England mop up

post #371
       I'm home again, after a full week in England (also called Great Britain or the United Kingdom...)  There seem to be some photos left to share, so here we go:

arriving in Paddington station, in London: the board shows which train is where.

Paddington -- the bear, that is -- continues to be on platform one, but his statue is better shown off now than when I was last here: 

I always love the designs on the rail stations. This is Paddington's look:

After the train, it's the "tube", or the "Underground" -- before the rush hour starts. I hear that the subways then become incredibly and uncomfortably crowded.  

I am using my iPhone here to show the escalator that was part of my transfer between two lines of the Underground. I also encountered stairs with no elevator option! But there was always a friendly person, both female and male, who would offer to help me with my two smallish suitcases.  That's what I call hospitality!

The walk from the Underground to the place where I was staying is only two blocks, and it includes a walk through the park called Russell Square.  I loved the quote on this bench -- from Charlotte's Web, one of my favorite books because it is by E.B.White. It's wrenching to be reminded about terrorist bombings designed primarily to kill people. Why does it happen!

This is the view back toward Russell Square from my window in the Penn Club B and B where I stayed.

 Very nearby is the famous British Museum, with its modern roof from within the building, transfering the very use of its venerable tradional shape. Entry is free and the place is fascinating. This is where the Rosetta Stone is located as well as the Elgin Marbles.

The ROSETTA STONE, within a glass case now, always surrrounded by people

A display at the neighborhood bookstore, operated by the London Review of Books:

Bloomsbury Park is at the other end of the street where I stayed, past the motorcycles..

 

This feels like a very random collection of photos, but I only had a day and a half in London. I did some pub hopping with a young friend from Morehead who lives nearby while working on her PhD. I also went to the theatre with a cousin and her husband who live now in France but who happened to be in town. And it was chilly and often rainy --- not a photography trip, but there are times I can't resist taking photos.  I hope some of this is interesting to hear about. I am delighted to be back home, however. I'm glad my stepmother seems to be doing well. I hope I've been able to share some of the adventure of travel, which is sort of, in my case, a bit off the beaten track. "Life is a journey, not a destination." (I just found out that this quote is quite accepted even though there seems to be no evidence of where it started. That's kind of ironic, actually.) Thanks for reading this, and Bon Voyage wherever you are going  -- Ann

England, winter weather, Chipping Campden

post #370
       Yes, the current weather here in England is not for photos, but I have some anyway.  I also have a few more from earlier visits. (See last week's post.) BTW, the English are currently having a lot to say about the American political scene, holding Trump responsible for his own behavior and not seeing the rest of America as being like him.  I've heard some folks talk about being embarrassed by their own political leaders, so they may be more understanding that this just happens sometimes.
       On with photos, however. I will begin with some parings -- a photo from a time before with one I took in the last few days.

hard times, after more years than I can imagine.

two years ago

this Saturday -- I visit with June and Bill every time I come over.

This is a favorite photo that I have used on my notecards. Best hanging baskets in town.

This is the same building, on Friday. It's the Eight Bells pub. I never realized before that the church tower was visible behind it!  Two hooks for plants are visible on either side of the lower window.

 These next four photos were taken from inside the room I stay in when I visit here. There was snow early today, and then it changed to rain. I eventually went out in it, feeling very authentic....

across the street, looking to the right

across the street, looking left

 This bunch of four photos with two from a joint visit here my sister, Cathy, and I made, during our walk on the hills near town.

several years ago, but the same time of year....

I saw in passing yesterday that this butcher is still in business.  I'm sorry not to have the photo I made here many years ago before the EU stopped allowing fresh kills from hanging along the building outside.

And, at the end, two signs in England of the times:

a note card my step-mother really likes, which she received from my sister, Robin, exactly a year ago, right before the looming inauguration, while contemplating life without the steady, intelligent, and decent man, Obama

England photos for those of you asking for them

post #369
         I am getting ready to make another visit to my step-mother, who's British and who lives in England. She's not able to travel anymore, so she sends us tickets to come see her instead. Nice! HOWEVER, I'm going this time in January, when the weather there can be pretty wet, so I've decided today to post photos from earlier trips.  That way together we can all imagine the beautiful England I might be visiting, with its magical light for making photos, instead of the England I will more likely be experiencing. Stay tuned.

Last spring's trip included my daughter and granddaughter, which means traveling with a car seat.  The headline on the newspaper locates us in time and place! There may be some more photos of this patient five year old, so I am introducing her at the get-go.

garden path, from car to the house

Friends have a dog who is trying to be the pheasant hunting kind of dog.....

photos leaning out of the third story of the house my father and step-mother used to live in, very early in a spring morning

using the zoom lens to show more of the street, still early that morning -- can you find the first photo in the second one???

 

more of High Street (i.e. Main Street), in Chipping Campden, in the Cotswolds, an hour or so later (clues: more cars, more light)   Remember the British cars have the steering wheel on the right side of the car.

Maiing a postcard to Kentucky a day I was leaving to return to Kentucky... proof that I mailed it even if I got home before the postcard would.... I suppose this is my lame idea of being clever...?

an antique inside  - formerly called a butler's chair

flowers everywhere, in every season

 an antique outside -- Market Hall, from 1400, on High Street

inside the wool market -- been there awhile!

back before cars, wagons, trains, etc. I'm not sure what "the beginning and the end" really means. I will find out next week, if I can.

View from nearby Hidcote Gardens, closed to the public in winter

one end of the village of Admington

outside of a tea shop on High Street

The following photo marks a renovation in Paddington Station, where the bear from the book has a place of honor.  I will be in this train station this trip, while in London, and I will try to get a photo of Paddington Bear in his new location.  

 

  There's so much more, but this is all I have time for today. I'm sure I won't see Prince Harry or anything like that, except perhaps on the front of all the newspapers... I know not everyone gets to travel like this, so I am glad to be able to share some of what I see when I go to be with family.

Waterfall collection

post #368
       ICED UP WATERFALLS --- not guaranteed to happen every year.  We are trying to take advantage of this brief moment by taking walks to the falls, making photos and by sharing the amazement with friends.  The cliffs have icicle curtains!
       First to go see the scene were my daughter, her friend, Farrah, and two kids. They just had cell phones with them.  However, the cold was extreme and the phones soon gave up the ghost, so to speak. LUCKILY, Farrah was able to make one excellent photo, and it shows both the top and the bottom of the big waterfall as they reach out, wanting to touch each other. Thanks for being there, Farrah, and sharing the moment here.
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Today, two days later, this is how it looks, from the side:

                 

(I do believe this is my favorite photo from today.)

   Actually,  the big waterfall looks like the next two photos most of the year:

So far the photos have been all about the "big waterfall", but a week ago the ice was also beginning to pile up at what we call the first waterfall:

[photo by Rick Wayman, visiting with his family, from Santa Barbara, at the beginning of the super cold spell]

 This is what it looks like in other seasons:

                 OR

And always there, all year round, is the creek:

The creek is still frozen today, but contemplating some melt time.

Nik and Hannah experiencing the one flat area of the day's adventure.

      
      I have more, but I also have a second Christmas dinner that's ready to eat, now that Nik and Hannah have finally made it down here from Massachusetts!  So come visit my post  again, and thanks for sharing the all ice, no snow beauty we have around us at the moment.  Hard to believe that so many people in the White House are walking on such thin ice while here we are enjoying unexpected marvels....