Where to my start, my darlings, when it has been so long? When every ten minutes something else worthy of attention occurs? So much has happened. THE PEACOCK JUST RAN BY! I guess it’s just one day at a time. How about some Musica?
I guess I’ll start with where I am right this minute. I’m in that chair! In front of our new little rental, which is a stone cottage in the Peak District, only lacking one thing, that’s internet service on the inside of the cottage where the electricity is! It’s a warm gorgeous day under that umbrella, very sunny, sort of washing out the color, but believe me, it’s just beautiful.
So, because of no connection, I was “forced” to bring my tea outside, here with the cows (see them up on the hill?) and the swallows, and the wildflower meadows, the view of the lake, and the wood pigeons (cooing “my-toe-hurts-Betty”) to say HELLO! I’ve missed you! As you know we’ve been traveling; I thought I might not have service up here in the Peak District at all, so I’m very happy! We’ll see how long my battery lets me go! We got here last night and we’ll be here until Saturday. It’s been wonderful so far; very quiet after being in London; I painted on my diary all morning long.
What I really want is to catch you up on my visit with my dear “English Pen Pal” Rachel . . . here we are, happy together again on British soil where we belong!! (At least that’s what I think!) I played this music in honor of Rachel, better known to the computer world, on her blog and on Twitter, as Mozarts Girl.
Seemed fitting to put this picture here, Ray and I are kindred spirits. How we found each other half a world away is a kind of miracle. Rachel wrote me a letter over twenty years ago, to tell me she liked my books; at the same time she told me the beautiful story of someone very dear to her; it was such a wonderful letter, because she’s a wonderful writer — I wrote her back, and that was the beginning; we’ve been friends ever since. ♥
To get to her house, we drove from Kent around the outskirts of London . . . with our little mascot (the doll that Jack the cat named Pete, remember? That Joe got when he was twelve years old on a trip back from England on an ocean liner with his mother? I hope you’re keeping up! 🙂 We brought him along, he was dying to go sailing again, had not changed out of that outfit in all these years!!! Would not shut up about going. Hounded us. So we said OK. Now, he watches Joe’s every move.
Before we left the house, I warned everyone in England via Twitter; told them for their own sakes, if they lived between Tenterden in Kent, and Aylesbury in Bucks, anywhere near Heathrow airport, to stay off the road for a couple of hours. Obviously, they didn’t listen, but we all got lucky and arrived in one piece.
I love where Rachel and Paul live; there we are, just pulled up in front of their house so we can unload and I immediately stepped into their beautiful churchyard to take a photo.
XOXOXO This would be a video of the churchyard with the bells ringing, but you have to use your imagination for now as the computer is not going to allow it!
Those lovely bells you heard (or would have heard!) ring every quarter hour all day and all night. They don’t wake you up, but if they do, you’re happy they did. So beautiful!
Here’s the neighborhood, leading into the churchyard . . . so you can see, it’s a wonderful old part of the city they live in. They have a gorgeous pub near by called the 
Kings Head; Ray’s husband Paul is a lawyer whose office is just a block from home. They can walk to almost everything they need. Life is good. Ray is a fourth generation baker; she has a wholesale bakery now, and is writing her own cookbook. Among other things, she’s famous for her caramel brownies, that are like no other, trust me. I wish I could send you a taste, but, number one, I ate them all, so right now, because of natural computer limitations, it’s got to be just a virtual thought! A Chocolaty, chewy, tender, and delicious thought. Rachel, if you’re reading this, and not too busy, these girls need a brownie! (That’s right, throw the ball into her court!)
This is as far as I got on this post last night before the battery ran out! And guess what, I just added a lot more to it this morning, and it all disappeared just now!!!! I think I may go insane. But what else is new. I will not let this man-made article beat me. Onward and upward. Doing it again. Despite lack of internet connection we LOVE where we live right now . . . what am I saying, we do have connection, just not inside the house! But what we do have is our own . . .
Peacock! He came with the cottage! He’s been on our porch both mornings since we got here. The cottage is stone, and like so many others in England, it has a name: Weatherick Cottage, the ancient name for the hill on the other side of the road. There’s plenty of room for all of us here, two bedrooms, a large bathroom with a big deep tub, lots of pots and pans . . .
See the far table, that’s where I am right now . . . this one is where we took our dinner last night, it’s the Peacocks porch, we sat out here reading until the moon came up.
Time out:WE HAVE A PHEASANT ABOUT TWENTY FEET FROM WHERE I’M SITTING RIGHT THIS MINUTE. I didn’t mean to virtually scream! But it’s rather exciting. In the picture above, see the bird feeder on the far right? The pheasant is at the base of that, picking up dropped nuts. I love it here!
We have good reason to believe that the Peacock is in love with the Pheasant, from what we saw from our table here last night; it’s too long to tell while the battery is going down, I wrote about these two birds in my diary this morning! The moon is very big and only half full (despite what my camera is doing), the lights you see over on the right are reflected in the lake way out there. Beyond beautiful, a balmy coolish, warmish, perfect evening last night.
But I digress, too many things to talk about. This is Alice, Ray and Paul’s darling dog. Rules the roost there, as is quite proper! My problem is battery is almost gone and I haven’t even gotten us near London. I really want to show you the tea we had at the little flea market. Not to mention Ray’s parent’s farm where I GOT TO PET A BABY LAMB. Have to scream that, I wanted to do that all my life. Not to mention how wonderfully decorated Ray and Paul’s house is. Too much to tell you, too much to show, and no time. Apparently, when you are on battery, the photos take about 15 min each to load. But I will leave you with this last one, to give you a taste of what’s to come . . .
We do brake for cake–this was at the Cabbages and Roses flea market in Marylebone in London where Ray and I had tea. We could eat it right there in the park in the center, near the church. This will have to pique your interest, there’s more to come, so sorry I can’t go on and on all day here, would love to show more! Love you girlfriends! Wonderful, wonderful trip, we should be at Beatrix Potter’s this weekend! Are you ready? My-toe-hurts-betty! ♥
We’re almost all packed … yes, boo hoo, it’s already time for us to move on! Two weeks gone in the blink of an eye! Boo hoo because I want time to slow down, but I’m not really crying since we are going to our friends Rachel and Paul’s house tomorrow morning (here they are, at our house on the island . . .)
windows. I love English people, they do know how to make a picnic anywhere. You see families, couples, and singletons, plopped down, way out on a lawn some where, everywhere you look. These two are living the good life; she has her candy bar; they each have something to read; they have a thermos between them; they’re dappled in spring sunshine; they’re in a place for good people-watching; it’s meandering at its best; the perfect way to slow down time! (Look at his little socks!) Despite everything written about love, to me, this is what it looks like! 
