Staying in the lovely Wateredge Inn in Ambleside, today the rain kept off until late afternoon offering the chance to visit Beatrix Potter's cottage and the gallery of her work in Hawkshead, which is also run by the NT.

The cottage was small and full of character. Much original furniture and artefacts were on display, and the building is actually a semi-detached house with a working farm adjoining it.

Tea and scones in the highly recommended Minstrel Tea Rooms broke up the Potterfest nicely :)

Then finally on to Dove Cottage, where Wordsworth lived for many years with his wife and children and sister, and where he entertained Coleridge so often. This is also a wonderfully atmospheric place. Small and dark, it originally started out life as a pub, but is now preserved and contains many interesting possessions of one of England's finest and most enduring poets.

Billie loved 'Daffodils' ... occasionally, for fun, we'd recite it together stumbling our way through the verses. Rightly, she'll get to enjoy that one last time at her funeral on Monday.