Home again

Had an uneventful trip home.  The plane was crowded, which surprised me, but of course it was a Saturday.  I find the trip back to the US feels very long and boring, so this time I decided to watch some of the films that are available.  The main problem with these films (other than my having to figure out just how to get the one I wanted) is that the screens are very small and it's hard to see what is going on in night scenes.  I had trouble that way with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows".  Luckily I've read the book, although I was several years ago, so I was able to follow the action.  The other film I watched was "Unstoppable' (I think that is the right name)  It's about a runaway train and is a real action flick.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  While I was watching the speeding trains, the airplane ran into some turbulence, which fit perfectly into the scenes on the screen!  There isn't much to the plot, but there are lots of trains (for railroad buffs) and emergency equipment with sirens blaring. A couple of car chasing train scenes.  The perfect action film!

 

I got home around 5 and managed to get unpacked and stuff put away before I collapsed into my recliner.  I managed to stay up, more or less, until 10 PM.  However, I think I was asleep in the chair for the last hour.  Of course, this AM I woke up early - VERY EARLY - 3:30 AM.  I tried to get back to sleep, but finally at 5 I gave up and got up.  I will be very tired tonight.  It was odd coming back to warm weather here in Maryland.  When I left England, the spring flowers and trees were in bloom, but it was COLD.  Here, it is warm, but the the daffodils aren't in bloom, nor are the flowering trees.  I think I have a couple of photos of flowers and trees on Kate's street.  If I can find them,  I'll post them here.

next-to-last day in England

Tomorrow I will be flying home to Maryland.  This has been a good visit, except for my catching a cold a few days ago.  Actually, I think I caught the cold from airplane travel, but it only developed this week.  I still managed to get in some sight-seeing and shopping.  As you know, if you read this blog, I love poking around in thrift stores (called charity shops over here).  Worcester Park (pronounced woster park) has a wonderful selection of charity shops.  I've also visited those in New Malden and Wimbledon.  I've picked up a few books, some jewelry, a couple of silly ceramic animals and those sweaters I mentioned in a previous blog.

Yesterday I found a wonderful book called 'A Good Old Laugh'.  Here's what Dave Barry says about one of the problems of growing old:. 'I've gained a few pounds around the middle. The only lower-body garments I own that still fit me comfortably are towels.'  I don't think I'm quite that bad with flab around the middle.  I'm hoping that all the walking I've done over here will have kept me from gaining any weight, despite having eaten more food and drunk more wine that I would have done during three weeks at home.

My grandchildren are becoming so grown-up!  Sarah is taller than I and looks very mature.  Olivia will catch up to her in height within the next year, I think.  Alex seems much older than he did last summer when they visited me.  This morning, both Alex and Olivia got out books of poetry and were sharing their favorite poems with me.  Alex's choice was the William Wordsworth poem about daffodils.  It seemed an unusual choice for an 8 year old boy.  I cannot remember being interested in poetry when I was 8, except for A. A. Milne.

Here's another quote from the book - this one appropriate because I've turned 70 today. 'Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake'. (Jo Brand)  Taking this advice,  I'm going out soon with Kate's friend Lana (my friend too) and having tea and cake.

a walk in a park

 Gorse in bloom at London Wetlands Centre.











These old trees, now with bare branches, have such fascinating shapes.  I wanted this photo to prove that we do get blue skies and sunshine here in England.  Have to admit that by the time we ate lunch, it was cloudy and rather chilly.  It rained just a sprinkle or two later in the afternoon, but we were already home by then.

 There were ducks of various kinds and geese, mostly Canada enjoying a swim and eating whatever scraps from lunches that were thrown their way. 

 Daffodils in bloom - all over the park.  Spring comes very early to southern England.










 Olivia and Sarah contemplating the water.   

                                                                                                                                                                           Alex feeding ducks and pretending to fall into the lake, just to worry his father.

Camellias were also in bloom.  Very lovely.  Seemed to have white and red blooms on the same tree, but perhaps two trees were growing together.

update on quilt

Kate and I have decided that I will do the quilting on my quilt - when I get home.  She was going to quilt it for me and she did a bit of free-motion quilting on it today, but had great difficulty because of the polyester batting that I am using.  She tells me that I should have bought cotton! Too late now. It is too thick and Kate couldn't easily move the quilt around, also the thread kept breaking.  So, it will be up to me.  I will either do a simple wavy line up and down the quilt and possibly across as well, using the sewing machine or I will hand quilt it, using something to tie it (perhaps embroidery floss).  I'm going to practice a bit before I decide on machine or hand quilting.  Since I tend to put off sewing, it may be a long while before it is done.  In a way, I'm glad I will be doing it myself.  It won't look as nice as if Kate did it, but I can say it's my work, almost completely.  I have to admit that she helped me in a few places.

Today started out sunny and lovely, so we went to a park and wandered around, then ate a picnic lunch.  I took some photos, but haven't got them uploaded yet.  The clouds rolled in after lunch and we were glad to be on our way home.  It was actually starting to rain, so our timing was impeccable.  We're all tired, but glad we got out for a bit of exercise.  The daffodils were in full bloom in the park - lovely!

Last night we celebrated Kate and Geoff's 18th wedding anniversary (and my birthday which is next Friday) by eating in a very nice Chinese Restaurant in Wimbledon Park.  Very upscale place - great service.  They put the napkins in your lap and kept refilling the water glasses.  The food wa delicious and we all splurged on desserts.  Actually, Geoff didn't order one, but he got a bite of everyone else's.

Tomorrow Kate and the kids are back at school, so I'm on my own all day.  I plan to go into London and visit Covent Gardens, if the weather is reasonable.  I love the markets there - and on Mondays they have mostly antiques.  I have made a list of places I want to visit in London, but doubt if I'll do them all before it's time to head home.

Kate and Geoff got a new car yesterday.  It's a VW Sharan - a mini-van.  It's a very nice car and they love it.  Seats 7 people!  Seems very comfortable.  Automatic transmission, which Geoff has never driven.  He'll have to get used to not having a clutch.  The car is much wider and longer than their previous cars, but Kate has driven my van, so she had no trouble adjusting to that.  After a month without a car, they are really happy to have one again, even though they had to spend all day at one of those huge used car places in order to get it.  I'd love to have one like it, but my next car will be a smaller car of some sort.  I really don't need one the size I have now.  Hardly ever buying anything big and bulky and almost never have it full of people.  Anyway, I hope to keep my current Mazda MPV going for a couple more years.

visit to Kate in England

I arrived in England Wednesday AM.  The trip over wasn't bad, except for the woman sitting near me who had a 6 week old baby and a 2 year old!  The baby cried much of the time and when he was quiet, the other child was talking loudly.  Those of us sitting near them got very little sleep, but then I hardly ever sleep on planes anyway.  The flight was half empty, so we had plenty of space to spread out.  I should have just moved to another seat, but it seemed like too much trouble.  I was able to use the Underground (subway) to get from the airport to Wimbledon, where a friend of Kate's met me.  I was lucky to encounter an English gentleman who carried my heavy bag up the escalator and then up the stairs when I had to change lines.  There was supposed to be a lift (elevator), but I never found it.  I did find the one at Wimbledon, but then I have used it before.

Wednesday, I pretty much relaxed around the house, but Thursday I walked Kate and 2 kids over to the primary school, where Kate works.  I then went on to Worcester Park and spent the morning in the many charity shops (thrift stores) on the main street.  I had a very successful shopping expedition, finding two pullover sweaters (known here as jumpers), a nice glass fish, a silly bird, and a little watering can to add to my collection that go on the trellis outside in the summer. The sweaters will be particularly useful here as I brought very little in the way of clothes this visit.  My suitcase was filled with the quilt I'm making (with Kate's help) and all the American snack food requested by Kate and kids.

My granddaughters are getting so grown-up!  Sarah is taller than I now (of course I have shrunk a couple of inches in height from what I once was) and Olivia isn't far behind.  Olivia is going to be taller than Sarah, we're sure.  Sarah is very busy with the new friends she has made in secondary school and seldom comes home after school.  Her best friend lives just down the street, so at least we know where she is.  Olivia has her own busy social life as well.  The girls seem to be getting along better now that they spend less time together.  Alex still talks non-stop and very loudly.  He gets the volume from his father, who also has a loud voice.  Very often there are at least 3 people talking at once in this household.  I can't follow the conversations at all when that happens and am tempted to take my hearing aids OUT to decrease the noise!

Next week is the school holiday and we will be going shopping for Christmas presents with money from Grandpa Andy and me.  That will be fun, although Olivia is very particular about what she buys.  She knows exactly what she likes and will keep on looking until she finds it. It can make for a very long day of shopping.  Sarah and Alex seem to make decisions faster or maybe they are just not as particular.

  We will also be meeting some of Kate's friends and their children at the London Wetlands Centre.  I haven't seem these gals in almost a year, so it will be nice to get a chance to chat with them and see how much their kids have grown.  The Wetlands Centre is a good place to look at water birds, as you might expect.  The kids prefer the electronic games found in the pavilion, but we'll drag them around on the trails and into some of the viewing huts as well.  Hopefully, we will get a decent day (i.e. no rain) for that expedition.


This wooden dish was decoupaged for me by Olivia.  This view shows the inside.  The bottom of the dish is done in black and white.  Olivia is very artistic and loves doing crafty things.  She's careful and precise and creates very interesting things.  It will be interesting to see where her talents take her.

new creations

I have a few new ceramic pieces that I haven't shown yet.  I try to remember to take photos when I bring the pieces home, but often I forget.  Anyway, here are 3 masks made recently.  I don't much like the blond guy.  Faces that look somewhat realistic and pleasant don't really interest me.  I think he's rather blah. 

The green insect I like a lot.  It was inspired by watching another ceramicist who was putting very realistic insects on the side of her vases.  She was actually copying them from a guide to insects book.  I  used her insects as inspiration, but didn't create an actual insect.  Mine is part preying mantis and part imagination. 

The cat mask is a not quite successful attempt to do a cat face.  I haven't yet been satisfied with any animal faces, but I'll keep trying.  Imaginary faces - human, animal, insect or alien - are much easier for me than real ones.

fun on a Saturday afternoon

  Yesterday AM, the floor guys came and fixed the ripples in my vinyl flooring.  After I put back all the stuff I have removed from the hutch (so that they could move it), I needed to get out of the house.  The glue they used to hold the flooring was unpleasantly smelly.  So, I called my friend Patty and suggested we go out and visit some antique stores.  We hadn't gone antiquing together in ages.  She was delighted to go, so off we went to Ellicott City, just a few miles up the road.  We started at the bottom of the hill (the shopping district is on a fairly steep hill) in an antique store that was new to me.  I found the red bowl shown below in that store.   All the stores in Ellicott City are in very old buildings and as a result have many levels, some just a few steps up or down from the adjacent level.  Believe me, we got lots of exercise going up and down those stairs, as well as walking up and down the hill!  Of course, we found some treasures.  We nearly always do.  I walked into one store and spotted the orange and gold bowl first thing.  Had to have it!  We shopped in three antique stores in Ellicott City and then headed over to Gambrills to one of our favorite stores.  It's a small store, but always has beautiful displays.  By that time I was pretty much "antiqued out" and only found one small glass cruet, clear glass with a green handle.  As you can see, all I bought was glassware.  The orange/gold piece is a real find - I have nothing else like it.  The small red glass bowl isn't as unusual, but is very lovely.  The little pitchers are just interesting additions to my collection of small glass things.

After nearly 3 hours, we left antique stores behind, and drove to a nearby shopping center to visit a 'bird' store where we bought some seed for our birds.  (With all the snow, the birds are eating a lot of food and so are the squirrels!) Then we walked down the street to Applebee's for dinner.  Luckily we got there early.  We were seated at once, but the place was filling up and it was only about 5:30.  By the time we left, there were no empty tables.  It's a popular place, especially on Saturdays.  We indulged and each ordered one of their small desserts, called shooters.  They come in a juice glass size and are just the right amount of sweet something to have after a full dinner.  A lovely way to end the day.