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.