Denham Upper

A lovely relaxed morning after our Whitby day yesterday, D, Beryl and I went for lunch at The Cricketer's Arms Pub in Sarrat, very nearby and seemed to eat all afternoon long. We experienced the most amazing chocolate fudge cake ever made on the earth!


I have to say that D's 2 boys are a sensation. Alan on the left has been so accommodating for my adventures and site seeing and helped me out enormously to feel comfortable exploring the big city of London. He has a dry sense of humour and brought many smiles and laughs!
Tim on the left (obviously) with his fencing partner, Zoe, has been completing exams and studying very hard. He is the greatest pudding maker of all time. He has been very patient with me and I'm very pleased to say he enjoyed my stir fry on the last night! :)

I have had such a wonderful, laughter filled time with the Wright family over this time in London that I cannot begin to thank them for letting me into their lives. I feel like part of their family, not just a visitor! Ilove them dearly! See ya all again soon! Bye from me!

Whitby......Jet

I have had a desire to visit Whitby for a number of years, ever since I read about Whitby Jet and Victorian Mourning Jewelery. I had a little silver brooch inlaid with which I hoped was jet and filigree silver flowers containing little seed pearls. So I brought it with me on the chance I was to get the opportunity to travel to Whitby. (plus I love Heartbeat, but that has absolutely nothing to do with it!!!).......
'D' and 'V' set off at 7am Sunday morning and hit the motorway! (that's us ready to jump in the car)WOW!!! I love driving over here! sitting on 130km and that was only in the middle lane!.. Not sure of where we were really going, thought we better stop at one of the services, grab a coffee and a map and take off again. We went through York (Clare, I did not know we would do this and I could have seen Gabi!!) amazing to see the wall and hear the history as much as 'D' could tell me. We were on a mission, no time to stop and walk around unfortunately, as it would have taken a day, so we have perfected the "Drive By Shooting" ... any hints or advice with this technique will be willingly shared! As we did stop in the middle of the street at times, we were on the look out for police and hoped we would not be arrested! I shot turrets and broken tumbling fortress walls, Tudor houses which had sunk in the middle, original thatched roofs to old cottages such beautiful old buildings and simple gardens surrounded by lush green trees. Absolutely gorgeous.
Then suddenly we were in the moors district with sparse vegetation and green gullies where little homesteads were nestled out of the chilling, fierce wind....what's that in the distance??.....The Abbey of Whitby on a hillside, we had made it!

We made it to Whitby by 12pm just in time for the sky to open up and misty rain to wet us through! ...that was half the fun! But.....we nearly cried! There were so many people (tourists) and the quaint seaside town was huge! And there was not a Jet Jewelery shop in sight, all we could find were numerous op shops, real estate agents and clairvoyants!!! Hell! what were we going to do now.....? walking on further we came across the Whitby Bridge over which we trod and found on the other side, all the restaurants, jewelery shops and speciality stores you could imagine. BTL! (Maddy, Shay&James, here are yr postcards!)
After our lunch we closely examined the older jet in the shops and more contemporary jet jewelery. ...and no, my brooch was not jet but onyx, so i bought myself a little pendant of jet to remind me of Whitby. Then the sun came out and what a beautiful day it was, though very windy. The Abbey on the hill was remarkable as well as the cemetery with the amazing view of the the North Sea. When we left we felt that our trip had been most successful and we were thrilled with our visit to Whitby, England...home of Heartbeat!!!
On our way back to Denham, we drove through Manchester for a cup of tea with 'D's' old friends. Unfortunately we didn't make it to Liverpool, my Dad's hometown, (next time!) ..and arrived home around 11pm! A long day ....

Family Visit

My plan today was to catch a train to Milton Keynes to visit my 2nd cousin Edna. I had a most entertaining trip as it took nearly twice as long as planned as the railways were spending the day repairing the tracks! Thus I was transfered to a double decker bus and it took forever to get to Euston Station! From there the fast train was amazing and well worth the bus journey. Graham, Edna's son-in-law picked me up in a very sexy black audi sports car and we sped off back to the house. How wonderful to see Edna again and meet her daughter, Karen. We hadn't seen each other since 1998 I think! We all enjoyed a fabulous lunch with laughter and chatter. After, Edna and I had a lovely catch up about my Dad's early life in England, it was a fantastic visit, and I feel more English than ever. My extended family made me very welcome and I was saddened the time went so quickly. My trip home was smooth and very well coordinated, thanks to Graham with train times for me to follow and I made it back to D's house in 1hour 40 minutes! (Much better than the 3 1/2 it took earlier).
What will tomorrow have in store????

Windsor Castle

It is amazing what a good night's sleep and leisurely morning can do to one's stamina and well being! When we were Ready, we set off for Windsor Castle to meet the Queen!.....well! Much to my horror, she's mucked up the dates again!..Oh well, we settled for scones and thick clotted cream, mmm delicious!


You thought this was the castle, didn't you? It is just the keeper's gate and round the corner from the the Royal farm where we had tea! These little cottages are provided for accomodation to people who have dedicated their lives to Royalty..jolly good show I say!







Quite a few buildings in Windsor are tipsy. Seems to be a common thread running across Europe. Here is a stature of Queen Victoria we flashed by in the car!











End of the day, enjoying a sparkling red on the balcony with D and Beryl! Also view of the view..glorious!

London ..chapter 2

Such an iconic view of the Tower Bridge. As you can see the Thames is Yarra River colour! Walking closer, here is one of the pillars and a quaint garden. I met Alan here and we walked across the bridge gazing at it's splendor and great views of the city with it's unusual mix of old and new buildings. Next, views of the Tower of London where gruesome be-headings and torture are renowned throughout history. (While Alan and I were talking of the virtues of remaining respectable citizens, we did spare a thought for Tim at home studying for his exams! )
For some reason I can't add photos at the moment...so I will continue and hopefully put them in later.
Headed passed the Gherkin building, made of glass and gherkin shaped. Saw the amazing Bank of England Building then wandered onto St Paul's Cathedral, just viewing from the outside. Heavily armed police were on patrol, so we continued on our way to do some department store viewing at Oxford Circus. Monopoly makes so much sense now! caught the underground back to home then sat for a little while before going to a little pub called 'The Green Man' (oldest pub in England they say)where we played a quizz game and I enjoyed the most delicious spicy seafood stew! mmmm....best meal I've had all trip I think! and that's it for yesterday folks!

London....calling

'D' picked me up from Gatewick airport, which was miles away from where she lives, so I stuffed up there! It was such a relief to see her, and have my feet firmly on English soil! On the 2 hour journey by car to her gorgeous cottage in Denham, we talked and cried and shared lots of news together.


After a most scrumptious lunch of mouth watering lamb which had been slow cooking for 4 hours! ..we did a few tasks in the afternoon. Tim and Alan, D's kids are just superb fellas and I feel right at home. Beryl, D's mum is here for an extended stay and she is a hoot and makes the time very entertaining. Alan sat me down and explained the public transport system to me, most thoroughly I might add, ready for my journey into London the next day.

WEll, what a change having signs in English and people who speak the lingo too. I felt relaxed, took the underground and popped up right opposite Hyde Park, where a lovely little cafe beckoned, cappuccino, sitting in the sun with maps spread out plotting my route! First stop Buckingham Palace! ...bit late for the wedding, but never mind, at least there were not the crowds, and the gate had been polished and the fountains cleaned! Lizzie wasn't home, she must have had her dates of my arrival mixed up! Walking through the park, enjoying the London Plane Trees and the sunshine! Here deck chairs are set out for the pale English population to get their allotment of vitamin D! On I went passed the Ritz and on to Piccadilly Circus. Classic shot here of the cupid statue. Jumped on a bus and then headed down toward Westminster where I gazed on Nelson's Column and The National Gallery in the background. I went into the gallery to the 1800-1900 section (my favourite) and sat staring at Turner's, van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Seurat, Degas, in fact about 4-5 magic paintings from those artists in this section. When I finally walked out into the sunshine feeling calm and deeply moved...hark..a bell tolling! Big (bloody) Ben was calling me! Grabbed a quick Cappuccino and headed down passed Houses of Parliament, round the corner, and there he was in all his glory!
Such a landmark and all shiny in the sun. I scooted across the road to Westminster Abbey, where the great wedding was held not many days earlier! I felt they could have cleaned the entrance up a bit, it was looking a bit shabby!... but quite grand all the same.
Crossed Westminster Bridge and managed to get 3 classics in one shot, double decker bus (which I had the pleasure of riding on) Big Ben and the London Eye, which is massive! After walking over the Thames, which is really a larger version of the Yarra River, and the same colour! ..along South Bank passed the eye, I organised to meet Alan for lunch and finish the rest of the afternoon with him, enjoying other famous landmarks and the divine spring weather! I will add this section and photos in later today as I need to get ready and head off to Windsor for tea and scones and thick clotted cream!