Coming up for air -

The past week has been one of reflection and I admit

 to many, many hours in front of the television, or staying

 in touch with the happenings in the UK on my phone or

laptop. I felt the need to gather with my people across

 the pond in some way to honor our late Queen.

Being British, I was raised in a family where Royal

pageantry was embraced. My maternal Grandfather was

an officer in the Coldstream Guards. My Mother and her

siblings grew up in Windsor where he was stationed and

they used the castle grounds as their playground.

Later, my Mother was a Royal dressmaker in London and

worked on clothes for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

I saw Her Majesty twice, first as a 9 year old child when she visited

near my home in July 1952 to attend the Royal Agricultural Show.

We had a day off school, were crowded onto local buses for the 

short ride, and then lined up along the street waving small

 Union Jack flags as she was driven by in an open car.

I can still recall the excitement of that special day.

via Devon Live

Elizabeth II's first visit to Devon as Queen was in July 1952 when she came 

to the Royal Agricultural Show at Stover near Newton Abbot. She arrived

 in the town by train and nearly 50,000 people packed the streets and Courtenay Park

My second sighting of the Queen was in Boston in 1976

when she visited for the Bicentennial celebration. She arrived via

 the Royal Yacht 'Britannia' on a beautiful July day. I lived in

Massachusetts then so again didn't have far to go to see her.

On Monday morning I will be up at 5:30 AM to prepare

to watch the funeral at Westminster Abbey. Later that day

 I will be watching as The Queen is taken back to Windsor 

Castle where she will be interred in the royal vault in

the gothic 15th century St. George's Chapel, alongside

 her Husband Prince Philip, Father, King George VI, Mother, 

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and sister Princess Margaret.

Today I needed to get away and get out into the beautiful fresh air.

We drove south of the city to our usual farm for pumpkins. 

Tucked into the countryside we were warmly welcomed by our

 farm friends. Timing was perfect as they opened today to sell the

 first harvest picking and I was able to get some great ones for

 decorating and cooking.  

Will show you more later.

Beach Huts and Dame Agatha!

 

Life at the shore often includes beach huts in the UK, and there are about

 20,000 of them scattered along the island's coastline which measures

 approximately 8,000 miles.

The history of these small wooden buildings is timeless.

To own one is like having a precious piece of shoreline history in your 

pocket. To purchase one these days can be like buying a quite decent 

full-sized house. . . . . . .you'd need deep pockets!!

One hut, in Dorset, was recently for sale at over five hundred

 thousand pounds, twice the price of the current average home. 

Apparently it's cute but doesn't have a toilet!

These are the colorful huts along the beach at Corbyn Head in my

 hometown of Torquay. I spent a lot of my childhood beach days

here, swimming, fishing for hermit crabs in the rock pools, picnicking, 

and even managed to almost get stranded with a friend at high tide

 in the red sandstone caves in the cliff!

Behind the beach is The Grand Hotel where author Agatha Christie

 spent her honeymoon. Born and raised in Torquay she is now celebrated

 annually - info below if you are interested in attending in September.

What an amazing author she was!

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 

15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her

sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections, particularly

 those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. 

She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which

 was performed in the West End from 1952 to 2020, as well as six novels

 under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. 

In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) for her contributions to literature. 

Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer

 of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. 

via Wikipedia

Mother's child. . . . . . . .

On a recent day I felt very much my mother's child. Do you ever feel like that?
Baking was on the To Do list - some to nibble and more to freeze.
Wholewheat cheese scones for soups or salads, and blueberry muffins
 for breakfast.

Mother was definitely a brilliant woman. She could do just about anything she set her
 hand to. Dressmaker to royalty, tailor, wedding dresses, my childhood wardrobe
 perfection, my adult wardrobe fashionable - I sent the fabric and Vogue designer
 patterns, she mailed back the clothes! 
Gardener with a very green thumb, awesome cook, jam maker, cake baker.

Bartender in her father's pub in her twenties. Served in the Royal Air Force 
during WW2. A chef (no formal training but they loved every dish, and her
 amazing cakes) in an exclusive business club. 
She managed shops; lighting (where she handmade the silk lampshades); furniture;
and china departments as she knew all the beautiful British china 
patterns. . . . . . . . and before retirement, managed the busy theatre box office
 in our lovely seaside town where she met the famous, including the Beatles!  

. . . . . . .and the tea towel?

The Princess Theatre building is just visible on the left of this old but loved tea towel.

 Built in 1961, the year before I emigrated to the USA, it sits on the waterfront

 of my hometown in Devon, England. Celebrities galore have crossed its 

stage - from the pirouetting Russian Bolshoi Ballet to prancing Mick Jagger and

 his Rolling Stones!

. . . . . . . this tea towel reminds me of my mother and much of what

she taught me and passed along to me. What a hard worker she was,

what an amazing woman. I'll miss her always.

Devon childhood. . . . . . . . . . . .

I know I've shown you my village in other posts from other visits home - but this 

most recent visit was special as I shared part of my childhood with 

granddaughter Jasmin. Even those rusty railings are special to me - the same ones

my friends and I did 'gymnastics' on as kids. It's amazing that they've stood there for 

so many years!

In the village is the 'local'. The Devon Dumpling pub.

Go to this earlier post for more history of my childhood days where, even 

back then, this former farmhouse played a big part.

http://abreathoffreshair-mary.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-neighborhood-local.html

Still a social gathering place for a pint or a great meal. We had lunch here and 

I was so pleased to find the quality of the food was still excellent and, although the 

pub had been through a rehab since my last visit, all was for the better - modern 

facilities and a nicer outdoor 'beer garden' area, but most of the actual historic 

inside remains as before.

I did miss the older signage - but apparently the owners thought they needed

to move on with the times and the 'buxom wench' has been put in storage!