16th September 2018 Leaving Portsmouth Harbour on the Astoria

Hi Dear Folk,

At last on way to Norway. We left Portsmouth harbour aboard the Astoria on a beautiful sunny day.  The Astoria is a Swedish ship first ordered in 1944, during the second world war, which is hard to believe.  It was launched the 9th September 1946 in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Her first maiden voyage was in 1948 for the Swedish American Line.  One could imagine that in 1948 it must have been quite full, in view of the refuge situation in Europe at this time.

I loved being on this ship and for the first few days it was hard to believe that the ship was full 555 passengers, because we hardly saw anyone and for a small ship it did not seem crowded at all.

Our trip from my friend Jean's to Portsmouth was not without insistent.  We caught the train up to London, no problem and made our way across London by tube to the coach station.  We were there in plenty of time at the front of the queue, when we showed the copies of our tickets, they said no this is not acceptable we needed an assigned number.  Jean had checked several times with the travel agency to make sure we had everything.

Everyone was getting on the coach and passing us by.  I stayed with the luggage Jean ran off to see if could buy another ticket, but was told no the coach is full and this is the only one to Portsmouth.  In the end after much trepidation on our part, a manager allowed us on the bus.  Boy did we breath a sigh of relief.  Although Jean already had alternative routes in mind to get us down there by train, but thank goodness it was all alright.

Of course we would have had the same problem coming home, but the passenger coordinator on board ship bought us tickets and gave them to us, plus a refund.  Good P.R, but she was most helpful. That was after several attempts while on vacation to sort it out with the travel agency.  Needless to say Jean spoke with them when we got back, how very unhelpful they were.

In any case here we are being towed out with a tug boat, under beautiful blue skies.  Now we can relax and enjoy it.

I think it's wonderful to travel on an old seaworthy ship, to relive the past so to speak.  Obviously she does not have the speed of the newer ships.

I think the ship above is the HMS Victory. best known for her roll in the Battle of Trafalgar, Lord Nelson's flag ship.

I think this is HMS Warrior 1860, the first iron hulled armored battle ship, using steam and sail.

Spinnaker Tower which has a glass floor.

Ben Ainslie building for the design and construction of world class sailing boats.

View of old Portsmouth.

The Round Tower was built in 1418 to defend the harbour.

The Palmerston Forts were built in the Solent and around Portsmouth in 1859 with the thought of a perceived invasion by the French.

Our cabin which was very nice.  Getting settled in.

Christine

Decamped To The Fire

Hi Dear Folk,

I think winter is setting in on us.  I have decamped to the sitting room where the wood fire is.  The Simla room takes a while to heat with the gas stove and has no other heating, it's much cozier here.

Mr. B. has been off work with a bad cold.  So bad that all the bed linens were soaked and I had to strip the bed and wash them all.  Now I have a terrible head, so maybe it's on it's rounds.

I have got a few things done around the house and that has made me feel good.  Not much on the cooking front except a pot of soup.

I did hang up a four season picture that I had in my other house over fifteen years ago, but never found the right place for it in this house.  The pictures are all matted with an embossed surround and they are quintessentially England; that's why I could never part with it.  It is now hung in my bedroom, and the picture that was there, that had been Mr. B's mum's, I will hang on the wall where our headboard is.  Must of those are all gold framed pictures.  I am just enjoying that so.

Also I'm enjoying the changes I've made in the bedroom.  Sat in bed this morning with a nice cup of tea reading Kingdom By The Sea, by Paul Theroux.  It was published I think around 1986 and he starting his travels during the Falkland War, that's a few wars ago.  It makes his writings over thirty five years old.  I've had this book for a while and wanted to read it decades before now.  My is it dated.  Of course in the eighties, no computers, no cell phones, it was the dying end of an era and as you read one really feels this.  The England that was the late sixties to the late eighties.

He talks about beach front places and properties being run down, that now you couldn't afford for love nor money.  It is interesting because I came to the States in the seventies and thought how vibrant it was.  People looked west across the pond, now it seems more up to date in Europe than here.

Have been buying giant Ziplock bags and bag sorting.  I have a lot to put in a yard sale.  Also sorted three crochets blankets and put them in a giant zip up bag for storing, which has freed up my linen closet.  Although I did have a giant sort out about a year ago on that front and donated a ton of stuff to the thrift shop.  Including pretty lace curtains which I later thought I should have kept, but you know how that goes.

I'm trying to whittle down this huge wood debrit pile that I have in the back yard under the oak tree.  The oak tree is always dropping branches.  Then The Boy chopped the apple tree down, which never produced apples and was to big by the garage door, so all the odds from that are on the pile.  At a box a day and very time intensive I may be able to burn it all on the fire before winter ends.

I found one of those pretty carved candles at the thrift, brand new, so I just lit that this evening, they are lovely.

Both boys want holes in their trouser pockets mended so will have to get going on that.  Of course when I decamp to this room I have to bring my magnifying light with me, or else nothing gets done on the crochet and mending front.

Hope your evening is good.

Christine

PS:  Unrelated photo taken Longwood Gardens.  

11th September 2018 A Walk Around Clare, Suffolk

Hi Dear Folk,

Just a short drive from my sister's is Clare, so nice on a free afternoon just to wander around the village.

These are old alms houses that used to house the poor retired, can't say that I wouldn't mind one of those.

The plaster work on the house is called pargetry.

Nice they still have a fish and chip shop in the village.

I did like this little haberdasher and sewing shop.

A walk down past the old mill which is now an antique shop on three floors, I loved to wander around here.

Also has a little cafe/teashop, where they serve a very nice cup of tea, scone, cheese and tomato jelly.

Just past the mill is a group of three cottages, I love this one at the end which is by the canal.

Here you can see the cottage and the canal.  My dream place to live, along with a few others.

Perfect afternoon out.

Christine

Bedroom Blinds

Hi Dear Folk,

Well at last we have the blinds up in our bedroom.  I eventually got them from IKEA.  I had draped fringed curtains before held back with big hang tassels, I wanted to go for a less fussy look and this certainly is.  Our bedroom windows have stained wood surrounds which does set them off and with the new blinds you can see them.  The room is much brighter too.  The only thing I will say though is that the blinds are very sheer and I don't think they do the job of not being able to see in the windows, but at this point I'm not changing them.

I have to tell you this little story.  First of all blinds are a lot more expensive than I ever thought.  I went to Lowe's and landed up in the clearance section, where I found two Levolor cinnamon bamboo blinds on sale $27.00 each reduced from $69.00 each.  I was talking to the young assistant and said how I had actually found a pair of bamboo blinds in the trash, which I had, along with that Le Creuset cooking pot.  In any case I said I never knew how much they were worth until now.

In the end I decided to buy them, and I guess she took pity on an old lady who had to get things out of the trash, because she said, well these blinds have been here a long while, I'll mark them down again, and I got them for $15.00 each, even better.

However when we held them up to the window in our bedroom, I just thought they were too dark, but did decide to keep them for our studio room, as I do not have a matching pair in there and these will be great and for $30.00 for the two a deal,

Unfortunately I cannot say I got the same deal from IKEA.  Still swings and roundabouts.

Christine

8th September 2018 Aunt Joan

Hi Dear Folk,

I stayed a few days with my aunt Joan in Colchester, which was a treat.  She remembers so much family history.  We were talking about the aurora borealis and she said that as a child she remembers seeing it, sitting out in the garden with her back against the stone wall, looking at the sky.

I did look this up and it seems that on January 25th 1938 there was just such a weather phenomena, it came to be known as The Fatima Storm.  I don't think my aunt Joan could have been more than about five years old then.

I caught the local bus down into town.  Colchester predates Roman times.  You can still see the ruins there of an old Norman Castle, now a museum, which was built on top of a Roman temple built to Claudius.  This was burnt down by Boadicea when she ransacked the entire area.  They used much of the foundations and stones that were still in the area one thousand years later.

Even my cousin as a teenager dug up a cloak pin that had a blue stone on the end of it and was given to the museum.  More recently while rebuilding in town, they found treasure that was probably buried by a rich Roman couple who lived there, but never got the chance to go back for it, during the Boudican revolt in AD 61 It's called The Fenwick Treasure.

Christine 

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History of English Language

Hi Dear Folk,

Back in the eighties, I'm sure it was shown on PBS back then there was a series The History of English Language.  There were originally eight episodes of which I was able to find some on You Tube.  I can't find them all, but it was and is a fascinating series.

I just picked up a few American English words and where they originate from.  The phrase 'I Guess' although American English actually was in use in the time of Chaucer, got dropped from British English but carried on over here in America.  Another word 'Riff Raff', comes from the early pioneers who were poor and couldn't afford a ride down the Mississippi on a paddle steamer so had to build a raft that had a paddle called a riff, hence the word riff raff.  The richer folk could afford a ride on the steamers which had tall steam stacks and they were called 'High Falutin'.

How English came to be English and the spread of English all around the world, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, The Caribbean, India, Hong Kong and more.  All the words that came to be included in the English language that came from these countries.  The cadence of how sentences are spoken and the stress on different syllables.  Just fascinating.

Will post the episodes that I found.

Christine

PS:  I have found all the episodes now, just not posted in order.  Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.    Let me know what you think.

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1st September 2018 Village Hall Square Dance and Games

Hi Dear Folk,

Stopped by to post a few photos of a lovely square dance I went to while I was in England.  It was held at Horseheath Village Hall, which used to be the village primary school.  Besides dancing we played games and chatted and drank cups of tea and snacks.  A good time was had by all.

Brewing up tea in the kitchen.

Christine