IPSWICH

The beautiful countryside passed by quickly and after a couple of hours we arrived in Henley, a hamlet just outside Ipswich, West Suffolk, at the home of our second cousins. It was lovely to see them again after nearly 20 years. We were quickly given lunch and headed off to spend a litte time at the Abbey of St Edmund ruins at Bury.

Abbey Ruins

Abbey Gardens

About a half hours drive from Henley, the market town of St Edmundsbury had a village atmosphere with the cathedral just outside a large shopping centre. The cathedral was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. The cathedral is surrounded by the Abbey Gardens where the gardens were a vivid mass of colour. While meandering through the park-like gardens, a squirrel caught our eye climbing down a tree trunk quite close to the ground. We stopped to photograph it and it hopped down to the path and sat quite close to Fiona (cousin’s daughter) who had come with us. It was quite tame and fascinating to us as we don’t have them living in the southern hemisphere. Inside the cathedral we were able to see the beautiful ceiling of the new spire. The addition commenced in 2000, and has only recently been completed. Our day finished with a lovely meal and an evening spent with the family catching up with family news.

Next morning after breakfast we headed off to the university town of Cambridge which was north west about 71 kilometres (44 miles)from Ipswich. With little parking available in the township, large ‘park and ride’ areas are available for all day parking on the outskirts. We rode into town on a double decker bus taking in all the sights en route.

Views of Cambridge

This ancient town of colleges, museums, market street stalls, provides contrasting historic buildings with modern shopping venues. The town was crowded, with an obvious predominance of students and bicycles as well as large tourist coaches, visitors spilling out all along Kings Parade. As with many of these historic places, tour company employees bustled amongst the crowds touting their own special tours as being ‘the best’ or ‘the cheapest’. We were happy to continue our way through the narrow streets - we had an excellent guide showing us the magnificent buildings. Trinity and Kings Colleges, the Fitzwilliam Museum, ancient houses all had their appeal, and a wander along the River Cam was also a highlight with the beautiful cherry trees blooming right alongside.

We stopped for lunch at a little ’church’ café tucked along from the museum, where organic food was served at very reasonable rates. A short meal stop was an ideal way in which to rest our weary feet. We were soon ready to move on again and browsed the market stalls before heading for the ’park and ride’ again to pick up the car and head back to Henley.

A quick change and we were ready to be taken out for a delicious meal at an Ipswich Italian restaurant. We were helping Margaret and Magnus with their family, celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. What a lovely occasion to be sharing with them. We did enjoy the evening. Our time with these lovely people was all too short - in the morning we had another fairly early start to the coach station. Only one more day in England before we left to fly to Texas to meet with our son, daughter in law and two grandchildren.

We were ready to meet the coach when it arrived and we boarded and commenced our journey from Ipswich to Heathrow Airport. It was a miserable day so we were pleased we weren’t on a sight-seeing mission. After one stop half way to change coaches, we arrived at Heathrow about 1.30pm. We had booked a hotel room as we had a very early flight check in. This would ensure an early night and a short distance to the airport tomorrow.

WORTHING

Arundel Castle

When we lived in Zambia a number of years ago, we got to know Carol and David and their family of three kids. They have remained very dear to us and we were so happy to be able to stay with them during our time in England. They met us at Luton airport and we were quickly on our way to the very south of England, not far from Brighton. A beautiful sunny day to drive through the lush countryside. After dropping our luggage at their home, they took us to a lovely café right on the beach where we ate a scrumptious lunch. Leaving the coast, a short drive took us to the restored medieval Arundel Castle, founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067 during the reign of William the Conqueror. It was build as a fortification for the mouth of the River Arun and a defensive position for the surrounding land against invasion from the Continent. From the 11th century onward the castle has served as a hereditary stately home and has been in the family of the Duke of Norfolk for over 800 years. Standing high on a hill, it towers over the tiny village below. Antique shops seemed to be predominant in this little precinct and we took our time and wandered from one to the next, browsing for that special bargain we might find. Sadly we didn’t make any purchases but it was an enjoyable afternoon. The next day was a ‘catch up’ day for laundry after which we drove into Worthing township to post mail and generally have a look around. A beautiful birthday celebration meal for Louise, prepared by our host (her mum) was a special time for their family, and we were privileged to be included. DH says Carol is the best cook around and her pavlova is wonderful! (I’d have to agree).

Some time ago I had made contact by email, through a genealogy website, with a lady who was descended from the Double family - as DH is. We discovered through corresponding that we had quite a lot in common and have continued to keep in touch. It was most fortunate that she lives only a few miles from Worthing and before leaving Australia we had made arrangements to meet with her. She drove and met us and took us to her home for a cup of coffee and a ‘catch up’ before taking us to lunch to Highdown House, a little gem just three miles west of Worthing and tucked in amongst beautiful gardens. This lovely peaceful garden with views out to sea is a real horticulturalists delight. So many rare and unusual varieties flourish at Highdown that the entire garden has been declared a national collection. Being a beautifully sunny day and after a delicious ‘roast dinner’ from the carvery, we spent time wandering through this beautiful little oasis with its blossoming trees and beautiful ponds and spring flowers.

The road leading to Highdown House

The next morning a bleak wind had sprung up but we received a very warm welcome at the church service we attended which made up for the chill outside. Monday morning we were sad to leave these dear friends. Again we were driven to our next ‘port of call’ - Ipswich.

ABERDEEN

On the way to Balmoral

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny which was rather nice for our drive to Balmoral castle a couple of hours away. We were still ‘rugged up’ though despite the warmth in the lovely car. The scenery once we were away from the Aberdeen township was just as I imagined it to be. Small villages, mainly grey granite houses with people bustling about their everyday lives. Passing miles of fields we were rather fascinated by the number of mole holes with farmers apparently trying to get rid of the offending animals. We don’t have moles in our part of the world so this was something quite new for us. Tiny stone cottages dotted the countryside along the way with forest trees lining both sides of the roadway for much of the way. Close to Balmoral we caught glimpses of mountains still with the snowline quite low. Apparently the week before our arrival, Aberdeen and its surroundings had suffered quite a nasty blizzard.

DH and our Scottish host at the bridge

The entrance to the castle was across a bridge over the River Dee and down a short walk to the gates all hidden from the main road. A quick ride behind a tractor brought us up to the back part of the castle where we were let out to roam in the various display rooms. Examples of birds and animals were on show as well as carriages which had been used in bygone days by the royal family. Inside one area of the castle itself was a large room where many items were displayed including different dresses the Queen had worn on many important occasions, china, photographs, all manner of memorabilia which was most interesting.

DH and I outside the main Castle gates

Balmoral Castle

A small amount of snow lay on the ground and DH took great delight in rolling himself a small snowball and throwing it at me. It missed, but I caught it on camera - for posterity’s sake of course, you understand! We roamed around the gift shop and had a beautiful lunch in the little café. The drive back to Aberdeen seemed quicker - doesn’t it always on the return journey? We had time though to change and have a refreshing ‘cuppa’ before heading out to a lovely Chinese restaurant for an early dinner before we attended the stage show “Sound of Music”. Talk about being treated like royalty! We certainly were - we were so grateful to our new friends for their generosity!

Our time in Aberdeen seemed so short and the next morning we were away again towards the airport by 7.15am to fly back to London where we were being met by more friends. How fortunate are we?

ONE MORE DAY

Tomorrow we're off! A long awaited o/s visit to friends and distant rellies in the UK then to stay with eldest son, DIL and two grandies in Austin Texas. How we are looking forward to seeing them all again. For DH it's been 5 years since he saw DIL and the grandies, only 3 for me but no matter the kids will have grown - now at 13 and 11 - quite the young 'adults' to get to know over again.

We plan to attend an Easter service in an English cathedral. Have been looking forward to that. I'd love to get some photos inside but don't know if that's permissable so will just have to wait and see. Up to Aberdeen to meet a distant rellie for the first time then back down to the south coast of England to stay with dear friends we worked with in Zambia. Last port of call in England will be with 2nd cousins right out on the east coast. We hope to see some beautiful English Spring country side.

So friends, I'll be missing for a while - but if I get the opportunity to call in here and there along the way and tell you how it's going, I'll do that. I know we'll have a marvellous and memorable time.

Have a blessed week!

CHIT CHAT

Not too much of the past week has been especially noteworthy. Got some long overdue correspondence to aunts and cousins in New Zealand done and posted. I only write every couple of months to these particular people as none of them have computers and it's a 'snail mail' job. Interestingly, despite all the emails I seem to get on a daily basis, I still really enjoy getting snail mail in the post. There's just something about the opening of a letter and physically handling that paper with hand-written words that gets to me every time. I get rather frustrated these days if I have to hand write anything as long as a letter - it takes so much time - and my brain races ahead of my words - then often I forget what I was planning to write when I get to the end of the sentence. Maybe it's not frustration - probably just old age! LOL

Daughter, SIL and their two boys are leaving this morning on their long awaited holiday. They were to have left last Friday however a tropical cyclone made it unsafe to travel by air to the island resort they had booked and the airline cancelled their flights for that day. Fortunately they were able to make new reservations at both the airline and the resort and we've been watching the weather reports over the last few days to see whether it was likely they could get 'off the ground' today. The cyclone passed over the coast on Sunday morning with winds of 200km per hour but although lots of flood damage has been done further inland, the island resort only seems to have suffered badly from booking cancellations and postponements. As I write, they are driving to the airport with two very excited little boys. They are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary and we pray their 10 days away will be all they hope it will be.

DH and I are preparing to go on holiday ourselves and leave before they arrive back home so it will be a month before we see them on our return. We are excited about visiting friends and distant rellies in the UK then go on to Austin Texas where our son, DIL and two grandies will have us for 10 days. It is a bit unfortunate that they will both be working and the kids at school while we are there but we are grateful for the opportunity to catch up with them again. I saw them all 3 years ago but DH hasn't visited for 5 years. He'll see such a difference in the kids who are now 13 and 11.

I wanted to take some cross stitch with me to keep me occupied while away so sent for a Teeny kit from The Sweetheart Tree. It is entitled "A For Angel" and I'm looking forward to working on it. Hopefully by the time we get back home it will be finished and I'll be able to post a photo.

Brother-In-Law was discharged from hospital just 4 days after his brain surgery and able to go home to recuperate with his very new wife to look after him. Unfortunately the tumour that was removed proved to be a malignant melanoma so he now waits to attend the oncology clinic to see what the next move will be in his ongoing treatment. He has made a wonderful recovery post operatively and after 4 hours in surgery had medical and nursing staff amazed at how well he has done. Of course he and the family visiting him were quick to testify to staff of the healing power of a loving God and Heavenly Father and they are very confident that will continue. We do praise Him for his faithfulness!

The purple runner beans I planted a couple of months ago are now beginning to fruit and I picked the first ones yesterday. I had feared they would not be ready before our departure but I should be able to get a few more off them before we leave. The rest will go into the neighbour's pot! He is a dear and will mow our lawns and water any plants that need it while we're away, so I reckon he deserves to collect the beans.

It is now autumn here in Sydney howeverthe temperatures are certainly not reflecting that, and we continue to have what some might call an "Indian Summer" but for me, I'm just looking forward to cooler temperatures. Admittedly early mornings are somewhat cooler however overnight temps are still staying warm. I think our first breath of coolness will be when we step out of Heathrow into the early Spring temperature of London. Probably by the time we reach Austin, they will be having weather much the same as we are experiencing here in Sydney at present - oh well - a 2 week reprieve is better than nothing. The only down side to this is having to carry both summer and winter attire in our baggage!

Had my eyes tested last week as I had noticed quite a difference in distance vision. I do have to get new lenses and will go and have them fitted today but found out that the reason my vision is changing more quickly now is because my eyelids are drooping! I thought that was quite funny at first until I was told that this causes the eyeballs to change shape because of the weight of the eyelid pressing on them which then has the effect of changing the vision. I'm grateful at this stage that change of lens will compensate but looks like eventually I'll be needing an 'eyelid job'! Oh my goodness!

On that note, I'll sign off! Have a good week friends... Blessings!

MAKING CARDS

On Saturday I attended a pencil watercolour class and made some cards. I've used watercolour pencils before but never very successfully so I was looking forward to some professional help.

The three cards made during the class turned out really well although had I a choice of colour, I wouldn't have chosen brown however it was an exercise which I enjoyed and now feel more confident to do something else using the pencils. I really like the softness that can be created using this medium.

Sunday was also enjoyable. Our bible study group met for the first time in 2010 and we had a great time lunching together then opening God's word - this time looking at Job. It should be interesting as we get into it a little further and I believe God has something to say to each of us in the group from this study. Having recently heard about 3 friends having deaths in their families - two of them relatively young people - I believe now is an opportune time to learn more about this steadfast man of God.

Blessings friend!

FRIENDSHIP RENEWED

Aren't friendships great? People we met and worked with in Zambia 10 years ago live in England. They are in Australia at present on business and flew in to Sydney from Hong Kong on Saturday on their way to Melbourne. We met them at the airport and had a few hours with them catching up on each others news, families, mutual friends and showing them a little bit of Sydney. Had yummy fish and chips at our famous Manly beach and got them back to the airport in time to check in for their flight to Melbourne. How good it was to spend time with them. God is good!

Manly beach - water still only 18C

Refreshments

View while we ate our fish and chips

Manly beach ocean side southern most end

A GOOD 'FIRST DAY OUT'

Last Tuesday was my first 'big day out' since my surgery. I wasn't at all sure how I would cope with all the walking I knew I was planning to do but guess I just 'stepped out in faith'.

I have been interested in joining a U3A class or two for a couple of years now but have never found any within a reasonable driving distance that had vacancies in the areas I was interested in. It seems that many people who join a particular class, never leave but just continue on year after year - which means there are rarely any vacancies within that group. Recently I saw a small advertisement in one of our local papers for classes in an area which I could access by bus, so I phoned and got a class list sent out to me. Wonder of wonders, I have found two classes I am interested in which have a vacancy. One is family history and genealogy and the other calligraphy. The first class I could attend was on Tuesday (genealogy). I made up my mind I would go and see whether I felt comfortable joining that group.

Meanwhile on Monday a dear friend who is visiting Sydney from NZ phoned me to ask if I could meet her and her DH for lunch on Tuesday. Since both her suggestion and the class were in the same area, we made arrangements to meet.

I walked from home to the bus stop and got to Parramatta with time to walk to the restaurant. Had a delicious lunch of veal schnitzel and mushrooms with the added bonus of great company!

Walked to where the class was being held and found it quite interesting. I'll go back one more time before I decide if it's 'for me'. When it was over I walked back to the bus station and after being dropped at my nearest stop, walked home again. I was totally pooped from the most walking I'd done in weeks!

Today I'm attending the other class I've chosen - calligraphy. Again I'll do a 'try out' session and see if it's what I want. I'll be catching the bus again into the same area but won't have the extra walking to and from the restaurant that I had on Tuesday! However, I do feel I'm improving each day and am hoping it won't be too much longer that I'm altogether 'back to normal' - if one ever knows what normal really is.

Have a blessed day!