England Trip part 9 - back in Windsor

We started the Saturday very leisurely. Suddenly James remembered the band and changing of the guard. I wanted to give my knee a rest so I made James promise to take videos. Here they are:
VIDEO 1     (0:22)   Going up to the castle
VIDEO 2     (0:41)   Coming out of the castle
VIDEO 3     (1:40)   Walking with the band
VIDEO 4     (1:12)    Turning into the barracks

After lunch we decided we would like to walk to the River Thames. We walked past St. Stephen's church. It is such an important part in this family for so many years and generations.

It's a weekend and lots of people were about. Lots of them were feeding the ducks and swans. But at the first point we came to somebody must have emptied a pillow case. Actually it looked more like a whole duvet. There must have been a fight. 

First we went over a footbridge onto an island I had never been on. Many boats were out and about too. For a fee you can moor at the edge for 24 hours. I think hiring a canal boat would be a lot of fun.

This is interesting. Jane told us that there had been four of these arches somewhere for some royal celebration (the jubilee?) and this one was moved here. It's all bamboo sticks with roses planted at the base. 

We made it all the way to Eton Bridge and on the way back had an ice cream on a cone. 

You see these tiered planters everywhere. They are so gorgeous. 

On the way back we remembered that we needed to get a few things from Waitrose like tea bags to take home. After that my knee unfortunately had enough. I did catch up with the blogs though and I started to work on Grandpa Wallace's photos.

For supper Jane had a surprise though. She had harvested some rhubarb, cooked it and made custard. What a treat!

Sunday - Another lazy morning. Church is not until 10 am and only a 5 minute walk. Even though they are between Vicars it was a very nice service. 

A photo afterwards towards the front.

And towards the back. Coffee hour is almost over and most people were gone when I took the photo.

We have known actually many in the church for years and it is always fun. These ladies are new though. The lady on the right sang the psalm beautifully.

And yes, a sherry is offered at this church.

James and I took a look at his family members plaques.

A lot of the lace around was crochet or machine made but this looked like handmade bobbinlace to me.

We wanted to take Jane out for a meal so she didn't have to cook and she picked Sunday lunch at the Bexley Arms. It brought back memories to me because this is where we went after Daddy's funeral service.

Vegetables for all.

Lamb, dressing and Yorkshire pudding for James. 

Jane knew that she wanted roast beef before we went in. Salmon for me.

And yes, Windsor has a brewery. James wanted to try it and deemed it 'good'. I liked it too but had something else.

Does anybody have room for dessert? Jane declared that we needed pudding. She knew she wanted banana split sundae before she saw the menu.

Good thing we didn't have to go far home. Or actually, good thing we had to walk a few steps, ha-ha.

We have been incredibly lucky with the weather. Here you see the British air-conditioning: the front door and back door open the whole day. Nobody dares to intrude. They would hit their head on the lovely hanging flower pots.

Monday! How did 2 weeks pass so quickly? 

Time to pack the suitcases. Flying back to Nashville where our car is waiting, to pick up up our grandson William and bring him to Virginia to spend about a week with us. He wants to visit his cousins. 

All we have to do now is to wait for Windsor Cars (taxi) to bring us to Heathrow. 

See you at home! Already more adventures lined up there.