Rebecca visits London

London is a great city to explore. My friend Rebecca made her first visit this weekend.

London is a great city to explore. I got to spend a weekend as a tourist. Always good. Surprising how I never make time to do this when it is just me. Other things seem to take priority [laundry, grocery shopping, walking the dogs ... and on some rare occasions, vacuuming!].

First, we had to look for Derby hats. I am going to the Kentucky Derby [yay!] and I also volunteered myself to get a "fascinator" for my friend, Mary Therese. One of the great things about the UK is that you wear a head piece to weddings, and as we are now into wedding season, the stores have accessories galore.

**I am only posting photos of the hats we are NOT wearing to Derby. You can see those in next week's posting!

By the way, Derby in the UK is pronounced, dar' bee. Very funny to try and explain to folks.

One of my favourite quotes from the movie Steel Magnolias, "our ability to accessorise is what separates us from the animals"!

What is a "fascinator" you might be thinking? Well, only a photo could truly present it.

After the adventure in the department store, we had lunch in a pub. Met some friends, and then Rebecca went down for a nap. I went home to rescue the dogs before going to dinner with Rebecca and friends. We had dinner in Mayfair [where my office is] at Scott's [fish house]. It was really nice.

Saturday morning we went on the double bus tour of London. It's the best way to see the city. We met at Hamley's Toy Store and got on the bus. We got off near the Clock Tower [Big Ben] and Parliament to take some photos. We also got some good shots of the London Eye [Ferris wheel] from the other side of the River Thames.

And because there was some road works [construction], we got to see the horse guard from the bus, twice; and then from the ground twice.

We headed towards Westminster Abbey and as I was relaying the story about trying 3 times [unsuccessfully] to visit the Abbey before I actually got in, we rounded the corner to see that the Abbey was closed due to an official function. The annual service of commemoration and thanksgiving to mark ANZAC Day [Australian & New Zealand Annual Commemoration] which remembers the Gallipoli landings of 25 April 1915 and all Australians and New Zealanders who have given their lives in the service of their countries.

We also saw #10 Downing Street where the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, lives.

We got on the bus and got off in the city of London near St. Paul's Cathedral, the Catholic Church. The unfortunate thing about being at St. Paul's on a Saturday is that it's in the financial district of London, where apparently, there are no residential dwellings, which meant after we waited for the next bus, no one was getting off, so no one could get on.

We took a taxi towards London Tower.

We had lunch at the Hung, Drawn, and Quartered pub. The food was good and this is the area of London outside of the London Tower where most of public hangings took place [how nice]. My cod fish unfortunately met the same fate ... though I didn't hang it.

After lunch, we took a tour of the Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. I told Rebecca that this was my favourite London tour place, and it did not disappoint. When I was last there in June with my folks, the Beefeaters were all wearing their red coats, which I did not realise was only for special occasions. And the special occasion in June was celebrating the 55th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. There was a 55 cannon salute on the River Thames that day.

After this, we made our way back to Regent's Street [big shopping district] where I learned that the crown owns not only the street, but also the building on the street, so the shop keepers pay rent to the Royals. All except Prince Charles, however. He is paid by from a land holding, Duchy of Cornwall.

The Duchy owns 51,885 hectares, mostly in the south of England (half the estate is on Dartmoor in Devon), which is run on a commercial basis, tenanted out to some 200 farms, plus 2400 acres of woodland, a few castles and mineral rights over the whole county. The income from the Duchy amounts to tens of millions of pounds every year. William the Conqueror allocated Cornwall to one of his relatives, and by 1337 Edward III created the Duchy as an estate for the eldest sons of the monarch. This has remained the case down the ages, through 24 Dukes of Cornwall, to Prince Charles today. Not a lot more is known about it, to be honest.

Once here, Rebecca was off to shop in Hamley's and I was headed home to rescue the dogs ... and my dogs [my feet!] as I had been walking for 13 hours. Sheesh!

Body Snatcher

Funniest e-mail ... for my female friends

You've heard about people who have been abducted and had their kidneys removed by black-market organ thieves?

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. I went to sleep and woke up with someone else's thighs. It was just that quick. The replacements had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? I spent the entire summer looking for my thighs.

Finally, hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans. And then the thieves struck again. My butt was next.

I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear-end to the thighs they had stuck me with earlier. But my new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original! I realized I'd have to give up my jeans in favor of long skirts.

Two years ago I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and was horrified to see the flesh of my upper arm swing to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush. This was really getting scary - my body was being replaced one section at a time. What could they do to me next?

When my poor neck suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a turkey neck, I decided to tell my story.

Women of the world, wake up and smell the coffee! Those 'plastic' surgeons are using REAL replacement body parts -- stolen from you and me!

The next time someone you know has something 'lifted,' look again -- was it lifted from you?

This is happening to women everywhere every night. WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P.S. Last year I thought some one had stolen my boobs. I was lying in bed and they were gone! But when I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

How I spent my birthday, 2009

Hello all,

Thanks so much for the good wishes and notes on Facebook for my birthday yesterday. It turned out to be a really nice day.

I booked a massage [pronounced ma'-saj here, with the emphasis on the first syllable] which, by the way, is French for "friction of kneading". So, I got myself kneaded, walked to Morrison's, and then shuttled up the hill to have dinner with the dogs.

We [me and the dogs] got up early and went for a walk on the Commons. I took some spring photos of our adventure ... today. Yesterday while we were walking, it was misting. I've got Goretex; can travel. The Commons were nice. No too many folks around, and because we were up early [and the weather] there weren't too many golfers out.

This picture on the left is how we get to the Commons. We walk through Wright's Alley [picture on right].

When I first got here, I thought it was strange that golfers, hikers, and sheep all shared the same space [that was in the Cotswalds]. Now that I live in the city, I think it's strange that golfers, hikers and people on horse back all share the same space. I think the golfers get the short end of the stick.

Generally speaking, hikers have the right of way. Since I have dogs, we generally move to the side when competing with space with horses or bicycles. Think I finally have the dogs "broken" [pun intended] from chasing the horses, but I cannot break Misty from snacking on the horse apples. Her other favourite treat on our walks is deer scat, generally abundant when we are crossing the fairways. It's so gross.

Okay, so horses pretty much stay on their paths, but don't stop for anyone. People on bikes have to give right-of-way to everyone, though Misty and Allie always seem to get right in one of a biker. They don't get the right-of-way thing. Runners dodge walkers, though Allie has tripped not one, but two runners. She cut corners close and wham! There was an on-coming runner.

The golfers just hope that someone notices that they are trying to play. On this course, they all wear red tops. Must be the course rule. Honestly, the only way that they could possibly stand out on the course with all the activity around them.

When the hike was over, I showered up and headed into the Village. I was thinking about heading into the city, but Westminster station is closed. We are cut off. I could take a bus to the next station, but that didn't look like fun. I stopped at a pub called The Common Room. It was actually pretty good. The greatest thing is that while I was inside, the weather outside turned a corner and it turned out to be a gorgeous day, about 64 degrees F [after my last blog entry, I ought to make you do the math!].

On the left is the fish mongers' shop. The windows flip open, likely an awning, and the fish monger serves you from the sidewalk.

I spent the rest of the afternoon browsing through the shops. When my arms got full, I had to go home. I stopped an Nicholas wine shop and picked up a nice bottle and headed back.

For dinner I had herb and seaweed encrusted pork chops, some homemade macaroni and cheese, and cabbage. Dinner of champions. Actually, dinner selected from the organic grocery in the village. They always have good ideas and local farmers featured.

Last thing on the list was to give myself a pedicure. All-in-all, it was a great day. Relaxed. Reflective. Positive.