Sunday, April 27, 2008

A Perfect Sunday




So much to blog about, so little time.

We have been back from England for three full days and the glow is wearing off. We'll always have London, of course, but the pictures have been printed and the bags unpacked and tomorrow it's back to work and business as usual. Sigh...

A Sunday evening contentment prevails. A new episode ofThe Simpsons is on as I write. I scored a cache of great pottery at the auction today, along with a box full of Hotwheels for Kid 2 and an entire library of children's books from the 40s through the present day for Kid 1. We were all very happy with our respective hauls. From the auction we went over to our friends' farm to see the new pony and for some play time for all of us. (These friends have a beautiful farm and just redecorated their 200 year old house and I helped them hang some beautiful pictures while the kids played on the sunny, warm lawn). The kids played auction on the lawn, and bestowed their friends with lots of books and Hotwheels. (We have a lot of books in that box, maybe 150! and about 60 new in the box hotwheels. What fun). Kids all jumped in the pond, it was that warm - at least the air. The pond was frozen just a few weeks ago.

I'll be back with more when I can catch my breath... Remind me to tell you about Harrods and International London and the English class structure. I'm just dying to do so...

Here are a couple more England pics. Bath in the first shot, and Oxford in the next two. All were taken near the homes of the friends with whom we stayed. Nice friends with nice addresses.

4 comments:

Barb McMahon and Alan Mailloux said...

Lovely photos! Glad you had a good day!

Juliet said...

Gosh, those palm trees make Bath look far more exotic than it is! So glad you had such a great time.

I'm just dying to hear your views about Harrods and International London and the English class system, so hope you catch your breath soon and divulge all!

Kim Velk said...

Thanks Juliet. I think I'll start with Harrods. Coming Soon. I don't know how you manage to do all that photography and wonderful error-free writing with a family and a job. I only work part time and can't keep up with this much-less-ambitious blog. I loved your comments on the Jane Austen program, by the way. I haven't seen it but I know exactly what you're talking about in terms of the glamorizing and sugaring over JA seems to get in all the recent popular treatments of her work. (Every century looks like a music video in the hands of Hollywood. And the dialogue!) JA has been on my mind given my recent experience in Bath and I am rereading _Sense and Sesibility_.

Juliet said...

Hi again - I loved the Harrods post. Fascinating. I haven't set foot inside the place for about 20 years, before MA-F took it over - I imagine it's all changed quite a lot in the intervening years. (As I'm sure your friends will have pointed out, Harvey Nicks is THE place for discerning (and solvent) Londoner). Thanks for kind words about my JA post - do please feel free to leave a comment there - I'm worried that I'm being gently accused of some generalised anti-Americanism there, which was not my intention at ALL. I had done quite a lot of research in the blogosphere and had encountered so much escapist, over-romanticisation amongst online Janeites that I was beginning to feel quite queasy. And I'm sorry to say that the worst offenders were definitely from the other side of the Pond!! I am reflecting on how best to compose a reply, so all support is most welcome! Very much looking forward to the next instalment of your UK Journal. Juliet.