Spring Break in Britain

Leslie just returned from her Spring Break trip to visit the kids over in Britain. She was anxious to pay another visit to Bristol and spend some quality time with Nick and Kate. She also managed to visit with Nick's folks, Ray and Liz and they took a swing down into Cornwall where they visited with Ray's brother and sister-in-law and with Nick's Grandma Abbott (the other lives in Enfield near Ray and Liz).

Leslie visted the village of Cheddar in Somerset, did some cheese shopping, visited a local cave and spent some time in London shopping with Kate. They visited Harrod's and walked about London passed the Globe Theatre, over the Millenium Bridge and paid a visit to the Tate Gallery of Contemporary Art. They attended Evensong in St. Paul's.

Here a few photos of the trip. More to come.

Nick made what I understand was a fabulous Toad in the Hole, a classic English dish made of sausages and what we Americans might consider pancake batter. I am waiting anxiously to have Nick replicate this fabulous looking meal here in Bellingham. . .if I can find sausage anywhere as good as can be found in Bristol.

Kate walks arm and arm down a Bristol street with a likeness of movie actor Cary Grant who was a Bristol native.

Leslie happened to be in Britain on Mothering Day, the British equivalent to our Mother's Day. Here are the flowers she received from Nick and Kate.

Kate and dad-in-law Ray mugging for the camera.

A photo looking across the Mellinium Bridge towards St. Paul's.

Kate and Nick nearing the top of their climb in the moors in Cornwall. What a great looking couple!

Leslie and Kate reach the peak of their climb in Cornwall on a rare beautiful (sunny) day.

Its Been A While!

I haven't written a new blog entry for some time. Sorry about that. It has been a wild couple of months with a lot of other items on the agenda pushing my blogging duties to a distant back burner.

I have managed to take a few photos due to my new backpack which allows me to keep my camera with me at all times. The photo on the left was taken off the back deck of our home. We have had more snow this year. Mostly it stays a short while and then melts off. Over the years I have taken several snowy photos from this exact same position, but this scene was too good to pass up. More photos as I go along here.

Meanwhile, the work on remodeling our top floor bathrooms continues. It is nearly at a halt right now while the fabricators cut the granite countertops for the two bathrooms. Meanwhile, both rooms have working showers and toilets, new linoleum and paint. Once the countertops are installed, hopefully this week, the sinks can be plumbed and the faucets connected. After that it is mostly detail work and hanging art. In hind sight these projects were terrible ideas to take on during the school year. The good news is that they are almost done and will be ready for summer company. I'll take finished photos when the job is done and display them on a future blog.

Here are the other recent photos. The one on the right and the left were taken at Hillcrest Park in Mount Vernon, Washington.

This one was shot on a school playground also in Mount Vernon. It is the simple geometric figure of a bicycle rack with its shadow at an interesting angle.