Some pix from our visit with the Bradshaws and the Gifford Circus that Barbara arranged for us all to see.
Great fun!


The tea tent...I loved the teapot.


Barbara and me at the circus.


The horse whisperer.


The strong man.


The tightrope walker...later he played a violin and did a jig.

Inspired by the circus, some of us tried it in the Bradshaw's back garden....


Jim teaching Rory and Georgia to juggle.


David doing his trampoline trick....


And the star of the show...Rory doing his famous flip!

A few more Dorset scenes....


Typical English seaside...cloudy, miserable weather and a Punch and Judy show.


I've always loved the idea of these daytime cabins at the seaside...apparently quite expensive to rent
and need to be leased over a period of years.



JIm and I in a thatched bus shelter.



Jim, Susan, and Alan and another great pub.



Tough old laws they had in Dorset!



On our walk into Dorchester we stopped to have a picnic on this little bridge
with swans to keep us company.

Our cottage in Dorset.




The men in the kitchen...where they belong...




Very comfy living room.




Where Thomas Hardy's heart is buried (body is in Westminter Abbey) and also
the bodies of his two wives.




Testing the waters of Dorset...a wee bit chilly.




Taking a break from pubs to have a Dorset cream tea.

Jim in Steve Forbe's London house working beside the David Hockney.




Battersea Power Station on the Thames and a boat called "Montreal"




A sculpture by Michael Landy in the Tate Britain which is an actual size
replica of the semi-detached house he grew up in in Essex. Lots of authentic
detail even to having bird crap on the roof! It creates quite an effect in the middle of the art gallery.

This artist has done some rather interesting things including a "work of art" where he shredded all his personal possessions in front of an audience...to demonstrate something about the value we attach to human labour in a consumer society.


Some pix from Dorset.


Jim in front of Thomas Hardy's church.




Corfe Castle...an amazing ruin.

Some pix of London, the Thames, and the London Eye...great addition to the city's attractions.






And of course, Hari Krishnas....wouldn't be London without them.


Kensington Palace...lots of things don't change...


Hacky Sack in St. James Park

Back home now after quite a good flight and feeling not too jetlagged. Great to see Don and Elaine at the airport and got our birthday loot...among many other things, a really neat looking recipe book on using cheeses. Monique also had left all sorts of wonderful goodies in our kitchen so we didn't have to do any shopping. A super trip but wonderful to be back to our own beds, friends, and glorious weather. You just can't be the west coast of Canada!

So, now the pix begin.



The Star Pub in Yorkshire where we had some fabulous food including that very upscale ploughman's lunch.




"Peacock å table" at Nunnington Hall




Susan and Alan's spectacular garden. I did think at one time I would do the same with our back yard but painting got in the way. Looking at our dried up lawn out the back as I write....




Jim in Otley, the market town where Susan and Alan live.




And those wonderful hills of Yorkshire that I never tire of seeing. On the plane they showed the movie "Calendar Girls" which takes place around this area so we got another unexpected look at this countryside.

Hello from Riga, Latvia.  Just finished doing a tour of the absolutely wonderful art nouveau buildings here...just amazing examples.  We have a super hotel in the "old town" and there are wonderful things to see there as well.  Riga does have wonderful architecture and is very scenic with the river, the canal, and beautiful parks.  It's also an extremely good value compared to England...less than half price for pretty much everything.  Nice to get some relief from prices in Britain.

We got out to the beach area of Jurmula (23 miles of sandy beach).  Didn't go swimming but waded and the water was fairly warm.  Lots of people swimming.  Taking the train out was quite an experience too...again, very cheap...$2 dollars (CDN) return for a 40 minute ride.  Jim's conference has been very good and his paper went over well.  We're off tonight for the final dinner...Latvian food, of course!

Another really fascinating place was the Central Market...loads and loads of vendors...probably about 200 of fish alone and selling everything.  Lots of smoked fish.  We have a great buffet breakfast that has everything you could want including about 12 varieties of smoked fish dishes.  Visited the Occupation Museum today...very depressing history...so glad to see things really looking up for this country and its people.

 

Just came back from a wonderful stay at Patty Brooks (mother of a friend) lovely 16th century thatched house in grounds in a wonderful  little village in Buckinghamshire.  Sipped Pimms under the apple tree, went for a super walk round the fields and were absolutely spoiled with lovely meals and great conversation...even got some tips on how to do these cryptic crosswords these English love.  Thanks so much, Patty.

Before that had a couple more days in London and saw a great play by Conor McPherson (wrote The Weir that was at the Belfry not long ago) called Shining City.  Also got to the Tate Modern and walked across the Millenium Bridge (could do that in 00 because it was "wobbly".  Great way to cross the Thames.  Then lined up to visit the "Stranger's Gallery"  (viewing area) in the House of Commons.  Really neat even though Tony was seeing the Queen that afternoon and wasn't there.  Also went into the House of Lords.

Back in London now strolling around Earl's court and Hammersmith before overnighting at Heathrow and on to Latvia (very early...!) tomorrow.

 

I had my first experience with the NHS (National Health Service) and it was quite fun really.  I was getting a little worried about this thumb so thought I should get it looked at.  Also, didn't get a very encouraging response from a pharmacist I asked.  She said I should go to Accident and Emergency immediately and that they would have to take my thumbnail off (wasn't the case).  Our B & B in Reading is very close to the Royal Berkshire Hospital so figured I'd drop in on the way home.  I had nice chats with lots of people and things weren't too backed up.  Covered for some young men who wanted to take smoke breaks. 
 
They took an xray and it wasn't broken so decided to try to let out the blood that was causing the swelling by what they called "a rather primitive method". It consisted of lighting a little coal oil lamp and heating a needle until it glowed red then pop that in my nail.  They weren't sure if it would hurt...screaming from the next cubicle didn't help but actually didn't even feel it in the end.  Blood was too clotted but let some out so the pressure subsided a little.  I think at home they would have shielded the process....a bit unnerving to watch this needle heated to glowing and see it coming towards a thumb that was very sore....!
 
However, everyone was very nice and no charge.  I really do think they should charge tourists but no complaints.
 
This was our day for bargains as we actually had a meal that cost less than at home rather than twice as much as is usual in England.  We happened on a J.D. Wetherspoon pub mainly because it had a view of the river.  We had two meals (one fish and chips and one lasagna) and two pints of Abbots ale for around 20 dollars CDN.  The food was pretty good too.  I  paid 3x for inferior  f&c in London.
 
Trying to get tickets for a Proms concert but the oneline booking is down...will try again after I post this.  We were hoping to see Measure for Measure at the Globe but not on when we're back in London.  Just about seen most of Reading.  Think I might take a train to Swindon or Chippenham this aft just for something to do.
 
 
 

Just left Oxford and are now in Reading. Jim's doing the usual research library thing and I found this very cool public library with lots of free Internet access. Reading seems quite pleasant and it's been fun walking along the canal (Thames also runs through the city) and saw some interesting canal boats floating by. The best was one with loads of plants, herbs, a dog, young couple (guy with hair to his waist...very 60's)and a young baby bouncing along in a little cot. Very charming. They waved at everyone and seemed like they were having a great time.

We had a super visit with the Bradshaw family in Oxford and had a lot of laughs, great food (thank you, Barbara), interesting pubs (thank you, David), impressive cricket and trampoline demonstrations (thank you, Rory), and round Britain type quizzes (thank you, Georgia). I do have to note, though, that I am the only one who managed to get "soft hands" Jim out at cricket....very proud of that!

And a real highlight was the Griffin Circus that was performing in a nearby field. This is a travelling Victorian type circus that was just fantastic with loads of excellent acts...horses, clowns, dancing girls, acrobats, strong man, magicians...and even a tightrope walker who played an Irish jig on a violin while standing on the tightrope with one foot! All very impressive and lots of fun...super band as well. We were all exhausted just by watching all these energetic goings one for two hours. Do take this in if you're in England and have a chance. Seems it all started in 1999 when the to-be Mrs. Griffin said, "I say, darling, I would like a circus"...and the rest is history.

Been doing lots of sightseeing in Dorset...very very beautiful countryside and we have a fabulous, spacious, cottage. Huge kitchen which makes it great for us all pitching in to help. Don't have much time so try to give a bit of a quick update. Corfe Castle is a wonderful place and have also enjoyed lots of lovely thatched villages and all the Hardy country stuff. There is actually a cottage Hardy's father built at Greenwood Grange where we are staying and his birthplace is just down the road. Went to Sherbourne and were surprised by the great Abbey there and also a wonderful stately home. Walked into Dorchester today along a lovely river path and had a picnic by some swans. Then met a garrulous Dorset man and heard all about agriculture etc. Have to go.

Greetings from London! We began our stay in London with a "flight" on the London Eye. What a great addition to the city's attractions! You really can see so much and they have it all wonderfully organized. We're quite close to the Thames so doing quite a bit of walking around there. Close to the Tate so took in a special exhibition on the garden...very nicely done.

I went with Jim yesterday to Old Battersea House to help with some copying of Huxley letters to John Galsworthy (of Forsyth Saga fame among many other things). There ended up not to be any letters but it was quite an experience. It actually was the London home of Steve Forbes of Forbes Magazine. He has an amazing collection of Galsworthy papers...many original manuscripts and loads of letters from Conrad to Galsworthy..also letters from Katherine Mansfield, Henry James, etc.(alas no Huxley).

It was quite an amazing house and our work area was beside a large wonderful David Hockney work. The secretary there was having trouble typing up a talk from the handwriting of someone so Jim helped her since he is quite accustomed to reading bad handwriting.
In the end, the person came down to decipher it and it happened to be Casper Weinberger who was the Defence Minister for Reagan. Various photos around the house with famous people like John Kennedy, Clinton, Reagan, Liz Taylor (the father, Malcolm Forbes, was married to her for a while).

National Gallery yesterday and wonderful to see Van Gogh's Sunflowers again.

Off to Dorset tomorrow after dinner with the Horne family tonight.

Greetings from Yorkshire!

We had a good flight over with a small glitch in that the Underground was on strike but we managed to get a taxi without too many problems and arrived at King's Cross in pretty good time and almost immediately got an express train to Leeds. It's been so great to have some cooler weather and we've been sleeping like logs (didn't get up until noon today!).

Susan and Alan have been spoiling us with all sorts of delicacies and it's so relaxing to be driven about and not have to navigate and all that stuff. Thursday we went to Nunnington Hall which is a very interesting manor house. Lots of interesting things to see and I especially enjoyed the many miniature scenes the lady of the manor had collected and partially created. Having been deprived of a doll house I have a special affinity for these.

We had the best ploughman's lunch ever in a famous pub called the Star in a little village called Harome. There was rarish steak, duck, smoked chicken, chicken salad, chutney, salad, three type of wonderful local cheeses and I'm sure I've forgotten something. Seems this pub restaurant came close to getting a Michelin star but couldn't get it because it is listed as a pub and Michelin doesn't rate pubs. Got talking to some folks there who mentioned the AA Pub Guide 2004 which is rather new I think so we've got that now and are avidly planning pub crawls in Dorset!

It's so neat being back in Yorkshire. The countryside and the little villages are just so wonderful. Looking forward to going to York this evening and having dinner with Alistair and Jenny and seeing their new house. Perhaps we'll even get in a bit of back yard cricket...

We're off Tuesday for our trip to England mainly, then Riga,Latvia at the end where Jim is giving a paper at the Huxley Symposium. Riga seems to have lots of old stuff to see and a big collection of Art Nouveau architecture

So we begin by heading up to Yorkshire by train and staying with Alan and Susan for a while, then down to London where Jim has some research to do and to see the Horne family and also where we will meet up again with Susan and Alan and we all head to Dorset where we've rented a cottage for a week right in the heart of Thomas Hardy country. Then to Oxford to visit the Bradshaw family, then Reading and London for a bit more research and also really looking forward to visiting Patty Brooks in Buckinghamshire and seeing a bit of that area. Then to Latvia, then home the end of July. Will keep everyone posted of our adventures!

Our usual end of school year brunch at Adrienne's....a very special occasion this time since Aila is retiring!
All the best, Aila.


Annette, Patty, & Aila


Aila and me

Finally getting around to dealing with the rest of the pictures from our 2000 trip to Ireland. I was motivated to do this since friends are going to Ireland this summer. These are from Belfast and focus mainly on the part of Belfast where there is still conflict. We took a bus tour of this area and people seemed very friendly except the next day we heard that the tour bus was held up by masked men with machine guns. No one hurt but it wouldn't have been a pleasant experience. It doesn't seem like the "troubles" are completely over there yet. Belfast is really very beautiful and we liked it much better than Dublin; however, I notice I don't have any pix of Belfast other than of this area. I think it was pouring rain when we were seelng the rest of Belfast and I guess I didn't take pictures.


The famous "Peace Wall"...somehow I pictured a green hedge with flowers rather than a metal wall with barbed wire.


I did find some flowers along one part of the "wall".


While on the tour we were told that the surveillance towers would soon be a part of history as most had been taken down.

Shankill (Protestant area) and Falls (Catholic) Roads are famous for their partisian murals:

Books I've been reading lately.

"The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri. A gifted new writer. I really enjoyed her short stories "Interpreter of Maladies". This is a novel about the immigrant experience. The protagonist is the son born in America to an Indian academic and his wife.

"Evening at Five" by Gail Godwin. A rather lightweight read on a heavy topic...the death of a spouse. Had something going for it.

"The Wailing Wind" by Tony Hillerman. My usual light mystery for reading on the plane. Hillerman always delivers a satisfying story.

"The Episode" by Graham Greene. This is Greene's first novel (unpublished) that just came available for scholars about a week before we were in Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University) so when we were there Jim had it zeroxed. It became available because Norman Sherry's last volumn of the biography was finally finished. Read it on the train and also on the plane home. Not really very good and lots of overwriting and purple prose but interesting because it was Greene writing and knowing I was one of probably fewer than five people in the world who had read it.

"One Hundred Million Hearts" by Kerri Sakamoto. Most interesting read and glad to see her out with a new novel. Been quite a while since "The Electrical Field". A story about a Japanese born Canadian girl who learns (after her father dies) that he went to Japan (he was also Canadian born) to be a kamikaze and that she has a half-sister in Japan. She goes to Japan to meet this sister and learn more about her father...then the plot thickens...

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. Picked this up on the Fast Read rack in the library as I had noticed it's been on the best seller list for quite a while. Yuck...what a pile of blithering sentimental nonsense. I gave up after 50 pages but don't think it would have got much better.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art...NYC



Outside the Met...rather like the bouquinistes along the Seine, n'est-ce pas?



Inside the Met....a good way to view the paintings and listen to the commentary.


And the final pix I'm going to post for NYC are of the absolute jewel of the city....Central Park.
Some of these pix almost have an impressionist painting quality and this is with no special effects..
.just the very specialness of the park.






And I loved this "cougar" in the park...