Exaggerate ~

Represent (something) as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really is:

We arrived early for our flight from Heathrow due to all the hype that was put out in the news about the batteries in electronic devices being checked. We were told and alerted by our airline to make sure all our batteries were fully charged as they would be subject to confiscation if the device did not turn on properly.

The reality for Dear and me was that none of our devices were checked to see if they would turn on. We made it through security lickity split and had a relaxing wait for our flight.

Here’s a little travel tip for you when traveling to and from Heathrow airport. Souvenir type items can be bought at the terminal and they seem to be priced lower than the street vendors and stores in London. There are several shops to choose from. We came in and out of terminal 3. I’m pretty sure terminals 4 and 5 had more shops than teminal 3. The Harrods shop you see in this photo had items clearly marked as less than their store in Kensington. The Starbucks at the airport had mugs from several locations in England, Scotland and Wales and the mugs were just under seven pounds each. Her’s the one I chose this year.

Since we were in Wales on this trip and once before I thought it a good choice. The mug on the left I purchased at England’s version of T.J. Maxx called T.K. Maxx!

Here’s something we can’t overdo or exaggerate, being thankful to God. We are thankful for His watch care over us during our whole trip and everyday of our lives. This sign was on the doorpost of The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, on High Street in Windsor. We walked around this church on our last full day in England.The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8

When you travel abroad you really should make sure and walk into the magnificent old churches. I will be doing a post in the future with the surprise that we were treated to by visiting this church.

So we are home and enjoyed a good rest in our own bed last night. Our son Josh picked us up from the airport where going through customs was a breeze. He took us to our favorite Mexican haunt on the way home for a little taste of Mexico that we had missed while in England. Today we are working on getting a little organized, washing up some clothes, and getting over jet lag. Hopefully by tomorrow we won’t resemble this…

Gargoyles are so interesting and creepy. More from England coming soon when my thoughts are more coherent. Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers From England ~ The End

Today Wednesday July 16th was our last full day in England. Tomorrow we will head to the car rental agency to return the car and to Heathrow.

We leave here noonish on Thursday and arrive home at 2:30 in the afternoon on Thursday. So weird.

We enjoyed an early walk on the property where we are staying and then headed into central Windsor to see about catching a boat ride on the river Thames. We arrived in time for the first 40 minute boat ride of the day which meant we weren’t packed in like sardines and enjoyed a relatively empty boat. We met a couple from Australia and exchanged our travel experiences.

This was our turn around point. To go farther on the river we would have had to wait for the locks.

On our way back to the dock we got a great view of Windsor Castle.

We did our last minute shopping in Windsor and enjoyed our last very English meal at the Duchess of Cambridge.

A steak and ale pie on top of a bed of mashed potatoes and peas smothered in gravy for me and fish and chips for Dear.

We walked by this next shop and decided to attempt a Selfie which is not easy with a big Nikon camera and a 4 inch lens on it. Are you suppose to look dorky on a selfie?

We are really enjoying this last spot we chose and have had some good relaxation before we head home to the reality of a lawn that needs mowing and renovation work that begins full swing on Monday. Thanks for following along with us in real time. Your comments are always encouraging to me. The next time I post will be from Pacific Time. I have so much more to share from England. Cheers for now from Jolly Old England!

Don’t Cry For Me…

…Argentina Fellow Bloggers!

After my rant about the hotel we stayed in last night I wanted you all to see our new home away from home for the next two nights. Do not feel sorry for us. We are truly content and blessed as we wind down our trip to Jolly Old England.

No roads outside our hotel window and a nice green lawn down to the river Thames. A wonderful way to end our time here and to forget about the last hotel we stayed in.

Here’s Dear having a little shut eye in the shade at the rivers edge before we check into our room. We also enjoyed the peaceful time watching the boaters and rowers glide by.

We are enjoying this roomier space with chairs that are in good shape…

as opposed to these poor worn chairs at the last hotel.

A nice king sized bed instead of our smaller sad bed last night. The only thing we hear outside with our windows open here are birds, an occasional boat horn, and distant planes leaving from Heathrow. We are steps away from the river Thames and a few hundred yards from the main road.

Today before we checked in here we spent a few hours in Windsor including a tour of Windsor Castle. While in Windsor we happened to meet a family from Argentina and talked with them about the disappointing loss to Germany at the World Cup. We ate lunch close to the riverside and then headed back to our hotel to check in. One more full day before we head to Heathrow early on Thursday to deal with all the new security checks.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Cheers from England ~ Day #10

After today we only have three full days left in England. It’s moving day on Monday again. On this Sunday we had our first bad planning travel day. We traveled to Hereford to see the cathedral and the Chained Library and the Mappa Mundi but alas those rooms/exhibits are closed on Sunday. We were able to walk around the Cathedral so all was not lost.We are considering changing our route to Henley-on-Thames on Monday so we can travel back to Hereford to see the Chained Library and Mappa Mundi.

Dear is representing the home team jersey in honor of the Seattle Sounders playing the Portland Timbers this evening in Seattle. While in Hereford we walked to the River Wye and crossed the Wye Bridge since we hadn’t seen the river since arriving in Ross-on-Wye and traveling to Hay-on-Wye.

This old bridge has some history of it’s own.

Heading back to the Spiral Cottage via B4224, a road with a white stripe down the middle, thank you very much, we had to stop at the Bunch of Carrots Inn for a little refreshment.

We really have been blessed with some great weather while we’ve been in England. We are in for the evening and we will be watching the World Cup Final game on the telly. Hope your weekend is coming to a good end.

Cheers From England ~ Day #8

Today is Friday and it was moving day for us. We moved from our quiet sprawling cottage in the Cotswolds to a small 2 story cottage near Ross on Wye. We are just off a B road so this little spot will be a little noisier during the day. On the way to our new location we stopped in Bourton on the Water and in Gloucester to visit the cathedral and The Tailor of Gloucester Beatrix Potter shop close to the cathedral.

Bourton on the Water

Gloucester Cathedral

After we spent some time in the cathedral that was magnificent we found the Beatrix Potter shop and made a little purchase and then headed to our second lodging spot close to Ross on Wye. We got settled in and headed to Ross to find a bite to eat. We ate at a cafe and made at stop at the butcher for sausages and the supermarket for eggs, bread, tomatoes, and mushrooms as we’ve missed our traditional breakfasts the last few mornings. We are now relaxing in the wee cottage.

The view from our upstairs bedroom window looking east. Not too shabby!

And here are the stairs I will have to navigate if I need to use the facilities in the middle of the night…oh my…

I’ll let you know how it goes. We have two areas we want to explore while we are in this part of England and time will tell which towns we will visit first.

We are in touch with family and friends via the internet and so thankful that we have that luxury being across the world from them. So much happens when we are apart and it’s good to be able to communicate daily if we need to. I specifically chose places that offered free wifi and am very glad I did since I do not use my cell internationally. We’ve heard that Heathrow security is confiscating cell phones if the batteries are dead so I will need to turn my cell phone on airplane mode before we hit security to make sure they can see that my battery is just fine.

We also hear the the temps in at our old house in Washington State are hitting the 90’s this weekend. Maybe it will stunt my grass and weeds from growing too much while we are gone. How are things going in your neck of the woods. Speaking of woods we are close to the Forest of Dean.

Cheers!

Cheers From England ~ #2

We had a much needed good rest on Friday night. We woke up to birds singing and a light drizzle. Our second day in England and the Cotswolds specifically brought us to the town of Chipping Camden. We really enjoyed this town last year with Josh and Laura and it was nice to go back and explore it further. We also had the fun task of buying a few groceries to have at the cottage. We plan to cook an “English Breakfast” at the cottage on Sunday morning. We bought fresh eggs and a variety of sausages at the Butcher. We bought some tomatoes and mushrooms from the grocer. We bought a fresh baked loaf of bread from the Boulangerie. We bought some Damson Preserves and butter from another small shop on High Street. We also bought some local Cotswolds Cheese from the Cheesemonger. After we had all our supplies we enjoyed a great meal at the Eight Bells and had some fun talking World Cup Soccer with the locals. We braved some very narrow lanes to get to Snowshill to see some lavender fields in bloom, too.

Now we are back at the cottage and I hope to catch the Netherlands v. Costa Rica game on the telly soon.

Hope your Saturday is going well.

June Photo-A-Day Challenge

Continuing with Kati’s challenge Day 15 thru Day 21.

15. Backyard

16. Bright

17. Stripe

18. Something Old (Wells Cathedral)

19. Refreshing (Cornwall, England)

20. Book (Crime and Punishment – Fyoder Dostoyevsky)

21. Summer (Chilliwack Corn)

This Saturday marks the beginning of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of Winter in the Southern Hemisphere so World Cup will finish up during the Winter in Brazil.

We continue with our Weekend Warrior bathroom work this weekend. We have to use this weekend well since we’ll be traveling to Portland for a wedding next weekend. What are your plans for the first weekend of summer?

Jesu, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire ~ Hymn

Jesu, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire

Jesu, our Hope, our heart’s Desire,
Thy work of grace we sing;
Redeemer of the world art Thou,
Its Maker and its King.

How vast the mercy and the love,
Which laid our sins on Thee,
And led Thee to a cruel death,
To set Thy people free!

But now the bonds of death are burst;
The ransom has been paid;
And Thou art on Thy Father’s throne,
In glorious robes arrayed.

O may Thy mighty love prevail
Our sinful souls to spare!
O may we stand around Thy throne,
And see Thy glory there!

Jesu, our only Joy be Thou,
As Thou our Prize wilt be;
In Thee be all our glory now
And through eternity.

All praise to Thee Who art gone up
Triumphantly to Heav’n;
All praise to God the Father’s Name
And Holy Ghost be given.

Words: Unknown author, 7th or 8th Century (Jesu nostra redemptio, Amor et desiderium); translated from Latin to English by John Chandler (Hymns of the Primitive Church, 1837) and the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861.

L is for London

These next photos that I took in London during our trip in September of 2013 are not the most typical tourist shots but they called out to my camera.

Thanks to the ABC Team for ABC Wednesday.

Hail My Ever Blessed Jesus ~ Hymn

Hail! My Ever Blessed Jesus

Hail! my ever blessèd Jesus,
Only Thee I wish to sing;
To my soul Thy Name is precious,
Thou my Prophet, Priest and King.

O what mercy flows from Heaven!
O what joy and happiness!
Love I much? I’m much forgiven
I’m a miracle of grace.

Once with Adam’s race in ruin,
Unconcerned in sin I lay;
Swift destruction still pursuing,
Till my Savior passed that way.

Witness, all ye hosts of Heaven,
My Redeemer’s tenderness;
Love I much? I’m much forgiven,
I’m a miracle of grace.

Shout, ye bright angelic choir,
Praise the Lamb enthroned above;
Whilst astonished I admire
God’s free grace and boundless love.

That blest moment I received Him,
Filled my soul with joy and peace;
Love I much? I’m much forgiven,
I’m a miracle of grace.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: England