Chartwell and Hever

Today, Thursday, we started the day with a trip to the local supermarket where we purchased far more than we needed: pate, baguettes, cheese, Jaffa Cakes, Hobnobs, black currant jam, Cheddars, and every other good thing! We kept faithfully to our planned itinerary and spent the afternoon at Chartwell and Hever Castle.

 Uncle Rod with a yard of Jaffa Cakes

 The gang at Churchill's Chartwell

 Chartwell

 Churchill's study

 Drawing Room

 Yew berries: a Taylor favorite

 This teak bench is responding to the very wet fall here

 Picnic of Hobnobs, Jaffa Cakes, and Cheddars

 St. Peter's at Hever Castle

 Before the portcullis

 Hever

 Italian Gardens at Hever

 Cascade in the Italian Gardens

 Pergola in the Italian Gardens

The end of summer

Roman influence everywhere

It was a beautiful day and we are finishing it well by watching the first episode the new season of Downton Abbey. Tomorrow we head to London for the day. We'll let you know how it goes, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.

Arizona to England

I'm not sure how to number these days because they all ran together. Tuesday we started the day in Peoria before Maren delivered us to Grandmother's in Mesa. We ran a few errands and managed to squeeze in some lunch at Tia Rosa's Taqueria. Late afternoon, Chip took us to Sky Harbor International for our flight to London. The crutches and Grandmother's wheelchair greased the wheel and we were just about first on the airplane. The flight itself was great -- nonstop -- but I nearly died of crazy legs. There is not even an inch to wiggle. The approach to London was spectacular: I had a crystal clear view of London along the river from the Thames Barrier to Kew Gardens. Matt and Conner met us at the airport and brought us to their charming home in Edenbridge. We had a great dinner at their neighborhood pub and are now almost ready to hit the sack.

Finn and Harry, dropped off for school

Beckham on the school-bus run with Maren and me

Beckham and me tearing it up while the others shop

for last-minute travel needs

Lunch at the Taqueria

The cobble-hobble group at the airport ready to board

Rear view of Matt and Kim's house

The group in the Boynton's great room

The kitchen

 Our (actually Conner's) room

Dinner at the Swan

Cod, chips, and peas (apple and peach crumble

with custard for dessert)

The plans for tomorrow are still up in the air, but we will let you know what happens.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Here We Go!

Monday morning, 15 October, Rod and Vic picked us up at 7:00 AM and we headed south to AZ. It was the most beautiful trip to AZ I remember. We have never been in the fall because we were always teaching, so this was a new experience. It was a sparkling clear day and the light, raking from the south, was incredible. Every scene conjured up memories of Maynard Dixon. Rod and Vic love Denny's almost as much as Hank and Colette, so we ate lunch there in Page. The hamburger and onion rings were actually excellent. They dropped us off in Peoria where we have spent the night with Maren and the boys -- Gavin is in India.

 Phillip and Katy working poor Daniel over

on Sunday evening after dinner

 The scenery was spectacular on our Monday drive to AZ

 Shades of Maynard Dixon

 Beckham and Harry at Finn's soccer practice

Our lovely hostess for the first night of the journey

Today, Maren will take us down to Mesa and this evening we will check in for our direct British-Airways flight to London. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more adventures.

OXO

D.

Tom and Corey

Today Tom Boynton and Corey Johnson were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. All the Boynton cousins were in town for the occasion. This evening they had a very nice reception at the Alpine Arts Center.

 Rain in the night left the mountains shrouded in mist

and capped with the first snow of the year

 View of Mount Timpanogos from the temple
of the same name

 Corey and Tom

 Yup!

 With Rod and Vic

 The Boynton clan

 With their kids

 The Boynton siblings 

 The Alpine Arts Center

 Some of our gang with their cousins

 The food was good

 The cake with cakes

 These will be our traveling companions for the next three weeks

The Gebhards and Colvers;
I caught Daniel with a full mouth

It was a beautiful fall day and everything was perfect. Monday we are off to England, so stay tuned.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Just Around the Corner

Last night for Uncles' Dinner we went to Emanuel's Mexican restaurant located in the former 7-11/Chadders on 900 East across from Stan's. It was very good and reasonably priced. It was also the occasion for the maiden voyage of my new camera. The good old Lumix died in Nevada when I dropped it on the way to the Hansen reunion. It has been downhill since and finally I was unable to retrieve photos at all. So the new camera is a new smaller Panasonic Lumix with all the features of my old model. So far I am pleased.

 The former 7-11

 Five stars on both Yelp and Urban Spoon

Chili verde enchiladas

Next time you are in town we can try it. After we try a new place Kris and I always ask each other if we would go back. We would both go back with alacrity!

That's all for now.

OXO

D

The Latest

Since returning from AZ life has been full of excitement. Well maybe not all that exciting, but fun. Friday we drove to Kamas with Rod and Vic to have a hamburger at High Mountain (formerly High Mountain Pharmacy, but the pharmacist has retired). They were discovered during the Olympics 10 years ago and now have the reputation (and awards to back it up) of the best burgers in the state. And they were delicious! The shakes are also fantastic: Kris's raspberry chocolate shake was superb.

 Ordering burgers and Shakes at High Mountain in Kamas

Saturday was Meg's baptism and the family all gathered. There was a delicious Hawaiian/Korean nosh afterwards and the kids went swimming at Emily's for the very last time. She finished her move the very same day.

 All the family and friends

 I learned Saturday that these three boys had a hair-raising 

adventure in a snow cave some years ago and Phil saved

Steve and Tim's life

 The Taylors

 The happy family

 Phillip baptized and confirmed Meg

 Tutu Lenore, Grammy Kris, and Meg 

 Chicken, ribs, rice, mac salad, green salad, gyoza, 

some fantastic kimchee, and cookie bars

 The celebrant

 We don't get to see Tim and Shelby very often

Our contract with T-mobil finally finished in September, so after the "luau" we went to Best Buy with Katy (who is moving from our plan to her and Daniel's plan) and Daniel to check out the best new plans with their impartial and knowledgeable sales people. We signed up with Verizon and got free (last-generation) i-Phones. We are on a steep learning curve, but enjoying every minute of new-millennium technology.

 Such a deal: me with an i-Phone!

 Best cover ever -- well the old camo was great, too

Sunday I ordered some crutches online and Tuesday they arrived. Today I made my maiden voyage and managed a mile-and-a-half walk without pain. Plus, the knee seems slightly better anyway. The motivation for the crutches is London where we land two weeks from today. One simply can't do London without walking, and I will walk! I spent two solid days planning an itinerary and working out details. I decided that if I didn't do it, no one would. So now I'm excited.

 Ready to attack the London streets

Stephen and Ann's new basement is really coming along. Stephen is in Germany so he missed it, but today they installed the stair. The opening at the top is the linen closet door. Grant Rencher is also there today working on the sheetrook. 

 The treads will be nice big chunks of wood

Grant Rencher does good work

 Grant, metal guy, and our Bishop, Rich Johnson (the builder)

That's what's going on around here. And that's all for now.

OXO

D.