Places we have stayed

Although I haven't taken pictures of EVERY place we've stayed, here is a sampling:

The Victoria Guesthouse, Dover England

Just as cute inside as out.

The Youth Hostel in Bath. Our room was the one with the large balcony and french doors on the second floor. It was an old hospital, made of cement! The building is much bigger than it looks and goes back/deep a ways. We had three sets of bunks in our room and a sink. Shared toilets, showers down the hall and hot breakfast included;) For about $300 less than the standard hotel. Such a deal!
Failed to take a pic of the outside of our rented flat in Edinbourgh but this is the view looking out the kitchen window. You can just make out the individual stone walls separating each flat's 'garden' from the others. If you're a Patt Bloggie, the outside looks similar to the shot of the below-level garden and the house with the cat topiary;)
This is the fabulous House of Janet and Steven, friends/old neighbors of my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. (Hi guys!) And yes, this is a house for one family, not your typical 'semi-detached' shared building. They live in the quaint seaside town of Southport. More pics of this later.
just kidding.
;)

Stonehenge!

On our trip to Bath, we made a side trip to Stonehenge and a little town called Lacock (which I've written a bit about already). Stonehenge was an amazing sight, right out in the middle of nowhere - if you didn't know where to look (or missed the sign), you might have passed right by it. These two travelers look happy to have found it.... as well as the coffee/hot chocolate stand attached to the gift shop;) We learned some interesting stuff, like, it was built in stages, by different peoples, hundreds of years apart. Around 3050 BC, the circular ditch and bank ('henge') was built. A thousand years later, a circular structure was built from wood....(so instead of those rocks, there were wooden poles/pillars)...
Then from 2500 - 1500 BC, the stone monument was constructed, arranged and rearranged. See the little tip carved in the top of the tallest stone? All the tall stones had these at one time. Then the ones that laid atop had a matching circular hole to fit that tip into. Early tongue-and-groove!
This seemingly unimportant lump of rock in the foreground is actually a 'station stone', used for measurement against the circular structure. The largest, tall stones were brought from an area 19 miles away and the smaller ones came from over 240 miles away!!

Wow, and I thought lugging my groceries home from Tesco was hard work.
The fact that these stones are still standing, some 4000 years later is staggering.

So much so, that I think I need a pint just to wrap my head around it.
Too bad I don't drink beer.

Roald Dahl Museum and Hometown

For those of you who don't know who Roald Dahl is, I have two words for you: Willy Wonka.
Now do you know? Roald Dahl is best known for his children's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but has written scads more children's books as well as some very dark short stories for adults and two James Bond screenplays! I took the train to a little town called Great Missenden, where Dahl lived in his home 'The Gypsy House' for many years. There they have The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. I was the only adult there not attached to a school group or pram;) It was heavenly! Below is a HUGE photo of RD, as well as a portrait. Don't know why the lighting in this shot is funky but, whatever! This is a model of RD's 'writing shack', a little shed he built behind his home where he did all his writing. The funny green board atop the chair is his writing 'table' he made himself. Having been shot down in the war, he had back problems so he devised this chair and lap table (with a roll of corrogated paper under to prop it to just the right angle) so he could write for long periods of time w/o hurting his back. This museum is for kids, so all the items were interactive and told a bit about him/his stories, etc.
This is a typical street in the town, just a few blocks from the musuem. I decided to walk to his gravesite, which was only about 3/4 mile away. As you can see, it was a beautiful day for a walk!
Ok, this seems wierd that I took a picture of his grave. BUT, let me explain!
The bench you see in the background has a quote from one of his children's books. Then, at the edge, you see an enormous footprint, pointing in the direction of RD's grave. Then there are 3 more of these (cement) footprints in the grass (they look like bald spots in the grass from this angle!) that lead right to his stone. These are footprints of a character in one of his books, The BFG - The Big, Friendly Giant. So it was like the BFG was either visiting his grave or had laid him in it...I don't know but for me it was very, very touching. I got all teary eyed! So I sat on the bench...

...and looked out on this view. I just sat and took it all in. It was wonderful!
Then, to round out the day, I went back to the little cafe attached to the museum (called Cafe' Twit, also in reference to one of his children's books) and had an incredible treat called Bread and Butter Pudding (with a side of real whipped cream) and, of course, a spot of tea. This is England, after all!

Cheers!

Doorways I have seen

For some reason, I'm in love with all the different styles of doorways. They're like an advertisement for who or what lives behind them:) (Now I'm cringing, thinking of the PINK door we've got at home - what is THAT saying about us? Oh boy.)
ANYway, this is the subject of today's blog.
Saw this in Bath - doesn't it look just like you imagined the door to The Secret Garden might? Brightly colored doors show up so nicely against Edinburgh's gray limestone buildings.
And can you beat these welcoming bushes and flowers lining the walk?
In Amsterdam, many of the doorways had these beautiful tiled walls surrounding them. Gorgy!
Again in Amsterdam. You can see the pretty fall leaves (and, um, the photographer) in the reflection off this door;)
And, finally, the door of the local dentist's office (called a surgery). You will note the impressively boarded-up door, weeks of undelivered mail decorating the stoop and various indigenous plants taking root. For those of you who are familiar with England's reputation for dental care, this should be fairly amusing. For those of you who aren't familiar, you are now;)
Cheers!

Halloween - England Style

Many of you asked about how and if Halloween is celebrated here in England. As a whole, it really isn't. There are no decorations on houses or store fronts. Very few pumpkins. And many people do not participate in the trick-or-treating. Some think it's begging, others view it as too dangerous, etc. But, our neighbors (probably from hearing our kids go on and on about Halloweens at home) decided to get into the spirit and dress up. From left is:
Mason, Calem, Jack - Mason's best buddy and a frequent face at our dinner table,
Shayna, Zoey (in black, front, also Jack's sister and Shayna's friend) and Julia in pink, pal from school.
Jack and Zoey's 'mum' and Jer and I walked the kids around. Only about one or two houses per block had their lights on or something in the window to show they were participating. One house gave out one pound coins, much to the kids' thrill. About 10 minutes after that, another man at another house came the door with some coins. He dropped one quid (pound) into Julia's bag. The other kids smiled and held their bags open, waiting. He frowned and said, "What're you lot waiting for? I gave her a pound - you can share that! I only got fifty p (pence) left for the next group."
They weren't quite sure if he was kidding or not. When he said good night and closed the door, they discovered he wasn't!!

Owen and Keely went out with their friends too. Owen said they rang the doorbell of one house and an old Asian (what we would call Indian, from India) lady answered. Owen and his big buddies said the usual, "trick or treat!" Wide-eyed, she held up a hand, signaling for them to wait. After a minute, she came back.

And held out an entire box of cookies.

She kind of waved it at them, for them to take it. They did and she quickly closed the door. Pretty cute, you gotta admit;) And speaking of cute, take a look at these little monsters...

It's really not Halloween without chocolate eyeballs, right?

(And candy corn from home - thanks, Judy!!)

Video Greetings from the Thames!

Hello Everyone!!!!! Thought we would just really say "HI!" We miss you all at home alot! And wanted to tell you in person! So we did!

English Lesson

Alright, all you Americans -
Time for a quick lesson on the Queen's English.
Let's begin, shall we?

#1 "Right". It is customary to begin any conversation with the word, 'Right',
as if you've been talking for ages, not just starting right that minute.

#2. "Y'all righ?" When greeting someone, instead of saying, "How are you?" or
"Hi, how ya doin?", you say, "Y'all righ?" (Do not pronounce the end 't' in right).
Brits typically answer, "Yeah, you?" Non-Brits check themselves for a fever or spots,
thinking they must look sick to illicit such a query.

#3. "Yeah" Use 'yeah' at every pause in your story, to make sure your listener
is following or awake. As in, "I went to the store, yeah, and bought some cheese, yeah, not
that smelly limburgah kind, yeah, but a nice cheddah..."
Note: the word 'right' may also be used in this same fashion.

#4. "Knackered." Use this term in informal settings to let people know you are extremely fatigued. As in, "I sunk a few at the pub las' nigh' and this mornin', I am completely knackered."
And finally,

#5. "Init" This is a common substitution for the American phrases, "Don't you agree? Doesn't it? Doesn't he/she? Right?" Several examples are: "He's hot, init?" or "This tastes nice, init?" "Can't find your brully, init?"

I expect you all to practice faithfully and regularly.
There will be a test. Maybe.
Or you can make up your own and just test yourself.
I really don't want to work that hard.
Cheers, init?