Up, up and away!

Composing this in the hotel's Concierge Lounge. Looking out through the large

 windows at Heathrow's runways at the landing and taking off of planes.

From all corners of the world, displaying their colorful painted tails, we can

 name them being this close.

They are different from this hilarious illustration of 'flying machines' 

I found in a corridor downstairs when searching for the gym - not to exercise

 just for something to pass the time!

We're stuck at the airport hotel today.

This day, of all days, brought the greater London transportation strike.

There are no trains or subway, the busses are limited and being

monopolized by commuters requiring an alternate way to work, so our

 planned day into the city for a look about, and perhaps a bit of shopping, has

not materialized.  

You win some, you lose some!

The old plan for this day included keeping a costly pre-paid appointment

 for the required COVID test to return to the US. Thankfully that regulation

was lifted a week ago and we are hoping to have the fees refunded.

Instead, what was going to be a free day, has turned into a minor lockdown

day. We had breakfast here. We took a walk around the large hotel property,

 and will walk again later as it's a beautiful sunny day. 

Now I'm sipping Britvic Spicy Ginger Ale - "Lifting Spirits since 1938" it says

 on the bottle, it works! I'm nibbling Brontë biscuits, "Great British Biscuit

 Bakers since 1895".

Silly as it sounds, it's little things such as this that make me feel I'm really

 at home again.

Traveling to London yesterday via the National Express coach, the

 green, grass of home flew past the windows. . . . . 5 hours of great

scenery in sunshine and blue skies.

Supper last night was at the nearby Pheasant Inn pub. 

We've eaten here for many years when flying out of Heathrow as it's

just a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

This time tomorrow we should be back in Raleigh following the long

eight hour direct flight.  

I'll be back here once settled and caught up with the most

important tasks awaiting at the house. . . . . and definitely 

the garden.

It has been a wonderful trip home and I'm already planning the next one!

Heading southwest to Devon. . . . . .

May 6th saw us racing with the breeze and sunshine through the English countryside 
on the bus journey to the southwest county of Devon.

Leaving Bath on a bright, sunny, almost warm morning was hard. 

I would love to spend more time in that city some day.

There is so much of interest, history and beauty.  

But Devon was calling. . . . . . .family, friends, familiar places. HOME!

iPhone photos only from the bus window  - this is Teignmouth, a seaside
town where I spent many a childhood summer holiday with my dear cousin

 Sue. . . . . . . . .who still lives here, and of course we visited later.

Teignmouth is at the estuary of the River Teign, in these views as we
 crossed the river, but also has a wonderful beachfront complete with
promenade and ocean pier. As children, Sue and I would climb the hill 
in the background and play in those glorious green fields.

Most Devon seaside towns are big on boating - tiny sailboats to huge
 ocean-going corporate yachts.

Arriving in Torquay, we were met from the bus by my cousin David who
 transported us through town and around the harbour to our AirBnB rental.
A new place for us which we found so convenient. 
More to come of course.

American Museum & Gardens - Bath, Part I

The sign said, 'Welcome to the American Museum & Gardens'. 

The taxi stopped at the top of the hill and we all clambered out into a chilly,

 but dry, typical English morning, only to view breathtaking green rolling hills

 and the valley beyond - a view of Bath never seen before, literally a different

 side of this wonderful city.

Our friends Ruth and Mike who had traveled from Wiltshire that morning, met us

 with warming hugs and lots of chatter at the hotel whilst we awaited the taxi.

They picked this very special place to take us knowing it would be of interest

to us both - history for Bob and gardens and art for me. They certainly made
 the right choice - we loved it all, including a break for 'elevenses' with coffee and 

delicious homemade cake in the Orangery Café.

The American Museum takes you on a journey through the history of America,

from its early settlers to the twenty-first century. With its remarkable collection

of folk and decorative arts, the Museum shows the diverse and complex nature

 of American traditions and is actually the only museum outside the United States

 to showcase the decorative arts of America.

 

Claverton Manor 1820 - built of Bath stone in the neo-classical style - home

 of the museum since the 1950's.

Go HERE for more interesting history of how the museum came to be.

Posts later on the fabulous Kaffe Fassett quilt exhibition and the Folk Art Gallery.

There is still beauty. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . out there somewhere.

There is kindness and love, honesty and caring. 

There are good people doing brave things.

At times such as this we question much.

We pray and hope for a safer future,

for the children, for us all.

Gary Bunt - Daffodils: Art and Poetry

I wandered slowly with my dog

We likes to roam o'er vales and hills

When all at once we came across

Loads of bloomin daffodils

Summer reading - after Ireland and Surgery. . . . . . . . . .

How lucky can I get!

No cancer, so very thankful. 

No major housework.

No lifting and bending.

No traveling, oh NO - just for a while though.

BUT. . . . . . all the time in the world to read wonderful books this week and next. 

These, waiting to be opened and have their pages turned, are full of promise.

Since coming home from Ireland a couple of weeks ago, I have been eager
 for the mailman who has showered me with new books. . . . . . . 

. . . . . . other than FALLEN by Lia Mills, a Dublin writer, which tweaked my
 curiosity when I photographed this Dublin street banner, and which
 I was able to purchase later at a tiny Killarney bookshop, my books have come
 to my mailbox. FALLEN is set in Dublin at the time of the 1916 Easter
Rising and is an historical story of a young woman coming of age amidst
 violence and loss.

MEADOWLAND - The Private Life Of An English Field
by John Lewis-Stempel somehow appeared online when looking for something else.
 I had to have it!

"In exquisite prose John Lewis-Stempel records the passing seasons in an

 ancient meadow on his farm."

That singular sentence was enough to tweak my appetite for learning more
 about my much loved English countryside - the fields of Devon were my
 playground and I will always remember and love them for ever.

ON AN IRISH ISLAND - The Lost World of the Great Blasket 
by Robert Kanigel. 
The story of Great Blasket Island is a must read because I'm now besotted by
 the history of this Irish island (the largest of a group named The Blasket Islands
 off the Dingle coastline) which was inhabited until the 1950's.

The House on an Irish Hillside by Felicity Hayes-McCoy is the
 new book I've decided to read first.
 It is so wonderful I plan to do a full post on it later.
 Just know I'm really happy to have found this book by this amazing author - and that
 I have been fortunate to have just visited the Dingle Peninsula where she lives
 for much of the year.

. . . . . . lastly, a new book about the extraordinary record-setting woman aviator,
 Beryl Markham, caught in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter
 Denis Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen who, as Isak Dinesen, wrote the
 classic memoir Out of Africa.
Circling The Sun by Paula McLain.

My read and reread dog-eared copy of West With The Night was written by Beryl
 herself and published in 1942. It has always been one of my favorite books
 about adventurous women and life in Kenya back in the 1930's.
Hmm, Kenya, Africa, Masai Mara, Safari, Big Five. . . . .some day!!!

All photos by me - thankfully a small camera is not very heavy!

Movie matinée . . . . . . . . .

We took a break from some heavy cleaning yesterday - staying indoors is so 

much cooler these days that even household chores aren't so bad!

 Noting in the morning paper a movie I'd been awaiting had opened, 

we headed to a local 'art house' cinema just up the road for the early matinée.

What a fabulous movie Testament of Youth proved to be. 

Based on the true story of Vera Brittain's best-selling memoir,

it was beautifully filmed in several English locations including Oxford, Yorkshire, 

Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Greenwich, London. Although scenes of the 

devastation, futility, and immense sadness of World War I brought tears and a lump to 

my throat, the acting, costumes, and on point period settings of the scenes, made 

for a breathtaking, enjoyable movie.

Speaking of acting, the entire cast did a splendid job. Alicia Vikander, a stunning

 new to me actress, plays Vera. She's in almost every scene, and is truly amazing.

Hope you have a chance to view this movie, especially if you're a history buff. 

Bob and I were enthralled. I left the cinema thinking it's one of those films I could 

watch again and again, and that doesn't happen to me often.

Down to my home in Devon. . . . . . . .

Arriving in England is usually the same for me. 

When we're going straight home to Devon we take the National Express 

coach from Heathrow airport to Torquay. We no longer drive in the UK.

It's a long ride and one has to be prepared with lunch/snacks for the 5 hour 

ride - we pick up a sandwich and bottled drink from M&S or Boots at the

 airport shops and, having purchased tickets online, just wait, somewhat 

bleary-eyed from the overnight flight, until the 501 coach shows up - always 

on time believe it it not!  The ride on an almost Summer day is lovely. At this 

time of year the countryside is spectacular. It was cloudy leaving London but 

as the southwest counties appeared on the signposts, the sun peeped out 

and by the time we were 'home' the afternoon was perfect. 

My dear cousin David was at the coach station to meet us.  

He took us to a grocery store for the basics we needed at the rental cottage

 and drove us to our 'home' on the coast for the coming ten days.

More about David in a future post - we grew up together, our mums were sisters, 

and thankfully we have stayed close despite the distance since I emigrated to 

the US over fifty years ago.

The pink cottage, almost on the beach, was awaiting our arrival.

We let Jasmin choose which bedroom she preferred - this was the magnificent 

view from her window.

The sun goes down late over Tor Bay at this time of year - it remains light 

until around 10:30 PM which is wonderful, and the early dawn brings bright 

mornings by 5:30 AM.

Here, as we looked across the bay, the lights came on in Brixham, the fishing

 town where my father was born.

It's a long journey home - but always worthwhile.

Sleep was welcome that night.