Articles tagged as 'england'

BBQ time – again

Between strikes at Calais Port against DFDS, migrants throwing themselves at Eurotunnel trains and farmers getting upset about the price of milk (both sides of the sheugh) I was forced to opt to travel with P&O out of Calais.

BBQ time

New computers are fabulous, the hours you can spend with them trying to remember what the passwords are for all those sites and programs that you only use occasionally. And changing the spelling to English from American on everything.

Double trip

It is possible to go shopping in Bluewater without feeling like a salmon battling the current.

H M S Cavalier

After a few unsuccessful attempts to commercialise the ship at a variety of locations she was finally returned to Chatham as an historic ship on 23 May 1998.

HMS Cavalier now resides in No. 2 dry-dock where HMS Victory was built.

H M Submarine Ocelot

You are warned before entering the submarine that there is not a great deal of space and that the hatches between sections are not wide either.

More than value for money

Not really my thing, boats, but history is history, and the decision was made that the week I was over for the Parent’s anniversary we would take the time to go down and at least have a look.

Run like clockwork

Of course, my family can’t do anything simple. A bowl of crisps and a pork pie on a table was never going to do, especially if the table cloth was red and white chequers.

Elderly lady gives money to the old

Despite our best efforts, we had not managed to convince the Philadelphians that an ecology conscious monarch would arrive on board a Park-and-Ride double-decker flying the sovereign’s standard.

It’s mince pies time again

For once I had excelled myself and arrived with a shopping list. For Florian life was looking harder. How do you go shopping when you are not really sure what you want and for whom.

My feet have fallen off !

Saturday was bright and sunny. After all the rain we have had over the last six weeks it was as though a switch had been thrown and the sun had come out. From moaning about it being too cold, we were now exhausted by the sudden heat.

Hampton Court

Hampton Court soon became Henry’s favourite palace and he spent a fortune on the buildings and interior decorations. The tapestries in the great hall are of the finest work from Bruxelles and depict the life of Abraham. The hammer-beam roof was reportedly cobweb free so it may well have been treated with oils (such as sandalwood) which are spider repellent (my kind of roof).

Just finish without doing yourself an injury

An hour up the line the train was filled with runners of all shapes and sizes clutching their red bags. Quiet concentration on all their faces except Simon’s because he was totally zenned out in that deep inner calm which defines, no-marking land.

Why is swede so expensive in France ?

Living this close to the coast means that both myself and the family get the chance to profit from the special offers on both sides of the sheugh. You wont find mince pies gracing the shelves of Carrefour or Auchan and there is little to no chance that you will find tresses of smoked garlic fumigating the veggies’ aisle in Sainsbury’s or Waitrose.

Crossing the Channel

There you go then, that’s Black Saturday over and done with for another year. The last Saturday in August marks the end of the marching season in Ulster and thus by association the end of the holidays and summer.

Debs’ Birthday Party

Anton and Deb’s prepare a meal for a few friends with the underlying allowance for there being enough extra food in case the Brigade of Guards turn up feeling peckish.

Off to England again

On the Wednesday morning I spent two and a half hours getting from Chatham to Kew and the National Archives because there was a humongous hold up near Reigate. Good thing I had sandwiches with me.

Tu es absolument éblouissante

And so Hannah and Alex exchanged rings, made no mention of obeying anybody whomsoever, signed the register and looked very, very happy as they emerged into the sunshine for the photo session.