My sincerest apologies, dear reader - I've been a very bad blogger, letting life get in the way and not pausing to write. To recap on my activities and whereabouts for the past two months would take far to long, but I'll try and mention a few highlights.
Our English Wedding Reception (April 24th): Luke and I celebrated with family and friends on this side of the pond at the Dunchurch Park. It was a beautiful setting and event. I got to wear my wedding dress again, which I was thrilled about since I absolutely love it! Luke, once again, looked mighty handsome, if I do say so myself. It was a night filled with a lot of laughs, dancing, and alcohol. Some of the photos of Luke towards the end of the night are particularly amusing.
That Other Wedding You Might Have Heard Of. (April 29th): On April 29th, the world seemed to stop and watch the wedding between two little knowns, Prince William and Kate Middleton. I was no exception, the family gathered at Ian's parents' house for a Royal Wedding BBQ. We had a giggle looking at some of the ridiculous getups people were wearing, in particular Victoria Beckham (who looked like she was going to a funeral) and Princesses Beatrice & Eugenie. I "ooh'ed and aww'ed" like the rest of the nation at all the right places, and smiled when they had not one but an unprecedented two kisses on the balcony. I draw the line at crying.
Grandma in London (May 21st-22nd): My Grandma and her friend Phyllis, went on a cruise around the British Isles which ended in Southampton. Luke and I met them for the weekend in London and stayed in Covent Garden. It was great to see them both and show them around. Lindsay and Bob met up with us on the Saturday and we walked around Westminster. On the Sunday, Luke and I took them on a River Thames Cruise before going into the Tower of London. After which we met up with Neil and Nicola for lunch at the Hispanola, a restaurant my mom and I have ate at almost every trip we've taken to London.
Besides that, we've both been busy looking for jobs and trying to get out of Worcester. Although the job market is better here than America, it still is not the greatest. Combined we've probably applied for well over a hundred jobs and only had a few bites back which then turned into pretty much nothing. We're still hopeful though, the right job is out there for both of us and we'll find them!
Next Thursday, we're heading off for another wedding, but this one is in Florence! To say that I'm excited would be the understatement of the century, I could definitely use the holiday! And in honour of that, I say to you... CIAO!!!
I have never given much thought to spring, coming from Vegas where the lovely warm weather stays for mere weeks before the summer heat (of around 115 F) is upon you. However, living in England is giving me a new found love for this season. This being my first spring in England, I'm experiencing new things I never have before, and thoroughly enjoying them. Watching the buds slowly creep out of the ground and back onto the trees, daffodils grow like wildfire and are everywhere you turn, and of course all of the baby animals, especially the lambs.
Two weekends ago was a particularly lovely one in Southam, where Luke and I spent much of the weekend lounging in the garden. While Ian and Lindsay toiled away with potting plants and officially ending winter's reign over the garden. Knowing my new found love of spring and my obsession with lambs, Lindsay arranged a special treat for us on Sunday. A friend of hers from work, Deanna, has a smallholding and invited us to come up and feed the lambs.
Deanna and one of her chickens
In the warm sunshine surrounded by animals a smallholding is rather appealing to me, but Deanna is quick to point out in the wet winter months it is a lot of work and images of me having one quickly pop out of my head. Deanna and her husband have a wide range of animals: horses, chickens, sheep and even a donkey named Jenny. Of course my favourite were the lambs, they were so soft I felt like I was cuddling a stuffed toy. A number of them had really big personalities, especially Lamb 24.
Jenny the Donkey
Did you know: That when lambs are born numbers are spray painted on them so the farmer knows which lamb belongs with which ewe. If multiple lambs are born they are all given the same number. For example, our Lamb 24 had a brother and a sister both with 24 spray painted on their sides, but they weren't sociable like she was.
'Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb... whose fleece was white as snow.'
As soon as we entered the field a number of lambs came bounding over as they knew we were bringing milk. I was shocked to find them so happy to play with us as I was expecting Deanna to have to coax them over. In fact it was quite the opposite, not only were they only too happy to come and play but they wouldn't leave us alone. We could pick them up and hold them without them kicking up a fuss. I was also surprised to see their mothers didn't seem to care in the slightest that we were playing with their lambs. Lamb 24 followed us around the field and kept jumping up at our knees. I think she was almost as sad to see us go as we were, she stood at the gate 'baa-ing' until we were out of sight.
Luke feeding our favourite, Lamb 24
Lindsay and Deanna called me the 'lamb whisperer'
Lamb 24 didn't want us to leave.
It was a lovely morning and a very rare opportunity that I'm very grateful for. I'll leave you now with a poem by one of the Romantic-era masters, William Wordsworth, an Englishman who with this poem, I believe, captured the essence of an English spring.
Erin x
'Daffodils'
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
'Portobello Road' clip from Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
"Portobello road, Portobello road
Street where the riches of ages are stowed.
Anything and everything a chap can unload
Is sold off the barrow in Portobello road.
You'll find what you want in Portobello road."
Bedknobs and Broomsticks was one of my all time favourite films as a child, and I so wanted to visit Portobello Road. I figured it was a more realistic ambition than visiting the beautiful briny sea or watching animal football. Some twenty years later I got my chance last Monday! Lindsay and I decided to have a girly day in London with our main stop being Portobello Road. Although Portobello Road's Antique Market is mainly done on Saturday, there was certainly plenty to do and see.
My three favourites being:
A number of cool vintage shops. Lindsay said they were either like walking into her grandmother's closet or her closet circa 1984.
All of the Mediterranean/vegetarian food restaurants/stalls. I'm a sucker for Mediterranean food, especially if it's vegetarian. Quite a few of the restaurants in the area seemed to cater to this type of eating and with things like halloumi (a cheese from Cyprus) my mouth was watering.
The fresh fruit and vegetable stalls. Yes, there were scarves and rings and all sorts of other trinkets for sale but the fruit and veg stalls are what really caught my eye. Because there were so many of them the prices were unreal. I bought two packs of dates for a pound.
Reaching the end of Portobello Road, Linz and I had discussed earlier in the day having tapas for lunch. Linz had found a tapas restaurant online close to Portobello Road, only problem was now we didn't know where it was. Lindsay was consulting her map when we were approached by a rather eccentrically dressed older woman. We told her what we were after and she offered us to walk with her for she knew where I tapas restaurant would be. She was one of the most remarkable woman I've ever met. Not only had she travelled extensively, on her own as her husband had sadly passed a number of years ago, but she was fluent in French and could speak a little Polish. She had taught herself Polish because one of her all time favourite destinations was Krakow. I could have spoken to her all day so I was sad when we arrived at our destination and bid farewell. I considered inviting her to join us for lunch but without the means to communicate this to Lindsay first, I decided against it. It turns out Linz felt the same way about her and was thinking along the same lines as me, but by this point we were seated and she had disappeared into the crowd. I'll always wish I'd asked her to lunch, I didn't even catch her name but the twenty minutes I spent in her company were very pleasant indeed.
The tapas were lovely, Lindsay and I split four dishes (chicken roulade, beetroot salad, squid fricassee, and cheese & pepper croquettes) and washed them down with a glass of the house wine. After which we wandered through Whiteleys, England's first department store, upon suggestion from our mystery friend. Whiteleys is no longer a department store but in fact a shopping centre but you can see how grand it must have been in its heyday. While there we popped into Zara's to continue search for a black blazer. I've wanted one for a number of years, but not just any old blazer a really nice fitting tailored one. I absolutely love blazers and there were so many in the store I wanted, not just the black ones, but alas none of them fit me right. My quest continues.
Whiteleys Department Store
Disappoint search for blazers at Whiteleys over and done with, we made our way to Kensington Gardens. One thing I love about London is all the green space in the form of the Royal Parks. If I had to choose a favourite royal park, it might just be Kensington Gardens or Hyde Park (which runs directly into Kensington Gardens). On nice days I love to just walk through the Royal Parks, I did this with my mother in October and Amy when she came to visit in March. The parks are usually just so peaceful. I say usually because this time I had a stalker in the form of a very persistent squirrel. He followed me halfway through Kensington Gardens. If I stopped he became motionless in the hopes to make me believe he wasn't in fact stalking me. I nicknamed him Ninja Squirrel and couldn't quite figure out his fascination with me until I remembered the dates I had bought earlier in the day. I refused to give him one, namely because I had no idea what effect they might have on his little tummy. But after being followed for no less than fifteen minutes I felt his persistence should be rewarded, well that and the fact that he was sitting on my boot and it was the only thing I could think of to make him move. He got exactly one date and after he decided that I wasn't going to give him any more, he scampered off so quickly one would have thought his tail was on fire.
Our day out ended in Covent Garden. We arrived just as the shops were about to close, with just enough time to go into a couple. Our main aim in coming to Covent Garden was to have dinner before catching our train home. We stopped at Le Pain Quotidien, which I would go back to again in a heart beat. The food was all fresh and the prices were very reasonable, especially for London. I stuffed myself on an Italian platter made up of cheeses, cured meats, and tapenades. Delicious!
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day out, and once Luke and I move to Milton Keynes an easier experience to repeat!
