I must admit Blondelle that I had to go to a map of England to find
Lincolnshire Wold. Did some digging around on the internet and found
some pictures of the area, looks like a beautiful part of the country.
The farthest north that I ever got was to the Cotwolds.
The only unfortunate thing that happened to me is when I got "booted"
in a parking lot at Windsor Castle. The sign in the parking lot said
"pay and display your ticket", I paid but did not display my ticket.
Got back to the car and there was this bright yellow boot on one
of my tires. By not displaying the ticket on my windshield it cost
me $l00.00 American. I thought of writing a letter to the queen to
see if she would refund my money, but after seeing all the fire
damage to her castle I felt she needed the money more than I
did.
P. S. to Cowboy..I might need those wagons after all after writing
this..

Evening Jeffrey, sorry Jeff,
Glad you found the Wolds on your map-actually Im situated between the Fens of North sea & the Wolds so I have the beaches & countryside on doorstep(so to speak).
The Cotswolds are way down south from here but also beautiful.Couple of hours from here & we're in the wonderful Yorkshire Dales -breathtaking scenery-Ive done some climbs here--one of which was like scaling a wall;my son came with me and we sat at the top looking around us &marvelled at the spectacular scenery--wonderful moment seeing how beautiful England is-------ahh,Im getting all nostalgic--
Whats this "yellow boot" you got in Windsor park was it ? Is that what we call "clamping" ? Sounds like it by the fine you had to pay!
Ill have to have a word with her Majesty--see if i can get our American visitors an exemption--after all I believe you come tops in our tourists numbers and she should be made to appreciate the fact.
Have you heardof the "Lincoln Imp?"
Have a nice evening.

Yorkshire Dales...even the name makes it sound inviting..

Pray tell Elllie....What is the Lincoln Imp???

Please don't bother the queen with my little problem, as long
as she keeps Tony Blair on the payroll that will suffice...he's
the only friend we Americans have..

jeff, we're having a little problem here with the wagons....seems the cops towed them off...would shoping carts be o.k.?

The Lincoln Imp

The Lincoln Imp sits in Lincoln Cathedral looking down but in case you do not know the legend of The Lincoln Imp, well here it is.

Back in the 14th Century Satan sent his two little Imps out one day to do his evil work. First they went to Chesterfield where they sat on a church spire and began twisting, which is how Chesterfield's Crooked Spire came to be crooked.

After vandalising Chesterfield's spire the two little Imps headed east to Lincoln Cathedral. Upon their arrival they did as Satan had instructed them, causing as much mayhem as possible. They began by tripping up the Bishop and then went on to smash all the tables and chairs. It was whilst they were in the process of destroying the Angel Choir that an angel appeared and told them to stop at once. One of the Imps was braver than the other so he flew to sit on a stone pillar and began to throw heavy objects at the Angel. His punishment for his bad behaviour and defiance was to be immediately turned to stone by the Angel leaving the little imp sitting on the pillar forever.

Whilst this was happening the other imp was hiding amongst the broken tables hoping that the Angel would not see him and do the same to him. During the confusion the second imp seized his chance to escape from the cathedral and hitched a lift on a passing witch's broomstick (honest !). Unfortunately he was not as safe as he thought and in exchange for his safe passage from the cathedral the lonely witch turned him into a black cat for companionship. That is why all witches are portrayed with a black cat on their broomstick.

Since the Lincoln Imp is associated with the Devil many people believe that the Imp is bad luck. That though is untrue and is proved by the Imp's royal connections as in 1928 the then Prince Of Wales, later King Edward VIII was presented with a Lincoln Imp tie pin. The following year his gelding won The Grand National whilst his colt won The Epsom Derby.

Well, Jeff, as you see, Michaels pipped me at the post and quite right too,seeing as hes a true Lincoln man--Im only an adopted Lincs woman of just 3 years,as Im born & bred Londoner so only just learning the delights of lovely Linconshire-I love Lincoln for shopping and hope to visit,for first time,Lincoln castle,which I believe stands on site of former Roman fort --Michael will correct me if I have that wrong--the castle holds one of the original Magna Cartas signed by King John at Runnymeade in1215--hope thats correct too ?
The cathedral--a magnificent sight and landmark --holds tomb,which I was delighted to find,of Lady Katherine Swynford,mistress & finally wife of the famous John of Gaunt--the book "Katherine" by American author Anya Seton is one of my favourites!
Sorry for historic rambling --but its also an ad. for Lincolnshire &its tourism--which suffered somewhat over the foot&mouthoutbreak-yet there wasnt a single case in the county.
Michael,do'you know when jousting tournament is being held this year-think its usually August ?
Tell us something about your foothills & Pennsylvania Jeff.Is capital Harrisburg ?
As Im part French,can I ask if the "entent cordial" is back on course between America & France--are you back eating French fries?Oui or Non ?
A bientot, Elle.

I have to admit that I enjoyed both stories, but if Michael is native born
to Lincolnshire Wolds we wll have to accept his version.

Take it thats a "Non" then ?
I prefer English "fish& chips" to the French fries anyway.
I learnt something from Michaels Imp story--didnt know about the witches "black cat" story.
Love countryside here but way the weathers been today would give anything to be on Carvoeiros beach,or sipping coffee outside Colombos--roll on last Saturday in August--seems such along way off-----------

I think this thing between the US and France has been way overdone.
With in a year we won't even remember what the quarrel was about.
Besides, the French might asked for the statue of Liberty back if we stay
mad. I really think this whole Iraq thing between America and the
French boils down to money and lucrative oil contracts.

I would imagine there are quite a few English that have French blood
in them,oui ?

Northwestern Pennsylvania is quite hilly and well forested yet.
The Serra De Monchique and the Caldeirao area in Portugal
remind me very much of NW Penn.

Regards to you Ellie
Jeff

Good evening Jeff,
Yeah,youre absolutely right regarding about the little fracas between USA & France and that it does all boil down to big business and you can including our lot at No.10 as well !
Do'you think our "Tony" is lining himself up to be a president of Europe and perhaps with Georges help ? Theres certainly a lot of underlying stuff going dont you think? That secret meeting with Tony and the Frenchy Chap last week (I cant spell his name but it starts with Valery !).
The French in me comes from my late Dads Mama--a mysterious lady that we dont know much of --a Parisien dancer --Im doing research on her at moment.
My father inherited her dark looks and the expression of "the French live to eat !". But I cant take the rich food and consider myself as English as a----cup of tea !
Your Penns.sounds very lovely and if Serra Monchique reminds you of home ,then it must be nice.The Monchique area always reminds me of Austria --when I lived in Lagoa we would go up there for our water.
I miss it so much and especially the Portuguese people who i found so easy to get on with and I believe you feel the same?
oh,there is something French I like to eat and I was taught how to make---- CLAFOUTI ---ever tried it ?
Boa noite / Dormez bien, Ellie.

Jeff Sader wrote:I have to admit that I enjoyed both stories, but if Michael is native born
to Lincolnshire Wolds we wll have to accept his version.

As with all legends, there are more than one version around

Ellie, what is CLAFOUTI...?

Hallo Jeff,
Well--do'you know of our "Yorkshire pudding"? Its sort of made that way--you make a batter of flour eggs & milk but it is sweetened with castor sugar---then you put butter & sugar into a pan & put cut halves of plums(you can use any fruit really ;cherries,apricots etc,but i find plums the tastiest)you put these onto the buttered pan and cook for say 5 minutes or so--meanwhile get oven nice & hot--then pour the sweet batter over the plums and place in oven for qround 25 mins or when its risen& golden.Must serve hot --either with more castor sugar or thin cream,whatever you fancy--I think recipes vary but this is the one i was taught by my auntie(she'd been a cook) and I like this version>It makes a very nice dessert for winter--you can use dried fruit as well.
Hope Ive written this clear enough,
&hope you enjoy if you try it, ate logo,Ellie.