Welcome to Cumbria … the North Lakes District located in the United Kingdom.

I recently found myself with the opportunity to take time back in the kitchen after years as an educator, entrepreneur, and inn keeper in the US. Little did I know when I interviewed and accepted this job, that I was coming to an area of incredible natural beauty and a chance to learn about the people who are passionate about and  care for these places working for the National Trust.

On a personal note, I would thank my paternal grandmother Eileen Mary Smyth ( Burke) for this chance to live and work in the Europe she left behind when she traveled from Roscrea Ireland to New York City as a young woman. In this odd turn of events it is I who am the immigrant – learning the unfamiliar turn of phrase or glance, the trace of unfamiliar coin on the hand and  flipped perspective of riding and walking on the ” wrong” side of the road. Perhaps this time and place are space to just understand better what perspective is all about… and of course to have some great beer and make a few new friends.

Feel free to follow me .. I may write on occasion or just do a photo essay.. everything here can be so visual. Enjoy….. T