Fulton County Library

Another regular haunt that deserves a mention, (we come to use the Internet), especially as the lovely ladies behind the desk recognised us from last year and welcomed us back. They were astounded that I had remembered to bring our library cards as they said people from over the road often forget theirs when coming to the library! That got us a few Brownie Points!

Path Valley Restaurant Revisited!

Had to come back here! See previous blog entry last year. Had a huge supper of pork chops and Mark tried the fishcakes with John and Joanne. Felt like locals despite the accent as Joanne knew a few people in the restaurant who came over to say hello! Must have been hungry today as didn't have to ask for a box to take home!

Baked Goods

Last year this turned into a bit of a boys challenge to see who could return either with the biggest haul of baked Armish goods from one trip or who could add a new venue to the list of baked goods stalls. Mark was determined to relive the experience and off we set on Friday morning in search of the perfect pie! This is our first collection of goods. Disappointingly our favourite baker has closed down so no freshly baked doughnuts this year.

Walking on the farm

Alexander and I set off with a stale bagel that would have sunk the Titantic to feed the fish from the bridge. Saw a huge turtle basking in the warm water and sunk a few unfortunate fish with some rather large chunks of bagel!

The Farm

After a long drive from Washington DC we arrived at the most peaceful spot on Earth that you can imagine for some days rest after Mark's procedure. This is one of my most favourite views from the little bridge over the stream, where Alexander and I play Pooh Sticks and feed the fish! He always seems to win and we never catch any fish!

The big red bus!

After smiling very nicely at the man and saying how much I thought this looked a little like a London Taxi, (obviously not the colour), we got upgraded with no extra charge to this beast, a Chevrolet HHR, no less! No I don't know what it is but I LOVE IT!!!!

We were expecting to get a little tin box with handles to wind down the windows but this has leather seats, electric seats, heated seats, air con and satelite radio. No sat nav though so still got hopelessly lost leaving Washington but that happens everytime and I'm beginning to think a map wouldn't help anyway.

Just noticed it looks orange in the photo but it is bright, bright red really.

Leaving Brooklyn

Leaving Brooklyn, just before taking the bridge over the water, we had this view of the Manhatten skyline. It really is an impressive sight to see and must be wonderful from the helicopter rides you can take which I saw buzzing around. Back in New York the hectic, busy and noisy atmosphere hits you like a brick wall. One of the nurses said you can stand in the same spot and never see the same person six seconds later. That's quite a fast pace of life and I quite believe her.

After the CCSVI

Here's Mark fine and well after his appointment. We went back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation before heading on out to a wonderful restaurant which the specialist had reserved for us! He also gave me a lucky penny which I must not spend even in emergencies!

Brooklyn Museum

There was a terrific thunderstorm last night, the morning started wet, humid and quite overcast. After waiting for the sun to break out we decided to visit the Brooklyn Museum not far from Prospect Park. The building was beautiful inside and out and unlike yesterday we seemed to have the place to ourselves. My favourite floor consisted of houses from different periods of American history completely reconstructed and furnished. This weird bedroom reminded me of Miss Haversham as the bed was piled high with wedding items including a very large cake. I put that in for Charlotte who has been studying the novel at school!

Yoko Ono's Wish Tree

In a quiet corner of the Sculpture Garden at MOMA was a tree in a pot which visitors were invited to write wishes on a luggage tag and then tie to the branches. We saw, in one of the contempory galleries, a large perspex box which was filled with these handwritten wishes taken from the tree. Mine is tied on there in the picture and hopefully will be added to all the other wishes from people all round the world in the gallery.

Just a few of my favourites.

Squeaking Around MOMA!

Spent a lovely couple of hours at the Musuem of Modern Art this afternoon admiring work by Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse and Dali after we had exchanged the musuem wheelchair for a quieter model! Soon into our visit we developped a dreadful squeak which even the gallery guides found difficult to bear and suggested, helpfully, that they sent for a replacement. I must admit walking the length of one of Monet's really large four canvas waterlillies paintings with the squeak really spoilt the serenity of the painting. Mind you people could hear us coming and got out of the way so we got a good view.

Hotel le bleu, Brooklyn

Hotel le bleu is on busy and noisy 4th Avenue but walk up to 5th and you are in a pretty neighbourhood which meets all my expectations of an American city community. Pretty brown, brick houses with steps up to the front door and metal fire escapes zig zagging down the front of the building remind me of countless scenes in famous movies! We have found a couple of blocks of restaurants and cafes and have eaten really well the last couple of nights!

Vamoose!

The Gold Vamoose bus leaves Arlington at 8.45am and takes four and a half hours to take you right to the centre of New York City. The journey was uneventful and again we were very comfortable in extra roomy seats with free water,newspapers and Wifi. I watched the scenery go by but the interstate we were on was not that beautiful and the WOW moment didn't come until Mark woke me and filling the window was the New York skyline. One very bumpy cab ride later and we were at our hotel, first thing I did was to put the kettle on!

Flight UA0925

Our flight to Washington DC was about seven and a half hours which we spent very comfortably in flat bed seats being looked after by two crew members who couldn't seem to take, "No thank you" to more food or drink at all. After I had read the instruction manual about all the gadgets in our seat area we settled down to a pre-flight drink, selected our menu choices, (I went for the steak), and planned our on demand viewing. It seemed very strange to have a little table cloth, proper china, (warm plates), and metal knives and forks for dinner. Mark somehow very quickly became their favourite passanger and we left with a swag bag of snacks and a full sized bottle of champagne. Ana, our hostess, said the first night in a hotel could be very bleak! We didn't let on we were staying with a friend!

Turn right to the First Class Lounge please!

I am sat typing this in the lounge with a glass of champagne and a stash of luxury magazines. What bliss, could just do this for the next ten weeks! Mark has already put his watch onto American time and is snoozing lightly in a comfortable leather armchair. Can't quite make up my mind whether to have a cup of tea or more bubbles!
Decisions, decisions.

First Class Check In

Check In was so easy and civilised it was quite a pleasure, no standing in a long Easyjet queue for us this time. Quite like this style of travel and could get used to it but really rather shouldn't! Treated like royalty and haven't even got through security yet!

Train, plane and automobile

Well here we are arriving at Heathrow Airport after a very relaxing drive down the M40 and M25. The car arrived slightly early which was just as well as we had to juggle the cases around a bit to get them to fit in the trunk. (Note the use of the American term rather than the English "boot"). Just getting into practice!

Packed and Ready for the Off!

So here we are at last all packed up and ready to go! It's amazing how all those clothes plus as much stuff from Mark went into the three cases, but I didn't even have to sit on one!

Packing

So this is what my packing looks like and I haven't even got the warm clothes for Alaska out yet! Good job we've got 64 kilos of baggage allowance in First Class.

Nattatasha designs!

Here is Florence modelling the latest in children's wear for the summer! Having abandoned my knitting needles in favour for the sewing machine I have branched out into vintage style dresses for anyone fortunate to be between the ages of one and three. All Florence needs now is some sunshine and a party to go to!

The Black Horse, Great Linford

Had a lovely lunch in the sunshine with Robert, Rachel, Rebecca and Henry more often referred to here as my loyal Spalding fans! Dark glasses and glamorous hats were the order of the day as you can see from the photos of the boys and the girls!

Who's this then?

Dad has been playing with the gadget we bought at Christmas which converts slides to photographs and has been going through some old slides and negatives. Had a bit of a giggle going through the ones he has done which included Mum and Dad's honeymoon in Libya and some gorgeous looking baby! Now I don't expect any giggling from any of my Godchildren!

Happy Birthday Dad

While we were in Spain we celebrated several landmark days! Dad was 21 again, Mark, well we try to forget that one and it was our 5th Wedding Anniversary. We had several lovely lunches out, ate far too much and returned home to sleep in the sun. Perfect!

The London Eye and Thames Boat Cruise

As part of our day out in London we had free tickets to go on the London Eye. Amazingly Mark has never been on it before so although it was the third time for me it was a first for him. Quite an unusual situation for us to find ourselves in! The views were superb and Mark was able to point out many landmarks and buildings of London. The boat cruise was fun too but they nearly forgot to take us off at the end and we were close to cruising again!

Drove down The Mall on our way home where they were only just finishing removing all the temporary TV studios from the royal wedding. Tried to pretend I was Kate Middleton as we drove round the statue and on to Clarence House but just couldn't channel her vibe!

Corrigan's for Lunch

Mark and I spent the day in London and had lunch at Richard Corrigan's restaurant in Mayfair. We had a delicious lunch the highlight being for me the freshly baked Madelaine's that came straight out of the kitchen in the baking tray, dusted with icing sugar, as a petite four. There wasn't much petite about them and I could have easily eaten four! Fortunately the waiter kept coming past our table!

Massive Blog Update!

Thoroughly chided by my Spalding fans for my long blog absence here is a massive update before the real adventure starts on the 14th June.

Way back at the beginning of May I went to a local falconry centre and spent three wonderful hours learning about many birds of prey and flying a selection of birds. Unfortunately the Harris Hawk wasn't interested in my bits of day old chick and wouldn't fly to me but I had more luck with the owls. I was amazed at how light they were and how delicate the balance between life and death related to temperature and a carefully measured portion of food for their weight.

The weather was glorious and the birds flew well enjoying the warmth and I guess the opportunity to stretch their wings. Would love to go again and perhaps next time have more luck with the hawks.