Day 14 - in which we finally get on-line.

Patrick's comment yesterday regarding whether B.P. may have based any of her characters' characteristics on real people known to her was answered today at the Beatrix Potter Attraction in Bowness. Yes she did. A delightful homage to Ms. Potter and her legacy - they have even developed a garden of plants and vegetables which are either mentioned in her stories or are illustrated in them. Of particular note, the vegetable so often seen in the iconic drawing of Peter Rabbit nibbling on is in fact a long radish, and not a carrot as is often apparently thought, based largely on its shape, whilst conveniently ignoring the fact that it is red in colour and therefore is more in keeping with a radish from that particular period, the late 1800's/early 1900's. I trust that this snippet of information has you all rushing to your faded copies of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit to confirm this.

Wandered around Bowness for a bit, but the only really interesting thing was the rather old looking sign embedded in the sidewalk which read, 'This footpath is not intended for public use', or something similar - apparently the footpaths outside the shop front are legally owned by the shop which it is in front of. The downside to this is that the shop owner is responsible for its upkeep (e.g. if it is broken up by a truck parking on it, or if it is flooded away), but the upside is that the shop owner has the right to request anyone outside his or her shop to move on.

Drove down to Preston, and it's back to civilisation. Booked in to our accommodation, which looks like it has probably seen better days, but it is adequate, and seems fairly quiet so far.

We'd been invited out for dinner by Sue (from Adelaide, over here with Matthew, to catch up with family) at her sister, Jean's place. Now again, I realise that Sue, Jean and Jean's husband, Mick, may well read this eventually, but again, without a word of a lie, it was a lovely evening, lovely home-cooking (with a fantastic trifle to top it off, although Patrick assured me that the lemon drizzle was just as delicious) and absolutely delightful company. Patrick and I are looking forward to accompanying Mick to a football game tomorrow, whilst the girls have an afternoon with each other. Unfortunately I have to take the credit card with me to verify my bona fides when we pick up the pre-ordered tickets at the game, so Julianne will be cardless.