England Trip part 1 - arriving in Windsor

Monday July 2 - A leisurely day. We had packed the suitcases in Richmond and had opened them in Nashville but there was not much to do. What we had forgotten in Richmond, well ... it wasn't there to pack. A little bit of shopping. A little bit of washing.

William was at camp. Helen came for lunch. The second of the quiches (turkey sausage and spinach pie) needed to be eaten. Good-bye again. She wants us to give her love to all the family in England.

And then James calls the Uber to the airport.

We were a little early but you never know how long it takes to go through security. Since he earned a lifelong membership at American Airlines we went to the Admirals Club. After 5 pm. G&Ts and something from the guacamole bar will be fine.

Non-stop to London from Nashville. It's a long flight but I like it better then a lay-over somewhere. This one was a British Airways plane. There were almost no seats empty but we were lucky and had one between us (after I scooted over). No need to climb over somebody for a trip to the bathroom. The seats in a row were 3, 3 and 3 and we were in the middle 3.

I watched a little of the entertainment but not much. I do like to look at the "flight details". James is able to sleep some (no surprise there) but I couldn't (no surprise there either). 

At this point only one hour left. 

Breakfast. At the end we circle a little. Landing time was around 10 am. The weather looks really nice. We circle over Windsor. The captain announces that there was a nice view of the Castle on the left side. I have seen it several times before and am jealous. I always loved views from a plane in clear weather (as you might have seen in previous blogs when I had a window seat, ha-ha).

Immigration was impressive. No lines in the busiest airport in the world. You put your passport on the machine, smile and walk off. Suitcases were already going around when we walked up and a walk-through the green custom lane. We are outside and James calls Windsor Taxi. It could not have been any easier.

In no time we were at Jane's house. It's Tuesday. We are not doing much. Get settled and changed. Have lunch. Walk up the town to find a money machine and picture postcards for our boys.

A walk through Jane's garden. This is the only photo I took the rest of the day. I am slacking. May be I am a little tired. All doors and windows are open in the house. Everybody says how hot it is. No humidity. I think it couldn't be any nicer. The secret to getting used to time change (jet lag) is to get as much sun as you can. We both feel good.

At 7 pm we watch the FIFA World Cup. We say football, Americans say soccer. Columbia against England. It was a bit of a nail-biter. The day was saved. England won in a shoot-out at the end. The very very end.

Wednesday - I was in bed at 10 pm. The night without sleep had caught up with me. Don't know when James turned in but we both woke up just before 9 am this morning. Fitbit says I slept 9 hours and 34 minutes. It also tells me that I did 8210 steps today. Not without some pain though. Poor James is so patient with me.

After breakfast (Weetabix in Helen's honor) I decided to enjoy Jane's garden. She is a great gardener just like their Daddy was. First photo from the living room door.

Between the flowers veggies here and there. See the peapods?

Oh, and the rhubarb. 

The back wall.

A bush with plums. I should come back when they are ripe.

Part of the back of the house.

A row of cherry tomatoes in growing bags. They are yellow and we had some for lunch and dinner.

The weather is so lovely that I wanted to stroll a little in the town. I love it that you can just go anywhere on foot from Jane's house ... location, location, location.

At top of Peascod Street: Windsor Castle. One minute it looks empty in front ...

... and next minute tourists everywhere.

Turn around (Castle behind you): Peascod Street, the way we go back. 

I actually was a tourist and bought something. We took a detour to look at the street the family used to live on when Daddy was alive. Oh the memories.
Jane made a nice lunch. We talked a lot and did some resting. We wanted to invite Jane to a pub so she didn't need to cook but she already had plans. Since we are all leaving Friday she didn't want to have to put anything into the freezer.

She went into the garden to harvest some rhubarb for dinner dessert.

We did go around the corner to have a pint.

Did you see the ashtray in the photo above? A clay saucer and an upside-down flower pot with its hole in the bottom just the right size for the cigarette butt. No ashes blowing in the wind and no stink either. Clever.

Dinner was nice and here is the dessert. Rhubarb with custard. Yes, rhubarb harvested just a few hours earlier. I think my sister-in-law likes me.

And that is it for today. Watching the Hampton Court Flower Show on TV and going to bed soon.

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Dear friends and family a note about this blog - At one point I had a field at the bottom of my blog that whoever who wanted to could sign up to get every new blog by email. There had been a little problem and I took the feature off. Some still got the emails, some didn't. Jane has "complained" because she wanted to get them. So, I have put that feature back in ... at the very bottom. If you do "subscribe" you also have to confirm the email you get very soon.