London with Connor

Wednesday, Connor had an appointment with the doctor in South Kensington, and with a rainless day, I went along. We arrived around lunch time and went to Borough Market. I had some Vietnamese curry and Connor had a porkbelly sandwich. We ate in the the churchyard at  Southwark Cathedral before catching the Tube back to South Kensington.  While Connor got prodded and poked, I went to the Natural History Museum, which was slammed. I didn't mind because it the building itself that I love and I didn't have to queue for that. I went back to the V&A to see the Plaster Casts, which are always entertaining: the Victorians were so odd. We took the Circle Line out to Tower Hill to see the World War I commemorative art piece. The Tower was also slammed, but it isn't hard to squeeze up to the rail. The sheer numbers of dead represented by the ceramic poppies is staggering. 

 Waiting for the train from Oxted to Victoria (London Bridge Station

is closed for construction for a couple of weeks)

 Victoria looks festive bedecked with Union Jacks

 Happy traveler

 I am always thrilled with a chance to change trains at Westminster

 Burough Market

 This lively spot was closed when we first went to London in 1978

 The curry was good

 Porkbelly with Bramley apple sauce

 Southwark Cathedral is small but beautiful

 Uncle loves flint construction

 The Shard looms over the area

 Southwark

 Roasted hog

 Back through Westminster

 South Kensington

 The area around the station is a lively pedestrian zone

 Pedestrian zone on Exhibition Road 

(looking toward the Hyde Park Chapel)

 The Museum of Natural History

 Cathedral to Natural Science

 della Robbias in the V&A

 One of my favorite della Robbias

 The quirky plaster casts

 The Victoria and Albert Museum courtyard

 888,246 ceramic poppies

 100 years since the start of WWI

 Home by way of Monument Station

Base of the Monument with St. Magnus the Martyr in the distance

We will probably be close to home today. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

At Home on Tuesday

It rained hard all day Tuesday and we just stayed in. Kris helped Kim with the baby and I cooked. Not much to post about, but I want to remember what happened, so there ya go.

 Cottage Pie

 Made with leftovers from Sunday

 Young man went from this to....

This in just a matter of seconds

There will be much more to recount from today, and I will post tomorrow morning. Thats's all for now.

OXO

D.

Rainy Monday

It rained all day yesterday (Monday). Kim is still rebounding, so Kris stayed right here helping with Brigham. Matt took the long jaunt to Heathrow again to fetch Connor who returned from a couple of weeks in Arizona. It was a bank holiday which created lots of traffic on the M25, and, of course, the rain slowed things down, so it was a crawl and took a good chunk of the day. While Matt was gone I went out for a walk in the rain. It was lovely with stops at the Church, the river, and Waitrose (I needed batteries and Kris wanted some Cheddars). When he returned, Matt drove Connor and me to Seven Oaks to Sainsbury's to shop for the week, because Matt will be in Bogota, Columbia until Thursday. They have Stag Chili from Costco in their larder, so I made chili and chips for supper.

 Oak leaves and hawthorn berries in a hedge, sparkle in the rain

 Fall leaves along the way

 Church Street, Edenbridge

 The lychgate (lych from Old English lic = corpse)

 A church has been here since the 12th century

 St. Peter and St. Paul has two naves

 This is the north nave

 This is the south nave

 South door

 Stone buttresses

 West front door

 The Eden River also flows through Hever --

notice the rain drops

The Great Stone Bridge over the River Eden

 Connor is back

Brigham is a good and handsome boy

It was a lovely day in spite of the rain. If the rain lets up today, I will likely go out again. Kim is improving every day and Brigham is doing great.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Simply Sunday

There was little of major excitement to document this Sunday. Matt was excused from his church duties and we all stayed home. Kathryn's flight back to AZ required a midday trip to Heathrow, so I accompanied Matt to the airport for the departure. I made a traditional Sunday dinner with a wonderful addition of Yorkshire pudding, so easily attained here.

 Heathrow Airport

 Heathrow Terminal 3

 Kathryn on her way back to AZ

 Quick stop at Waitrose, which, unlike the former Co-Op, 

is now rather chichi

 Beautiful view through the leaded-paned windows of our room

 Roast beef, tatties, mashed parsnips, Yorkshire puds, and gravy

And for dessert, sticky toffee pudding with custard

It's raining today (Monday) and there are no adventures afoot apart from grocery shopping. And Connor will be back today.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.