So here we are closing in on the end of August. And I have been on vacation for 2 full months - the first real holiday I have taken in 4 years. I am still going to finish my stories of our English holiday in July, if only as a great way to edit and share our photos, with text to explain them. However, those and the other stories about what I did on my summer vacation may have to wait for the time I spend commuting to work. I start back on Wednesday, September 1. Tomorrow, Tuesday August 31, I have a lot going on. It is my mother's 97th birthday, but the annual family celebration was held yesterday and it was a blast. I have an appointment in the morning for a minor medical procedure which shouldn't take more than half an hour. Then I am going for a pedicure with Pam at Soleil Salon and Spa, a monthly treat. http://www.soleilsalonandspa.ca/contact.html
For the rest of the day, I will just enjoy my last day of freedom. There are cucumbers waiting on the garden wall for a deep watering promised for tomorrow morning. I'll get them in and maybe I'll have the energy to make a plum tart or peach pie - I was just too hot and breathless after today's harvest of tomatoes and beans, and after planting a few seeds for a fall crop of mesclen mix, carrots, radishes, and peas. As long as the weather stays this hot, the new seeds will need water every day. But that is a change. In spite of our long absences this summer, everything has remained green and the garden has yielded wonderful crops.
Well, I must to bed to be ready to leave the house by 8:30 tomorrow. I'm really not too nervous but the test on my thyroid involves an endocrinologist sticking needles into my neck. Fun, eh!? I'll let you know how it goes. 'Night now!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Taking the Train to Salisbury
Saturday, July 10
Day out of London
The highlight of our trip, in fact, my very reason for making the trip in the first place, was our visit to cousins Sheila Thompson, her brother Brian and his wife Brenda. Got up early, relatively speaking. I set the alarm for 7 and asked for a 7:10 wake-up call. Took me until around 1:00 am or a bit later to get to sleep. Might have been as late as 1:30. Well, we hadn't arrived back at the hotel until well after midnight after seeing Money, and I had to put my feet up for 30 minutes or so before I could sleep. I pulled a chair up beside the bed and rested my legs from the knees to feet elevated above my butt to simulate my recliner at home. Not the least bit elegant, but it did the trick. A bit of reading or TV distracted from leg, knee, and feet discomfort long enough for me to unwind and prepare to sleep. Jan didn't like the light or TV on as he was ready to sleep much sooner than I. On the other hand, he was up closing the windows and fiddling with the curtains at 6:15 in the morning. I sat up and checked the alarm clock then went back to sleep until the 7:10 wake-up call. The clock had stopped at 6:45! What gives!?! Anyway, we were showered, dressed, and finished breakfast by 8:00, out the hotel door and off to catch the tube to Waterloo station. We got there at 8:45, stood in line to get tickets combined with our Oyster cards (like TTC passes) and made the 9:15 to Salisbury - a lovely compfy fast ride with 4 seats to ourselves, facing pairs, with a table between. The porter brought a cart of refreshments - how civilized! I had a cappucino and a candy bar.
Our walkabout was followed by another hair-raising trip down narrow roads, twisting and turning through the countryside until we came to the Black Horse country pub where we stopped for lunch.
It was time then for Sheila to take us home to Firsdown where she shares a house with Brian and Brenda. Its back yard sloped up to a wonderful view over the top of a hill where far below we could just make out the cut of the old Roman Road. It was one of the few remaining chalk meadows in the area, covered with lichens and wildflowers and rabbit scrapes. Brian was having a rabbit fence installed - the same tough wire grid that surrounds our vegetable patch at home. We could see how hard it must have been to dig into the chalk and flints through such a thin covering of vegetation. 
Day out of London
The highlight of our trip, in fact, my very reason for making the trip in the first place, was our visit to cousins Sheila Thompson, her brother Brian and his wife Brenda. Got up early, relatively speaking. I set the alarm for 7 and asked for a 7:10 wake-up call. Took me until around 1:00 am or a bit later to get to sleep. Might have been as late as 1:30. Well, we hadn't arrived back at the hotel until well after midnight after seeing Money, and I had to put my feet up for 30 minutes or so before I could sleep. I pulled a chair up beside the bed and rested my legs from the knees to feet elevated above my butt to simulate my recliner at home. Not the least bit elegant, but it did the trick. A bit of reading or TV distracted from leg, knee, and feet discomfort long enough for me to unwind and prepare to sleep. Jan didn't like the light or TV on as he was ready to sleep much sooner than I. On the other hand, he was up closing the windows and fiddling with the curtains at 6:15 in the morning. I sat up and checked the alarm clock then went back to sleep until the 7:10 wake-up call. The clock had stopped at 6:45! What gives!?! Anyway, we were showered, dressed, and finished breakfast by 8:00, out the hotel door and off to catch the tube to Waterloo station. We got there at 8:45, stood in line to get tickets combined with our Oyster cards (like TTC passes) and made the 9:15 to Salisbury - a lovely compfy fast ride with 4 seats to ourselves, facing pairs, with a table between. The porter brought a cart of refreshments - how civilized! I had a cappucino and a candy bar.
Sheila met us at the station and took us on a whirlwind tour of the old central part of Salisbury accompanied by all sorts of interesting bits of history and story. We walked through the marketplace that has held a charter for markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays for hundreds of years.
We took a picture at the butter cross ( or was it the cheese cross?), looked at the guild hall, the old china shop that is now a chain store,
We took a picture at the butter cross ( or was it the cheese cross?), looked at the guild hall, the old china shop that is now a chain store, 
and had a cup of coffee in the Red Lion pub which we entered through a beautiful old carriage driveway and a courtyard hung with vines and flowers. There was a typical British lion near the door enamelled Chinese red. Sheila proudly showed us a map and explained that the village had a grid of streets that created 6 square blocks, which were called checkers, and each one had a name.
Our walkabout was followed by another hair-raising trip down narrow roads, twisting and turning through the countryside until we came to the Black Horse country pub where we stopped for lunch. 
This was a great old place, a couple of guys with their dog sitting outside, trees and fields falling away around it, and terrific food, of course: beer and cider for Jan and I, the prawns for Sheila and I, fish pie for Jan (potato and cheese topping rather than pastry), and sticky toffee pudding for dessert - mine with custard and Jan's with cream. Ah!
It was time then for Sheila to take us home to Firsdown where she shares a house with Brian and Brenda. Its back yard sloped up to a wonderful view over the top of a hill where far below we could just make out the cut of the old Roman Road. It was one of the few remaining chalk meadows in the area, covered with lichens and wildflowers and rabbit scrapes. Brian was having a rabbit fence installed - the same tough wire grid that surrounds our vegetable patch at home. We could see how hard it must have been to dig into the chalk and flints through such a thin covering of vegetation. 
Sheila showed us around the house, the family memorabilia. We had a good visit with all three, and Jan gave them the USB drive full of old Thompson photos that he had assembled. Sheila had to leave early to meet the choir, so Brian made us tea - our first taste of scones,strawberry preserves, and clotted cream. Oh, my, god!!! Too good to begin to describe. Brian and Brenda were not going to the concert so a lovely friend of Sheila's picked us up for yet another white knuckle trip (we were beginning to get used to driving conditions) to the old red brick and stone country church, reportedly built under the direction of Christopher Wren. There was an old almshouse across the road. The choir of about 20 entertained the audience with a great selection of standards and show tunes, interspersed with solos by a guest soprano and the choir master himself. At intermission, refreshments were served on the lawn (I had expected tea and a plate of biscuits, but there was wine, and both sweet and savory snacks), door prizes were drawn, and Sheila introduced us as having interrupted our vacation to attend. No way!
Seeing her was the very reason I had wanted to make the trip in the first place. It was just great. We really enjoyed the day and the concert. Sheila got us back to the station in Salisbury on time to make our train. We got into London on time to catch the last subway to Earls Court. It was the best day.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Goin' to the Shunt Yard
Friday, July 9
London, Day 4
This may have been our longest day. We did a lot and loved every minute of it.
My first choice was a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Glenys, our petite guide was extremely knowledgeable about the theatre and its history. The backstage and upper reaches ended up off-limits due to an unexpected rehearsal to replace one of the actors. Not a problem - Glenys filled in the time quite nicely and led us into the seats to watch some of the rehearsal. I bought a few souvenirs in the shop before we left, very happy with the tour.
It was too hot a day to linger on the river bank,
so we hopped onto one of the fast river ferries for the trip down the river to the London Eye.
That was really fun, providing unexpected views of the city.
We grabbed a bite to eat at the (anything but) Zen cafe, a noisy and hectic tea room.
Refreshed, we managed the walk across the Milenium Bridge to Westminster Abby.
At the far side of the bridge was a wonderful bronze of Boadicia in full war regalia. Got a few good shots of her.
Westminster Abbey was truly awesome in it's age and burden of history.
The building itself felt almost overpowering with footsteps echoing on the marble floor and arches towering above. After the opulence of St. Paul's it seemed austere but the grandeur of the burial sites and memorials was unmistakable. So many of the greatest of British figures were buried or commemorated there. We visited the graves of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, of all the many kings and nobles, of the great scientists like Darwin, of explorers and politicians, poets and authors. Too many to relate - it is something that must be experienced in the moment. Facinating to see and to read. Another thing that I loved is that momuments and death masks that survived the great fire in the 1660's were there to see in their scarred state. We stayed until visitors were ushered out for the start of a service. I should also mention that the docents at Westminster were particularly kind and accommodating, helping us to find Darwin, for instance, to make sure that we were able to visit him before that section closed. Lesson learned from previous sites that closed down by sections.
I had been in touch with a cousin, Yvonne Sell, who agreed to meet us at the end of her workday on Grosvener Street so we hopped on the tube and headed for Belgravia. Woo-whoo! Another amazing part of London! Wasn't I just keen on looking her up at the brilliant white building that we found at the end of our journey, and thinking how much fun it was going to be walking in all grubby at the end of a touristy day to an immaculate foyer and asking for her. Ack! As luck would have it a text arrived just as we mounted the stairs, instructing us on where to find her at a pub tucked away in a mews 2 blocks further along.
No mistaking Yvonne - we recognized each other immediately as Cadeaus (my mother's family) and got on like a house afire over a couple of ales for her and Jan and cider for me.
So much fun to meet Tim's little sister, youngest of the Sell brood and another strong independent female member of my extended family. She is a management consultant by trade and a rock climber for fun. Neato! We kept it brief as she had to pack for a weekend of climbing and we were due at the Shunt Yard by 9.
Jamie worked the box office for the Shunt Theatre and had invited us to see their play Money, highly recommended by Erin. So off we went on the tube again to Tower Bridge station. We had to walk a number of blocks through questionable underpasses beneath the tracks. But the twilight and the lighting kept us feeling safe and comfortable. We arrived in time but with no time to eat so we grabbed seats at a atable inside and waited for the show to begin. What a show it was! A contemporary piece of collaborative experimental theatre, Money challenged audience members to go along for the ride, to trust and cooperate through scenes of repetitious und loud machine sound, darkness, characters whose lines and actions were not entirely obvious, but were intriguing nonetheless. The main theme was one of greed, the recurring question "what do you want?", and while the answer appeared to be "money" there were suggestions re love, belonging, family as well as references or swipes at corporate corruption, Nazism, and indidelity. And probably much else that I can't recall at the moment. Great fun! Thoughtful, clever, provocative and along with the astonishing machanistic tri-level performance space and set,completely brilliant. We were exhillerated and exhausted by the time we emerged at the end. Too tired and too late to buy Jamie a drink. So we said thank you and good night and headed backl to the Ibis. With the trip to Salisbury demanding early rising the next day, we were anxious to turn in and get a good night's sleep.
London, Day 4
This may have been our longest day. We did a lot and loved every minute of it.
My first choice was a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Glenys, our petite guide was extremely knowledgeable about the theatre and its history. The backstage and upper reaches ended up off-limits due to an unexpected rehearsal to replace one of the actors. Not a problem - Glenys filled in the time quite nicely and led us into the seats to watch some of the rehearsal. I bought a few souvenirs in the shop before we left, very happy with the tour.
It was too hot a day to linger on the river bank,
so we hopped onto one of the fast river ferries for the trip down the river to the London Eye.
That was really fun, providing unexpected views of the city.
We grabbed a bite to eat at the (anything but) Zen cafe, a noisy and hectic tea room.
Refreshed, we managed the walk across the Milenium Bridge to Westminster Abby.
At the far side of the bridge was a wonderful bronze of Boadicia in full war regalia. Got a few good shots of her.
Westminster Abbey was truly awesome in it's age and burden of history.
The building itself felt almost overpowering with footsteps echoing on the marble floor and arches towering above. After the opulence of St. Paul's it seemed austere but the grandeur of the burial sites and memorials was unmistakable. So many of the greatest of British figures were buried or commemorated there. We visited the graves of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, of all the many kings and nobles, of the great scientists like Darwin, of explorers and politicians, poets and authors. Too many to relate - it is something that must be experienced in the moment. Facinating to see and to read. Another thing that I loved is that momuments and death masks that survived the great fire in the 1660's were there to see in their scarred state. We stayed until visitors were ushered out for the start of a service. I should also mention that the docents at Westminster were particularly kind and accommodating, helping us to find Darwin, for instance, to make sure that we were able to visit him before that section closed. Lesson learned from previous sites that closed down by sections.
I had been in touch with a cousin, Yvonne Sell, who agreed to meet us at the end of her workday on Grosvener Street so we hopped on the tube and headed for Belgravia. Woo-whoo! Another amazing part of London! Wasn't I just keen on looking her up at the brilliant white building that we found at the end of our journey, and thinking how much fun it was going to be walking in all grubby at the end of a touristy day to an immaculate foyer and asking for her. Ack! As luck would have it a text arrived just as we mounted the stairs, instructing us on where to find her at a pub tucked away in a mews 2 blocks further along.
No mistaking Yvonne - we recognized each other immediately as Cadeaus (my mother's family) and got on like a house afire over a couple of ales for her and Jan and cider for me.
So much fun to meet Tim's little sister, youngest of the Sell brood and another strong independent female member of my extended family. She is a management consultant by trade and a rock climber for fun. Neato! We kept it brief as she had to pack for a weekend of climbing and we were due at the Shunt Yard by 9.
Jamie worked the box office for the Shunt Theatre and had invited us to see their play Money, highly recommended by Erin. So off we went on the tube again to Tower Bridge station. We had to walk a number of blocks through questionable underpasses beneath the tracks. But the twilight and the lighting kept us feeling safe and comfortable. We arrived in time but with no time to eat so we grabbed seats at a atable inside and waited for the show to begin. What a show it was! A contemporary piece of collaborative experimental theatre, Money challenged audience members to go along for the ride, to trust and cooperate through scenes of repetitious und loud machine sound, darkness, characters whose lines and actions were not entirely obvious, but were intriguing nonetheless. The main theme was one of greed, the recurring question "what do you want?", and while the answer appeared to be "money" there were suggestions re love, belonging, family as well as references or swipes at corporate corruption, Nazism, and indidelity. And probably much else that I can't recall at the moment. Great fun! Thoughtful, clever, provocative and along with the astonishing machanistic tri-level performance space and set,completely brilliant. We were exhillerated and exhausted by the time we emerged at the end. Too tired and too late to buy Jamie a drink. So we said thank you and good night and headed backl to the Ibis. With the trip to Salisbury demanding early rising the next day, we were anxious to turn in and get a good night's sleep.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Finding Harry at the National Museum
Thursday, July 8
London, Day 3
Well, memory of exactly what we did every day is becoming a blur, but our photos tell me that on Thursday we went to the National Museum. We took it easy that morning, ate late, and returned to our room to call Sheila in Salisbury to confirm arrangements regarding visit there on the 10th. She seemed thrilled about it and agreed to meet our morning train and get us back to the station in time for the last one that night. On our way for the rest of the day, we stopped for lunch at the local pub and chatted with the Australian waitress a bit. We have noticed that most people who serve us at the hotel and restaurants are from elsewhere. She followed a boyfriend home to Engand and he is in school.
After checking the tube map we set out for the museum. Ooooh and aaaahhh!!! Free. Accessible. Remarkable artifacts and splendid exhibits.
We concentrated on the ancient Sumarian,
Greek, and Roman pieces on the first floor,
saw the Rosetta Stone,
and marvelled at the age, beauty and detail of the art.
However, I got a bit sad after awhile about something to do with the distruction that preceded these exhibits.
Many of the sculptures were torn from ancient ruins, or had been vandalized on site. Some important bits and pieces were missing from their body parts.
Still, a wonder.
After a tea break we went up to the rooms of ancient British finds. The Time Team had been busy!
One neat thing was the tile floor from one of the turrets we had visited at the Tower of London.
Another was that among some ivory carvings, I found Harry,
the Viking mascot for Wexford Collegiate Scool for the Arts, which is where I work.
We ended our visit in the reading room, which was air conditioned and a blessed relief. It was really a very hot day!
I convinced Jan that the bus would be faster, but this time I was proved wrong. Just because a bus was at a street corner did not mean we could board it. So we gave chase and probably got half way to Piccadilly before we finally got on.
Jamie was waiting for us there and we walked to China Town to eat dinner - excellent food! - and had a great visit with him. He is working temp jobs and volunteering at the Shunt Yard theatre box office so he was able to plan to do the festivals for the summer, working or volunteering at many of them. Hope he has a blast! After dinner we walked back to Trafalgar Square to check out the Sadlers Wells installation called Slow Dance.
I knew there would be projected images because we had seen the technicians setting up three big screens on our first visit. However, I was hoping that there would be actual dancers as well. No such luck. Three synchronized films were being projected, each a single image of a dancer performing jumps and turns in various genres of dance, like ballet, modern and hip hop. After awhile one of the images would fade out to be replaced by different dancer and style. We could only watch for so long, but two things happened before we finally turned away. I offered my cane to a one-legged man in a wheelchair to assist him in standing at the rail above the square to watch the films. Also a young boy down in the square began to imitate some of the movement in the films. When we were done, we said goodnight to Jamie and headed for the hotel. We stopped back in at the neighborhood pub for one drink just before last call. Had to laugh. One tourist couple didn't take them seriously and ended up finishing their bottle of wine and beer out on the sidewalk. When they say 'closed' here, they mean it!
London, Day 3
Well, memory of exactly what we did every day is becoming a blur, but our photos tell me that on Thursday we went to the National Museum. We took it easy that morning, ate late, and returned to our room to call Sheila in Salisbury to confirm arrangements regarding visit there on the 10th. She seemed thrilled about it and agreed to meet our morning train and get us back to the station in time for the last one that night. On our way for the rest of the day, we stopped for lunch at the local pub and chatted with the Australian waitress a bit. We have noticed that most people who serve us at the hotel and restaurants are from elsewhere. She followed a boyfriend home to Engand and he is in school.
After checking the tube map we set out for the museum. Ooooh and aaaahhh!!! Free. Accessible. Remarkable artifacts and splendid exhibits.
We concentrated on the ancient Sumarian,
Greek, and Roman pieces on the first floor,
saw the Rosetta Stone,
and marvelled at the age, beauty and detail of the art.
However, I got a bit sad after awhile about something to do with the distruction that preceded these exhibits.
Many of the sculptures were torn from ancient ruins, or had been vandalized on site. Some important bits and pieces were missing from their body parts.
Still, a wonder.
After a tea break we went up to the rooms of ancient British finds. The Time Team had been busy!
One neat thing was the tile floor from one of the turrets we had visited at the Tower of London.
Another was that among some ivory carvings, I found Harry,
the Viking mascot for Wexford Collegiate Scool for the Arts, which is where I work.We ended our visit in the reading room, which was air conditioned and a blessed relief. It was really a very hot day!
I convinced Jan that the bus would be faster, but this time I was proved wrong. Just because a bus was at a street corner did not mean we could board it. So we gave chase and probably got half way to Piccadilly before we finally got on.
Jamie was waiting for us there and we walked to China Town to eat dinner - excellent food! - and had a great visit with him. He is working temp jobs and volunteering at the Shunt Yard theatre box office so he was able to plan to do the festivals for the summer, working or volunteering at many of them. Hope he has a blast! After dinner we walked back to Trafalgar Square to check out the Sadlers Wells installation called Slow Dance.
I knew there would be projected images because we had seen the technicians setting up three big screens on our first visit. However, I was hoping that there would be actual dancers as well. No such luck. Three synchronized films were being projected, each a single image of a dancer performing jumps and turns in various genres of dance, like ballet, modern and hip hop. After awhile one of the images would fade out to be replaced by different dancer and style. We could only watch for so long, but two things happened before we finally turned away. I offered my cane to a one-legged man in a wheelchair to assist him in standing at the rail above the square to watch the films. Also a young boy down in the square began to imitate some of the movement in the films. When we were done, we said goodnight to Jamie and headed for the hotel. We stopped back in at the neighborhood pub for one drink just before last call. Had to laugh. One tourist couple didn't take them seriously and ended up finishing their bottle of wine and beer out on the sidewalk. When they say 'closed' here, they mean it!
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