Day 4 - Windsor and Christchurch

Thursday June 25

Today is Jane’s birthday. Happy birthday to Jane and also happy birthday to Stephen, the youngest brother who has a birthday on the same day.

The news here were full about the weather, a record breaking day. Of course we were going to make the best of it.

After  breakfast Jane was out in her garden. See her little pond? There is a story about what we brought for it.

It must have been 2007 when we were in Vietnam that we bought 2 little ceramic ducks for her to add to this. I tried them out at home. Yes, they swim as they were supposed to. But every time we came to England or Jane came to visit us we forgot to give them to her. They were still wrapped in the original vietnamese newspaper. Finally, this year, I remembered. 

Around 11 am Kate and David arrived. They too enjoyed looking at Jane's garden.

A special fuchsia of theirs had died and Jane shared from hers. David was digging a part of one of hers up.

We had made yesterday reservations for 1 pm for lunch at a restaurant. We didn't want Jane to have to cook on her birthday. But it was still a bit early so we all had a bit of Ginger Wine to celebrate. A very British thing.

Dave drove us to The Royal Windsor Restaurant. He parked across the road from it and there was the castle. I always love that view.

In England in a pub most of the time you order your drinks and food at the bar. And quite often you pay right away too. Well, ok, so we can't change our mind whether or not we want to have dessert, ha-ha.

David and I did take the drinks to our table. The food was brought a little later when it was ready.

Everything was plated very nicely. I was disappointed a bit though because there was absolutely no taste in my lamb shank or gravy.

Back at the house I had to take a quick photo of Jane's fuchsias. 

Early afternoon Kate and David were ready for the drive back to their home and they were taking James and me with them. We had already laid our stuff out and was packed in no time. We left the suitcases at Jane's. 

We were expected at 6:30 pm at Kate and David's daughter Jo and husband Simon. Their daughters could not be there but son Edward was. It was very nice to see them too.

Tuffy, the dog, was ok with me for a while.

Of course it was a very lively chat. So much to talk about when you meet only every few years. But then it was time to leave, a little bit of FIFA watching and time to get ready for bed. Yes, it had been a hot hot hot day. It takes a long time until the bedrooms get cool even with windows open. But we were happy. We are grateful that we can visit with family. 

It took a while until the room was finally cool enough and we fell asleep.

Trip Day 3 / Windsor

Wednesday June 24

Last night when James and I went into the guest room to sleep we first took all the cover bedding off the beds except the flat sheet. It is past 10 o’clock and dark outside but Jane still has front and back door open and all windows. England has a heat wave but of course nobody has air conditioning. 

Strangely enough like that we both had a really good night’s sleep. 

We were a bit disappointed that we could not do what we had invisioned. It was just too hot to stroll around town. Schools were letting out. Some business let their people stay home or work from home. There is hardly any air conditioning anywhere. Jane has things to do for the church. Guess what James and I are doing. It was a very good game.

We are invited to spend two nights with Kate and David so Jane said we should by the bus tickets for the way back to Windsor. We would have liked to take the train but she discouraged that. In extreme heat like this, railroad tracks are known to buckle.

Jane was ready to fix the lunch but we suggested to go to a pub. How often do we have a chance to do that? So we invite her. We go to The Vansittard Arms around the corner. First we thought we sit ourside in the shady garden part but then we find it is cooler inside the pub.

Bangers and Mash! What's not to like?

Just love Jane's garden.

When we come back from lunch and walk into our room ... guess what we found? We were not even gone for 2 hours and a spider was building something on my suitcase. Juck! I quickly closed the sipper and Jane took car of it. Barehanded, uh I could not do that.

 Of course we watched some FIFA soccer games. And the news told us about the incredible hottest heat wave ever. 

Nevertheless, all is good and we are enjoying every minute.

Loose ends to get ready - Trip Day 1 + 2

OMG, so much happened those days. The day we are leaving on another trip is getting closer and there is lots to take care of. But of course having a chance to say bye-bye to our boys across the river was welcomed when Sarah asked whether we could drive them to one of their business jobs which was not in their subdivision and too dangeress to drive there by themselves on their scooters. 

Yes, as soon as school was out for the summer break they wanted to earn money. And they are doing a great job. Their parents are getting a lot of comliments. 

It really was fun to see them in action.

No blog without flower pictures ha-ha. It looks like I finally figured out how to keep "Joseph's Coat" healthy. Unfortunately the other climbing rose is now dead. We have to decide what to do in the opposite planter when we are back. The flowers are changing colors from bud to full bloom and they have a lovely smell.

During the week we also had to deal with health issues. James' pacemaker monitor had sent a report to his doctor with needed addressing. We received a call. It was just a few days before our trip and we were worried that it might have to be cancelled. It was sorted out though, we got instructions and with prayers all should be well.

This amaryllis I found recently in the garage NOT being dormant. I took this photo on Monday June 22, just before we left for the airport:

Is this fair? It finally is blooming with all its glory when we are scheduled to go on a trip today. Of course we had been looking forward to this trip anxiously. And for those who love to read my blogs … you are traveling to Windsor first.

At 11:30am our driver arrived to bring us to Richmond Airport. Checking in to United seemed a bit of a problem for the desk person because we always use the US passports but we didn't bother with the visa for England because we have British passports of course. When it was all sorted out and the suitcases gone we decided to chill having some lunch. Soup and salad at Applebee's. 

We had quite some time at the gate until our plane from RIC to IAD left pretty much on time at 2:50pm. 

It is a very short flight but it didn't stay long looking like the above. It was rather bumpy which they pilot had told us right from the beginning.

United sends you lots of messages but this was really helpful. Info at which gate we arrive, out of which gate we will leave on the next flight. And how we get there. 9 minutes walking.  

Again we had quite a lot of time at the gate but we had really nice and fun conversations with other people. When we boarded it was raining. I don't know why but it delate the take-off somewhat. The captain kept us informed.

Finally! 7:40pm

Got to have a selfie! Our seats were very nice. 

At take off we always like to watch the flight info. 

When the plane is leveled it is cocktail and snack hour.

Later we had dinner. For the first time we had pre-ordered our dinner from the menu ... just because they kept sending me reminders that we should do it. Actually, it was very nice. A bit different. And you get yours first. Might have to it again.

It is a night flight and most passengers are sleeping. I am not good at that. I am looking for a movie but it is not a great success. Play a little on my phone, finally sleep a little until I am woken for breakfast.

We land 7:10am and the pilot appologizes for the 20 minutes delay.

Immigration was very quick and easy. Our luggage came fast too. Exiting the terminal I realized that I had forgotten the business card of Windsor Taxi. Oh, what now. A quick inquiry at an information stand didn't help. We decided that an Uber was the answer. 

I quickly downloaded the app on my phone. I had never done it. I was amazed. It showed us the way to the place were the driver would pick us up in the parking house. Step by step. It wanted us to take a photo of one of us so that the driver would find us. I found it all very impressive. The driver was very nice and navigating the heavy traffic nicely. We were at Jane's house in no time. He was very happy that I could even pay him in British pounds.

It was a record hot kind of day in England. But we enjoyed the sunny weather. Jane always loves her house open ... front door, back door, windows. And look at her garden. 

Cup of tea in the drawing room.

I had an errant to do in town. Jane and I went to the post office and Waitrose. Before going back again she showed me one shop I should see. Kitchen clutter in the front, arts and crafts things in the back. Yes, a nice store.

I had to take a photo of this "decoration" for Helen. She wanted us to bring some of the tea bags we always use, but she wrote back "not these" (in the photo)!

The downside of the weather. It is really too hot for a walk.

And because we had hardly slept in the night in the plane, our bodies tried to fall asleep in the comfortable chairs in the drawing room. Even the FIFA soccer match with England - Ghana (starting at 9pm) could not keep us awake and we went to bed.