Daughter Lise and her friends passed pleasant hours playing games during lock down in Denmark. She bought games here to take back. One of them was Azul, a game with pretty tiles and oddly concocted rules. The photo is blurred, as was my mind when playing. Grandson David and Lise talked strategy aloud, helping me to a big win that night. Next time I’ll play quietly, prepared to lose on my own. I’m good at losing games of strategy.
Amusement and pleasure joined when we met former neighbors Connie and Marla for lunch. We see each other on Facebook, but real face-time is far better.
You’d think we were doting on a toddler, the way we acted when Lise bought Sadie a decorated cookie from the dog bakery. My first priority was getting a shot of Lise giving it to her. Having brother and sister together with the dog was next.
I couldn’t resist John $’s tenderness. We all love Sadie, but $ is her first choice here at our house.
Sunday (April 26 in Cornwall) The wind blew and whistled around the house till we were tempted to look out and see if the Big Bad Wolf were there. Before we got out of bed we heard peltings on the windows. Yep, rain, sleet, and snow. The weather wasn’t going to deter us – we set out for Exeter and drove through the most fantastic snow storm. It’s the deepest snow we’ve seen in England – 2 or 3 inches! What a winter wonderland! We can’t believe it happened a week after Easter in the southern part of England. We trudged through the sludge to Exeter Cathedral, a lovely, airy stone building.
After a lunch of hamburgers, we drove to Torquay and rode behind a steam engine along the coast, over some hills, and into a valley with a lovely harbour. This is a resort area noted for its warm weather. We saw palm trees defiantly standing up to the cold wind.
It’s the usual thing in this area to have wrought iron gates at driveways and front gardens. We were asked to keep the ones at this house shut because cows sometimes wander by. Even in the cities, most places have these gates. Nearly all are painted pastel colours – very few black.
We had trouble with the hot water when we got back to the cottage and asked a neighbour for a ladder. He, poor fellow, had just returned from his holiday, but came over to try to help. A plumber is due early in the morning. Just our luck to have to oversee repairs on vacation! The neighbour said we came to a lovely area of the country, but picked lousy weather.
Monday April 27 You might think waiting for a plumber to finish a three hour job would ruin the day. Didn’t! We enjoyed hearing the Cornish accent. Poor man had to dismantle all the pipes to the heater to find the trouble in the bottom of the tank – a wad of fiber glass insulation.
After he left, we had a quick lunch and set off. Went to Buckland Abbey which had been given by Henry VIII to a family who later sold it to Sir Frances Drake. We saw a model of the Golden Hind and some of the banners that Drake had had – among the finest in Europe they say. We had tea in the kitchen there, our first time to have tea in a restaurant. Very nice.
Buckland Abbey
We drove around Plymouth and saw the waterfront where the Pilgrims set sail. In this area, Drake played a famous game of bowls while waiting for the Spanish Armada to come in close to shore.
So many restaurants are empty in this country, it’s no wonder the prices are so high because we pay for those empty seats. We tried a steak place in Plymouth and were pleasantly surprised by the food and service. They obviously don’t cater to children, having no special prices and no booster seats. $ sat on his car seat and had a grand time. As we were leaving, the waiter whisked $’s plastic bib away and cleaned it! That’s probably a first and last event!
Tuesday, April 28. Saw Dozmary Pool on the moor where legend says King Arthur’s sword was thrown and a ghostly arm rose up to catch it. It is a bleak, brooding place. Not far away is Jamaica Inn, the setting for the novel of that name by Daphne du Maurier.
Tintagel is the site on the coast where the remains of a castle overlook the rugged coast. It is reputedly King Arthur’s stronghold, but the buildings don’t date back quite far enough. It was surely impregnable, but what a wild place to live! (At right is Merlin’s Cave at Tintagel.)
Saw Cotehele House, built between 1485 and 1539. It was absolutely beautiful. The feature I particularly liked was the block installed about 1485. It has the earliest clock in England still working and in its original position! There is a big stone for a weight, but no pendulum – a funny balanced gadget swings back and forth. It doesn’t even have a face, just rings the hour.
There were many things to see behind the manor house.
We lunched on Cornish Pasties, a delicious hearty meal. This is the area where they originated, so had to try it. We understand most bakeries and many butcher shops sell them.
Wednesday, April 19 St. Michaels Mount was marvelous. At low tide there is a walkway to the island, but we arrived too late to walk over. Going over sand, up steps built into rocks, and down the other side brought us to a boat for the trip over. The climb up the steep, steep hill was an effort, but worth it to see the castle. Several hundred years ago there was a monastery; later the refectory became the dining room of the family who bought it. Now the present Lord St. Levan lives in the Victorian part not shown. The tide had come in more while we were on the island so that we rode back in the boat over the walkway and to a different landing since our departure point was now under water.
St. Michaels Mount from land
From St. Michaels Mount – walkway under water
Lands End was windy, but since the sun was shining we didn’t mind. We drove through Penzance and Truro, stopped to see the Cornish steam engines that moved men and tin in the extremely deep shafts and ate at a lovely restaurant. John $ has been an angel – we didn’t get back until 9 p.m. and he hardly cried all day long. (At right is a Cornish steam engine.)
Family at Land’s End
Since we’ve been here, we have wondered why the roads seem to be sunken, yet the fields are on a level with the road. It’s like driving in a maze because you can see ahead only, the sides slope up higher than the car. Finally figured it out by seeing a new fence. Stones, slate, or shale are piled up, often with a herring bone design near the top, and sod put on top. A slightly older fence had sod on top and vegetation growing out. The older the fence, the more vegetation until years later there is only a grassy mound with flowers!
New fence
Medium-aged fence
Old fence
Thursday, April 30 We walked on the moor today to see an ancient ring of stones built about the time Stonehenge was. The wind blew continually, the rain spit, and we could identify with characters in old novels who seem often to battle adverse weather on the moor. Eerie!
Stone Hurlers, Bodwin Moor
The next ancient monument was right beside a cottage. There were some huge stones balanced together that is thought to be a burial chamber which was then covered with earth.
This area is famous for china clay and pottery, so we visited a local pottery. The showroom was rough, but we enjoyed seeing the various things they make.
Spent half the afternoon at a train park riding behind the little live steam engines. The layout was huge and had won some prizes in competition.
The latter part of the day we roamed about a huge mansion, Victorian in style, though parts are 17th century. I was amused at a saucer bath the last lord preferred until his death in 1930. Kate at first thought it was for a baby to play in. It was a low circular shallow tub with no running water or drain. In the huge bathroom was a stone hot water bottle! The man showing the room said he remembered his parents having one before rubber ones came along. The large tub was on feet and so high you’d have to use steps to get in. The rim was made of mahogany! That’s class!
Gate to Landydrock
Landydrock
Friday, May 1 John $ wrote his name for the first time! He did it by having his push chair spell the name in the sand on the beach.
Trerice Manor House
In the Tudor manor house we toured, a lady showed us all the secret drawers in a desk. Reminded me of Woodside in NC. The barn has been converted into a restaurant with lots of home made goodies.
Besides tin mining, this area has many china clay works. We found an outdoor museum that showed the old method of separating the china clay from sand and dirt. Did you know that this powder is used in making paper and medicines? Of course, china and pottery also use it. We were mesmerized by two working water wheels and a paddle wheel. One of the water wheels was 90- years old and still working beautifully.
We ate a marvelous dinner in a lovely little place over looking the harbour in Fowey (pronounced Foy). The streets are the most narrow I have ever seen — winding and steep. During the tourist laden summer, the town is closed to vehicular traffic. The streets are a few inches wider than our car; pedestrians flatten themselves to the sides of buildings at the sound of a car.
Saturday we all pitched in to pack and clean the house. Drove across Exmoor which has some very different vegetation from Bodwin Moor. We squeezed in one more touristy thing by going through Arlington Court, the ancestral home of the Chichesters. Then we settled back for the long drive home, accomplished easily. John $ has been so good – unbelievable to those who have traveled with him when he was otherwise. And so home where the dirt hasn’t moved in our absence. Do you know how to tell someone to go across the street? It’s “go over the way.”
Sunday — Found out our doctor friends, Penny and Andy had an 8 pound 13 ounce boy while we were away. They have two girls and lost a boy a year ago. Tuesday the girls return to school after a month’s holiday. It’s been great fun. Town names we liked best in Cornwall: Harrowbarrow and Catchall.
It was John $’s first day on a new job, and Sadie sensed something was different, though she didn’t know what. She ran to the front door and waited, hoping Lise and I would take her for a walk.
I’ve done fairly well getting clothes out of my room when I need them. I am determined not to walk in there while David is sleeping. Three of us have shifted where we sleep so that Lise can use David’s room as her office. She begins work between 2 and 4 am, matching her hours to Danish time. This day I forgot to get socks.
“John! Do you have a pair of socks I can borrow for walking?” I pleaded. Bless him, he let me have the pair he was about to put on.
Lise got $’s permission to take Sadie. He hugged the dog first, and we set out, knowing rain was in the forecast. John suggested we turn around half way to the stop sign. When we got to that point, we both agreed the rain was not imminent and went on. The rain clouds were watching, and they began to tease us at the stop sign. We hurried home in a steady drizzle. The wind lifted my hood, and I pulled it back over my head. Soon it was stuck there, plastered by rain that had permeated the flimsy material. It was water-repellent, not waterproof. It didn’t really matter, because I was a bit too warm, anyway.
We waved at the red car going by, and I realized it was $ on his way to work. Sadie had been trotting along with the leash taut. In an instant she stopped, lifted her head, and sniffed intently after the car went by. She knew John had passed us!
When we reached the front porch, we asked John for a towel to dry Sadie. I don’t know how Lise’s jacket fared, but mine had soaked up the rain and was not dripping.
I took a quick shower in the family bathroom, taking John’s suggestion of using a fresh towel because mine was in the other bathroom. I borrowed someone’s soap, washed, and realized I had not gotten the towel out first. Luckily, the bathmat was of towel material and could be scooted. Step. Shlump. Step. Shlump. I side-stepped, keeping the mat under my feet, until I reached the towels. Having no clean clothes available, I put nightclothes back on and downloaded photos.
Lise soon wandered in, taking a break for a second breakfast. I prepared croissants, bacon, and an egg for John and Lise. Halfway through my granola, I paused to get David’s meal on a plate. We all ended about the same time, and David rushed off to work. Things are quietly hectic here, but we are managing to get most things done reasonably well.
Jonathan Creek is adjacent to the fire station, so we pass it every time we walk to the creek. This day the men had pulled out one of the smaller trucks. Lise wanted a photo to send a friend, hence the pose. I was amazed at how huge it felt close up. It wasn’t long, but look at the tires and that front grill!
We liked our shadows on the water. This photo is deceptive, because it appears we are standing on a high bank. It’s probably no taller than an average man.
Shadowy characters
While dancing with our shadows, Lise noticed a stick caught by a rock and wanted to set it free. She was delighted to find a fairly easy way down the bank.
We are having a great time visiting with daughter Lise in the afternoon, when she isn’t working. It has been easy to accommodate everyone’s needs so far. Behind the scenes are unforeseen adjustments. I had ground beef that needed to be used, and David suggested Beef in a Blanket. I don’t think you can tell by looking at it that anything was amiss.
Beef in a Blanket
The pastry has three types of flour in it. We looked for all-purpose flour in Aldi’s, and the shelf was bare. I did not remember to put it on the Ingle’s list. An almost-empty bin looked back at me from the shelf, and I surveyed the cabinet for a reasonable alternative. Whole wheat flour volunteered, but I said it had to bring a friend. You don’t want too much of a good thing. White Lily flour, the best for Southern biscuits, was the final filler.
There is no substitute for Rose, who is now in Washington State with her two daughters and grandson. No one could take her place in Sadie’s heart. Sadie does what many of us do not. She lives in the moment. When Lise invited her onto her lap, Sadie jumped at the chance. They were the best of friends that day.
We have a mini neighborhood reunion when Albert is groomed in Waynesville. Albert is former neighbor Marla’s dog, and Connie brings him for his appointment every eight weeks. Shawn crosses our street to join us for lunch. We have to talk fairly fast, because Connie has to leave when Albert is ready, and Shawn often has to pick up Logan from school.
Daughter Lise was happy the date fell while she was here. She was through working by the time they came and could relax and enjoy being with them. Son John $ was back from a job interview, and John returned from a church meeting in Asheville. David enjoyed the food fallout seven hours later. This time I remembered to take a photo.
Three of us met John for lunch in Asheville after church. Daughter Lise drove, grandson David pumped gas, and I paid for it. That was easy teamwork for all of us.
In Copenhagen, Lise has a wide choice of restaurants, but a Japanese steakhouse is not one of them. Lise took a selfie as we waited for the chef to roll in a cart with the food.
The chef twirled his utensils before making a flashy fire on the grill, a real attention-getter.
As we watched, the chef prepared fried rice and vegetables before cooking the steak and chicken. His work done, he bowed and left us to eat the mountain of food on our plates.
We enjoyed our dinner and went home to restorative naps.
Daughter Lise took her lunch break to walk to the creek with me. After she finished work for the day, she drove us on the Blue Ridge Parkway. She loves to drive, and I love to have her drive. The day was overcast, bordering on rain. At one of the first overlooks, I took her photo as the mountains posed silently.
We stopped again for a small stream that had a lovely sound. This little stream becomes a roaring waterfall, visible further down the parkway.
Lise was short of sleep and wanted to rest her eyes for a while. I was in favor of that for her comfort and our safety. It was peaceful for me to look at the mountains from an overlook and play a card game on my phone. She woke, refreshed by a nap, and we headed to the supermarket on the way home. She had a list of things to take back to Denmark. An American she works with wanted grits, something easy to find in any Southern grocery store. She bought peanut butter powder, which she gets every year, as well as dark chocolate peanut butter. A new find was honey powder. ??? Maybe we’ll have a report about that in a few weeks. Chocolate graham crackers were hard to find, because they were in a different section. Lise also bought several packages of marshmallows with unusual flavors, colors, and shapes for a Danish friend. We bought chocolate mallows filled with chocolate for ourselves. I delighted in looking at all sorts of things I never see when doing the weekly shopping.
While relaxing at home, I got a shot of Lise and John $ with Sadie. The dog is reveling in being surrounded by people who love to pet her. She gives as much love as she gets.
We are having a grand time with daughter Lise, here from Denmark for a month. She is getting her first COVID shot today and will be here until she gets the second one. The first morning she was here, we needed to get back for someone’s schedule and walked only half the distance we usually walk. Today we went all the way to the creek, where we took the obligatory selfie.
All of us had voiced opinions about where everyone should sleep, and we thought we had it all sorted out. John, John $, David, and I would all stay in our beds. Lise would sleep on the air mattress in the living room and be far away from us when she got up to work on Danish time. Her office would be the dining room table, the furthest distance from the bedrooms. We forgot about the chiming grandfather clock, a short distance from her head. That kept her awake, as regular as clockwork. John was preparing for a weekend at the train club with David, so he ran the washing machine and dryer. Unloading the dishwasher for the day ahead added quite a clatter. I had not realized Lise needed silence to work. The hum of daily living would be an awful intrusion on internet meetings.
We think we have it settled now. Since David and John left at 5 am, David slept in the living room. He cleaned his room so that Lise could move in to sleep and use the desk there. When David gets back, he will be in my room, because his schedule is quite different from ours. I will be in the living room, at the mercy of anyone who wants to use the kitchen in the middle of the night. I may consult a magic book to find a sleeping spell I could use at a moment’s notice.
I thought it was really something the day we flew a kite in church, but last Sunday was the limit. There was a stripper in the pulpit! A young minister who had been at St. Mary’s a few years ago was preaching on Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet and acted out the scene. He removed his stole and used his surplice as a towel, then went on to say Jesus removed his outer garment as he unbuttoned the black part of his vestments.
One day this past week I did nothing but run! We picked up Mr. Clewes (the gardener), drove to Walton, went to Co-op on the way to coffee at Penny’s in Redhill, drove home for lunch, back to Reigate to return Clewes, and then home again. Don’t want many days like that! I started cooking dinner at 6:45.
At Penny’s we met a woman and her son coming out. At first I thought she had been invited for coffee, but it was worse than that. At 7 that morning, she, her husband, and son rang the doorbell and asked, “Weren’t you expecting us? Didn’t you get our letter?” They had written asking for breakfast after landing from an 8-hour flight from Ghana en route to Wimbledon. Penny, only 3 weeks this side of the due date for her baby, had to rustle up breakfast for 7 with no advance warning. I told her to sit down and put her feet up after the woman left, but she and her 6-year-old proceeded to make shortbread. Penny plays the clarinet and hunted up some duets for clarinet and piano. That was fun to sightread with her.
Monday our girls went to play with the girls from NJ – Nancy and Lynda M. The next day Kate, $, and I walked to the next town, Tadworth, via footpaths and met the M. family on the street there. We chatted for a few minutes, walked back to Walton, and met them walking down the street there! That afternoon the older girls were here, the younger ones floated between this house and Lynda’s, but had tea here. Wednesday all four had lunch and tea here, playing together 6.5 hours. They played well until the very end when the younger ones locked out the older ones. It was just as well they were busy getting ready to go to Holland to see the tulips in bloom; think they’d had enough of each other for a while.
Thursday we had all to ourselves. We drove to the supermarket in Banstead, the one the ladies usually go to from here. What a race track! I couldn’t stand to shop there all the time. Think I’d put it off until we were starving! We went early, found a parking place easily, but found the store full of rushing people. When we left, it took me ten minutes to maneuver out of the car park where 10 cars were lined up waiting for the next available space. Give me dear old Co-op any day!
EUREKA! We found crystal jelly!!!! Lisa was almost embarrassed at the way I carried on, but she was excited, also. We came right home and made it up. Have you guessed I’m talking of Jell-o? This is Royal brand, and it’s the first time we’ve found gelatin that is powdery – all the others are semi-solid, rubbery globs to be dissolved. This tasted better than their jelly, but not as good as real Jell-o. I’m going to make Jell-o once a week when we move back to the States!
We drove to a scenic place close to here, Box Hill, and took a short walk. It was very hazy; we must go back when we find a day that is crystal clear.
Kate and John $ on Box Hill
Kate, $, and I walked to Walton to do some shopping. We found a towel holder I’ve been looking for, flower seeds, a good pastry blender, and a salt pig! I asked for a cobweb brush and was told I was looking for a cornice broom. Live and learn.
Friday we shopped at Co-op, the freezer center, Boots, and a carpet store before picking Caroline up. She is the girl Lisa’s age who lived across from us in Reigate. She was here from noon Friday until afternoon Sunday. What a pleasant time we all had! Much of the time I hardly knew there was an extra girl here because all three would disappear together. Friday afternoon we again went to Box Hill for a longer ramble. The girls went down what felt like a mountain to the River Mole which has stepping stones across it. Several were out of place, they were afraid Kate would fall in, so they didn’t go all the way across. We must go there on a hot day to fall in – it’s only two feet deep and is considered a river!!! $ and I stayed toward the top of the hill for our walk.
Caroline, Lise, and Kate
Saturday John and Kate shopped in Epsom, a lovely town not far away with a fair-sized shopping area. He found lots of nice shops, and Lisa and Caroline were left here to enjoy themselves. Later the three from this house played outside with the three from next door. We had an impromptu tea party – six girls outside having “fizzy” drinks (soda) and biscuits (cookies) while the adults had tea inside. Jennifer and Vivien exclaimed over our new map of England. They said the counties are drawn differently on older maps and have longer names. Ours had Cambridge, Gloucester, Warwick, etc. where older maps show them with “shire” on the end.
They also told us more about this house. It was built in 1910. During the first world war, the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, lived in a house on the next street. Many of the big houses around, including this one, were rented by the cabinet members. There were private telephone lines linking them! Our neighbors haven’t found who rented this one.
After we finished tea, we asked if they would like to see the rest of the house. They jumped at the chance. They said English people don’t show their houses unless very good friends move to a new place. They were eager to see the lay-out here. We have servants’ bells, but they have the box in their kitchen. The bells still have their labels, though they no longer work. There was a day nursery and a night nursery! The girls are disappointed that they can’t use them to signal from our house to theirs!
This morning Caroline, Lisa, and I went to the earliest service at St. Mary’s. I wanted to get back to cook, and the girls to see the space shuttle take off. We’d watched the non-take-off Friday. John and Kate went to St. Peter’s where they were having communion. Kate was thrilled to see that everyone in the church went forward; she was so pleased to get a blessing when she went with John. They were also given crosses made from palms, though not nearly so elaborate as the ones Louise Koepchen makes in Setauket. I missed singing the Palm Sunday hymns.
Yesterday we invited our former neighbors to have Sunday lunch with us, since they had planned to pick Caroline up. They agreed and offered to bring the sweet. We knew we had to rush because their older daughter is singing Messiah in the same production we were involved with, but she has been going on Sundays. Everything was ready; we were just sitting down, and then we had to get up to watch the space shuttle take off. When someone mentioned THE WEDDING, Gillian said they were charged a pound extra for Caroline’s camp fee because the leaders decided to rent TV’s to put in the fields so they won’t miss the big event! When it was time for them to leave, Lisa pulled such a face that Gillian invited her to go home with them until after tea. That extended their visit by another four hours. All in all, we’ve had a very pleasant week of holiday.
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 