Not Much to Report

Today we ran an errand to Chartwell. The day was beautiful and the ride was glorious. This afternoon we went to Bluewater, a HUGE mall near the Thames at the Dartford crossing (you can see it on Google Maps). It made me sad that the world is so homogenized. It was just like an American mall full of thousands of people spending like crazy. There is an enormous M&S, larger than anything on Oxford Street and every other store you can imagine. A high point of the excursion was lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen, but the real highlight was coming back into beautiful Kent on a gorgeous late afternoon.

 Kris says thanks

Bluewater 

 The architecture is looking a bit tired

 Lunch at GBK

 

 This place is enormous

Tomorrow we are off to the West to visit Port Isaac where Doc Martin is filmed. The weather has been so wonderful but the forecast isn't very encouraging. The forecast, however, is only good for about an hour: "It's an island" and the weather is changeable. So we hope for the best. I will add a post when we return in day or so. But that's all for now.

OXO

D.

A Great Day at Westminster and Whitehall

Today is Kris's birthday and we had a glorious day. Steve Braithwaite, High Priests' Group Leader from Matt and Kims ward took us to Downing Street and Westminster Palace. He is a member of the Metropolitan Police force and has entree to these places. It was fantastic! We also had time to take a spin on the London Eye. Kim was able to swing fast-track tickets (like a Disneyland Fastpass) because we had so many "seniors" in our group: the hobble cobbles strike again! It was a beautiful day and perfect for a spectacular view of London.

 Dickie's Sunday dinner: roast beef, mashed spuds, gravy,

Yorkshire puds, and sprouts (by Grandmother)

 Edenbridge Town Station this AM (Conner likes to make odd faces

like his cousin Katy Kathryn)

 Westminster Abbey

 Westminster Clock Tower, home of Big Ben the bell

 Westminster Palace

 The London Eye and County Hall

 On the Eye

 A great view of the City

 The Shard: London's newest landmark

 Houses of Parliament

 Kim, Kris, and Conner

 On Westminster Bridge

 Whitehall with the Cenotaph awaiting 

Remembrance Sunday poppies

Downing Street usually closed to the public

 The gang in front of #10

 Anybody home?

 Whitehall roofscape

 Trafalgar Square

 Rod and Vic enjoying lunch al fresco

 After a quick highlights tour of the National Gallery

 National Gallery and St. Martin in the Fields

 Enough said

 Steven Braithwaite leads the way into Parliament

 Westminster Hall with its Hammerbeam ceiling

 Lion rampant: shades of Winnifred

 The troops at Parliament

This photo was temporaarily removed for fear that its original 

caption would be picked up by Interpol and Roger de Boynton

would not be allowed to leave the country

The fun is exhausting

 Birthday dinner at the Swan

 Delicious pub food

The birthday girl

It was a fun day and will get even better as we watch the latest episode of Downton Abbey tonight. That, however, is all for now.

OXO

D.

A Beautiful Saturday in Surrey and Kent

Today we went to Chartwell so Vic could pick up a couple of things at the gift shop and then we drove north to Oxted to buy some groceries. OH MY GOODNESS! If we stay too much longer I will weigh 300 pounds: scones, custard, clotted cream, double cream, chocolate, pies, shortbread, etc, etc, etc. After lunch we drove to Penshurst Place which is very close to Matt and Kim's house in Edenbridge. The weather today went from clear, sunny, and freezing to rainy, to clear and sunny again. Today is Grandmother's birthday. Vic and Rod made a delicious pasta dinner and Kim made a great chocolate cake which I drowned in custard.

 The countryside of Kent from a spot near Oxted

 The gang in the Great Hall at Penshurst where 

photography is not allowed, but I have wanted a photo of 

this place forever, so....

The fire felt good today

One of the finest surviving great halls with fire pit, 

hammer beam ceiling, and minstrel's gallery

 A medieval vignette

 Garden view from an upper window

 Penshurst

 Rod and Vic in the gardens

 A bright spot of color in the garden

 A lovely fall afternoon

  I introduced Rod to the joys of forbidden fruit

 I am always a sucker for an alley of trees

 So beautiful it makes my heart hurt

 Mistletoe

With our new little Nissan Note

The birthday girl

Happy birthday!

It was a beautiful day, and that's all for now.

OXO

D.