Taking a break

Taking a break from blogging.....
I'll still be hanging around the blogosphere to read & comment.
I appreciate all your blogging endeavors to enlighten, entertain, and just plain make my day.....
Cheers!

Red

Don't Forget to Remember

Every Memorial Day the veterans of Tama American Legion Post 73 arise before dawn to plant American flags along the narrow roadways of Oak Hill Cemetery in Tama, Iowa.

Nothing is so proud as the red, white, and blue against the sky.

There is a flag for every veteran in the cemetery. There is a flag for Meester's father, who served in WWII.

So many flags! So many veterans!

As we enjoy the long weekend with drinks and something on the grill...please remember the veterans who no longer know the pleasures of a long weekend...who no longer relax in the sunshine on this earth. Please remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so that you and I are free to do whatever we please this weekend. Please give thanks for those men and women who are serving now.

Thank you to all those who have ever served, prayers for safe return home for those serving now, and God Bless America.

High in the Sky on the Eye

I've always thought the London Eye(the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe) was rather a blemish on the classic London landscape.

But after a twirl on the London Eye -- I have to say it's a darn fun ride!

We spent the last couple days of our England tour in London. The last evening was a surprise; our tour group was driven to the London Eye, where it was announced that we'd all get a champagne! twirl and a birds-eye view of London on the famous London Eye. (Meester and several other chickens heights-challenged members of the tour group headed for the cafe to wait it out on solid ground.)

The London Eye does look intimidating from the ground up!

I wasn't so sure about the Eye myself, but champagne was involved. I hopped on -- grabbed the first glass of champagne -- and was amazed at how much I enjoyed pressing my nose and camera to the sides of the clear viewing capsules.

• The wheel design was used as a metaphor for the end of the 20th century, and time turning into the new millennium.
• An experience on the EDF Energy London Eye will last about 30 minutes taking you to a height of 135 metres.
• You can see for around 40KM (25 miles) from the top.
• The total weight of the wheel and capsules is 2,100 tonnes - or as much as 1,272 London black cabs!
• Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop.

I always get by with a little help from champagne!

P.S. Wish you had all been with me for this one!

A Gem in the Cotswolds

Have you ever found a place of such charming grace that you wished to never leave?

That's how we felt about our stay in Salisbury. Salisbury is a delightful little town...easily walkable...with plenty of historical places to keep one busy -- and tea rooms to keep one refreshed.

For our two nights in Salisbury, we stayed at the Legacy Rose & Crown Hotel. An absolute gem on the River Avon! The oldest part of this hotel was originally a 13th century coaching inn. Much of the original inn has been preserved. You can see some of the original timbers and little carved doors from when everyone was shorter. The manager hinted that the ghost of a young woman haunted this oldest part of the hotel.

We stayed in the newer wing of the Rose & Crown. Talk about having everything one could want -- ghosts in the old wing of the hotel and big American bathrooms and powerful hot showers in the new wing!
Look -- We had a view of sheep, chickens, and swans from our room, too.

So romantic and charming! I could have stayed all summer.

It's a pleasant walk from the Rose & Crown to town and the Salisbury Cathedral.
We passed this classic Cotswolds climbing rose.

About 17 years ago I was on a tour that made a brief stop at Salisbury Cathedral; I fell in love with it then. Thankfully, this tour gave me plenty of time to discover even more to love about the Cathedral. I was standing outside the west entrance to the Cathedral, looking up at all the carved figures lining each level. As my eye traveled to the top of the cathedral -- I discovered Jesus reaching down to me in benediction.
It took my breath away -- surely that was the intention of the designers of the cathedral!

And of course, we had afternoon tea in the garden of Mompesson House. Mompesson House was featured in Sense and Sensibility!

Yes, the flowers really grow that big in England!

Please check out the links for photographs that are much better than mine. If you start dreaming of a trip to England, you will have to visit Salisbury.....and bring me along.

England was absolutely loverly.....

Best.trip.ever.

Still catching up on laundry and the weeds took over the garden while I was gone, so I haven't had much time to get back into the blogging mood.

We were blessed with uncharacteristically fabulous English weather. Sunshine almost every day - it didn't even dare rain on the day of the Royal Wedding, although rain was predicted. Wills, Kate, the Queen, and I were very pleased with the weather for wedding week.

Our tour group was staying in Stratford-Upon-Avon the day of the wedding; a tour of Shakespeare's birthplace and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was scheduled for the morning of the wedding. In typical recalcitrant Red Hamster fashion, I "went rogue" and told the tour group goodbye and snuck back to our hotel room to watch the Royal Wedding live on the telly. I just had to see that wedding dress and the first kiss on the balcony the exact same time as the rest of the world saw it.

I rejoined the tour group for an afternoon tour of Hidcote Gardens. I was still so smitten by the wedding, and then smitten by the beauty of the gardens, that I forgot to take pictures of all the garden flowers! Go to the website link above and you will see exactly what I saw at Hidcote. ...sometimes it's nicer to live in the beauty of the moment rather than fumbling with the camera....

I did get a picture of a wee lamb in a nearby field.
(Yes, the lamb has a number spray-painted on him; I think for id.)

After the gardens, our coach driver tried to take us on a drive through the classic Cotswold town of Chipping Camden, but was stopped by streets blocked off for wedding celebrations. Our group took a quick stroll through the High Street. I was hoping to join some wedding celebrants and get a glass of champagne, but we didn't have much time and I thought
I'd already been enough trouble.

Oh yes, we ran into Wills and Kate, and they are just a lovely couple.

...more when I have time...