's Land Army!!

A horse-drawn carriage.

There were lots of vikings.  I'm not sure if these guys were specifically, since they don't have the mandatory horned helmet, but they do have some modern technology.  Is Viking-punk in?

Votes for women!  There were a few beds decorated in honor of this pivotal part of history, but this one had young girls chanting "What do we want?" "The vote!" "When do we want it?" "NOW!!"

I am not entirely sure what this theme was, but I do like that the picture makes it look like the front-right girl is picking paper-mâché Victoria's nose.

This bed was a May Day Pole.  

We were treated to a May Day Dance.  This is traditionally done by small children, so it was extra-comical to see these young men frolicking.

The Plague.

WWII aviators.

A bit of local history- Knaresborough Munitions, circa WWII.

There were a few different sea-related beds, some general, some specific (the Titanic) but this was the only one with a chain of fishermen!!

More plague.

A novel theme- The Bed Bar.  I'm not sure what this is in British History, but it's funny!

A different type of horse and carriage.

Another seaside bed.

And, Jelly Babies.  I'd never heard of these, so it was nice that the bed provided a little explanation.

Hopefully next year we make both the parade and race- here's to 2012!