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To London And Back Again

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Remember when I said I was taking the slow train to London to see my friend David earlier this week … well I’m back. I actually came home three days ago, but I’ve been working so hard on a new project that I am just now getting back to my blog to share some of the photos from my trip.

David met me at Paddington Station and after dropping my one little bag at the hotel we began our walk around London.

London’s City Hall is the lopsided looking building above.

I can never get enough photographs of Tower Bridge, especially at night.

I took this shot of David photographing the Tower of London. I like the way he’s right where the walls come together to make a triangle.

After taking about 20 photos trying to get catch the cupid at Piccadilly Circus, I gave up and decided that this one would have to do.

This is the Sofitel St James where my friend David graciously shared his suite which was named after the first actor to receive a knighthood, Henry Irving.

This shot of Trafalgar Square is a little different and you can see Big Ben in the background to the right.

David is in the background of this photo looking as if he can’t decide what to have for brunch. I went straight to my favorite area, the dessert table. Despite wanting a little nibble of everything, I went with an apple muffin with big apple chunks. That means I can count it as fruit … right?

I was attracted to this statue because of the bird on the shoulder and the shadow it cast. I was glad I took the photo as it gave me a chance to see what Edith Cavell did with her life. Take a look if you have a minute.

The cafe in the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

I was a little shocked to see the trash behind The Queen’s guards near St James Park.

I love this view of the London Eye from St James Park.

Someone was passing out peanuts to the squirrels in the park and the one below got a bit close thinking I had a nut for him.

This was taken at Roast, a restaurant David took me to for a yummy late lunch.

This was my lunch of mashed potatoes, applesauce, and pork belly. Mmm!

We were on our way to the theatre where we had a date with some red shoes when I snapped this one.

This was a fish stall in an open air market. It was pretty fishy even in the open air.

We had dinner of dim sum a this beautiful restaurant before making our way to the theatre. We were off to see The Wizard!

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest show was in its second night of previews … does it look familiar to anyone?

This was the last bit of my trip home. I had to change trains at Plymouth and when I got on I found an unusual non-paying rider in the seat across from me.

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Taking The Slow Train To London

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Okay, so it’s not really all that slow and I don’t mind at all because my ticket price (bought in advance) was a great deal, and I’m seated at a table with a power source for my computer. I’m taking the little netbook with me that John and I carried all over New Zealand so I can get some writing done while I’m riding.

It will be my first train trip alone since moving to the UK, but I expect it to go smoothly. We’re about four hours by car from London and the slow train takes about the same amount of time when you factor in a few stops along the way. There’s an express train if you are in a hurry, but I’ll be there in time for lunch and that’s good enough for my pocketbook.

My imagination tends to go wild when I ride the train thinking about all the people who have traveled the rails before me. One of the bloggers I read did a few posts on traveling by train in the 1940’s and has some photographs that you may find as interesting as I did if you’d care to make the trip over to her place here. She’s an American like me, who fell in love with a man far from home and now lives in the UK.

I’m off to London this morning to spend a few days with David, my dear friend and former next door neighbor. You may remember he came to visit for a few days last summer with his partner Steven. David takes amazing photographs so I’m sure it will be one big photo shoot for the two of us. I never feel as if I’ve had enough time with him since leaving Atlanta and I’m looking forward to long conversations and adding to a memory box that already has some sweet memories of good times together.

 

 

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Cornish Ghost Tales From New Zealand

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While in New Zealand last year, I went into a bookstore based on the name and the look of it. Wanderlust Books, in Alexandra was just the kind of shop where any book lover would be happy to spend an afternoon searching the shelves with the help of Tim Julien, the proprietor of the quality second-hand book store.

 

Wanderlust Books - Alexandra, New Zealand

Supernatural In Cornwall

I was not inside the store very long before this book caught my eye and when I picked it up for a closer look I saw the image below.

 

According to the publication date, this photo was taken before 1974 and it has someone standing on Rough Tor in the same spot that I am in my header photo at the top of this page.

All of the places mentioned in the chapters are familiar now to me especially the one below.

When I found this book in New Zealand, I couldn’t help think about how it came to be so far from home. John thought fifteen New Zealand dollars was too much to spend, but how could I not buy it and take it back home to Cornwall, especially since I love a good ghost story.

 

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Traveling Light To London – Packing The Essentials

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London Skyline From The London Eye

This Monday I will be traveling by train to London to spend a view days with my friend David who came for a visit last summer with his partner Steven. He invites me to join him every time he comes London and I’ve not been able to before now. To get in the mood for my temporary transition from a country mouse to a city one, I’m posting a few pictures from my last trip to London.

These were taken last September when my sister came to visit and John joined us in London for my big birthday. I loved his present of a Canon G11 which is able to isolate accent colors when you shoot in black and white mode. This camera is definitely one of the essentials I’m packing for my trip.

This is another shot from the London Eye. If you want to get a look at London from the air, this is well worth the cost of the ride.

Artists like the one you see here, always amaze me.

Be sure you double-click on this picture to see the man on the pier. I didn’t see him when I took the photograph, but thought he added something to it when I saw him later while editing the image.

This shot reminded me a bit of photographs I’ve seen of Venice even though it’s the Thames and that’s not a gondola.

This is the bag I am taking for a three-day trip. It’s actually an old leather briefcase-handbag I used to use for work. Even though I’m pretty good at packing light, this maybe an interesting challenge as it’s not very big and a bit narrow. I’ll let you know once I get it packed.

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Shades Of Cornish Grey

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This is my third winter in Cornwall and while we get more sun than many places in the UK, some would complain about the amount of grey days during the coldest months. Grey can seem fairly bland when compared to colors like red or yellow, but with shades of blue and lavender like you see below, I believe I can ‘ tolerate ‘ what I like to think of as shades of Cornish grey.

This part of the moor is very close to our house with only a short walk through the lanes before you leave the road to cross on foot. There are roads that go across the moor in places, so you can drive, but not in this spot and it’s one of my favorite places to go locally, second only to the buttercup field and Lavethan Wood.

We’ve got wild moorland ponies here who don’t always act like they’re wild. These three were happy to come closer to say hello to me. I’ve been known to carry sugar cubes in my pocket so perhaps they’ve heard about me through the PNN. (Pony News Network)

I took this from a favorite spot on the moor as the sun was going in for the day. If you click to enlarge it, you can see the wind turbines on the hill. Most people don’t like the way they look, but they are so far from us that I barely notice them. In fact, the telephoto on my Canon G11 had trouble with the distance so it’s not the best image quality. They do give a more modern look to a landscape that most days looks like a movie set from another time period so I can see why people might be put off by them.

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A Day At The Beach Shown In Reverse

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Thanks so much for all of your good wishes and kind thoughts for our anniversary. We had a fun day out despite the weather and the rain held off until we made it home from our beach walk and a special lunch at Fifteen.

Some of you may remember that John took me to Fifteen for our first anniversary (click to see) last year. It can be difficult to get reservations unless you book well in advance especially during the warmer months of the year, but he was able to secure a table with a window view with as late as last week. I’ll say more later since the photos are in reverse today. You can get a glimpse of the building that the restaurant is housed in by looking over the top of John’s head.

John headed down the beach ahead of me after lunch.

I tend to lag behind taking photos and often have to run to catch up like you see in the image above.

Now we’re just trading shots across the beach with John trying to get back to the car because it’s chilly and he did not bring a heavy coat.

The wind was pretty fierce and you can see by double clicking on this photo that the little boy in it is looking up because he’s lost something to the wind. It kind of looks like a baby bib to me … what do you think?

John got this picture of me with Fifteen in the background. Our table was about midway down the upper level of windows. I think I was photographing the family with children in this shot.

Inside Fifteen - Watergate Beach, Cornwall

John tried to get a photograph of our waiter/server, Nick so I could put it here with my review of his service. He was fabulous and I would recommend if you book a table at Fifteen in Cornwall, ask for Nick. Not only was he fast as you can see by his blurred image above, he was very food knowledgeable and a surf instructor too.

There was someone outside doing something called Kite Surfing(new to me) and Nick took time to discuss the challenges of kite surfing as well answering my questions about the best beaches in Cornwall for a novice like myself to learn to surf.

You might think this strange information for him to be chatting about while taking care of our food needs, but I asked him a few questions as I usually do when meeting new folks and before I had attacked my main course I was thinking about my wet suit and wondering if I might still be able to learn to surf.

You are looking at a yummy dessert John and I ordered. It is chocolate cake obviously, but what it not so obvious is that it has beets in it. See the red layer …  it’s what they call beet root here.

This was our cake before we devoured it. An amazing feat as stuffed as we were by then.’ Stuffed …’ you might ask, then why order dessert? Fifteen has a fixed price lunch option that includes three courses, so full or not, I was not skipping dessert. Plus it’s my favorite part of a meal!

John began his meal with fish before moving on to Cornish pheasant and I had a Tuscan bean soup that was so rich I wanted scoop it up with the thick slices of bread Nick brought to the table. I followed my soup with the lightest, best tasting gnocchi I have ever put in my mouth. I’m afraid I was too busy eating to photograph my food.

Here you can see the kite surfer I mentioned earlier.

Finally, we are back at the beginning where I took a quick photo of John just before we walked down the steps to have lunch.

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Silent Unspoken Memories

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John and Elizabeth - February 2, 2009

It’s been two years since we made our promises in front of family and friends and it feels like both yesterday and forever. I knew eight weeks after our first email that I wanted to have forever with this man and I knew without speaking that he wanted it too. Some things are so right you don’t even hesitate, no looking back, so second guesses, you just know that you are where you are meant to be.


To Be One With Each Other

What greater thing is there for two human souls

than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen

each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,

to share with each other in all gladness,

to be one with each other in the

silent unspoken memories.

~ George Eliot

 

John and Elizabeth - Coromandel Town, NZ - 11/11/2010

If you are new to Gifts Of The Journey you might enjoy reading and seeing some of our early moments together. Click on the colored links above and it will be like you were there with us.

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Hot As A Rocket Turkey Sausage Blues

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My husband John is always teasing me about how competitive I am. He likes to say that it’s an American characteristic and lets me know when I get too invested in winning. I have two words for him when that happens, ‘ American Revolution! ‘

Saturday night I might have shown more of my American side than usual while participating in what Helen, our party organizer kept reminding us was meant to be fun. I need to say that even though I was the only American there, there seemed to be quite a few Brits thinking and talking about how the trophy below might look on their shelf.

Helen, the woman I mentioned above for her peace keeping, party planning skills, also makes a great trophy. Last year it was the Pasty Making trophy I wanted to win and this year it was all about the sausage. Sadly, the picture I took while holding the 2011 Best Sausage trophy was the closest I got to bringing it home.

While my entry, Hot As A Rocket Turkey Sausage Blues, did not win or even place, my super spicy turkey with blue cheese was very tasty and there was nothing left on the plate when the night was over.

With only one sausage maker between about 20 or so contestants, we talked and tasted each other’s entries as they came out of the oven while waiting to stuff our skins with the secret mixtures we made at home.

We made eight each with four to going to the judges and four to the table above for peer-to-peer judging.

There were some interesting names and some crazy mixtures. The Chicken Delight was not too wild, but it was tasty.

I’m afraid I had to skip the Fish Pie sausage because I’m not a big fan of fish, but John really liked it.

Now this one was interesting. It looked a bit like something that you would try not to step in if out for walk, but it was actually a Christmas Pudding sausage.

These guys were two of the courageous judges and I have to say, I would rather cook it than eat as much as they had to that night.

Anne moved to the village from London about a year ago and her sausage (I think it was pork) came in first place. That’s the third judge standing behind her. He’s a professional sausage maker.

Ian and Irene tied for second and no, they did not drink all those empties alone. This is Ian’s second year coming in second place. I’m going to have to really watch out for them next year.

If you look closely at this photo you can see John’s head way in the back of the room in front of the woman in orange. John was responsible for the baked beans along with two other men, Steve and Mike, who made mashed potatoes and onion gravy to go with the sausage feast.

Gill tied for second place with Ian and Irene and she had a fabulous Chicken sausage with sun-dried tomato and feta cheese.

Way back in the top middle of this photograph is Rebecca, the winner from last year. She’s the laughing woman in green and purple. She made a venison sausage with pickled walnuts and I think she called it, Pickled Bambi. (Click to enlarge)

Craig doesn’t live in the village, but likes to come by every so often to party with the locals like Mandy who always has something funny to say. She made me put away my knitting and act like it was Saturday night.

Irene and Elizabeth

After our evening of sausage making, eating, drinking, judging, and being judged, most of us ended up at the village pub where we shouted over a great band, had a few drinks, and took a turn on a dance floor barely big enough to turn on.

I’m hoping we will do desserts next January because I have more than a few killer recipe’s, not that I’m feeling competitive, well, not yet anyway.

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Making It My Business

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For longer than I want to admit, at least one or more of the books above have had a place on my bookshelf. Despite having good intentions for years, everything else has always been more of a priority. Until now.

I’m hoping that some of what I write this year will find a home thanks to the content and directions found in these books. I’m writing each day treating it like it’s my work because finally, after years of scribbling unfinished stories, I’m making it my business.

Thanks to everyone who left a kind message of support and celebration on my last post. Completing my first short story and getting it out by the deadline was a turning point which feels like just a beginning.

Some of you expressed an interest in reading it and asked if I might post the story. I would love to share it, but since I’ve entered it in a competition, I can’t post it here. I am grateful for your interest and hope you’ll be able to see it somewhere soon.

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Entering To Win

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The Postman Cometh

I took this photograph in October of 2009 thinking I might need a photo of the Postie making his rounds to help tell a story one day, and today is that day. As some of you may remember, I picked the word Completion for 2011 and I have been hard at work trying to tick things off my list since we rolled into this new year.

Today, I ticked a box that I had not even planned on and I had to complete it fairly quickly to meet a deadline. Somewhere around the middle of January, I decided to enter a piece in a short story competition here in the UK. I had something that I had worked on a few years ago thinking that it might evolve into something bigger , but had never completed it. So I dusted it off and began to work with it and quickly realized that writing a short story is very different than writing a novel.

Looking at it now, it’s difficult to see more than the roots of the original story and I learned during the process that it is easier to write a new one than try to graft a piece on here and there to make it fit.

I was surprised by what unfolded and how good it felt to see it on its way today when I dropped it into the post box outside our village shop.

I’ll keep you posted (no pun intended) on any feedback I receive, even if it turns out to be nothing more than a thanks for entering. I am going to sleep tonight satisfied that I’ve completed a good first step in creating a work life where things go out the door with an intention and focus on publishing.

You have to send it out to have a chance and mine left about 4:00PM today.