Tuesday 28 June
Even more good news...
More good news. We received an email this morning from our friends Julie and Adrian and they have got engaged. So, a big congratulations to you guys it is about time! See you at Christmas for some celebrating. Oh, and Happy Birthday Julie.
Posted by Hayley
Saturday 11 June
Hello Kate
I think this is the most exciting bit of news I have ever had the pleasure of announcing on the blog. My beautiful little niece Kate Victoria was born today. Karen, her mum, and Kate are both doing well and looking forward to being home. Kate is already very well behaved waiting until her Grandma and Grandpa had arrived back in the country before making her appearance. Yes, we have spent much of Mum and Dad's visit jumping every time the phone rang in case it was her arrival. Kate was due on the 1st so it has been quite a wait! Congratulations Duncan and Karen and welcome to the world Kate.
Posted by Hayley
Tuesday 7 June
Bon voyage
Having repacked earlier in the week Mum and Dad were pretty organised for their departure. They had an early evening flight out so having realised I hadn't taken them to see the common I suggested a walk there to fill in the morning. I felt a bit guilty that we hadn't got to the common earlier than this but we had been very busy and the opportunity hadn't really presented itself. Dad preferred a quiet morning but Mum was keen so we headed up the hill. I decided to walk her past our old flat on the way up to the common and was surprised to see the amount of work that has gone on there. We knew, of course, that a planning application had gone in to build a house on the bottom of the section but I wasn't expecting action so quickly. The garages have been knocked down and many of the trees are in the process of being removed or severely trimmed. I'm actually quite glad we didn't have to live through the noise of that having lived in a building site in Willis Street. It was nice for Mum to see where we had lived though the curtains were all pulled so we couldn't peer too hard! We continued up the hill to the edge of the common. We went for a quick wander but we didn't want to be away too long, as we had to eat lunch and then get organised to head to the airport, so didn't dwell. As per usual those crafty Wombles kept their noses well hidden and we didn't see any of them 'making good use of the things that they find'. Fortunately down-hill is easier than up and we weren't as puffed on the way back down.
Following extensive debate, we decided to trust public transport to get us to the airport. Rush hour wasn't going to be pleasant which ever way we went but at least we should keep moving on the tube as opposed to in a Cab stuck in traffic. Actually, the trip turned out fine as we were largely heading directions that miss the worst impact of the rush hour. We met Nick at the airport and had a bite to eat before Mum and Dad had to go through. There were a few tears but I think it was easier knowing that we plan to visit New Zealand sometime in the next few months. It was lovely having Mum and Dad to stay, we had lots of fun and we certainly have plenty left to do the next time they visit...
Posted by Hayley
Monday 6 June
More museums, and a meal by the Thames
Today was our last full day before Mum and Dad head back home to New Zealand via Singapore. Mum and Dad were keen to see where I work so we headed into town after a leisurely breakfast. It is often difficult to catch my colleagues at their desks but we did well with only one of them absent today. I think I take it a little for granted how close I work to the Tower of London, the Gherkin and all the bustle of the financial district. I also forget just how well dressed people are in town. It was fun to see it through somebody else's eyes as it all just becomes another part of my dreary commuter route rather than a wonderful historic city. My colleagues were, as always, very welcoming and we spent a good hour chatting so it was very nice.
We had a quick lunch at a cafe around the corner from my office and then we headed back towards South Kensington to have a look at the museums there. The Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum seem to be part of the traditional 'Hayley Tour' of London and I saw no reason to deviate from that. So the trip included dinosaurs, ants and the earth's molten core as well as a big chandelier, an excellent gift shop and various rather fashionable dresses. You too could be taken on this tour if you choose to visit London! Nick and I have of course on previous occasions visited these sites and provided rather more detail (See January and March 2004 for fine examples). Following our whistlestop tour we headed home to change and meet Nick for a final dinner out.
Having established that The Aviary isn't open on a Monday we decided to take a risk and visit a restaurant we had never been to before, we chose Ghillies in Putney. It received favourable reviews online, seemed to have menus that could be adapted by us and best of all a river view. It was a very pleasant meal, although the chef did have a few difficulties with the rather complicated instructions we issued. Dad and Nick, in particular, seemed to do very well getting delicious looking meals. Nick has made a habit, accidentally I'm sure, during this trip of ordering things that none of us can pinch bits off so he gets left alone to enjoy his yummy meals. We all had seafood for at least one course as the 
watery setting made fish and shellfish seem like an ideal option. We were also lucky enough to witness a beautiful sunset across the Thames with glorious colours streaking the sky as the sun descended. The most entertaining part of the whole evening was watching the poor staff trying to wrestle in a giant umbrella that was erected on the balcony outside. The wind had really got up and was whipping the umbrella round terribly and the poor man was really struggling to get it in. Actually, I can't report whether he eventually succeeded or not as he still didn't have it down when we left. We headed home to bed and I'm sure Mum and Dad weren't too disappointed that this would be their last night on our pull out bed.
Posted by Hayley
Sunday 5 June
Greenwich Means Time
We started out somewhat earlier today having made plans to travel to Greenwich Park and visit the Observatory. It is of course, quite a hike across to Greenwich, but the ride on DLR alone makes it worth it. Everytime I use it, I am reminded of Nick's comment that it is like the train at Disneyland and you expect to see Goofy or Mickey pop up around the next corner. Greenwich park is always lovely and we had packed a picnic to eat in the grounds. Mum had been keen to get 'up close and personal' with a squirrel every since she I arrived and I guessed that Greenwich was as good a place as any to fulfil this wish. I was right one very obliging squirrel was most taken with the pumpkin seeds on offer. It would have taken them out of her hand if she had let it but Nick had joked about the possibility of rabies from a bite and she was none to keen to find out if it could be contracted in this way. There was a carnival on in the park as well so our lunch was consumed to the accompaniment of steel drums.
The Greenwich Observatory is the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The Meridian Line is inside the gateway of the Observatory and like good tourists we had fun jumping from one side to the other and standing straddling the line. The Observatory was also been home and workplace to Britian's Astronomer Royal from the time it was built in 1675 until 1948. The Observatory was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and many famous astronomical names have worked there including John Flamsteed and Edmund Halley. The display inside ranges across astronomical subjects and includes many tools and navigational devices most notably a detailed discussion of the search to build a longitude chronometer, various incarnations of this device are also housed there. It is a fun place to visit and the views offered out across the Thames from inside the grounds are spectacular.
We descended the hill discussing what we wanted to do next. Mum wanted to go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey, Dad wanted to visit the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum and we were happy to sit in the sunshine. Not a problem I said, that can all be achieved in walking distance. Handily Mum and I had previously looked up service times for the Abbey. So having located the War Rooms we dropped Dad off, walked Mum to Westminster Abbey and then Nick and I went and amused ourselves in St James Park. Both Mum and Dad thoroughly enjoyed their chosen occupations, you will have to ask them for more details if you want to know about what they did as I wasn't there. All I know is that Mum was allergic to the Abbey as she sneezed profusely thorughout the service! Nick and I had fun in the park, watching the people, the ducks and the Pelicans. We all met up again and headed back to Wimbledon for dinner and bed.
Posted by Hayley
Saturday 4 June
It's not wrong if there's still space in the suitcases
We had a quieter day today. Following a leisurely morning Mum, Dad and I headed towards South Wimbledon and the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Well we weren't really heading for the Tennis Club but to a cricket ground I had found (following extensive web research) that described itself as being opposite the club. I thought this was a good way to kill two birds with one stone as Dad was keen to see a little more of the game in the English setting and I could point Wimbledon out loftily. 'Oh yes, and there is Wimbledon. Just our little local tennis club'. Having located the ground Mum and I left Dad to it and headed back into Wimbledon to fully investigate the local baby shops. There are quite a number of these in Wimbledon. I guess partly because there are actually rather a lot of young families in the area and partly because it is quite a central shopping area. The shops range across the price range and we were moderately successful in our quest to acquire summer clothes for the expected arrival. I have to say though that baby clothes seem to have reverted to very stereotypical colours pink for girls blue for boys. It is quite hard to get anything in yellows, greens, oranges, purples or any other colour. We were a little worried about Mum fitting it all into the suitcases as they had already made quite a number of purchases but my fears were assuaged when we got home and Mum did a repack and everything fitted perfectly. Dad managed to find his way home from the cricket successfully, even though his daughter had given him slightly dodgy instructions. We had a quiet night in, Nick having cooked us a delicious dinner, and headed for bed earlyish.
Posted by Hayley
Friday 3 June
Pussycat, pussycat where have you been?
The day started with the need to return the rental car to Kingston. Having successfully achieved this we made the decision to head to Windsor Castle by train. We hadn't realised just how popular the Castle was likely to be. The queue to get in curled out of the gates and around the block but having made the effort to get here we decided to wait. It actually didn't take as long as I had feared and much of the way was conveniently shaded. We needed the protection as the weather had turned on a real stunner. We made it inside, hired one audio-guide to share and set out through the Jubilee Gardens to the Castle proper. The Castle which has been used as a royal residence for the last 900 years, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation, and as such has a palpable sense of history about it. When we arrived we were disappointed to notice that the Union Jack, rather than the Royal Standard was flying. This meant the Queen was not currently in residence.
The Castle and grounds consist of three areas, the lower ward, the middle ward and the upper ward. The lower ward houses St Georges Chapel, the Albert Memorial Chapel and various housing and offices for church officials. The middle ward holds the round tower, gardens and walkway and the upper ward contains the State Apartments as well as visitor accommodation and the private royal apartments. For our tour we decided to start with St George's Chapel having ascertained that it was closing early, presumably for some kind of service.
St George's is the chapel that was used for the service of Prayer and Dedication that followed Prince Charles' marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles. So it felt topical to be having a look around. St George's Chapel is acclaimed as one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical buildings in England. However the facade is currently undergoing restoration so the exterior was marred by unsightly scaffolding. However the interior is quite a sight. Construction of the chapel was begun in 1475 by Edward IV. It seems to have been quite efficiently completed compared with other religious buildings we have seen taking only fifty years to construct. Inside the building is like a stone cage, its huge ceiling held up by a number of intricately carved stone pillars. The walls, alters and nooks are also beautifully carved and I imagine one could spend days investigating all the detail. The building is lit through huge stained glass windows. It is amongst the largest medieval church windows in England, standing 36ft high (11m) by 29ft (8.8m) wide and containing 75 principal lights.
One of the most notable things about it is that it is the Chapel of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Britain's highest order of chivalry founded by Edward III in 1348. The chapel has also traditionally been used as the burial place for monarchs and ten, including Edward IV, Henry VIII with his favourite wife Jane Seymour, Charles I, George V and Queen Mary and George VI, are interred there. More recently, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret were both buried there. The tour of the chapel concludes with the Albert Memorial Chapel, converted by Queen Victoria as a memorial to her husband Prince Albert following his death.
Following our exploration of the Chapel we decided that a rest and refuelling stop was in order so we went and sat in the shade of the Castle walls and had some nibbles. We also took turns having a look at the exhibition on the history of the Castle. The photos of the 1992 fire and subsequent restoration were particularly interesting. I also learnt that the Queen considers Windsor her 'real' home and that she spends most private weekends here.
Suitably restored we headed up to the State Apartments. Our trusty audio guide informed us we could either go straight into the Apartments (no queue) or go via Queen Mary's Dollshouse (long, forbidding queue indicating it was around 45 minutes long). We chose the Dollshouse. The House was completed in 1924 and was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens as a gift for Queen Mary. Everything is built in 1:12 scale and it aims to recreate what life would have been like in the Castle in the period. It goes down to an incredible level of detail, including electricity, working lifts and running water. There is beer in the cellars, cars in the garages, books (many with specially written stories) in the library, tins of biscuits, soap and everything else you need to run a well ordered household. It was quite fascinating and well worth the wait. On the way between the Dollshouse and the main State Apartments are two Jumeau dolls gifted by France to Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Blonde France and dark-haired Marianne came dressed in the very latest French fashions and have vast 360 piece trousseaus. They also have all the necessary accessories including a little red sports car. I think they were Mum's favourite part of the whole Castle.
We concluded our tour with a look at the State Apartments. The Apartments are the formal rooms used for ceremonial, state and official occasions, including honours ceremonies and official dinners. The Apartments themselves range from the smaller, intimate rooms of Charles II's apartments to the vast scale of the Waterloo Chamber, built to commemorate the famous victory over Napoleon in 1815. The walls of many of the rooms are decorated with paintings from the royal collection, including works of art by Van Dyck, Rembrandt and Rubens. There is also an extensive collection of weapons and armour so should the Castle ever come under seige I'm sure they could defend themselves. Probably the most famous of the rooms is the St. George’s Hall. It has been described as a modern interpretation of Gothic and is constructed from 300 green oak trees from the cultivated woodlands around Hay. The Hall is irregular in shape and therefore each of the 14 trusses, with subtle dimensional variations, was custom made. Between the main structural arms of the trusses are 980 specially made shields of the Garter Knights. The room required extensive restoration following the 1992 fire, fascinatingly some of the floorboards had simply been turned over to hide the charring on their exposed sides (having been checked thoroughly for soundness of course). The interior is most impressive and although most of the guides recommend around 2 hours to 'do' the Castle I really think you need substantially more than that.
On our way out we glanced up at the keep and saw that the Royal Standard was now flying. The Queen must have heard about our visit and made sure to return in time to see us! We also had a delightful encounter with a mother duck and her ten ducklings who were playing in the garden around the keep. They really were very sweet and Mother Duck was doing a very good job of keeping them all in line. Just outside the castle we encountered a number of rugby players, in town for the international Sevens tournament this weekend. I only figured this out because I saw this guy who looked really familiar and I was trying to suss out how I knew him until I glanced at his shirt and saw the Fijian Rugby Team shirt. It was Waisale Serevi, obviously I recognised him from my television rather than as a personal friend.
We wandered back to station via a shop that sold vintage cars of all shapes and sizes including some familiar looking matchbox toys. We also thought we deserved a cup of tea, so we called in at a local cafe. We hadn't been seated long when the skies opened and it poured with rain and gave no signs of letting up. When we had finished our snack we had a very wet run to the Station and as we travelled back towards Kingston more and more bedraggled people boarded the train, many much more wet than us.
With Nick at his colleagues wedding we decided to have dinner out. There is a restaurant, The Aviary, about 10 minutes walk from our house that Nick and I had been meaning to try and so since we had to go past it on the bus anyway we settled on there. We were lucky to get a table as it is a very busy restaurant. It serves Modern European food and everything was fresh and delicious. It prides itself on using local ingredients and where possible aims to use organic foods. Helpfully, the staff were very accommodating about the changes required to make the menu Jane and Hayley friendly. Mum and Dad had a very nice wine with their meal and the ambience was lovely. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the fact that we could walk home afterwards.
Posted by Hayley
Thursday 2 June
Baked in a pie...
We had a quiet morning this morning anticipating the drive home in the afternoon. We had booked the rental car until Friday so that we wouldn't have to leave at the crack of dawn and so we wouldn't fret about the time if we got caught in slow traffic. We decided to head down to the local Tiverton shops as Mum and Dad had not yet had a chance to look there. We managed to indulge in a little baby clothes shopping as well as picking up a few treats to leave behind with our kind hosts. We decided to have lunch at Four and Twenty Blackbirds, the local tearoom. I had eaten here when I visited Aunty Louise a couple of Christmases ago and so knew that as well as traditional tea shop fare there would be DELICIOUS baked potatoes, mine came covered in smoked salmon. Having finished our lunch we went back to Aunty Louise's, finished packing up the car and said our farewells.
We were much more efficient at the drive this time, conveniently managing to miss any major delays. This despite the fact that we kept having traffic updates on the radio describing traffic chaos in London. Tower bridge had got stuck in the upright position and a sewer near Victoria had overflowed. The bridge in particular, causing a major headache, as it runs outside the congestion charging zone and is therefore a preferred route for those looking to go around London city. Fortunately for us we didn't have to go anywhere near central London instead coming in through Kingston. Nick was very surprised to see us as I had told him we weren't planning to be home in time for tea. Instead we turned up in perfect time to eat and it was a bit of a mad scramble in the freezer to find us all dinner!
Posted by Hayley
Wednesday 1 June
Now, where did I leave reverse?
Today we had another early start as we had arranged to meet Nadia, a friend of Aunty Louise's, in Wells. As Nick had gone home we had room in the car for Liz so she made the journey with us today which was lovely. Wells has a market day on Wednesday but I have to say the weather was really not conducive to open air shopping. The rain had arrived in force. Instead, since we had arrived a little early, we had a look at the under cover shops before returning to the arranged meeting place to find Nadia, her son, daughter and grandson. Since the weather was lousy we decided to go and have a look at the Cathedral. The cathedral has a very long history building having begun in 1180. Although as with most other buildings of such age ongoing work has meant that the structure has undergone some major changes through the years. One of the most famous parts of the cathedral is its clock. Apparently, it was probably in place by 1390. The Wells clock is unique because it still has its original medieval face, depicting a pre Copernican universe with the earth at its centre. When the clock strikes every quarter, jousting knights rush round above the clock and the Quarter Jack bangs the quarter hours with his heels. This was quite a sight and I was able to make direct comparisons with the jousting knights in Munich. It is also possible to climb up the well-worn stairs to the 14th century octagonal Chapter House. The room is brightly lit and a great central pillar soars up into thirty-two shafts. However, no matter how awe inspiring the architecture we couldn't imagine that discussions would have lasted terribly long as the seats are plain, cold stone and would have been particularly off putting on cold winter's mornings.
Having worked up an appetite with our explorations we headed back through the streets to the cafe Nadia had booked us for lunch. It was cosy and had the added attraction of a very narrow spiral staircase that led to the toilets. (We later found out there was another way up but that ruined the fun of having to climb the rickety stairs!) It was lovely to eat and catch up with all the news. Having had our fill we headed back to the car park, Dad having to give little weary legs a rest in the form of a shoulder ride, before going our separate ways.
On the way back to Tiverton we called in at Clarks Village Outlet Store. It has over 90 outlet stores that run the gamut of retail, including clothes, home-ware, jewellery and of course, as one would expect at a place called Clarks, shoes. I think there was something for everyone. In fact, I think I was the only one who didn't make some kind of purchase.
We got home in good time and as it was yoga night Mum offered to drive Aunty Louise to her class. I went along for the ride. The yoga class is taught in the village hall at Culmstock. Having managed to successfully park the car following a little confusion with how to locate reverse, Mum and I decided we would take a walk around the village. We made the acquaintance of some of the locals including various dogs, cats, birds and one very entertaining rabbit. The rabbit was black and fluffy and obviously extremely well socialised. It hopped down from its sleeping perch when we stopped to peer into its cage and seemed most intent on retaining our interest. It ran back and forth doing 'tricks' and stopped and listened to us when we spoke. As you can imagine it kept us entertained for quite some time. We also investigated the local church before heading back across the one lane bridge (to our delight we had occasion to use the pedestrian nooks to escape passing traffic (well one slow moving car but who is counting?)) to the village hall where we wrote some postcards and then collected Aunty Louise and headed for home.
Posted by Hayley