Across The Pond - England - Post 2

..........to carry on...........
It would be so unlike me to keep you all waiting for a food item in one of my posts, so here we are.........our first big meal at the folks house was lamb steaks with onions and apples. Rowan and I put the dish together under major jet lag duress, so it ended up a little over done, but still filled our bellies. We can't forget that after each main meal here, we get the cheese corse and then the pudding course (dessert), so one NEVER goes hungry if something happens during the main course (pictures of the other courses are coming later). Thank goodness sis and I brought a pair of those stretchy spandex yoga pants along on this trip. We are already planning on wearing them home on the plane. :o)

The lamb and apples served with steamed new potatoes & fresh peas

 The hens sitting around snapping the peas

 Now to breakfast.........A traditional English breakfast item - beans on toast. My favorite and I couldn't wait to share it with Jake. He loved it! It's very simple - heinz baked beans sitting on sharp cheddar cheese and a piece of toast. Sticks with you a long time. Thud!

 Pat and I found our favorite store. The slogan 'The home of family value'. You betcha!

We arrived in the UK just after the Queens Diamond Jubilee. Here are a couple of newspaper covers of her majesty from The Daily Mail...........(she looks SO happy)

......and The Daily Telegraph. 

 We will see many towns,villages and certainly London still all dressed up for this event. Those photos to come. We also just happen to be here during the Wimbledon tennis tournament and of course the 2012 Olympics are just 3 weeks away. You must be thinking we are insane to travel here at a time like this. Maybe, but it will be fun :o)

Our next day trip took us to the southeast coast of England to a little fishing village called Burnham-on Crouch - http://www.burnham.org.uk/ . We decided to go here this day as the temps are supposed to be 80 degrees inland, so we are looking for that sea breeze.  Jake was having a blast walking down the street and having his photo taken in front of doorways that were shorter than him (and there were lots). Many buildings here were built in the 16th and 17th century (older than the USA!), folks just weren't as tall then. We told Jake he needs to get ready for a few head banging experiences while he is here..........ouch!

 Sis had to get a photo in the red phone box. And, yes, there was a pay phone inside that works! Do we still even have phone booths in the USA?

 Here is Guy Fawkes. I found this painted on the wall of a building along the river pathway.
The Occupy movement in the US has adopted this mask as a symbol for their movement. Those Occupiers are EVERYWHERE! Go here for an explanation on who Guy Fawkes was:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058020/How-Guy-Fawkes-masks-symbol-anti-greed-protests-globe.html

 Me, Rowan, her dad David, Jake and Pat sitting having a pint on the river.

So, all of the cottages in these little towns have names instead of street numbers. When you address a letter to someone here, you use the cottage name, street name and town name. This is our favorite cottage name we found today.......

and we just happened to find the Queen in the window (with her handbag, of course).

It was really funny that just a couple of doors down from the No-No Cottage, there was a pub called The Queens Head. OUCH! They have a very good sense of dry English humor with the Drachma crack, doncha think? :o)

Going to the coast just wasn't enough for one day, so we all went off to Rowan's friend Hilary's house in Great Baddow for dinner. Hilary lives in a historic house, Mary Brittern Cottage, built in the 16th century (again, older than my country the USA!) The house is framed out of old ship timbers older than the Mayflower. It is just fabulous to see how this house is put together. The dining room ceiling was shorter than Jake so he had to really watch his head.

 The beautiful English garden in the back.

 Hilary making a really funny face (sorry Hil, I had to post it!) :o)

 Nachos and a drink in the garden before dinner

 Jake about to hit his head on the beam in the dining room

 The doorway from the kitchen to the dining room. Jake did get his bell rung on this doorway once during our visit. It just about shook the room when he hit it. OUCH! Hilary said you can always tell who her daughters boyfriends were as they all had bumps on their foreheads. She said you could walk around town and when you saw a chap with a bump on his head you could just say, I bet you have dated Philly. HILARIOUS! Now, everyone will think Jake is dating Philly. Too funny :o)

We just happened to be at Hil's house during the Euro football (soccer) semi-final between Italy & Germany. Jake was in heaven watching it all happen. Italy won and will play Spain in the final.

Just HAD to let you-all hear the old phone ring...

more coming...........