The Andersons in England: Friars, Donkeys, and Biomes

On Saturday 26th March, Bill left Harrowbarrow at 7 am for Ireland. Every spring, his University of Plymouth department takes 120 students and 12 faculty on a weeklong student research fieldtrip. The day before he left, though, we went out for a pub lunch on Friday. This was the oldest pub yet: 12th century!

The Weary Friar is in the nearby village of Pillaton. As so often happens around here, we left the main road and drove down narrow, winding lanes lined with hedges for a couple miles, only to have the road open up into a thriving village. Here is Bill in front of the pub:

It looks deserted in the photo, but it actually had a big lunch crowd inside. I tried something new--breaded whitebait--which looks just like friend minnows! They are actually little fish (2 inches long) that you eat whole: bones, eyes and all! I tried not to think about the eyes part, although Bill did point out that one was looking at me through its breading. They were tasty, but I don't know that I'd order them again.

I decided to make the most of the two weekends I had alone with Rebecca and Gwendolyn. On Saturday, I took them and two of Rebecca's school friends to a very local attraction: The Tamar Valley Donkey Park (http://www.donkeypark.com/index.php). Here is Gwendolyn at the entrance:

And here are Sophie and Rebecca, waiting for Aine to arrive.

The Donkey Park is actually a donkey sanctuary for retired donkeys. It is owned by a local family who use admission fees to cover the costs of the donkeys' care. In addition to donkeys, there are also goats, rabbits, chickens, and guinea pigs for the families to see, pet, interact with, and even hold (guinea pigs)

and take on walks (donkeys). However, there is also an all-weather indoor play area filled with slides and enclosed jungle gym structures.

As you might have guessed, this is what captured the kids' attention. They played in this area for three of the four hours we were there. Here are the big girls at the top of the "Drop Slide."

But guess who was actually the first to go down it? Our daredevil Gwendolyn!

Eventually, Rebecca and Sophie got up the nerve to try it, and I even went down it--once. Aine had been down it before but firmly and confidently declined this time. Rebecca and Sophie figured out a way to go down together--ending with flair!

When they weren't sliding, they were climbing around and playing hide and seek in pairs.

I did manage to persuade them to go outside long enough to try out the trampolines

and the "adventure playground."

It was a very successful outing, and we followed it up with a stop at Harrowbarrow's Village Hall for a jumble sale and auction to benefit cancer research. The girls loved the prices at the kids' table--10 pence an item--and had a good time doing a little "shopping." I even managed to find a few treasures, including a small watercolor print of York Minster. Many in the community had come out to support the event, and the girls continued their play in the adjacent playground while I had a cup of tea with friends.

The next day I decided we would go back to the Eden Project to see--you guessed it--the daffodils! Eden has a large outdoor area full of local plants and flowers planted in creative and beautiful arrangements. We had a bit of a challenge getting there, due to road construction and a detour, but the girls were patient with me (I was without a navigator in the passenger seat, so we had to stop frequently to figure out an alternative way to get there) and we eventually made it. I was having fun using the iTouch camera to take pictures, especially of the girls and the flowers. Here are my favorite girls at the entrance:

And here they are again in an area planted with trees, daffodils, and hyacinths:

There were mass plantings of daffodils everywhere, such as these hillside ones

and these.

There were wonderful areas for children outside, such as these little paths made of bent willow

and this climbing structure.

We spent a little time in the Core this trip, which is Eden's educational centre. Rebecca loved their "refrigerator wall" designed to allow visitors to express themselves.