Kaelin is confused. Halloween has been going on here in Southern Florida for the past 4 days and Kaelin is totally Halloweened out before the actual holiday arrives. A few weeks ago Kaelin and her mom were shopping and Kaelin saw a bride dress costume. She had already decided she was going to be Snow White, a costume that Uncle Kyle and Aunt Bridget had sent to Kaelin for her third birthday. Kaelin loves her Snow White costume and will often wear it to church, shopping or any other time when the mood strikes her. Keri had gotten Kaelin sparkly red shoes to go with her costume so when the bride costume entered the picture mom had to pause. But then Kaelin announced that she would be Snow White this Halloween and a bride NEXT Halloween. Problem solved! Until we had 3 Halloweens.
We arrived in Maryland on Wednesday and were delighted to see our wonderful little grand kids. Finn has grown so much in the past 4 months he is a completely different child. We left a little 3 month old infant and returned to a 7 month old little man. He is rolling all over the place and making all sorts of sounds. Finley thinks his big sister is the funniest thing in the world and just laughs and smiles when ever she is around. Heaven help you if Kaelin is in the room when you are trying to feed Finn because his complete attention is on his sister. Our days have been spent playing with the 2 kids and helping out where we can. Thursday Keri came home from school with a mission for all of us. A friend of hers from school needed help with her 2 kids because their dad was in the hospital after emergency open heart surgery. The help involved picking up Ben (6) and his sister, Kate (17) . . . taking the kids to dinner, Kate to band practice and Ben trick or treating at his sister's high school. Ger, Kaelin and I left Finn with Steve and we all met Keri and her charges at a pizza place. Mid way through dinner Keri took Kate to the high school, returned and we all then went back to the high school to trick or treat the Halloween decorated school. Kaelin was Snow White and looked adorable and had a great time collecting a TON of candy. That was Halloween #1
Halloween #2 was Saturday evening when Kaelin got to trick or treat at THE WHITE HOUSE, which was orange.(Wonderfully decorated and lit up with orange lights the White house looked amazing.) Keri's school was given 300 tickets for trick or treating at the white house at 6:45PM. They had a lottery and Keri got 3 tickets for her and her family. Since grandma and grandpa were here we were able to stay home with Finn while the rest of the group left for Washington DC. This time Kaelin was dressed in her pumpkin costume because it was a cold cold night and her costume could go on over her sweat shirt, coat, and 2 pairs of pants. The trick or treaters had a great time and it was a once in a life time treat. Kaelin was so exhausted she fell asleep in the car on the way home and was totally confused this morning as to how she got home and into her bed. The poor little thing was still tired so when mom asked her what costume Kaelin wanted to wear to TRUNK OR TREATING at their church today Kaelin naturally said she wanted to wear her BRIDE COSTUME. Keri, being just as confused told Kaelin they were going to be a bride NEXT Halloween. To which Kaelin replied, "But this IS the NEXT Halloween".
She went to church in a dress . . . no costume. She played games at the church party, went on a hay ride and went trunk or treating in the parking lot. And that is the end of Halloween. Sure hope no one comes to her door tomorrow in costume because as far as we are all concerned, Halloween is OVER for this year.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NO REASON TO BITCH
I had a full blown bitch fest ready but decided to check my mail first. That took the wind out of my petty complaints. A good friend from many years gone past has once again fallen off the wagon and is in the hospital with kidney failure. It doesn't sound good!
Husband's stupid inability to communicate doesn't amount to a hill of beans thanks to my faith. Over the years God has helped me to learn how I have to change to accommodate the idiots around me. ( Just another case of the world being crazy and I am fine!) But it has seriously helped me to cope and hold this marriage together. H just isn't a communicator in any way shape or form. He digresses to his Neanderthal means of grunting and I have had to learn to interpret. Today's debacle of his "helping" get something from the attic was classic. Him yelling "GET THIS . . . GET THIS" and me not having a clue as to what the hell he wants me to do. I was quite tempted to just let the attic stairs drop on his dumb ass head but a quick prayer and a quick assessment of the situation helped me to figure out what he hell he wanted me to do.
I guess our dear friend "X" never got past communications 101. He has been troubled for years but never let on that he had problems. "X", like husband was a good Irish Catholic with a classic Irish Catholic mother. This is a sure fire track to disaster. These men do not allow them selves to "FEEL". They just do as they are told and as they were taught living in their totally dysfunctional families. NOTHING WRONG WITH THEM! Heaven forbid you should even suggest that! They just go along driving the people they love further and further away and then can't understand why you want nothing to do with them.
Sorry to say I have shut down my hope for a better future for "X" and who ever else you care to read into this. Some times it just is what it is and we can't change anything so we just resort to prayer. I'll add poor "X" to my hourly prayers and hopefully God will help us all.
In the mean time I am retiring to the computer to put it all in type and get it out of my heart, soul and head before I buy that gun.
Husband's stupid inability to communicate doesn't amount to a hill of beans thanks to my faith. Over the years God has helped me to learn how I have to change to accommodate the idiots around me. ( Just another case of the world being crazy and I am fine!) But it has seriously helped me to cope and hold this marriage together. H just isn't a communicator in any way shape or form. He digresses to his Neanderthal means of grunting and I have had to learn to interpret. Today's debacle of his "helping" get something from the attic was classic. Him yelling "GET THIS . . . GET THIS" and me not having a clue as to what the hell he wants me to do. I was quite tempted to just let the attic stairs drop on his dumb ass head but a quick prayer and a quick assessment of the situation helped me to figure out what he hell he wanted me to do.
I guess our dear friend "X" never got past communications 101. He has been troubled for years but never let on that he had problems. "X", like husband was a good Irish Catholic with a classic Irish Catholic mother. This is a sure fire track to disaster. These men do not allow them selves to "FEEL". They just do as they are told and as they were taught living in their totally dysfunctional families. NOTHING WRONG WITH THEM! Heaven forbid you should even suggest that! They just go along driving the people they love further and further away and then can't understand why you want nothing to do with them.
Sorry to say I have shut down my hope for a better future for "X" and who ever else you care to read into this. Some times it just is what it is and we can't change anything so we just resort to prayer. I'll add poor "X" to my hourly prayers and hopefully God will help us all.
In the mean time I am retiring to the computer to put it all in type and get it out of my heart, soul and head before I buy that gun.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
GRAND KID UP DATE
We just had an overnight with Smith and it was GREAT ! Mom and dad had a Halloween party to attend at Kristen's work place so they invited us down to spend the evening with our little man. WE arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday and took Smith and the dog out for a walk through the neighborhood. Smith's favorite pastime, at 15 months old, is to look for the "DUCK DUCKS" that roam the neighborhood and swim past his back yard. And because he feeds the ducks they are usually on the look out for him also.
Yesterdays walk was extra fun because we found a boat in some one's driveway and some Halloween decorations. Smith is a very curious and friendly little dude who loves walking up peoples drive ways and knocking on their front doors. Thankfully his "knock knock" is very quiet which gives grandma time to run up the drive way and scoop him up before anyone can hear him at their door.
Unfortunately there were no ducks to be seen yesterday so we just walked through the neighborhood calling "DUCK DUCK". Little man is talking up a storm and when we got back to the house for dinner he and I had big chats together. Smith helped me heat up the pasta and sauce I had brought down and pulled out all the pots from the cabinets to make an obstacle course for grandma in the kitchen. When dinner was ready grandpa, Smith and I sat together and ate. Smith communicates his wants and dislikes in very clear nodding and head shaking. I could ask him if he wanted more or if he was full and he could tell me! He knows the word "DOWN" for when he is finished calls "PA PA" when he wants his grandpa.
After bath time grandpa read Smith 20 or so books and then the little guy went right to sleep without a complaint. (The book reading consists of picking out a book, turning all the pages and getting another book.) I'd say we had a fantastic evening! Smith slept through the night with one wake up call at 3 AM. Smith's dad came to the rescue on that one and little man returned to sleep till almost 7 AM. Since we were on such a high we took Smith and the dog for an early morning walk and then Smith, grandpa and I all went out to breakfast at "Donalds" ,(Mac Donalds to you and me) Smith was still in his jammies cause grandma didn't want to wake mom and dad rummaging around for a change of clothes. I'm sure it's not the first kid to go for breakfast in his jammies! Donalds was decorated for Halloween and Smith was loving looking at all the witches, ghosts and pumpkins hanging from the ceiling. He ran around the place pointing at everything. When grandpa arrived with the food Smith sat up and ate pancakes, sausage, eggs, "home fries" and part of a biscut. Not to mention the entire glass of OJ that he drank. Ger and I just keep watching him eat and couldn't believe it. I think this may become a ritual for us.
AS for the rest of the grand kids . . . Abby and Roman are on holiday AGAIN and are spending 5 or so days on the Isle of WIGHT with their mom and dad. WE are curious to hear about the trip and add it to our list of places we would like to visit on our next trip across the pond. The 6 weeks of school and week vacation schedule sure agrees with all the London Lawlors. There is nothing not to love about it. Abby and Roman will be home in time for Halloween but there didn't seem to be any big plans, last we heard.
Unlike Miss Kaelin who will be TRICK OR TREATING at the White House this year ! Keri got 3 tickets from her school so she and Steve and Kaelin will be in Washington DC on Halloween evening getting treats from the President himself. (I doubt that but they will be at the White House). Grandma and Grandpa will be at Kaelin's house handing out goodies for the masses and taking care of Finley. Ger says we have the better end of the deal! Should be fun no matter what!
Once we return from our Kaelin and Finn visit we should be remaining in Florida for some time. It has been better than beautiful down here these last few days. Temps in the high 70's and sun sun sun !
Too bad I am so tired I just keep sleeping half the day.
Yesterdays walk was extra fun because we found a boat in some one's driveway and some Halloween decorations. Smith is a very curious and friendly little dude who loves walking up peoples drive ways and knocking on their front doors. Thankfully his "knock knock" is very quiet which gives grandma time to run up the drive way and scoop him up before anyone can hear him at their door.
Unfortunately there were no ducks to be seen yesterday so we just walked through the neighborhood calling "DUCK DUCK". Little man is talking up a storm and when we got back to the house for dinner he and I had big chats together. Smith helped me heat up the pasta and sauce I had brought down and pulled out all the pots from the cabinets to make an obstacle course for grandma in the kitchen. When dinner was ready grandpa, Smith and I sat together and ate. Smith communicates his wants and dislikes in very clear nodding and head shaking. I could ask him if he wanted more or if he was full and he could tell me! He knows the word "DOWN" for when he is finished calls "PA PA" when he wants his grandpa.
After bath time grandpa read Smith 20 or so books and then the little guy went right to sleep without a complaint. (The book reading consists of picking out a book, turning all the pages and getting another book.) I'd say we had a fantastic evening! Smith slept through the night with one wake up call at 3 AM. Smith's dad came to the rescue on that one and little man returned to sleep till almost 7 AM. Since we were on such a high we took Smith and the dog for an early morning walk and then Smith, grandpa and I all went out to breakfast at "Donalds" ,(Mac Donalds to you and me) Smith was still in his jammies cause grandma didn't want to wake mom and dad rummaging around for a change of clothes. I'm sure it's not the first kid to go for breakfast in his jammies! Donalds was decorated for Halloween and Smith was loving looking at all the witches, ghosts and pumpkins hanging from the ceiling. He ran around the place pointing at everything. When grandpa arrived with the food Smith sat up and ate pancakes, sausage, eggs, "home fries" and part of a biscut. Not to mention the entire glass of OJ that he drank. Ger and I just keep watching him eat and couldn't believe it. I think this may become a ritual for us.
AS for the rest of the grand kids . . . Abby and Roman are on holiday AGAIN and are spending 5 or so days on the Isle of WIGHT with their mom and dad. WE are curious to hear about the trip and add it to our list of places we would like to visit on our next trip across the pond. The 6 weeks of school and week vacation schedule sure agrees with all the London Lawlors. There is nothing not to love about it. Abby and Roman will be home in time for Halloween but there didn't seem to be any big plans, last we heard.
Unlike Miss Kaelin who will be TRICK OR TREATING at the White House this year ! Keri got 3 tickets from her school so she and Steve and Kaelin will be in Washington DC on Halloween evening getting treats from the President himself. (I doubt that but they will be at the White House). Grandma and Grandpa will be at Kaelin's house handing out goodies for the masses and taking care of Finley. Ger says we have the better end of the deal! Should be fun no matter what!
Once we return from our Kaelin and Finn visit we should be remaining in Florida for some time. It has been better than beautiful down here these last few days. Temps in the high 70's and sun sun sun !
Too bad I am so tired I just keep sleeping half the day.
Friday, October 21, 2011
CONFESSIONS
Pull up a chair and put in your ear plugs cause I don't know where this will lead me.
I started out this morning ready to do a rant on Husband because we have spent WAY too much time TOGETHER for the past 2 months and it is wearing REAL thin. But then I logged into my blog spot and there was my favorite blog, K. LAW: INSPIRED and I naturally stopped to read the latest from my daughter-in-law in Ft. Lauderdale. I just happen to think this young woman is so talented in her writing and pretty much everything she tackles. Her blogs make my day as she is usually either ranting about something that I can OH SO identify with or she is writing about my grandson and son. There are rants about the boys but I totally know where she is coming from because unfortunately her husband is a clone of his father . . . dear old H. The boy does try to fight the genetic magnet that draws him to the same behaviors as his dad but it is a VERY difficult battle and some time the family genes are just too strong to fight. And that is when we hear about it on THE BLOG.
Kristen is the one who got me blogging and it is the best therapy yet. Like me, we find it terribly therapeutic to spit up our thoughts and anger and throw them out there where the world can help make it all go away. It is like confession in the Catholic church . . . confess your sins and they are GONE! Well, the blog works the same way. Except Kristen has people who respond to her blog, negative and positive so she then has to deal with them. Thank you readers for NOT responding. I basically don't want to know I am WRONG in so many of my thinks so I do appreciate your keeping your opinions to yourself. (Unless, of course, you think I am right on, then feel free to call me!)
Before I log off for the night I do want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE VERY BEST DAUGHTER/WIFE/MOM IN THE WORLD. Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter Keri!
I love you and am so in awe of what an amazing young woman you are. Love, moms
I started out this morning ready to do a rant on Husband because we have spent WAY too much time TOGETHER for the past 2 months and it is wearing REAL thin. But then I logged into my blog spot and there was my favorite blog, K. LAW: INSPIRED and I naturally stopped to read the latest from my daughter-in-law in Ft. Lauderdale. I just happen to think this young woman is so talented in her writing and pretty much everything she tackles. Her blogs make my day as she is usually either ranting about something that I can OH SO identify with or she is writing about my grandson and son. There are rants about the boys but I totally know where she is coming from because unfortunately her husband is a clone of his father . . . dear old H. The boy does try to fight the genetic magnet that draws him to the same behaviors as his dad but it is a VERY difficult battle and some time the family genes are just too strong to fight. And that is when we hear about it on THE BLOG.
Kristen is the one who got me blogging and it is the best therapy yet. Like me, we find it terribly therapeutic to spit up our thoughts and anger and throw them out there where the world can help make it all go away. It is like confession in the Catholic church . . . confess your sins and they are GONE! Well, the blog works the same way. Except Kristen has people who respond to her blog, negative and positive so she then has to deal with them. Thank you readers for NOT responding. I basically don't want to know I am WRONG in so many of my thinks so I do appreciate your keeping your opinions to yourself. (Unless, of course, you think I am right on, then feel free to call me!)
Before I log off for the night I do want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE VERY BEST DAUGHTER/WIFE/MOM IN THE WORLD. Happy birthday to my beautiful daughter Keri!
I love you and am so in awe of what an amazing young woman you are. Love, moms
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I LOVE A RAINY DAY !
My BFF thinks there is something wrong with me because while she and the rest of the world cover their heads on these rainy days and wish for nothing more than to sleep the day away, I am up and ready to go go go ! I LOVE rainy days. The gloomier the better . . . bring it on . . . these days fire up my energy and I am just aching to get into the thousand projects I have been putting off for months. It bugs me to have to go out on such days as I want nothing more than to just stay home and clean out drawers that haven't been cleaned in years. It is like a great treasure hunt to see what I can find to get into. Trouble is the rain doesn't last long enough and now I have 42 projects all in some stage of completion that will not be touched again for another couple of months and the next rainy spell.
It has been a very rainy season for Florida this year but since we were in Europe with 80 degrees and sunshine I didn't get to take advantage of our Florida monsoons. Now that we are back I have enjoyed the past 2 days except for having to leave my nest and go out on errands. Today we started the day with breakfast out because we had some chores to do but once we got home around noon it was HEAVEN! Ger just plopped in front of the TV and left me to my puttering. Such a smart man. It did pour most of the day and tonight we even have a tornado watch till 10 PM. That does NOT excite me and I often wonder how I would know if there was a tornado coming and what I would do if one did arrive over our heads. Florida homes do not typically have basements and they DO typically have lots and lots of windows and glass doors. Not great in a tornado I am sure. About the only place in the house without windows is the small bathroom inside the front door and our bedroom walk in closet. I guess I'd head for the closet because I really don't think I want to be cooped up in a bathroom with Husband. That is a little too close quarters for me. Let's just hope there are no tornadoes.
Our daughter, Keri, lives in Southern Maryland where there are often rogue tornadoes blowing through. They have a county alarm that sounds when a tornado is in the area. Keri doesn't have a basement either and none of her rooms are without windows so when the alarm goes off she & Steve grab the kids and head across the street to the neighbors house that has a "tornado room" in the basement. They have had the pleasure of sharing this room with their neighbors on more than one occasion and I for one am very thankful that they have such good neighbors.
Tornadoes are nasty things that are sneaky and mean. Hurricanes just stagger around and blow wind and rain at you but you know they are coming for weeks in advance. Not so with tornadoes. NO warning at all so if I suddenly stop writing you'll know ______________________________________
Just kidding! But just in case I think I'll call it a night. Hope to see you tomorrow.
It has been a very rainy season for Florida this year but since we were in Europe with 80 degrees and sunshine I didn't get to take advantage of our Florida monsoons. Now that we are back I have enjoyed the past 2 days except for having to leave my nest and go out on errands. Today we started the day with breakfast out because we had some chores to do but once we got home around noon it was HEAVEN! Ger just plopped in front of the TV and left me to my puttering. Such a smart man. It did pour most of the day and tonight we even have a tornado watch till 10 PM. That does NOT excite me and I often wonder how I would know if there was a tornado coming and what I would do if one did arrive over our heads. Florida homes do not typically have basements and they DO typically have lots and lots of windows and glass doors. Not great in a tornado I am sure. About the only place in the house without windows is the small bathroom inside the front door and our bedroom walk in closet. I guess I'd head for the closet because I really don't think I want to be cooped up in a bathroom with Husband. That is a little too close quarters for me. Let's just hope there are no tornadoes.
Our daughter, Keri, lives in Southern Maryland where there are often rogue tornadoes blowing through. They have a county alarm that sounds when a tornado is in the area. Keri doesn't have a basement either and none of her rooms are without windows so when the alarm goes off she & Steve grab the kids and head across the street to the neighbors house that has a "tornado room" in the basement. They have had the pleasure of sharing this room with their neighbors on more than one occasion and I for one am very thankful that they have such good neighbors.
Tornadoes are nasty things that are sneaky and mean. Hurricanes just stagger around and blow wind and rain at you but you know they are coming for weeks in advance. Not so with tornadoes. NO warning at all so if I suddenly stop writing you'll know ______________________________________
Just kidding! But just in case I think I'll call it a night. Hope to see you tomorrow.
Monday, October 17, 2011
HOW I SPENT MY DAY . . .
WAITING WAITING WAITING waiting WAITING WAITing
waiTING WaItINg wAItinG waitiNG and more waiting . . .
I was not in a doctors office, I was not at the DMV, I was in my son's condo WAITING for the cable dude! Apparently 11-2 is just a joke they tell people to cause you to actually think you will have the remainder of the day to actually DO something productive. Some where there is a very evil person sitting at their computer making up these ridiculous schedules for the cable dude and then giving false hope to customers.
The cable dude showed up at 6:03 THIS EVENING ! We had not had breakfast, we did not have a decent lunch, and there will be no dinner because my stomach is in such a knot and it is now 8PM so if I eat anything now I will be up throwing it up by midnight.
HOW WAS YOUR DAY ?
waiTING WaItINg wAItinG waitiNG and more waiting . . .
I was not in a doctors office, I was not at the DMV, I was in my son's condo WAITING for the cable dude! Apparently 11-2 is just a joke they tell people to cause you to actually think you will have the remainder of the day to actually DO something productive. Some where there is a very evil person sitting at their computer making up these ridiculous schedules for the cable dude and then giving false hope to customers.
The cable dude showed up at 6:03 THIS EVENING ! We had not had breakfast, we did not have a decent lunch, and there will be no dinner because my stomach is in such a knot and it is now 8PM so if I eat anything now I will be up throwing it up by midnight.
HOW WAS YOUR DAY ?
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A GREAT AFTERNOON WITH SMITH
It was Punkin Patch day . . . unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and as soon as Kent and family pulled into the parking area it started to rain. We had been invited to meet K,K & Smith at a pumpkin farm half way between each of our homes. Ger and I arrived a minute before they did and Smith had a totally baffled look on his face when Ger and I jumped into the back seat of his daddy's car. It was as if to say, "Who are these people?" That combined with his just having woken from a nap and a mind numbing ride in the car added to his confusion. K&K have been telling us how much Smith is talking but the little man didn't have a single word for us. When we all got out of the car amidst the hundreds of other pumpkin seeking Floridians, tractors passing us left, right and center, band music playing and rain starting to fall steadily we knew this wasn't going to be the "Perfect afternoon".
Ger and I are used to pumpkin picking crowds from our years of living in the "country" on Long Island. Each weekend in the fall the mobs of "City Folk" would flock to eastern Long Island to one or more of the numerous pumpkin farms. The traffic would be as bad as the summer when the same city folks would flock to our beaches. But at least there were lots of pumpkin farms to choose from. Florida is not quite as pumpkin friendly so the pickings are few and far between. Our pumpkin picking has been limited to Sams Club and Publix. That's why today's adventure sounded like a great idea. We didn't even consider that there is ONE pumpkin farm in the entire county of Palm Beach. I can't imagine what the crowd would have been like had the weather been nice.
As it was we lasted about a half hour. The rain started to increase and Smith and the rest of us just weren't feeling it. So back in our cars we went to find a Friendlies down the road where Smith had a hot fudge sundae all his own and the grown ups had some snacks. We gave out our gifts that we had brought from our trip to Europe and Smith played with the vacuum that one of the waitresses had left out after cleaning up some ones mess.
A good time was had by all!
Ger and I are used to pumpkin picking crowds from our years of living in the "country" on Long Island. Each weekend in the fall the mobs of "City Folk" would flock to eastern Long Island to one or more of the numerous pumpkin farms. The traffic would be as bad as the summer when the same city folks would flock to our beaches. But at least there were lots of pumpkin farms to choose from. Florida is not quite as pumpkin friendly so the pickings are few and far between. Our pumpkin picking has been limited to Sams Club and Publix. That's why today's adventure sounded like a great idea. We didn't even consider that there is ONE pumpkin farm in the entire county of Palm Beach. I can't imagine what the crowd would have been like had the weather been nice.
A good time was had by all!
Friday, October 14, 2011
SOME PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP
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| A day in Paris |
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| Going into Scotland |
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| Loch Lomand |
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| Scotland at in finest |
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| Kilt Falls, Isle of Skye, Scotland |
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| Outside Kyle and Bridget's house in Windsor |
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| Roman flies his kite |
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| Abby in her rugby uniform |
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| Our sweet ride through England and Scotland |
HOME
Home is where your comfy bed is ! And I am not leaving mine for at least a week.
Arrived back in the good old U S of A yesterday and were home in our house by 9 last night. Good trip, quiet and uneventful. In all fairness I must tell you that Delta did a fine job of flying us to and from England . In the past I have mentioned that I hate Delta Airlines but for this trip all was well. Flights were on time, relatively comfortable, movies current and the food not half bad. Thank you Delta for making this trip across the pond a pleasant one.
As for leaving Jolly Olde England . . . it was a rough good-bye. There were tears all around and I just wanted to hang on to Abby and take her with me. My first grand child is special in so many ways that always make it super hard to leave her. Abby and Roman are doing fantastic together and just blossoming like the ever blooming English roses. I know the family is loving life in Windsor but I do prefer having them in Atlanta that is only a 9 hour car ride away rather than an entire days flight across the ocean. But leave them we did . . . along with the Haggis, tatties and neeps, clotted cream and scones, bangers and mash. All the culinary delights of the UK have been left behind so our first priority today was a trip to one of our favorite lunch spots for a HUGE salad. It seems that the British do not believe in SALAD as a food source. "Salad" is added as a garnish for many English foods but never served as a main meal. There are salads on some menus but they are listed as "tuna and corn" with a small fist full of some sort of greens or "egg and mayo", again served with green leafy things next to it. The greens served in England usually resemble something you might find growing by the side of the road. It is no wonder there are no salads on the menu because there are so many sheep and cows eating everything green that grows. The few remaining stalks of green that manage not to be eaten by the farm animals are harvested to throw on your plate should some one be fool enough to order SALAD. The UK is a meat and potatoes country and other than mushy peas or the corn that they insist on throwing into the tuna salad, I don't think I have ever seen another vegetable.
Today's chicken, pecan and avocado salad was FABULOUS but I really did wish I had some chips with it. I am going through "chip" withdrawal along with Abby and Roman withdrawal. The English not only do NOT serve salad, they DO serve chips, (that would be french fries to us) with EVERYTHING. I swear I had chips with my ice cream one day! If you would prefer what we call "chips" you must order "CRISPS". Today's salad did not come with chips or crisps, just the HUGE bowl of salad and chicken and avocado and pecans and yummy home made honey mustard dressing.
My heart is still in Windsor but my tummy and my back are very happy to be home in Florida and my own bed.
Sweet dreams !
Arrived back in the good old U S of A yesterday and were home in our house by 9 last night. Good trip, quiet and uneventful. In all fairness I must tell you that Delta did a fine job of flying us to and from England . In the past I have mentioned that I hate Delta Airlines but for this trip all was well. Flights were on time, relatively comfortable, movies current and the food not half bad. Thank you Delta for making this trip across the pond a pleasant one.
As for leaving Jolly Olde England . . . it was a rough good-bye. There were tears all around and I just wanted to hang on to Abby and take her with me. My first grand child is special in so many ways that always make it super hard to leave her. Abby and Roman are doing fantastic together and just blossoming like the ever blooming English roses. I know the family is loving life in Windsor but I do prefer having them in Atlanta that is only a 9 hour car ride away rather than an entire days flight across the ocean. But leave them we did . . . along with the Haggis, tatties and neeps, clotted cream and scones, bangers and mash. All the culinary delights of the UK have been left behind so our first priority today was a trip to one of our favorite lunch spots for a HUGE salad. It seems that the British do not believe in SALAD as a food source. "Salad" is added as a garnish for many English foods but never served as a main meal. There are salads on some menus but they are listed as "tuna and corn" with a small fist full of some sort of greens or "egg and mayo", again served with green leafy things next to it. The greens served in England usually resemble something you might find growing by the side of the road. It is no wonder there are no salads on the menu because there are so many sheep and cows eating everything green that grows. The few remaining stalks of green that manage not to be eaten by the farm animals are harvested to throw on your plate should some one be fool enough to order SALAD. The UK is a meat and potatoes country and other than mushy peas or the corn that they insist on throwing into the tuna salad, I don't think I have ever seen another vegetable.
Today's chicken, pecan and avocado salad was FABULOUS but I really did wish I had some chips with it. I am going through "chip" withdrawal along with Abby and Roman withdrawal. The English not only do NOT serve salad, they DO serve chips, (that would be french fries to us) with EVERYTHING. I swear I had chips with my ice cream one day! If you would prefer what we call "chips" you must order "CRISPS". Today's salad did not come with chips or crisps, just the HUGE bowl of salad and chicken and avocado and pecans and yummy home made honey mustard dressing.
My heart is still in Windsor but my tummy and my back are very happy to be home in Florida and my own bed.
Sweet dreams !
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
SEEMS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY
Has it really been 4 weeks since we got here? It has been a whirl wind month of travel and we have had a great time. We are back in Windsor as of this afternoon after our Scottish holiday. We traveled half way down yesterday afternoon after doing a bus tour of Edinburgh and her imposing castle built on an impossibly high out crop of rock. It is a most impressive location for a castle and it was fun to do the tour and see the beautiful country side from so high a setting. We were quite taken with Edinburgh city and would love to return there some day. There was a lot to do and see that we just didn't have the time to explore. I never thought I would return to Scotland after 42 years so who knows what the future may bring.
Last night we got off the main highway and stayed in a "hotel" B&B in the town of Preston. We had driven about 3 hours and were tired after our morning of sight seeing in Edinburgh. We had no idea what we would find in Preston so when we stopped for petrol Ger asked about accommodations in the town. We were sent back a block or two to an old hotel that was now a B&B. These buildings are mostly 3-4 stories high with about 4 rooms on each floor. (No elevators for the British.) There were rooms available so once again we dragged our bags up the 3 flights of stairs to our rooms. The rooms are old but quiet and clean with comfy beds. It seems to be a custom over here to put a bottom sheet on the bed and then a duvet without a top sheet. Seems odd to us but when you are tired and wet and cold it does feel wonderful. We did take a walk up the street to a treasure of a restaurant that the B&B owner suggested. In the midst of the English country side in a town with a huge Muslim population we found the best Italian restaurant that I have ever eaten in, even in Italy! We all had some sort of pasta dish and maybe it was because we were going into Italian food withdrawal after 3 weeks of no Italian food, but let me tell you we REALLY enjoyed dinner last night. We all moaned and groaned our way back to the hotel in the rain swearing we would never eat again. At least until breakfast this morning.
Today's trip to Windsor took us a little longer than 3 hours, thanks to some very heavy traffic at times but it was uneventful. We had lunch in Windsor, did a little last minute shopping and then got "home" in time to greet Abby and Roman after school. They were so happy to see us and we had a great afternoon with them. This will only make it harder to leave them on Thursday when we have to catch our flight back to the US.
I guess we'll have to make the most of tomorrow and try to get all our purchases into our suitcases. I may have to wear ALL my clothes home so I can pack all the things I have bought on this trip. Maybe by doing that no one will notice the 40 pounds I gained !
Last night we got off the main highway and stayed in a "hotel" B&B in the town of Preston. We had driven about 3 hours and were tired after our morning of sight seeing in Edinburgh. We had no idea what we would find in Preston so when we stopped for petrol Ger asked about accommodations in the town. We were sent back a block or two to an old hotel that was now a B&B. These buildings are mostly 3-4 stories high with about 4 rooms on each floor. (No elevators for the British.) There were rooms available so once again we dragged our bags up the 3 flights of stairs to our rooms. The rooms are old but quiet and clean with comfy beds. It seems to be a custom over here to put a bottom sheet on the bed and then a duvet without a top sheet. Seems odd to us but when you are tired and wet and cold it does feel wonderful. We did take a walk up the street to a treasure of a restaurant that the B&B owner suggested. In the midst of the English country side in a town with a huge Muslim population we found the best Italian restaurant that I have ever eaten in, even in Italy! We all had some sort of pasta dish and maybe it was because we were going into Italian food withdrawal after 3 weeks of no Italian food, but let me tell you we REALLY enjoyed dinner last night. We all moaned and groaned our way back to the hotel in the rain swearing we would never eat again. At least until breakfast this morning.
Today's trip to Windsor took us a little longer than 3 hours, thanks to some very heavy traffic at times but it was uneventful. We had lunch in Windsor, did a little last minute shopping and then got "home" in time to greet Abby and Roman after school. They were so happy to see us and we had a great afternoon with them. This will only make it harder to leave them on Thursday when we have to catch our flight back to the US.
I guess we'll have to make the most of tomorrow and try to get all our purchases into our suitcases. I may have to wear ALL my clothes home so I can pack all the things I have bought on this trip. Maybe by doing that no one will notice the 40 pounds I gained !
Saturday, October 8, 2011
RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN
Got the message ? The Isle of Skye is just incredible . . . too bad we didn't see a thing thanks to the rain and clouds and fog and mist and did I mention RAIN!
We arrived on Skye via a weird ferry that was on a round table so that when it landed next to the ramp it could rotate to let the landing barge drop so the cars can load and un load. There is a bridge to Skye as of 2002 but we on the bus chose to take the ferry which entailed driving on some pretty awesome one lane roads to get to and from the landing spots. Skye is one mess of volcanic mountains that you have to be insane to drive around on. Add to that the fact that you are driving in fog so thick you can't see, it made for an interesting day. Thanks to the expert driver of our mini bus we did great but really missed all the beautiful Skye panorama. But we had great fun anyway. We stopped in Skye's capitol city of Portree which has a rousing population of 1,500 people and one street with shops on it. There actually was a building to house the police, unlike another town we drove through that had a sign saying "POLICE" on a private home. Skye seems to consist of tourists, sheep and an occasional fuzzy cow. It seems that the cows in this area of Scotland have long hair and horns and are quite fuzzy and gentle. We didn't get the opportunity to see any up close and personal so we'll have to take Allen's word for it. Allen is our driver and tour guide and seems to find Ger quite amusing. Ger is sitting right up front so he and Allen can exchange side remarks now and again. The other 12 people on the bus have no idea what all the chuckling is about nor do they seem to care. We have quite an international group on this trip. We 3 Americans, a single mother and her 8year old daughter from Australia, a single woman traveling alone who is also from Australia. There are the 2 young women from China, a female teacher from Switzerland who has left her family for 3 weeks to do a practice teaching in Edinburgh, a young couple from Iran who are heading to Boston to live and a mother and grown daughter and son from Brazil. The language barrier isn't too bad because most speak fair English with the exception of the Brazilian mom.
So our trip to Skye was a bit disappointing but we did make a few wet stops and took some very wet pictures. The bus was warm and cozy so we were pretty content to just sit back and sleep on our way to tonight's stop at Loch Ness. We are now snugged into our B&B after filling our bellies at the pub and ready to get some sleep before our boat ride on Loch Ness in the morning. Hoping the rain will stop so we can see something on the lake and on our way back to Edinburgh tomorrow night.
Would you like a quick lesson in Gaelic? It seems that many of the Irish came to settle Scotland all those years ago so the Highlands of Scotland had adopted the Gaelic language. Skye speaks mostly Gaelic with some sort of garbled English as a second language. All of the signs are written in both languages and neither are understandable. It seems that the rivers and lakes in Scotland are key to the naming of everything else. We have LOCH NESS for example. NESS is the name of the lake and LOCH is the word for lake. GLEN is the word for valley so the valley town would be called GLEN NESS. The word BEN means mountain so we would have BEN NESS if there were a mountain here and so on. We have learned that the word for cow is COE and the word for rain is RAIN!
We arrived on Skye via a weird ferry that was on a round table so that when it landed next to the ramp it could rotate to let the landing barge drop so the cars can load and un load. There is a bridge to Skye as of 2002 but we on the bus chose to take the ferry which entailed driving on some pretty awesome one lane roads to get to and from the landing spots. Skye is one mess of volcanic mountains that you have to be insane to drive around on. Add to that the fact that you are driving in fog so thick you can't see, it made for an interesting day. Thanks to the expert driver of our mini bus we did great but really missed all the beautiful Skye panorama. But we had great fun anyway. We stopped in Skye's capitol city of Portree which has a rousing population of 1,500 people and one street with shops on it. There actually was a building to house the police, unlike another town we drove through that had a sign saying "POLICE" on a private home. Skye seems to consist of tourists, sheep and an occasional fuzzy cow. It seems that the cows in this area of Scotland have long hair and horns and are quite fuzzy and gentle. We didn't get the opportunity to see any up close and personal so we'll have to take Allen's word for it. Allen is our driver and tour guide and seems to find Ger quite amusing. Ger is sitting right up front so he and Allen can exchange side remarks now and again. The other 12 people on the bus have no idea what all the chuckling is about nor do they seem to care. We have quite an international group on this trip. We 3 Americans, a single mother and her 8year old daughter from Australia, a single woman traveling alone who is also from Australia. There are the 2 young women from China, a female teacher from Switzerland who has left her family for 3 weeks to do a practice teaching in Edinburgh, a young couple from Iran who are heading to Boston to live and a mother and grown daughter and son from Brazil. The language barrier isn't too bad because most speak fair English with the exception of the Brazilian mom.
So our trip to Skye was a bit disappointing but we did make a few wet stops and took some very wet pictures. The bus was warm and cozy so we were pretty content to just sit back and sleep on our way to tonight's stop at Loch Ness. We are now snugged into our B&B after filling our bellies at the pub and ready to get some sleep before our boat ride on Loch Ness in the morning. Hoping the rain will stop so we can see something on the lake and on our way back to Edinburgh tomorrow night.
Would you like a quick lesson in Gaelic? It seems that many of the Irish came to settle Scotland all those years ago so the Highlands of Scotland had adopted the Gaelic language. Skye speaks mostly Gaelic with some sort of garbled English as a second language. All of the signs are written in both languages and neither are understandable. It seems that the rivers and lakes in Scotland are key to the naming of everything else. We have LOCH NESS for example. NESS is the name of the lake and LOCH is the word for lake. GLEN is the word for valley so the valley town would be called GLEN NESS. The word BEN means mountain so we would have BEN NESS if there were a mountain here and so on. We have learned that the word for cow is COE and the word for rain is RAIN!
Friday, October 7, 2011
ISLE OF SKYE
I'll give this a shot tonight before I go to sleep and see if I can fill you in for the day.
We are on our 3 day bus tour and it is WONDERFUL ! We have traveled from Edinburgh this morning up through Scotland and the Western Highlands through some of the most amazing country. By this afternoon we took a ferry to the Isle of Skye where we are staying for the night. This is the sort of country that fairies live in. Totally out of your realm of imagination and beyond your wildest dreams. In spite of the fact that it started to rain this afternoon it only made the country side seem more surreal.
We stopped at an old castle on the shore just before heading on to Skye and that was most amazing. The hills and mountains are all shrouded in clouds and some even have snow on their peaks. It is a wild and savage land that has such amazing beauty.
Tonight we stay in a B&B on Skye and tomorrow our mini bus of 14 will tour the isle itself. We are taking hundreds of pictures and making new friends of our fellow travelers.
Have a great night. It's time for sleep.
We are on our 3 day bus tour and it is WONDERFUL ! We have traveled from Edinburgh this morning up through Scotland and the Western Highlands through some of the most amazing country. By this afternoon we took a ferry to the Isle of Skye where we are staying for the night. This is the sort of country that fairies live in. Totally out of your realm of imagination and beyond your wildest dreams. In spite of the fact that it started to rain this afternoon it only made the country side seem more surreal.
We stopped at an old castle on the shore just before heading on to Skye and that was most amazing. The hills and mountains are all shrouded in clouds and some even have snow on their peaks. It is a wild and savage land that has such amazing beauty.
Tonight we stay in a B&B on Skye and tomorrow our mini bus of 14 will tour the isle itself. We are taking hundreds of pictures and making new friends of our fellow travelers.
Have a great night. It's time for sleep.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
IT'S NOT GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY
You are not going to believe this but I have been sitting here for an hour writing and I just lost EVERY FREAKING WORD !
It figures after the day we have had . . .
Lost again and again
rain rain rain
Edinburgh . . . lost lost lost The GPS is driving me freaking nuts !
(good stuff that happened . . . booked a 3 day bus tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye for tomorrow through Sunday and found a B&B where we can leave the car while we are gone.)
Had a tire nearly flat and had to go to 2 service areas to get it fixed. LOST LOST LOST
(great dinner at a little place up the hill from our B&B)
STUPID COMPUTER ERASED MY BLOG !!!
We'll be on tour for the next 2 nights and don't know about internet so if you don't hear from me it's not because I've jumped off a cliff or drowned myself in Loch Ness.
It figures after the day we have had . . .
Lost again and again
rain rain rain
Edinburgh . . . lost lost lost The GPS is driving me freaking nuts !
(good stuff that happened . . . booked a 3 day bus tour of the Highlands and the Isle of Skye for tomorrow through Sunday and found a B&B where we can leave the car while we are gone.)
Had a tire nearly flat and had to go to 2 service areas to get it fixed. LOST LOST LOST
(great dinner at a little place up the hill from our B&B)
STUPID COMPUTER ERASED MY BLOG !!!
We'll be on tour for the next 2 nights and don't know about internet so if you don't hear from me it's not because I've jumped off a cliff or drowned myself in Loch Ness.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
ARRIVED IN SCOTLAND
First let me say that I have discovered I am a computer junkie and I am not happy if I can't get on line. It has been 2 days since I was able to blog and I am going into shock. I am writing blogs in my head and can't get them printed so am not a happy camper. Thank goodness and thank the owner of our latest stop, she has lent me her internet access flash drive thingy and I am able to get to my blog. I really must look into getting one of these things for our travels.
Yesterday we were in mid-western England in a town called Morton-in-Marsh. Our night in the lovely B&B there was uneventful and relaxing even though I didn't sleep well. We had an English breakfast of sausage, egg, toast, potato cake, ham and tomato. (Ger wouldn't eat his tomato because it was hot and he hates hot tomatoes . . . except for me.) After breakfast we left our car at the B&B and walked the 2 minutes into town to the street fair. There were all sorts of booths selling all sorts of things and Ann and I did put a dent in our wallets. On our way into town Ann Marie fell when her knee gave out. She scrapped up her knee a bit but at least she managed to avoid rolling into the street in front of passing cars. She was fine and jumped back up but we did make a stop at the local drug store for some bandaids. After our adventures in town we headed back to the car and drove to another small Cotswold village named Chipping Campden. It was a beautiful town with the type of homes with thatched roofs that the Cotswold area is famous for. We parked and walked around for an hour or so taking all the same pictures. When we tired of that we returned to the car and started our journey north heading for the Lake District. The only problem was that the Cotswold area is off the beaten track and no where near the motorway that would get us north quickly. Ger was in the back seat with the maps, Ann was riding shot gun with all the travel books and Gretta II (the GPS) was spewing out directions about taking the third exit off the next round about. GOD BLESS DRUGS! I would have stopped the car in the middle of a freaking round about and walked away screaming "WHERE THE F--- ARE WE?" I am here to tell you that I stayed very calm even when I was on the M6 heading north when G told me to get off and we then got lost on back back roads for the next 3 hours. Later in the day he apologized for making a mistake. What you have to understand here is that all these years G has done the driving and I have been the navigator. I have had my share of screw ups so I am trying to remember how I felt when he was yelling "Tell me which way to go!" By 5PM we had once again found the M6 and were once again headed in the right direction driving 80 miles and hour on a straight road as opposed to driving 20 miles an hour on winding roads with sheep on them. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
By now I was DONE and we stopped at a rest area to see if there was a tourist information that could direct us to an exit that might have a place for us to stay for the night. As we pulled into the parking lot there stood a Travel Inn . . . right there in front of us . . . in the parking lot of the rest area stood a HOTEL! We stayed there for the night and ate Burger King for dinner and I didn't give a damn. The room was quiet, clean, warm and wonderful. The only problem was the fire alarm that went off at 2AM and we had to evacuate the building. We think it was just a drill even though the fire department was there in the parking lot there was no evidence of smoke or fire. After 5 minutes we were allowed back into our room and I immediately fell sound asleep. Ann says she was up for an hour or so reading and Ger says he had trouble getting back to sleep but I was back asleep in minutes.
When we woke up this morning it was cloudy and much cooler that it had been. Up till now the weather has been unusually hot and sunny but I think we are now in for a change. We had breakfast in the rest area and then continued on up the motorway to an exit for the lake district. Once again we were on the tiny, winding back roads with stone walls lining them so that when a car comes toward you from the opposite direction you wonder which one of you is going into the wall in order to pass. Not the easiest driving in the world but I truly enjoy it! Especially when the roads are fairly empty and I don't have a line of cars on my butt. We found the lakes and along with them the hills and valleys of the area. We stopped in one town half way along Windermere Lake to take a short sight seeing boat ride in the rain and wind. Next we walked in and out of some shops and added more of our money to the English economy. We found a great little shop that had Hot Soup for lunch to warm us up before heading out again. We returned to the winding roads with hills on all sides dotted with sheep. We were now high in the hills are headed for a pass through the mountains. By the time we got to the top of the Kirkstone pass the clouds were blowing in all around us and we were going in and out of them. We stopped at every pull off we could find to take pictures of this area but I am sure they will never do justice to it. Luckily there were very few cars on the road so we didn't have to worry about only driving 10 miles an hour. We finally came out of this beautiful area and met up with the M6 once again for another 70 miles north to where we are tonight. We have chosen to take a scenic route to Edinburgh rather than come in on the major highways. We are now somewhere on our way to Edinburgh in the small town of Moffat, Scotland. It is adorable! We're staying in a hotel that is 3 stories high and as old as Moses. No elevator, just a huge winding stair case to the top floor where our rooms are. It's cold in here but the beds are piled high with down comforters and real woolen blankets. I can't wait to snuggle under the covers. We've had dinner at the Balmoral Hotel pub just down the street and we will have breakfast in our hotel in the morning. Our hostess has promised there will be a fire in the dining room for breakfast to "ward off the chill of the morning".
Tomorrow we hope to make it into Edinburgh without incident and find a tourist information. We plan on staying in that city for at least 2 nights with plans on taking a sight seeing bus up into the Scottish highlands. That way I can enjoy the sights also.
We are having a grand time and other than wanting to beat G with the map yesterday, we're all doing great. Hope to talk to you tomorrow . . .
Yesterday we were in mid-western England in a town called Morton-in-Marsh. Our night in the lovely B&B there was uneventful and relaxing even though I didn't sleep well. We had an English breakfast of sausage, egg, toast, potato cake, ham and tomato. (Ger wouldn't eat his tomato because it was hot and he hates hot tomatoes . . . except for me.) After breakfast we left our car at the B&B and walked the 2 minutes into town to the street fair. There were all sorts of booths selling all sorts of things and Ann and I did put a dent in our wallets. On our way into town Ann Marie fell when her knee gave out. She scrapped up her knee a bit but at least she managed to avoid rolling into the street in front of passing cars. She was fine and jumped back up but we did make a stop at the local drug store for some bandaids. After our adventures in town we headed back to the car and drove to another small Cotswold village named Chipping Campden. It was a beautiful town with the type of homes with thatched roofs that the Cotswold area is famous for. We parked and walked around for an hour or so taking all the same pictures. When we tired of that we returned to the car and started our journey north heading for the Lake District. The only problem was that the Cotswold area is off the beaten track and no where near the motorway that would get us north quickly. Ger was in the back seat with the maps, Ann was riding shot gun with all the travel books and Gretta II (the GPS) was spewing out directions about taking the third exit off the next round about. GOD BLESS DRUGS! I would have stopped the car in the middle of a freaking round about and walked away screaming "WHERE THE F--- ARE WE?" I am here to tell you that I stayed very calm even when I was on the M6 heading north when G told me to get off and we then got lost on back back roads for the next 3 hours. Later in the day he apologized for making a mistake. What you have to understand here is that all these years G has done the driving and I have been the navigator. I have had my share of screw ups so I am trying to remember how I felt when he was yelling "Tell me which way to go!" By 5PM we had once again found the M6 and were once again headed in the right direction driving 80 miles and hour on a straight road as opposed to driving 20 miles an hour on winding roads with sheep on them. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
By now I was DONE and we stopped at a rest area to see if there was a tourist information that could direct us to an exit that might have a place for us to stay for the night. As we pulled into the parking lot there stood a Travel Inn . . . right there in front of us . . . in the parking lot of the rest area stood a HOTEL! We stayed there for the night and ate Burger King for dinner and I didn't give a damn. The room was quiet, clean, warm and wonderful. The only problem was the fire alarm that went off at 2AM and we had to evacuate the building. We think it was just a drill even though the fire department was there in the parking lot there was no evidence of smoke or fire. After 5 minutes we were allowed back into our room and I immediately fell sound asleep. Ann says she was up for an hour or so reading and Ger says he had trouble getting back to sleep but I was back asleep in minutes.
When we woke up this morning it was cloudy and much cooler that it had been. Up till now the weather has been unusually hot and sunny but I think we are now in for a change. We had breakfast in the rest area and then continued on up the motorway to an exit for the lake district. Once again we were on the tiny, winding back roads with stone walls lining them so that when a car comes toward you from the opposite direction you wonder which one of you is going into the wall in order to pass. Not the easiest driving in the world but I truly enjoy it! Especially when the roads are fairly empty and I don't have a line of cars on my butt. We found the lakes and along with them the hills and valleys of the area. We stopped in one town half way along Windermere Lake to take a short sight seeing boat ride in the rain and wind. Next we walked in and out of some shops and added more of our money to the English economy. We found a great little shop that had Hot Soup for lunch to warm us up before heading out again. We returned to the winding roads with hills on all sides dotted with sheep. We were now high in the hills are headed for a pass through the mountains. By the time we got to the top of the Kirkstone pass the clouds were blowing in all around us and we were going in and out of them. We stopped at every pull off we could find to take pictures of this area but I am sure they will never do justice to it. Luckily there were very few cars on the road so we didn't have to worry about only driving 10 miles an hour. We finally came out of this beautiful area and met up with the M6 once again for another 70 miles north to where we are tonight. We have chosen to take a scenic route to Edinburgh rather than come in on the major highways. We are now somewhere on our way to Edinburgh in the small town of Moffat, Scotland. It is adorable! We're staying in a hotel that is 3 stories high and as old as Moses. No elevator, just a huge winding stair case to the top floor where our rooms are. It's cold in here but the beds are piled high with down comforters and real woolen blankets. I can't wait to snuggle under the covers. We've had dinner at the Balmoral Hotel pub just down the street and we will have breakfast in our hotel in the morning. Our hostess has promised there will be a fire in the dining room for breakfast to "ward off the chill of the morning".
Tomorrow we hope to make it into Edinburgh without incident and find a tourist information. We plan on staying in that city for at least 2 nights with plans on taking a sight seeing bus up into the Scottish highlands. That way I can enjoy the sights also.
We are having a grand time and other than wanting to beat G with the map yesterday, we're all doing great. Hope to talk to you tomorrow . . .
Monday, October 3, 2011
THE COTSWOLDS
We have yet to figure out what the heck this exactly means but here we are. Cotswolds is apparently an area of England that has quaint little towns with quaint little houses. So far all we have seen is a long and winding road.
We left Windsor and the family this morning to get on the motorway to head to the town of Bath. We actually made the hour and a half drive in two and a half hours with no incident once we stopped at a rest area to figure out how to work the British version of a GPS. With that under control and 42 maps and pages of directions plus 3 tour books we got to Bath and found a place to park. We took the city and country side tours on the open air tour bus and then had lunch. Bath is a very different town from Windsor. Bath is built on the sides of hills and into a valley with HUGE columed attached houses lining the streets and forming circles and gigantic crescents. (Google it on line because I can't describe it.) All the homes are built of Bath Stone, an unusual white stone that is quaried in the area. Very interesting and different from a anything we have ever seen.
Once we left bath we also left the easy driving of the motorway and drove through the country side on winding hilly roads that gave me a good opportunity to realize that I would much rather be ON a tour bus than driving myself. But we just took it slow and we did fine. The GPS worked fantastic and I can not imagine trying to find our way without it. We went through at least 20 roundabouts and without the GPS we would never have navigated them without going around 42 times.
While we were in Bath we tried to make reservations at a B&B in Moreton-in-Marsh (yes, that is the name of a town! ) But the tourist information lady in Bath was less than helpful so we just set out on our own. As we were entering the town of Moreton-in-Marsh Ann Marie saw a sign for a B&B so we turned around and drove into a drive that is like something out of a story book. The B&B is named Fosseway Farm. The house stands in about 100 yards from the road and is covered in ivy with farm land all around it. There are plants galore blooming all over the front of the place and we thought for sure they would not have a room for us or if they did it would cost a small fortune. By now it was almost 6 PM but sure enough they had 2 rooms left, one on the first floor with a double bed, a single bed AND a divan. The room is gorgeous! And guess what? It is costing us 59 pounds for the night. We also took a second room up stairs for Ger and I so Ann could stay in the "Queens" suite. She fell in love with the room and we may not be able to get her out of there in the morning. After we brought our bags in we walked the 2 minutes into town to have dinner at a pub.
Tomorrow morning breakfast will be served in the conservatory between 8-9 and then we will walk into town for the street fair that takes place on Tuesdays.
Heaven only knows what tomorrow will bring but we hope to see some of those cottage towns that COTSWOLDS is famous for and then drive on North heading next for the Lake District. Please keep those prayers coming for us in our travels and we'll keep you posted on where we are and what we're doing.
We left Windsor and the family this morning to get on the motorway to head to the town of Bath. We actually made the hour and a half drive in two and a half hours with no incident once we stopped at a rest area to figure out how to work the British version of a GPS. With that under control and 42 maps and pages of directions plus 3 tour books we got to Bath and found a place to park. We took the city and country side tours on the open air tour bus and then had lunch. Bath is a very different town from Windsor. Bath is built on the sides of hills and into a valley with HUGE columed attached houses lining the streets and forming circles and gigantic crescents. (Google it on line because I can't describe it.) All the homes are built of Bath Stone, an unusual white stone that is quaried in the area. Very interesting and different from a anything we have ever seen.
Once we left bath we also left the easy driving of the motorway and drove through the country side on winding hilly roads that gave me a good opportunity to realize that I would much rather be ON a tour bus than driving myself. But we just took it slow and we did fine. The GPS worked fantastic and I can not imagine trying to find our way without it. We went through at least 20 roundabouts and without the GPS we would never have navigated them without going around 42 times.
While we were in Bath we tried to make reservations at a B&B in Moreton-in-Marsh (yes, that is the name of a town! ) But the tourist information lady in Bath was less than helpful so we just set out on our own. As we were entering the town of Moreton-in-Marsh Ann Marie saw a sign for a B&B so we turned around and drove into a drive that is like something out of a story book. The B&B is named Fosseway Farm. The house stands in about 100 yards from the road and is covered in ivy with farm land all around it. There are plants galore blooming all over the front of the place and we thought for sure they would not have a room for us or if they did it would cost a small fortune. By now it was almost 6 PM but sure enough they had 2 rooms left, one on the first floor with a double bed, a single bed AND a divan. The room is gorgeous! And guess what? It is costing us 59 pounds for the night. We also took a second room up stairs for Ger and I so Ann could stay in the "Queens" suite. She fell in love with the room and we may not be able to get her out of there in the morning. After we brought our bags in we walked the 2 minutes into town to have dinner at a pub.
Tomorrow morning breakfast will be served in the conservatory between 8-9 and then we will walk into town for the street fair that takes place on Tuesdays.
Heaven only knows what tomorrow will bring but we hope to see some of those cottage towns that COTSWOLDS is famous for and then drive on North heading next for the Lake District. Please keep those prayers coming for us in our travels and we'll keep you posted on where we are and what we're doing.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
BETTER THAN LEGOLAND
After yesterday's adventure and grand finale of waiting an hour and a half to get out of the freaking parking lot it wouldn't have taken much to make today a better day. Don't take me wrong, we had a great time with the kids, who were fantastic but these Lego folks need to stop building dragons and castles out of little plastic blocks and figure out a better way to empty their park.
The kids fell asleep on their feet last night and slept till 7:40 this morning when Abby came in to tell us her arm was asleep. I suggested that the rest of her body should do like her arm and sleep till 10 but that didn't work. Two minutes later Roman appeared at the door to our bedroom, still half asleep, but worried that he would miss something and his sister would get something that he didn't get. We settled the 2 of them in their parents bed with a movie video and I went down to create a GRANDMA BREAKFAST. Pancakes and waffles are always more interesting when grandma creates them with jelly and bananas. From there we went to mass and then off to Mac Donalds for lunch. That didn't work because all the people that were at Legoland yesterday were now in Windsor and there was not a parking spot to be had in a 12 mile radius of the center of town. The weather here has been unbelievable and has broken all sorts of records for this time of the year. We finally made our way out of town and over to the leisure center on the out skirts of Windsor. The leisure center is one of the best ideas I have seen here in England. Right on the banks of the Thames sits a huge complex of gyms, basket ball courts, a huge lap pool and water park . . . all in side. The water park area contains 2 huge twisty slides that are at least 3 stories high. There is a wave pool, lazy river, baby slide area and all sorts of fountains and spouts shooting water. There are changing rooms, bathrooms and even a PEOPLE DRYER that you stand in and it blow dries your entire body. I have NEVER seen anything like this in the states. The parking at the leisure center was almost as bad as in town but we lucked out and got a great spot. We had lunch at the snack bar and then spent 2 great hours playing in the water. Standing in the pool for 2 hours helped all the blisters on my toes to dissolve so now I am ready to start off on the next leg of our adventure.
Tomorrow morning Ann, Ger and I will start off in our beauty of a car, (a 2012 Black Vauxhall ) and we will head to Bath and then North. I have no idea what we will encounter as far as internet service so if you don't hear from us for a while it is because we are in the wilds of England and Scotland.
Until the next internet connection . . . Pip Pip !
The kids fell asleep on their feet last night and slept till 7:40 this morning when Abby came in to tell us her arm was asleep. I suggested that the rest of her body should do like her arm and sleep till 10 but that didn't work. Two minutes later Roman appeared at the door to our bedroom, still half asleep, but worried that he would miss something and his sister would get something that he didn't get. We settled the 2 of them in their parents bed with a movie video and I went down to create a GRANDMA BREAKFAST. Pancakes and waffles are always more interesting when grandma creates them with jelly and bananas. From there we went to mass and then off to Mac Donalds for lunch. That didn't work because all the people that were at Legoland yesterday were now in Windsor and there was not a parking spot to be had in a 12 mile radius of the center of town. The weather here has been unbelievable and has broken all sorts of records for this time of the year. We finally made our way out of town and over to the leisure center on the out skirts of Windsor. The leisure center is one of the best ideas I have seen here in England. Right on the banks of the Thames sits a huge complex of gyms, basket ball courts, a huge lap pool and water park . . . all in side. The water park area contains 2 huge twisty slides that are at least 3 stories high. There is a wave pool, lazy river, baby slide area and all sorts of fountains and spouts shooting water. There are changing rooms, bathrooms and even a PEOPLE DRYER that you stand in and it blow dries your entire body. I have NEVER seen anything like this in the states. The parking at the leisure center was almost as bad as in town but we lucked out and got a great spot. We had lunch at the snack bar and then spent 2 great hours playing in the water. Standing in the pool for 2 hours helped all the blisters on my toes to dissolve so now I am ready to start off on the next leg of our adventure.
Tomorrow morning Ann, Ger and I will start off in our beauty of a car, (a 2012 Black Vauxhall ) and we will head to Bath and then North. I have no idea what we will encounter as far as internet service so if you don't hear from us for a while it is because we are in the wilds of England and Scotland.
Until the next internet connection . . . Pip Pip !
Saturday, October 1, 2011
FOUR VALIUM DAY
It was a wonderful day! Let's establish that fact right off the bat. Kyle and Bridget left this morning for their over night get away and 3 adults were left home to care for and entertain 2 children. Piece of cake! Now factor in that one of the adults was H and you have got the beginnings of a story.
Abby was to perform 2 of her piano pieces at a local fair this morning so we all piled into the car (the rented car that is one SWEET ride but more about that at another time) and off we went to some local church where we would meet Abby's piano teacher. It took some doing to find the church and then to find parking but we finally got there. Abby did a fantastic job playing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and "The Banjo Picker" and we were off again to LEGOLAND . I have been looking forward to seeing this amusement park so today was the day to give it a go. The park is about 2 minutes from K&B's house and we have often seen the lines of traffic on the main road, all headed to Legoland. Today was no exception with traffic but having spent some time at the church with Abby's piano performance we missed the major traffic jam. We started to run into problems once we arrived and parked the car. Problem #1, huge lines at the ticket booths. Problem #2, it's lunch time and Abby wants a hot dog from a stand and Roman wants pasta from a different lunch spot. Ann Marie and kids held a table, Husband went one way, I went another. And now it begins. . . You know that H cannot do anything simply or without attitude so the burden of having to get 4 hot dogs BY HIM SELF was an issue. But we survived . . . until Roman started in on "I WANT". Roman is the sort of child who has the ability to push H's buttons without even trying. I thought our youngest son was the only child who could do this with such finesse but here comes Roman with the same gift. The entire day was spent trying to keep peace and keep H from blowing his stack. It was a semi success thanks to the help of Ann Marie. We actually thought we were free and clear when we left the park at closing. An hour and a half later we were still sitting in the car trying to get out of the parking lot and H was in the back seat with the kids ranting and raving about how he was going to write a letter to Legoland, the mayor, the Queen and anyone else he could think of to tell them how terrible the parking situation was. Ann and I in the front seat just exchanged looks and rolled our eyes while the kids became very quiet in anticipation of the volcanic eruption that was pending in the back seat. Thankfully we managed to finally get out of Legoland and home to bed for a couple of exhausted kids and some equally exhausted adults.
I would like to note that H is now sound asleep and has yet to ask for paper and pen to start writing those letters.
Abby was to perform 2 of her piano pieces at a local fair this morning so we all piled into the car (the rented car that is one SWEET ride but more about that at another time) and off we went to some local church where we would meet Abby's piano teacher. It took some doing to find the church and then to find parking but we finally got there. Abby did a fantastic job playing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and "The Banjo Picker" and we were off again to LEGOLAND . I have been looking forward to seeing this amusement park so today was the day to give it a go. The park is about 2 minutes from K&B's house and we have often seen the lines of traffic on the main road, all headed to Legoland. Today was no exception with traffic but having spent some time at the church with Abby's piano performance we missed the major traffic jam. We started to run into problems once we arrived and parked the car. Problem #1, huge lines at the ticket booths. Problem #2, it's lunch time and Abby wants a hot dog from a stand and Roman wants pasta from a different lunch spot. Ann Marie and kids held a table, Husband went one way, I went another. And now it begins. . . You know that H cannot do anything simply or without attitude so the burden of having to get 4 hot dogs BY HIM SELF was an issue. But we survived . . . until Roman started in on "I WANT". Roman is the sort of child who has the ability to push H's buttons without even trying. I thought our youngest son was the only child who could do this with such finesse but here comes Roman with the same gift. The entire day was spent trying to keep peace and keep H from blowing his stack. It was a semi success thanks to the help of Ann Marie. We actually thought we were free and clear when we left the park at closing. An hour and a half later we were still sitting in the car trying to get out of the parking lot and H was in the back seat with the kids ranting and raving about how he was going to write a letter to Legoland, the mayor, the Queen and anyone else he could think of to tell them how terrible the parking situation was. Ann and I in the front seat just exchanged looks and rolled our eyes while the kids became very quiet in anticipation of the volcanic eruption that was pending in the back seat. Thankfully we managed to finally get out of Legoland and home to bed for a couple of exhausted kids and some equally exhausted adults.
I would like to note that H is now sound asleep and has yet to ask for paper and pen to start writing those letters.
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