I Say is That You Winston?

 SONG -  London Town by Paul McCartney

Day 35 - Mon. Jun 3

Our last full day in England as we head home tomorrow afternoon. We finally made it to Westminster Abbey today and it is spectacular!  We had taken a tour in 2017 so we knew some of what we were seeing. Mr. B did get headphones and I was armed with my camera. The last time we were here they didn’t allow photos inside the abbey but this time it was okay - just no videos or selfie-sticks.  

We took the tube back home to relax and then we were off to do some shopping.  Afterwards I decided that we needed a little tipple so we walked to The Gore Hotel to have drinks with The Rolling Stones….kind of!

It was where they held a release party for their album Beggars Banquet

Then a final dinner at our Spanish tapas place just across the street from our hotel. The night air was perfect!

So much to see & do in London! Oh but we mustn’t forget Winston for whom this entire post was named. 

Big Winston & Little Churchill Pozer

Night London.  I will miss you!

 

Bits and Bobs

 SONG -  Heart of the Country by Paul McCartney

Day 11 - May 10

I have been enjoying a proper English breakfast each morning but without the blood sausage, beans and black pudding. Well, and no tea. So that l end up with bacon (nothing like US bacon), eggs, & grilled mushroom & tomato. Yum. 

Today we drove to Cirencester (a much larger town than Lower Slaughter) to get Mr. B’s brand new shoes fixed at the Cobblers as the sole broke away from the uppers. We also bought him a new pair of tennis shoes as the only other shoes he had brought were flip-flops. 

He’s a proper Bobby-dazzler now

While waiting for the cobbler to finish his shoes, we popped into The Corn Hall for a “boot sale”. I found a few silver pieces to purchase but mostly it was fun to rummage through all of the vintage/antique bits & bobs.

On the way back to Lower Slaughter we stopped by Bibury to see Arlington Row. It was crowed with tour busses but we lucked out and found parking in the center of the village. 

“Arlington Row at Arlington in the parish of Bibury, Gloucestershire, England was built in the late 14th century as a wool store and converted into weavers' houses in the late 17th century. It is a Grade I listed building, owned by the National Trust. “ Wikipedia

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Manor House across the street from the Slaughter Inn.  

It was a beautiful warm evening and we sat outside for drinks & light appetizers. 

Care for a game of croquet anyone?

Sophie from St. Ninians near Stirling was our waitress and it was fascinating as she told us that she knew a lot of “Baird’s” growing up. We happen to be going to St. Ninians to do some research on Mr. B’s family tree!

Mr. B ordered a great bottle of Priorat from Spain and then our pre-appetizers arrived. 

It was a delicious Basil & Parmesan tart and a Fried Mushroom Quenelle

Followed by our starters - mine was White French asparagus with a Blood Orange butter & Sauce Maltese and Mr. B’s was Bang Bang Cornish Crab with crab bread & butter. 

For our main courses I had ordered Lake District Lamb with Morels, wild garlic, with a mint & caper condiment while Mr. B went with the Creedy Carver Duck with garden celeriac & parsley and a side of leg ragout.

And if that wasn’t enough they brought out pre-dessert which was a chocolate nugget with raspberry ice cream and for our ordered desserts we both had the Baked Apple with puff pastry & Carmel ice cream. 

We walked back to our Inn with a lighter pocketbook but happy hearts. 

Did I mention that our hotel is three-quarters surrounded by water, the river Eye? And that while we were getting ready for dinner about 20 Morgan cars pulled into our parking lot for the evening? The group was from Spain. 

Night……

Blackbirds

Song - Blackbird by Paul McCartney

Blackbirds social distancing 

in 

 Bodega, California (where else?)

where they filmed "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock



"Mrs. Bundy: I hardly think a few birds 
are going to bring about the end of the world. 

Melanie Daniels: These weren't a few birds."

-- The Birds 

The Bandits Are Back

Song - Blackbird by Paul McCartney

The berry bandits that is.......Cedar Waxwings with their marvelous bandit masks on!

 They usually appear near the end of January as that is when the Privet berries ripen.

 Today happened to be a nice sunny day and as I set up my camera even more birds began to arrive.

I was outside taking these photos for about half an hour.

 Suddenly they all flew off as a small sized hawk flew directly at them!

 This isn't a great shot but it does show the bright yellow tail tip and the red wax color
under their wings. And that's how he got his name - "Waxwing"

 The hawk came in so swiftly that I didn't even get a change to take his picture.

It's been several hours now and the Waxwings have not returned.

Hopefully tomorrow but it's supposed to rain.

"Faith is the bird that feels the light 

when the dawn is still dark."

--Rabindranath Tagore

A Birthday Surprise

Song - A Little Help From My Friends by Paul McCartney and Ringo Star

This is my dear friend Jill, who's birthday we celebrated on Saturday.  I knew 2 months ago what I wanted to plan to celebrate but I wanted to keep it a surprise.  So I asked her to reserved the entire day from 9:30 until midnight for me.  I had a car full of blankets, towels, ice chest and 6 special cards.  In each card I placed a "clue" as to what we were going to do in the evening.  And at the final card she needed to unscramble 5 letters and 1 word.  Easy right?

First card - GO

Second - a star

Third - just a funny note about going to a field to watch the stars

Fourth - IN

Fifth - R

Sixth - a more serious card about all of the fun times we have had over our many years of friendship

We went to the beach at Point Reyes first. It was windy but we found a little area in the dunes where we could spread the blanket and be sheltered from the wind.  At this point Jill just had the first two cards - GO STAR

I explained to her that something special was happening that evening with the stars.  I feigned shock that she wasn't aware of the celestial excitement for that evening.  I told her that we would be in a big field watching the stars. TRUTH!

I had made lunch reservations at Nick's Cove on Tomales Bay so she received the next 2 cards there.

I made sure that I had picked out some very mature cards for my sensitive friend!


She now had Clues 1-4......GO STAR IN......and she didn't have a clue as to the answer......the suspense was killing her!  If you know Jill, she is always pulling a rabbit out of her hat so it was fun for me to have the tables turned for a change!

The water was crazy-rough out on the bay while we walked out to the little party shed on the end of the dock.

 We found some shelter behind the building and a lovely couple offered to take our photo.

Here I gave her the "R" card and I thought for sure she would put it all together at that point. Nope.  She is a brilliant nurse and could not unscramble 5 letters....mmm.....early onset dementia perhaps?


As we headed over the hills inland to Sonoma I decided to give her the last card and an extra obvious surprise clue.  Just that morning I had made a CD of this star's songs which I played for her but she just couldn't get past the order she had opened the cards in - GO STAR IN R........

She is singing along with all of the songs from the CD and chatting about how much she would like us to go see this performer the next time he tours California.  We are 3 blocks from the venue and I am thinking that she will soon see a poster or sign for the concert.

So I ask her to please try unscrambling the letters again.......and tears came to her eyes.....I knew she had figured it out at last.

Here we are in Sonoma at The Field of Dreams seeing Ringo Starr......

Those are Ringo's drums in the back with the STAR on them.  In the front is the opening act Pablo Cruz's drums.

Pablo Cruz was fun but it was all about Ringo and His All Star Band tonight (see I told you we would be in a field with star's!)

The sun had set and the lights came on!  Here he comes.....

They played a lot of Ringo's songs but each of the band members is a star in their own right so a lot of other songs where enjoyed.  Ringo is very generous in sharing the spotlight.

Look at those hands fly over his drum set!!!!

Oh, oh......I think he spied me taking photo's with my telephoto lens.....doesn't look too happy.

Yup, looking directly at me.




Me and thousands of other fans taking photos!!!!

Yes, Ringo is a little corny but sometimes we all need corny in our lives.  He was an important musician when I was young so I hold a special place in my heart for each of the Beatles.

Thanks Ringo for the great concert and thanks Jill for the many years of friendship!

from the Jumbo-tron

And remember....

Quote for the day: