John’s cousin Harold and wife Susan spent an afternoon here to visit with us and Barbara and Thom. You should have heard the laughter ring out from the back porch! The photo shows the first cousins – John on the left, Barbara in the middle, and Harold on the right.
It’s hard for me to think of Harold’s being retired. He was just a boy when John and I got married. Here he is at our rehearsal dinner 57 years ago.
Harold lived in Memphis, so I saw him almost every year when I went to visit my parents fifty miles from his home. He was all grown up when he visited us in England, so we didn’t see him often after that. We all had years to catch up on via funny stories and anecdotes.
Daughter Lise was a teenager when Susan married Harold. She idolized Susan and always loved being with Harold. I’m sure she would have given her eye teeth to be with us that afternoon.
Our agenda for family visitors included two waterfalls and lunch at Square Root in Brevard. We began at Sunburst Falls, a favorite of grandson David and me. Barbara and Thom entered into the spirit of the thing by posing with the falls.
Barbara went out on the boulders with David, while Thom stayed on the road to take videos. He caught the flighty action of two Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, natives of the region.
Shooting the falls
I took a shot of the pool below the falls. In this one, I can see the depth of the water that is missing from most of my photos of it. [Note to self: you are babbling. No one cares about this.]
When you look at the two desserts we shared, you’ll know why we try to keep moving. We had Key lime pie and a chocolate cake with a fanciful name that included Spoonful. It probably should have been called Calorie-laden.
Looking Glass Falls is always a stunner. As usual, I stayed at the top while others went down the switchback stairs to the base of the falls. The day was not hot, yet there were swimmers in that cold, cold water. Barbara and Thom put their fingers in to experience it. I think David would like to swim there on a hot day, but I don’t know if anyone else would want to.
John’s sister Barbara and husband Thom are always enthusiastic about walking to the creek with us. They had driven eight hours the day before and welcomed exercise. Knowing a photo at the creek is obligatory, they posed nicely. Dog Sadie was with us, too, and she behaved beautifully – sitting and staying seated whenever a car passed us. In 24 hours we had mentioned every sibling and all the children and grandchildren. If I had nothing better to do, I’d count them.
The creek doesn’t show, but it is there behind their elbows.
All six of us sat down for breakfast together. Son John $pencer exclaimed, “I have angel bacon!” and held it up to show us.
Cleaning was the number one project the day before. John $ pitched in to help, and John did most of the vacuuming. Poor Sadie distanced herself from the noisy machine, and she probably sensed something was about to change. I used toddler talk and tone to her, saying, “You don’t understand what’s going on, do you?”
From just around the corner I heard, “Right, Mom. I’m 41 years old, and don’t understand anything.” He and I both laughed.
This is how I know I’m slowly becoming a gardener. The state of the garden matters to me. I begged the roses to hang onto their full blooms until Barbara and Thom could see them.
Grandson David helped us bring in all the bags from shopping, and as soon as everything was unloaded, he said “I want to try setting up the cot.”
The camping cot caught David’s eye in Aldi’s. We have had very good luck with things we’ve bought there, and he thought the cot would be great for sleeping in the van. Evidently it was comfortable enough for playing games on the phone.
Sadie had to try it out, too. David is showing a new fashion in wearing a necktie. He is modeling a shoulder throw.
This time 17 years ago we were saying goodbye to my folks after our wedding. Today I said goodbye to John for a week and almost hello to my folks who arrive Tuesday for a two week visit. John will be in New York for a week.
Do you know how to tell someone here that he is crazy? “You’re a nut case!”
Had a crash course (not literally) to prepare us to take the very strict driving test here. Someone at the office suggested a 2-hour lesson, so we booked in for that at a driving school in Epsom. John kindly let me go first at 10:00 while he strolled $ around the town and ate at McDonald’s. At 12:00 John took his turn until 2:00. What a grueling thing it was! Before five minutes went by the tiny man said to me, “You just failed your driving test!” He was very pleasant – explaining that he wasn’t criticizing my driving, but preparing me for the test. I had failed to visibly check my rear view mirror every eight seconds. How picky they are here! It’s a fault against you if your wheels ever touch the curb. Each time you stop for a traffic signal, the handbrake must go on! He said I usually approached a stop too fast and took a little long to venture into traffic. By the end of two hours, I was almost afraid to go over 10 miles per hour, and that would have been a fault for not proceeding normally!
Kate brought a new friend home from school one afternoon. This girl moved to Reigate about six weeks ago, having lived in Yorkshire and Cornwall before.
John $ can now open the small oven of the cooker as well as fiddle with the controls of the dryer. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I always am, to open the dryer door when the cycle is finished and find the clothes sopping wet. He can put more wet clothes back in the washing machine than I can put into the dryer. He can also throw more stones onto the front stoop than I can sweep off.
Yesterday the girls worked all morning at the school fete. Kate’s class was in charge of the raffle tickets, and Lisa’s of a stall selling anything red, white or blue. There were several games of chance, second-hand clothes, baked goods, games, toys, books, and plants for sale. We bought a shirt for $ and a pair of almost new Wellingtons for 20p. John bought the girls little mirrors with the school emblem on the back. The playground was gaily decorated, the event very well attended, and it was great fun.
In the afternoon the two Johns stayed home while we went with the womenfolk next door to the village May Pageant. (It had been postponed.) The parade of floats, clowns and a small band went through the town and to an open area. The new May queen was crowned, the dance of the May pole was performed, costumes were judged, an award given to the shop with the best decorations, and a clown performed. There were a few stalls selling cool drinks, plants, ice cream and chances to win goldfish. It seemed as if the whole village turned out for the affair. It was quite warm bringing on great thirst, so we all came home to have tea at our house. I opened the biscuit tin to find all the biscuits gone and had to improvise by making toast and serving it with lemon curd. It was nice to have a chance to sit and talk with our house-mates.
John needed to pick up some things from the office before flying out today, so we went to Westminster Abbey for church. (It is within walking distance of the office.) The choir was really on its toes today, the counter-tenors being especially good. We drove to Epsom where we ate lunch and John caught a bus to the airport.
This morning I picked up my parents from the airport. I dropped the girls off at a friend’s home to go to school with her girls. Despite my making two wrong turns, we met in the airport only 10 minutes after they finished the formalities. Couldn’t have worked out better; I might just have had time to get lost in the airport had I gotten there sooner.
They took a short nap, we got the girls from school and went to Box Hill, the nearest National Trust property with a fantastic view when you can see it. Of the four or five times I’ve been there, this day was the clearest. So many times the weather can be gorgeous, but slightly hazy.
After setting Mr. Clewes to work one day we drove to Leith Hill, a protected area noted for rhododendrons. We were able to see all the lavender ones; all the others were through blooming. The plants are more like trees here – we’ve never seen such tall ones.
We drove to Epson Downs race track, Epsom, Leatherhead and on to Ripley, Surrey. [Ripley is the name of our home town in Tennessee.] The folks said their council had been in touch with our city government back in my grandfather’s day. Dad also mentioned that he and Mother had sent a care package to the town here in England after the second World War. We took one picture, got lost, practiced a few U turns, and came home. [That one picture is missing, either lost or mislabeled.]
We treated ourselves to a cream tea in a hotel in a neighboring village. It was a great experience except for the price – rather steep. Scones were served with clotted cream and jam, and we had a plate of cake wedges. I thought we wouldn’t have enough food to keep $ happy (he eats more than Kate at times), but a cat that looked just like one we had in NY kept him occupied. That black and white cat entertained us by strolling under tables and coming almost within petting reach. The resemblance to Tor was uncanny – the only thing different was that he had a tail.
We watched quite a bit of TV in the afternoon as the Queen and her party arrived each day at Royal Ascot in open landaus. That race course is near Windsor. I put up with the horse races to see the people. Lady Diana was the big feature this year. All the men have morning dress and gray top hats; the ladies wear short dresses and the fanciest of hats. Also on TV were the preliminary matches for Wimbledon which begins tomorrow. Any time we aren’t out, I’m sure the oldest and the youngest of us will be lured to the screen to watch the games. The next door neighbors were able to get two tickets for the center court tomorrow. They said the children will be allowed to wander about watching the outer courts, and they will all take turns sitting with a parent at the center court.
Yesterday John arrived home from New York looking slightly rumpled about the mouth. From the account of how little sleep he got, I’m surprised he wasn’t in one heap. He slept while the rest of us went to Chartwell, Winston Churchill’s home. He thought it would take us an hour to get there, but it was only half that. This time the girls and I saw much more of the garden than when we were there nearly a year ago.
Today we worshiped in St. Paul’s Cathedral and spent the afternoon at Hampton Court. $ learned how to get out of his push chair; he practiced getting in and out for an hour while I was walking him in the garden. Below is a sunken garden at Hampton Court.
Below, my parents at Hampton Court.
Mom and Dad
Note: for months I have added captions to photos. Today that wouldn’t work.
On grandson David’s day off, we drove through the town of Cherokee to get to Mingo Falls. We had been there a few years ago when daughter Lise was visiting. I had forgotten there were 161 steep, uneven steps to get to it. Her words of encouragement that day must have really helped me get there. This time, David and John gave me helping hands.
David seems to have a mission for rescuing things in the water. Someone had left a plastic bottle wedged among the rocks below the falls, and he emptied it and crumpled it up to take back down. John did the same for a bottle someone had thoughtlessly left on the bridge railing.
I felt sorry for the naked roots, clinging tenaciously to the rocks. They don’t even have a good view of the falls!
We began and ended the day with a cake and a candle. Grandson David brought home some cupcakes from work, and this was perfect for the breakfast cake. He didn’t eat it, but it was big enough for one candle and the singing of the birthday song.
As soon as he sat down, he knew that the mailing package held something he really wanted. It came from Aunt Lise, and it was the Set game he was addicted to while she was here. Evidently, it has been available in this country for years, although we had never heard of it. Even though I’m not good at it, I like playing. Neighbor Logan took to it immediately. He will be happy to know David now has it and is eager to play it with him.
After David’s work and taping Sunday’s service at church, we put out the big cake, big being relative. The proper number of candles (26) would not have fit.
Yes, it’s the same candle we used in the morning. I never looked for more in the drawer.
It’s good to take a shot of the crowd to remind me who celebrated that year. We each had an eighth of the cake and finished it the next day.
The purpose of the day is to remember those who died protecting our country. Many towns pay tribute to these people by putting out a cross for each one. We liked the display in Waynesville, beside a busy road into the center of town.
Together again! Neighbor Shawn organized our cookout on the street, and we were pleased to mingle freely, wearing no masks. Before Jeff turned on the grill, several people put up Logan’s badminton net. Joyce brought a light-weight game of horse shoes, and someone else provided Corn Hole.
I snapped a few photos to remind me of the lovely day and our wonderful neighbors. We moved the chairs throughout the afternoon to be in or out of the sun, giving us a chance to talk to everyone. We all brought our own hot dogs or hamburgers and something to share. The table was loaded with deviled eggs, spinach dip, pasta salad, potato salad, slaw, and watermelon. We ended with a chocolate cake and a hummingbird cake. The hummingbird cake was gluten-free and included bananas and pineapple – really tasty and refreshing.
Joyce wanted to try playing badminton, and so did I. We hadn’t played since we were young. Before we hit the first birdie, Jeff and Bob joined us. What fun! Bob was on my side of the net, and he was good. He returned serves well and hit things that would have been mine if I’d moved quickly enough. The “J” team, Joyce and Jeff, were hampered by sun in their eyes and a breeze that worked against them. I was relieved when Bob decided to quit. I hadn’t broken a bone, fallen, or tripped, which meant I won my personal game. Shawn, sidelined by recent foot surgery, took a photo of us. I love this shot, showing our mountain playground, the most level area on our street. I’m the one wearing red.
A lighthearted moment was Shawn’s having Ariel perform her trick. The chicken did a fly/hop to get bread from her fingers.
The party officially started at 1 pm, and we moved our chairs and equipment inside at 7:30. What a marvelous gathering it had been!
First, we have a calm portrait of a walk with John, Logan, and Sadie near the stop sign.
Adding this boy and this dog brought excitement. It was the first day of summer vacation for neighbor Logan (10), and he was FREE! How marvelous it was to share these first heady moments with him! His dancing was explosive.
Logan engineered the fake crisis.
Even a mailbox became a prop for an impromptu limbo.
Neighbor Logan (10) ran over to share his pleasure on the last day of school. He and John played a game or so of checkers before we batted a balloon about. We were active in our armchairs, calling it geriatric exercise. Logan, on the other hand, was all over the place. He was equally at home suspended in the air or lying on the floor to hit the balloon. His exuberance knew no bounds.
He picked up a clothespin and aimed it at his face. I warned that it could hurt, but he had to try it. Does this look like a boy in pain? John suggested he turn his head for the full Pinocchio effect. I called it Pinocchio in a Pinch.
No photo session is complete without a silly face. Forty years ago I would not have taken this shot, because it would have cost money for film and developing it. Thank heavens digital photography set me free!
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 