Embarassing?

A quick story about a hobby, a family, and a pub.

I had decided to take some knitting on our vacation. I love knitting. It allows me to be happily creatively productive while sitting still and contemplating. It absorbs my mind and body and I am quite fully in the moment when I knit. My boys however, seem to have the misconception that knitting is for older folk, and that one ought not to knit in a pub, especially during the World Cup!

However one night, I think it was the semi's...we decided to patronize the King's Heid in Monmouth, Wales. By the way, we drove by at least a half dozen Queen's Heid pub's and almost as many King's Heid's! Noam wanted to Blog, and I wanted to knit, so while Tim and Micah distanced themselves (more Micah's desire than Tim's), pints in hand and watching the 'footy' with the crowd, Noam and I happily found a table near the bar with access to an electrical outlet. We each nursed a drink while he happily typed away, and I frustrated with my new knitting project (but with Noam saying "don't give up mom")...made a good start on it.

I noticed a young man at the bar bestowing a benevolent smile upon me, so perhaps it is true, and I do appear the greying middle aged woman, with her Pim's, and her yarn...but I was content!

Farewell to London

Quick late night blog to say we are flying home tomorrow. And a quick but important request that if anyone has printed or somehow saved Noam's blogs could they please let him know? Sadly, Blogspot seems to have deleted all of his blogs.

London has been a whirlwind...it's a really intense and busy city. We've done a few touristy things, one or two a day (except today when Noam and I happily held back and did some local browsing With cousins Lesley and Lizzie, getting ready for a big family tea, and such. Lesley, Richard and Lizzie hosted much of our family here: Millie and Bob, Vivien and Michael and their son Mark with his beautiful wife Lauren who is expecting their first child this September, Paul and Suzie, Paul's children Louise and Nick, and of course our family! It was such a terrific gathering, and amazing to meet my cousins' children as young adults.

Anyhow, we've been packing up and are 'completely knackered' as they say here.

Off to bed m'dears.

A few more thoughts-

The end to the story of our trip to Yorkshire, involved the long stroll to the pub, a really unexpectedly yummy pub supper, accompanied by a bit too much wine for me! And a lot of chatting with the locals, some of which I understood, although at one point the answer to a question left me laughing really hard I recall because I simply could not make out what was being told to me. We all played some pool, and I made one excellent shot that I remember. Tim lost me a pound on a bet, as he lost to Paul, and Noam is a betting man. Suzie and I skipped happily home down the now much much longer road to the farm, exchanging confidences and enjoying the velvety night air. And I did not 'do some business' at the side of the road Noam! Suzie and I discreetly dissolved into the shrubbery and had a tinkle! We are in England!

Back way up!

Backing up to some time ago...to the day we left our lovely little cottage on the edge of Wales. We were well taken care of by our landlady...fresh strawberries from her garden in the mornings, perfect recommendations of local sites and food, and surprising us with our laundry dried and folded after our washing machine failed (we came home from a day of exploring around to find it still running with the morning's load in it!). Did I describe the morning walk that Tim and I took straight from our cottage door, up the road to the 'foot path', over the stye, and following well hidden path markers through the fields, carefully avoiding the huge cow patties, and brushing past hedges of holly...to find ourselves at the top of a hill o'erlooking the entire country side, with a view to the Black Mountains! We had been warned that the South of Wales was rather unattractive, and that we were missing the coast and Northern areas which were wonderful.....but mid Wales is stunning!

So, we headed off to York, historic walled city on the opposite side of the country. Tim driving for the first time in awhile, and Micah and Noam continuing to take shifts at reading The SkyStone. Finding a chance to visit Hadrian's wall fast becoming a priority for the boys!

Entering York, finding parking, meeting up with cousin Paul and his lovely partner Suzie was the first task! Bit tense...but it all worked out, and Paul, in his caring big brotherly manner took everyone and everything in hand....scooting us off for a coffee, and a welcome moment's respite before exploring the town. York is filled with cobblestone streets, shops abound, and of course, the extraodinary York Minster Gothic Cathedral, which was hosting a wedding while we were there...Suzie and I happily held back to watch the photos on the step of this magnificent structure and the bride sailing off in the limo...before joining the others in the entranceway. We didn't go further in to the Cathedral, but the entrance alone gave impressions of huge grandeur and elaborate stone work and stained glass...quite awesome. A fun visit with the Vikings in a ride that is a bit of Disney meets hmmm? i suppose just a BBC history lesson. I found the Vikings a bit smelly, but otherwise loved the trip back in time.

After a day of shopping, and browsing, high tea at the famous Betty's Tea Room, and so on...we ventured out into the countryside of Yorkshire to find our B&B. Find it we did after many curvy roads and a few wrong turns. A lovely horse farm, with Peacocks in the yard, and situated in the midst of fields and trees. It was a gorgeous afternoon with the trees and plants blowing in a cleansing wind. Tim and I just had time for a stroll through the fields on our own, before we all headed off to the local pub for supper.

I'll sign off for now. We had a leisurely morning today, and it's half past eleven! Going to head off now to see the Tower of London, but I'll fill in the blank about our pub supper and adventures later.

tid bits of adventures

Here area few bits I missed. Not to be a linear blog as it turns out, having just figured out how to use the system! Turns out it wasn't just jet lag, but a temporary though unfortunate reaction to a new medication I tried for pain! Felt as though I was under water, and had lost a bit of my sense of balance...throw in some nausea and you get the picture. Anyhow, Tim decided to covertly research the side effects of the medication, and I was doing a terrific job of exhibiting them all. A couple of really good nights sleep, and taking it really easy cured that for me.

The great part about Wales was the pace, and the weather, and the countryside...okay, and the people, and the pubs. The Abbey's were spectacular. We stood inside Tintern Abbey (must re-read Wordsworth's poem), and were amazed. The arched open windows with their stone intricacy against the vivid sky, and backdrop of green hills and fields was absolutely breathtaking. There were a few drives where Tintern was en route and though we might be listening to either Micah or Noam read to us from The Skystone ( a novel set in Britain during the Roman Empire which we quite accidentally took on the trip), we all fell silent as we took in the site of this ancient place. It was like that in so many places...17th century churches with carvings made by local carvers of the time who studied stone carving nearby; ruins and castles around every single corner. “Castle at 1:00!” was a not uncommon cry!

Perhaps the most fun was riding Welsh ponies (truly they were horses!) through the Brecon Beacons, or Black Mountains of Wales. Fields amassed in wild ferns and striking pink Fox glove, Sheep baaing at every moment in the trekk, and vast short and steeply rolling hills all around. Though the day was warm and sunny, there was a clean mist that cooled us in the highest parts of the hills, as our horses trotted along the trail. It was magnificent, fortunately, as I determine to focus on the brilliance of the ride and the exhilaration of the views while my thighs, but and calves continuously remind me of my exertions!

Edinburgh

i know that a lot of time has passed since I wrote, but while I plan to fill in some of the blanks later, I have to write about Edinburgh now. This is a fantastic City. It may be the most extraordinary city i've visited. It has a feeling about it that is unique...the people who live here love it. They know that it's a great city...accessible, breathtakingly beautiful...a huge park, and Arthur
s seat, a loch (lake) and green hills all visible from the city centre. The castle on the hill creates the view from our kitchen window, and I am, in a heart beat, ready to move here! I don't really like cities...I find them smelly and noisy and chaotic, but if i had to live in one, I could live here. Having said that, the noise at night, and I mean all night long, is a bit of a problem. We are staying in the heart of the city, and it transpires that the night revelers don't go to bed! Even the occasional bag piper pipes on into the very wee hours. Tim just read me an Ian Rankin passage (Fleshmarket Close, pg. 27) that exactly describes what we witnessed at 3 in the morning last night! We'll be going to the close today!

Last night Noam and I ventured out the The Stand Comedy Club, he armed with Micah
s i.d., and happily impersonating his big brother, and recounting to our table meates his various exploits as an 18 year old in Canada, his relationship with his girlfriend, and such. i was armed with a pint of Guinness so that I might enjoy to the fullest the mostly very amateur Scottish humour with which we were entertained; most of which focussed on alcoholism (or perhaps drunkenness), politics, and sex. We had a great time chatting with three drama students about acting, comedy, film, and cultural differences (here post secondary education is completely paid for!)

This city is tourist friendly, not surprising, and we have a 24 hour bus pass that allows us to get on and off of the tour buses, picking up bits of information along the way, Sir walter Scott's history, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and now Ian Rankin and J.k. Rowling now making their names known on the tours.
One of the comedians noted that once you are known as a murrderrrer here, it takes only a short period of time before ye have a pub names after ye!

Well, off to wake the boys across the road in our four story walk up! Legs are getting in fine shape with all the stairs and walking! The sun is once again shining, and we are having a fantastic time!

The first part of the adventure

I am quite afraid that I will forget huge chunks of this trip! For example, i've already forgotten what I had for lunch yesterday,though the curry take away' from tonights dinner has happily left it's flavours on my tongue! The little cottage we've rented n the tiny crossroads called Welsh Newton, just outside of Monmouth, is perfect. Unfortunately, it's a three mile distance to the pub , on a road which even Micah won't walk along, “that''s suicide” as the edge is shoved against a hedgerow, with absolutely no wriggle room! In a car, quite terrifying, on foot-not an option. We have resorted to a pint out at lunch, and then staying in in the evening having some supper, a stroll, and some beer in the garden. Today we took in the medieval castle of Chepstow, hours of walking through room, examining stone work and the intricacies of the design-animal heads, and painted plaster work. Dating back to the 11 hundreds, along the shores of the Severn river it is an amazing construction. The dancing and rhythmic stick smacking of the Morris dancers lent a realistic ambiance to the scene as we wandered about. Apparently these dancers originally toured with The Bard! Well, not these exact ones, as a young boy in the castle pointed out, “the people who lived here have probably been dead for centuries!”

It's been a super beginning to our holiday, with cousins collecting us from the airport, joining us for supper, sharing a double decker tour bus of the London sights, and taking Micah off to various pubs for beer and quiz night. I am finding the jet lag a bit of a struggle so am heading off for a great sleep!

July 6

I love Wales! I mean love it. The people are fantastic. Like a different continent from London=really friendly. They make conversational overtures, and Noam, standing outside a shoe shop where I happily purchased a pair of walking shoes (my feet are screaming at me-strangers are stopping me to ask what that g-d awful wailing is!), was chatted up by various passers by. We were in Abergavenny, a remarka town, traditionally a market town situated on the river Usk, and protected by the 12^th century historic castle which o'erlooks the town. We enjoyed high tea at the Angel Hotel, and then wandered off to explore the ruins of the castle.

Tired and ready for a rest, we decided to return to our quaint cottage, and rest a bit before finding a pu for supper. I had wanted to drive further into the black hills of Wales, however we determined to lea e that for another day./..ah the motto, be careful what you wish for...one wrong turn and we found oursel es twisting and turning on the extremely narrow back roads of the Welsh countryside. Many of the roads are just narrow enough, or perhaps it is more apt to say just wide enough for one vehicle, pulling off a tht eh last minute to the side, that is, onto a non existent shoulder, I think Tim, in the passenger seat with the window rolled down believes he has discovered the origins of the expression
“close shave”. We eventually wound our way to a cross roads, where we asked for directions to the pub in Garway, “what exactly were y' lookin fer, in the town?” The pub we answered, “ well it

s just there, they pointed, and we realized we were practically in the parking lot! We noted the location as we'd heard the cook was exeellent, and we in stead went back to our cottage, to relax for an hour, before going to the local pub, where the fare was mediocre, but inexpensive, the billiards table available, and the game between the Netherlands and Uruguay drawing a fair bit of attention.!