All's well in Newcastle

November visit to Newcastle
I spent the first ten days of November back in Newcastle, visiting with Kate and Sean ... again!!! It was great. We saw two Shakespearean plays - Much Ado About Nothing and King John, the Pirates of Penzance operetta, Lord of the Dance Irish dancing, and three films: History Boys (10/10), The Queen (10/10), and I alone saw Borat (probably 3/10 but very funny in spots). The Irish - mother, father, and three of the nine kids (four if you count Sean and five if you count the fact that we saw Brian in Edinburgh) were over for a visit. They all went to a soccer match. I didn't because I've been to so many in my life, I wanted to leave my seat for someone less fortunate.
The two top photos give a small idea of the beautiful rooflines in Newcastle. The next photo is of the front entrance to Cafe Royale, our favourite place to sit, eat and to drink coffee. The photo beside the one of Kate and Sean is of Eithne, Niamh, Clodagh, Brian, and Eanagh in Edinburgh. We spent the day there ... it's only a little over an hour to get there by train from Newcastle.

A RAMBLE TO REMEMBER
I belong to a group called the U3A (University of the Third Age). It's actually an interest group, with many activities to suit a variety of tastes. The sub-group I belong to offers walks in the country, culminating in a pub lunch. Here's a photo of Wednesday's walk. We walked for five miles with a stop about halfway to climb a tower (referred to as a 'folly') in the middle of a field. We climbed 260 steps and the view from the top of the tower was well worth it. In this photo, my little pinhead is at the back (left). Although you see mostly women in this photo, there were probably five or six men on the ramble. Jasper, the dog, is also a male. The pub where we had lunch was quaint and fitting. What a great day!!

SAM The Cute
I thought I would post a few pictures of Gill's dog, Sam, my fairly constant companion. He dogs my every step :-). As you can see, he's very cute. If you were an acquaintance of Beans many years ago, I'm sure you would agree that Sam looks a lot like him. Sam is a Border Terrier. He loves people and other animals and never barks. Well, that's not quite true. He barks if he's upstairs in my bedroom and he hears the garden gate open and close. Otherwise, we never hear a peep from him. I always expect small dogs to be a bit yappy so his non-barkyness is a bit of a surprise.
Sam and I go for long walks in the countryside and around Somerton almost every day. I think we're fairly equal in our love of these walks. One day, we walked quite far and ended up at a great pub. I hope to repeat that ramble one of these days. The two shandies I had were delicious!!
In these photos, I'm trying to get my bedroom tidied and he's taken over the bed. He loves sleeping with his head on the pillow, just like a human. It's cute.

A VISIT TO LONDON On my way to Newcastle, I spent a few days with 'Nephew' in Surrey (just outside London) and had a lovely time. He's always a little unsure about the upheaval wrought upon his solitary lifestyle but bravely puts up with my not-so-infrequent visits. One of the highlights of the visit was a trip by train and tube to Brick Lane in London to have dinner with friends. That was fun. The tube stopped in a tunnel for about 15 minutes ... interesting! My claustrophobia was in overdrive and my paranoia not far behind. I don't think I was alone in trying not to think about July 2005. My nephew was standing beside someone with a backpack. He was thinking too.
On one of my days there, we went to have apple pie baked by a friend of Nephew's who is 95 years old. The pie was delicious and the friend most interesting.
The photos are self-explanatory except for the one of my nephew, his real niece and her partner Martin, and me. I cooked dinner for them one night. Monica (nephew's niece) is the daughter of my dear old friend Stella who died about eight years ago. I always enjoy our times together.

Childe and Me at the Cafe Royale in Newcastle
Hallellujah ... some minutes to sit at the computer and write about my latest escapade. I have recently returned to Somerton from ten days in Newcastle to stay with 'the kids.' I had a lovely time with them, of course, and am already looking forward to my next trip there. That's not so far away. I'm going back on October 31st for another ten days! Kate and Sean have booked a few plays and have included me in their plans. Lucky moi. We're going to see The Pirates of Penzance, King John, and Much Ado About Nothing (I think :-).
I'm now feeling that I can find my way around Newcastle relatively well. On this visit, I spent quite a bit of time at the Cafe Royale, with and without Kate and Sean. It's an irresistible place as all of their food is delicious and the ambiance is just right.
Kate and Sean are both well and working hard. They spend long hours at their respective hospitals but love their jobs. They're enjoying life in Newcastle and are exploring the area every chance they get ... me too, when I'm there.
Gill and Brian are both well. Here's a recent photo of them. Brian and his fiancee, Lili, were here this past weekend as today is Gill's birthday. We've been celebrating since Saturday. She's 77 today but still looks so much younger than that.

A RECENT VISIT TO WALES
Last week, Gill and I drove to Wales, to a place called Eglwys Fach, the home of Gill's friends, Gill (yes, another Gill) and Zuhair Chalabi. Gill and Zuhair moved from Winchester to Wales last year - quite a big step as they are in a remote, rural area, having lived right downtown in Winchester for many years. On this map, look for Aberystwyth - Eglwys Fach where I was is about 1/4 of an inch in from the coast at Aberystwyth.

We had a seven-hour drive (with me driving all the way), right up into the Cambrian mountains and through some lovely villages and small towns. The scenery, once we started climbing the mountains, was breathtaking. All the signs were in Welsh, with loads of consonants and few vowels! We've been having remarkably good weather - warm but not too warm, and sunny - and it held for the entire visit.
Gill and I stayed with the Chalabis (she's English, he's Iraqi-born) for two days and then Sam (now a one-year-old dog and still too cute) and I drove home. Brian arrived from Oxford on the day I left, as prearranged. He and Gill went on to visit Welsh relatives after their stay with the Chalabis.
On my long drive back to Somerton, I only got lost once! In truth, I wasn't so much lost as I kept missing the egress onto the M4 highway at Cardiff. It was quite confusing but, after three tries, I finally did it. Hallellujah! It was great to have met the challenge of that relatively long drive. Now, I feel as if I can drive almost anywhere ... except London, of course :-).

Four characters go out to lunch
Here we are at the White Hart pub just outside Oxford. We had a delicious lunch and enjoyed the olde worlde pub atmosphere. Why Oxford? Well, last weekend, Gill and I drove there to visit Brian and Lili in Lili's new home ... a home she's going to have to learn to share. They announced their engagement while we were there and so the house will soon become the matrimonial property - yahoo! Gill was thrilled with the announcement, of course, and I must say that I'm delighted too. Lili is lovely, personable, intelligent, and fun. And we all know that Brian is all of those things too.
In said new house, Brian has been busy doing man's work and is doing a good job of it. His mother is quite astounded at this new talent surfacing - chuffed too, needless to say, but mystified all the same. I guess he's kept that side of himself quite well concealed :-).
Having been relegated to the role of chauffeur, I was pleased to survive the drive to Oxford and back. Actually, we took a lot of secondary roads and saw some beautiful countryside. So it wasn't so nerve-wracking. Along the way, we had a picnic in a lovely little park and managed to get to our Oxford destination quite easily. Sam behaved himself very well and left with a few return invitations from his respective hosts. He's easier on the wine supply than we are!

The first photo is of the view from the seawalk (miles long, following the coast) at Penzance in Cornwall. The second shows two little boys trying to find crabs and prawns in little pools of water left behind by the receding tide. I took the train on Thursday from Taunton (about an hour from Somerton) to Penzance - first class, lucky me - and had a lovely, scenic ride through Somerset, Dorset, and Cornwall. It took three hours to get there, then I wandered around Penzance for three hours, and hopped back on the train for the three-hour ride back to Taunton. I get an excellent discount on the train if I pre-book and I pay NOTHING for the bus when the travel starts in Somerset. I looooove riding the rails and get wistful when I hear a train whistle by without me on it.


These are recent snaps of me at the barn. Flynn, the 14-month-old 'baby' is on the left, and Lucy, his 16-year-old mother is on the right. I'm helping their owner, Miriam to feed them and groom them every day that I can. Miriam's daughter is expecting her first child soon and Miriam has asked me to take care of the horses for her while she's in London with her daughter and new grandchild. As I haven't been around horses in a good many years, I'm currently in training. It's fun!

At Linden Lea
in Somerton
Well, I've decided that I have enough words in me to keep two blogs going for a while. I will reduce to one once I decide which I prefer. Since I have the time, I might as well experiment.
I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer. On the subject of summer, our weather here has vastly improved. The sun still shines but the humidity and torrid temperatures have receded. I'm told our tropical weather has not gone forever. In fact, August may prove to be just as hot as those blistering days of not so long ago. In England, all records (since 1914 or so) were broken! There was lots of wingeing in Somerton and, no doubt, in the rest of England. They're not used to the tropics unless they're living in them. Mad dogs and the mid-day sun ....
I've been back in Somerton two weeks today and have not stopped! There have been dinners, lunches, coffees, teas, a trip to the acupuncturist for Gill, and a variety of other activities. I think it's all intended to get me used to driving here and keep me from sitting around too long.
On the Canada homefront, Sarah (18) - my granddaughter (Joy's middle child, husband David being the youngest :-) ) is recovering nicely from her recent stroke. Sarah is back at home now and life can return to normal. Kate flew out for a flash three-day stay with them last week! I think they all enjoyed it.
Kate and Sean start in their new jobs this week. Sean will be in Newcastle for the year, and Kate will be in Sunderland (a twenty-minute drive from Newcastle) doing Obs-Gynae. Her job also involves some teaching. I think she'll like that.
Gill is doing well. Her acupuncture session has relieved her of most of her trigeminal neuralgia pain, alhamdulillah. Brian (Gill's sprog) and Lili (Brian's beloved) are both working in Oxford for Oxfam. The strife in Lebanon is keeping them both occupied and preoccupied. What a shameful disaster!
It's 11:24 a.m. and I'm still not dressed. I was determined to do some newspaper reading and catch up a little on my blogs and on the Internet in general.
I'm now on to my next job - walking the dog. Toodle-oo.

Kate and Sean in Newcastle
The photo on the left is of Kevin (Sean's brother), Kate, and Sean walking toward the kids' flat on Bath Lane, Newcaste. They're on the first floor (second, to us), fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh windows from the left. It's central and overlooks one of the only patches of green in central Newcastle.

Our Queen Mary 2 cruise was wonderful despite the harsh weather. We viewed the bumpy seas as an opportunity to read and to watch videos to our hearts' content. The food kept flowing, the entertainment kept being presented, and the on-board lecturers kept lecturing.
We docked in New York on May 23rd (6 nights at sea) and proceeded to the nunnery we had selected for our two-day stay in The Big Apple. Yes, a nunnery. It's called Leo House and it's very central, clean, and reasonably priced.
Our time in New York was filled with sightseeing and theatre-going. As we got our tickets for the theatre through a last-minute kiosk, we had to take what was available. Our first play was an Irish satire on the IRA. The cast was the original Dublin group and the play took us both by surprise. There was blood and gore on the stage to the extent that we actually got used to it! They were sawing through body parts, killing each other, torturing each other. The play has won all kinds of awards and, I would say, is unique in its genre. So that was an adventure. The play is entitled The Lieutenant of Inishmore. I found myself wishing they had subtitles for the fast-paced repartee as it was difficult to be so rivetted to the bloodbath and follow the script!
The following night's play was a feel-good musical entitled The Wedding Singer. It was also excellent. The cast were exceptionally talented and the set was great. And not a drop of blood was spilled :-).
We left New York for Syracuse by train. The train was delayed by a couple of hours because of a power failure but other than that, the trip was pleasant. We were in business class - always a thrill. Barb and Harry Lawson met our train in Syracuse. It's a two-hour drive to Kingston. Little Mary was happily reunited with her family and I'm happily ensconced on the farm.

AVAST YA SWABBIES! Well, Little Mary Dunbar and I have made it out to sea ... this is our second day out on the rolling main and the gale force 9 - 10 winds are causing this massive ship to heave from side to side quite a bit. Walking around the labyrinth of corridors and alleyways, in fact, is a challenge.
We're thoroughly enjoying this luxurious mode of transportation - there's too much delicious food for our own good but we are not complaining! There are Oxford lecturers, entertainers, musicians, a library, several shops, a cinema on board. Our stateroom has a television, complete with e-mailing capability and videos on order.
Tonight, we'll go to the cinema and see Capote, a film we've both been looking forward to seeing. Oh, and that's after the Captain's cocktail party and our formal dinner. Life is tough on the high seas, alas and alack.
More later. I don't know if I'll be able to download a photo or two until we return to land, but I'll attempt it.
Portez-vous bien les copains.

Little Mary Dunbar does dishes on her holiday. She's our kitchen elf and we love her for it.
In the lower photo, we're in front of the Aga (stove) in Gill's kitchen. We're playing with my new toy, a digital camera bought especially so that I might feed the blog with photos :-). The self-timer works well as you can see.

GILL AND SAM RIDE AGAIN!
This is Gill on her scooter, a wonderful contraption that allows her to terrorize the pedestrians and motorists of Somerton as she careens around town getting up to no good. If you look closely, you'll see little Sam at her feet. He loves riding on the scooter ... he's her accomplice.

NEPHEW VISITS
My nephew is here with us. He arrived on the same day as Jessica and has been managing quite well with all these women around. He and I attended the memorial service of Tanya, his great-niece, in Bristol yesterday. Tanya died at age 27 of breast cancer. The memorial was an excellent tribute to her short life and was held at a picturesque country estate on a beautifully sunny day. Although it was a sad event, I think her parents and brother were pleased with their efforts to have her remembered in such a positive way.
By the way, my nephew is twee.

JESSICA ARRIVES - This is Jessica on her arrival, jetlagged and weary from her long flight. Little Mary Dunbar and I picked her up at Cardiff airport on May 4th ... that's two days ago already!!
Jessica, Mary and I will be going to Newcastle to visit Kate and Sean in their new digs. We leave tomorrow and return on Saturday - minus Jessica who will stay on with Kate and Sean in Newcastle. She's going to do a work placement in physiotherapy at a local hospital in Newcastle and then tootle on to Ireland with Kate and Sean. So far, she's adapting very well to life with the 'Geries' and seems to not mind hanging out with the old fogies. We're actually pretty wild and irreverend at times ... and not at all well behaved ... especially when we get into our antics with Chaos League. But that's a story for another day as Hammy Hampster would have said.

LITTLE MARY DUNBAR VISITS SOMERTON
Yes, my friend Little Mary is here in Somerton and Gill and I are enjoying her visit. So far, she has met some friends, walked around Somerton, had a pub lunch, been invited to tea at Nicky and John Baulkwill's, and walked around neighbouring Langport. Here, you see her with her newest trainee, Sam. She's very good at teaching him to behave properly as she broaches no arguments. If she stays at Linden Lea long enough, he will be the best trained puppy in Somerton!
In the evenings, Gill, Mary, and I like to sit around the computer and try to master Chaos League, a wicked new (to us) computer game. It requires a lot of strategic moves and helps us develop our sense of logic ... while providing us with hours of good clean fun.

I thought I would 'ramble on' about my daily routine - if you can call it that!
Sam, the puppy, is my first concern in the morning ... mainly because he makes sure he is. He starts barking at about 6:30 and so I roll out of bed sometime around then and come down to let him out of his pen. He HATES the pen and lets us know. However, the alternative of finding a huge mess motivates us (me, at least) to keep him contained for now. Also, if we ever take him with us to stay at someone else's house, he'll have his own sleeping space. Both he and Gill are sceptical about the value of the crate.
So, I get up (most days) at around 6:45, let the dog out, and then have a cup of tea or coffee. Then there's breakfast, a long dog walk in and around Somerton, coffee at about 11, lunch at about 1, tea at around 4, dinner at around 7. Between all these meals and breaks, I try to go to the library, to the shops, on another long walk. catch up with e-mails and correspondence. The day goes so quickly that I wonder how I ever had time to do any of those things when I was working!
I seem to be at the post office quite a bit. Sounds like I keep up with my correspondence, eh? Wrong. But I do try to write a note here and there in reply to letters and cards I've received.
It's about a 7-minute walk into the centre of town from Gill's - such a pleasant walk too as most of the buildings are very old (and very beautiful). The sidewalk is normal in places, extremely narrow in others, and non-existent in a couple of spots. There are cars parked on both sides of the road which itself is very narrow. How they don't get smashed is beyond me. But they don't. It's like they're double parked because the road is so very narrow. I wish I had lived here before the time of cars. It must have been so quaint.
Gill and I just finished watching Part 1, volumes 1 and 2 (12 hours' worth) of a romantic saga called Poldark. It was excellent and we have more to look forward to. I have to order them in at the library and will wait now until I return from London before ordering the next part. The process takes about two weeks.
I guess I had better go and get dressed as it's breakfast time and time to walk Sam. Have a nice day!

Dear's Brownies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.
Ice with chocolate icing when cool.
Yum, yum!

What the hell is a stile? It's steps or a gate or a ladder that's placed along a right-of-way across farmers' fields (or into farmers' fields) to allow the general public access to the field.
Yesterday, I was walking along a road and saw a sign for a public footpath, just along the side of someone's house. I climbed a stile and was in a field and was very tempted to take the puppy off his lead but (rightly!) decided I had better become more familiar with the field ... there was a herd of cattle at the top of the hill I had to climb to go from one end of the field to the other! I don't know what Sam would be like with cattle (didn't even see if they were male or female - and I was wearing a red jacket), so I'm glad I erred on the side of caution.
I can't rave highly enough about these footpaths (rights-of-way) - they're wonderful and allow for very interesting walks.
My plan is to soon walk over to Pitney (about 2 miles away), meet Gill there (she travels on her scooter), and have lunch at The Halfway House Pub. That should be fun - and the dog will probably be welcome.

Today, I went with my Walking Group on a 4 1/2 mile (note, not km!) walk, ending up at The Riverside Tavern in a village called Creech St. Michael (I had ploughman's lunch - yum, yum). We began with a tour of the 13th century church in the middle of the village (you can see the spire jutting out in the photo - click on the photo and you should obtain an enlargement of it) and then walked along rights-of-way, over stiles, and followed pathways across fields. Actually, there were herds of cows and flocks of sheep in a couple of fields we sauntered across. Fortunately for us, yesterday's heavy rain was spent so that the sun could shine brightly on us while we rambled around in the countryside.
The puppy is persona non grata on these walks so far. Maybe he will be allowed to go sometime in the future.
Yesterday, since it was raining, Gill and I watched a British romantic saga set in Cornwall (on DVD), called 'Poldark'. It was excellent. There were two DVDs - that means several hours of viewing ... and that was only series one. Now, I have to order the second series. I can't wait to see what happens next.
On Saturday night, we had seven dinner guests. It was loads of work but also loads of fun. They were mostly neighbours of Gill's and I had met them all previously a few times.

Who has Richard Prefontaine's e-mail address, for pete's sake???!!! He's the only one missing from my contacts and I would love to include him in my messages. Can anyone help???

Ooooh, I'm in love ... with Wells! What a beautiful medieval market/cathedral town. It's actually a city - England's smallest city. The cathedral there is magnificent. In fact, it's overwhelming in its majesty and architecture. I think Wells will be seeing a lot of me in the future as, not unlike the City of Bath, it's very easy to get around in the core areas.
While in Wells, I bought a lovely red berret (haven't owned one of those in years) and saw quite a few things I wouldn't mind getting at a future date - unfortunately, not a pony (sad :-( ).
I checked on the Internet this morning. Our weather is similar and we're both at -2C. So there we are, both headed toward spring. Woop-te-dooh and tra-la-la.
Gill and I watched Billy Elliot last night. Although we had both seen it before, it was just as pleasant again. Now the idea is to get to see it on stage in London. Anyone interested????
We're planning to have six people in for dinner on Saturday evening and so will be preparing over the next few days. In fact, right after breakfast, I'll trot over to the butcher's and buy a couple of chickens, bring them home, Dr. Gill will slit their throats with her surgical knife, and then we'll both remove the feathers. The entire process will take a mere 15 minutes. Do you believe me? Or would you rather think of me buying chickens that have already been plucked and that are ready to be cooked? We're going to start preparing in advance as it's hard to get everything done on the day itself, as some of you well know.
I've been making my mother's brownies and dreamcake lately. They're so easy to do and never fail to be tasty. If anyone wants the recipes, please let me know.
Oops - time for breakfast. Eat hearty, me lads.

As I was walking around the fields tonight with Sam, I thought it would be nice to introduce you to Somerton. They have a Website at

http://www.somerton.co.uk/history/virtualtour/menu/index.htm

which you may visit. There are some nice shots of the place and you'll have a better idea of the picturesque place in which I am nicely ensconced. I walk by so many of the houses and buildings you will see on the virtual tour. Judi Beaman, Judy Murphy, Joy, and Judi Ryan (all J's!) will recognize some familiar sights.

A bientot tout le monde.

Rambling in the fields and on screen!

Sam had a bath and a good brushing yesterday, so he looks pretty spiffy today. I was soaked from head to toe by the end of the process - and Sam absolutely hated the ordeal, but he's less smelly and certainly a lot more shiny.

Although it continues to be cold to the Brits, it's very manageable weather for me. Early this morning, I donned my hiking boots and took Sam for a ramble across farmers' fields, over stiles and along nice right-of-way paths. It was lovely. Both of us enjoyed it immensely. The area we were walking in is just nicely hilly ... very pretty.

Right now, Gill has a meeting of her flower-arranging committee for the church. I make the coffee and serve it but keep well away from the activities. It's 'not on' for me to be involved in flower arranging and in church activities. However, I must say that the church they meet about is absolutely beautiful, with a carved wooden ceiling and hanging chandeliers that burn real candles. It's very old and dates back to the Normans (I think). It's right in the middle of the town, across from the beautiful town square.

Speaking of churches, I plan to go to Wells tomorrow to walk around Britain's smallest city, visit the cathedral and take in the other sights. My next plan will be to go to Bristol - probably next week - to see a film called Bugs at the Imax theatre there. Has anyone seen it yet?

Toodle-oo for now.