A visit to Tring, Hertfordshire

On the weekend we drove up to Tring, Hertfordshire, to visit Donna and Patrick.   The weather was very gloomy and cold, but we had a lovely time.   And it was great to spend time with Donna and Patrick.

On Saturday morning we stopped at the Akeman restaurant and cafe, for a soothing and revigorating cup of coffee.  Well we actually stopped at the auctions first, but coffee does tend to be foremost on my mind.

Donna giving her mum a loving kiss!

TheTring Auctions.   This was actually the first stop for the day.  An amazing place.   Sheds full of old furniture, and new furniture, bikes, pictures and bric a brac.  I had my eye on some pottery bowls, which sold for 40 pounds.   I was prepared to offer 10 pounds but bidding started at 30 pounds, so that was me out of the picture.   Royal Doulton apparently.  I would also have liked to try and bid on some serving spoons, but realised it would take about an hour for the auctioneer to get around to auctioning them, and gave up.   Coffee beckoned at that point.

Walter watching the auctioneer in one of the furniture sheds.   It was a very interesting experience, but much patience is needed, I think.   When we lived in an old Victorian house in Henley Beach, South Australia, we filled our house with old furniture.   Now all we aspire to is modern Ikea furniture.   Such a pity.

After coffee we decided to drive to Berkhamsted, in order to go for a walk.    Berkhamsted is a very upmarket town in Hertfordshire, but spoilt by traffic problems.  Too many cars!   Everywhere.  I really had to make a concentrated effort to keep them out of the following photographs.   I also had to work hard at avoiding being run over by a car too.  Very annoying.

An expensive boot display in one of the shops.

We stopped for a moment in front of the local church.

The entrance to the private school, Berkhamstead School, with plenty of boarders.   Very old England.

A totem pole standing incongruously among the expensive English houses.

The Grand Union Canal, with ducks sitting peacefully on the water.

The day was perfect for reflections in the water.

The usual array of narrow boats lined up beside the canal.

We drove back to Tring, through the village of Cow Roast.   Imagine having to tell people that you live in Cow Roast!

Finally back to the pub, The Castle, for a quick drink.   Guinness for the men, and soft drinks for Donna and me.   I must admit the Guinness looked very tempting, with the perfect amount of foam on top.    The All Blacks were playing against England, on the television.   No football rubbish in Tring.

And then off home where we left the men to watch rugby -Wales against Argentina.    Patrick comes from Wales so he was keen to support Wales.   Donna and I went off to Hemel Hempstead for some shopping therapy.  Everyone was happy.    New Zealand won their game.  And Wales too.  I must not forget that.

South Bank

A late blog, as half term ended two weeks ago.    A distant memory now.  Just where does time go to.

A trip into London with Jackson and Isabel to see the Design Museum, by default, as we really wanted to go to see Madame Tussauds, but this option was too expensive, outrageously expensive in fact.  

The Design Museum is at the eastern end of South Bank.   After getting off the train at London Bridge, we started to walk along the beautifully paved South Bank.    What a transformation in this part of London, new buildings, landscaping, and an expensive grey pavement. 

First stop, a hug of the sculptured egg.   Or at least we think it was a sculptured egg!

The unusually shaped Town Hall.   Plenty of glass in this part of London.  And tight security inside the building too.

Tower Bridge, looking very elegant and grand.   Tower Bridge is not to be confused with London Bridge, as the unfortunate buyer of the old London Bridge found to his great disappointment.   All that money, and all he received was a very ordinary, albeit very old, bridge.

An opportunity to use the 'action freeze' option on my new camera.   Isabel and her big jump,

and Jackson, and his big jump.

The Tower of London.   A very impressive building, as long as one was not heading down the river, in order to be imprisoned in it, and perhaps the loss of one's head whilst there!

Once these were warehouses, with connecting walkways.   Now upmarket shops and apartments.

Jackson and Isabel creatively constructed Halloween pumpkin hats.   A very enjoyable activity at the Design Museum.

The Design Museum, appeared to be a privately run museum, so therefore there was a charge for adults and students.   We looked at the exhibits quickly, as the pumpkin hats took up a considerable amount of time, but I intend to go back again, as I have a two visit ticket.

We were impressed with the exhibit outside the museum, of a make believe city.  

A walk back to London Bridge station, in the gathering dusk, with the brightly lit glass buildings making quite a statement on the edge of South Bank.

A most enjoyable and interesting visit to this part of London.

Autumn Gardening

Time to sort the garden out before the winter weather sets in.   The recent mild and wet weather has caused the grass, and plants, to grow still, but experience tells me that these conditions can change.  So I need to get moving, quickly.

Autumn colours, and a bedraggled garden.   Walter inspecting the fence, due to a complaint from our neighbours that our hedge is causing the fence to begin to lean.  The hedge, is not in fact touching the wooden fence, and we think it is the east/west winds causing the problem.   But I will cut the hedge back a bit, anyway, probably will not hurt it.   A gesture of goodwill.   

I find the ownership of the border fences quite a mystery in England.   That is, who is responsible for which fence? The right or left side?  And what happens when you have a back fence? Not to mention the cutting of hedges.  It causes no end of problems!   And disagreements and ill feeling between neighbours.

But with my eye on my little fruit and vegetable garden, I set forth to start the big tidy up.   I forked over the soil, moved three gooseberry bushes from the back to the left hand side, and planted five raspberry canes.      A very tidy looking garden, but bare now.   Only the small patch of New Zealand silver beet still growing strongly.   We must cook it soon, before the frosts knock it down.

 And I look very pleased with myself!

 Autumn colours!

 And pyracantha berries glowing bright, all ready for the birds.

Well I have made a start but plenty more to do.     Next job, the side hedge against the fence, and the jungle at the back, which certainly does need drastic cutting back, in order to give some light and sunshine to the struggling plum trees.   Every onwards.

Out and About

Our friends Richard and Dawn came to stay last weekend.  It was great to be able spend time with them, as well as show them some of the beauty spots around here.

First stop, Hall Place in Bexleyheath.   The skies were heavy, with clouds laden down with water.   But we set out regardless, with our rain coats and umbrellas.   We stopped and looked at the model gardens, still very green and full of plants.   

A discussion occurred at this point, about the reason for sudden bursts of water from the fountain.   The pattern; a burst of water, followed by no water, and then a gurgling sound, followed by the next burst of water.   It was agreed that the leaves and old plants were obstructing the water in the channel, which then slowed the water entering the pump.    A quick way to wear out a pump.   

 Richard noticed this very pretty tree, with plenty of foliage and tough leaves with serrated edges, from New Zealand, called Horeria Sexstylosa.   Not one I know, but members of my family in New Zealand may be familiar with this one.

 We entered the greenhouses, so dry and warm in there.   A respite from the wet and cold weather.

A colourful display of pumpkins and gourds greeted us.

 I loved this cactus plant.   Ordered, symmetrical, and tidy.   Perfect.

 Bananas ready to eat.

 A bottle brush, native of Australia, in bloom.  Completely the wrong time of year, but no complaints.

 After a cup of coffee in the cafe, we found that it was still raining, and very heavy, but onwards we walked, along the Cray River,

  towards the topiary. 'The Queen's Beasts'.  I am aways fascinated by the topiary at Hall Place.  Must be interesting for the people trimming them.    Lots of corners.   No long straight lines with these 'beasts'.

 Hall Place, in the heavy rain, and our hardy little group, with their umbrellas held resolutely above their heads.

 In the afternoon we visited Down House, Charles Darwin's family home.    Still raining very heavily, but luckily we were inside in the dry and warmth.

The next day we woke to sunshine and blue skies.   What a difference.    A walk in the woods, after breakfast, was a perfect way to spend a sunny, but cold, morning outside.

The sun glinting through the autumn leaves.

 Walter, Richard and Dawn reading the description of the Faesten Dic.

A steady walk uphill before we head back home for our morning coffee.

We really enjoyed our weekend with Richard and Dawn, despite the miserable weather on Saturday.   It all went just too quickly, sadly.   Always the way, when one is having a really good time.

Bewl Water

Bewl Water, which is off the A21, just before Hastings.  A large dam, which supplies water for that part of Kent, has also been developed into an area for outdoor sports and leisure.   But it costs to use the facilities. 5 pounds per person, and a reduction for a famility of two adults and two children - 15 pounds. Just to park your car, and use the playground, picnic area, and go for a walk.   So much for families, struggling financially.

 Of course, there is also sailing, fishing, bouncy castles, bicycle hire which costs quite a bit of money if you wish to partake in these activities.

A cup of coffee in the cafe was much needed, in order to recover from parting with so much cash in order to park the car.

Jackson and Isabel loved the large adventure playground though, and spent some time on this slide, after Jackson wiped the water off, by using his yellow jacket.   Very resourceful.

The trees beginning to show their autumn colours.

There was plenty to do in the playground, so a great place for children to use up some of their energy.

Jackson trying out webbing.

Luckily it did not rain while we were there, and we all had a good time, Jackson and Isabel on the play equipment, and me practising using my new camera.

UK and Houten

The last few photos of Mia and Abi's trip to the UK.  It is hard to believe these photos were taken nearly two weeks go.   Where does time go to!    On the last day they built a puzzle clock with Lucy, Jackson and Isabel. The puzzle comprised of many small pieces of cardboard which used numbers as a key for construction.   An excellent problem solving exercise.

 Mia and Abi witing patiently at Southend Airport.  Our flight was delayed by an hour due to high winds in Schiphol.   A very bumpy landing too.

Finally we arrived back in Houten, at 10 p.m.   Luckily the Dutch trains were on time, and fast, otherwise we would have been later still.   Mia and Abi had to start back at school the next day.

When we walked through the Rond we saw that a fair had been constructed there.  And Raphy was keen to take me the next day, so that he could go on one of the rides.  A very persuasive boy.

And he also persuaded me to buy him this cupcake with very bright red icing.  I am sure it was not healthy.

I am not guilty of buying him this oversized lollypop.   He managed to get a few licks of it before bedtime.   Raphy has such a sweet tooth.

On the Wednesday I said a reluctant goodbye to the van Dam family, and walked past a very busy fair.   Wednesday is half day for schools in Holland and there was a special reduction in the price of rides, so rides then cost 1 Euro per ride.   The children, and reluctant parents, were taking advantage of it. Busy.

I caught the efficient, very clean and cheap trains back to Schiphol.  The total journey time from Aaron and Kylie's house to the inside of the terminal at Schiphol was one hour. The flight back to Southend Airport was uneventful, thank goodness.  

Clock Museum, Utrecht

When we were in Houten we took the children into Utrecht to see the Clock Museum, which had recently been renovated and certainly looked very smart with new paintwork and a rearrangement of exhibits.  And a new restaurant too, which served organic food and drinks at a very reasonably price.

Abi and Raphy were rapt in the moving parts in the scene in the box above.   Of course one had to deposit 50c in the slot to make everything move.

The museum was in an old church, still with the original pipe organ, as can be seen in the photo below. 

A child's paradise.   In this room it was all about discovering how music was made, by turning handles and watching the mechanisms strike out the tune. Fascinating.

We joined a tour to learn about how clocks and moving ornaments were made, during the last few centuries.   Definitely 'toys for boys'.    This street organ was typical of the type used in Holland, very heavy but could be pulled around the streets due to the flat land.

A dance hall organ, used in carnivals, and very ornate.

Raphy looking in awe at the mechanism of a very large clock.

Superb arches, newly painted and lit up.

Walter and Abi listening carefully to a pianola recital.  All mechanised of course.

We made our own perforated books, very time consuming and tedious.   Something went wrong because the tunes did not come out as they should have done.   Oh well, all in a days work.

Marilyn Monroe?   Mia took a very good photo of this wall hanging.

A very interesting museum, although much of the information was lost on me, due to translation difficulties.   I must improve my Dutch.