a Cake a Park and a Pie (mom wrote that title)

Hi Everybody & Joni - my impatient reader.

Between you and Greg you will make a blogger out of me yet!

Saturday we had a quiet day. "We chilled out" as Greg says. We looked at some videos that we took at Tintern Abbey and were pleasantly surprised to find the old Monk in the clouds. I hope you all enjoy him as much as we do. Greg made us his famous Burritos so we had another sample of his fine dinning entrés. We also had a nice online visit with some of the family back home.

Sunday was a birthday get together for Samantha's sister Nicole and her husband Steven (two birds with one stone, I mean cake. I don't know who was more nervous, me or Sam. She was afraid that I wouldn't like her family and I was afraid they wouldn't like me. Silly women! The party started at Nicole & Steves lovely home when I met Brian, Liz, Owen, Daniel, Grace and of course Nikki and Steve. They are such charming delightful people and they love to joke and laugh. I loved them from the first moment that I met them and they made me feel very special.

We moved on to a nice restaurant styled pub that was inside a big brick house so it felt quite homey. I had roast beef with a yorkshire pudding so big that I had to share part of it with Sam's brother Daniel who only gets to eat a good meal once a week (according to his family) because he's away studying medicine in Birmingham.

We returned to Nikki & Stevens house for cake, coffee and another glass of wine and we had a pleasant afternoon and evening. Nicole is also studying, she is going to be a chiropractor like her Dad and brother.

Yesterday was Monday and our Samantha was back to work in London so Greg and I had to find another place to explore. We chose Richmond Park. We took the Peugeot through some beautiful streets of shops and residences. Brick fences, tiny front gardens, flowering trees and huge buildings all flashed by as we travelled to the park.

I was thrilled to find a thatched roof cottage as soon as we arrived so that was the first picture we took. Then we walked for miles and hours. We got a little carried away with the pictures but we just couldn't seem to get enough deers and trees and landscapes.

You can get a bit of the feeling of size from the pictures but you would have to be there to get the full size of the park. It was so natural that a large herd of deer lives there year round.

On our return we found a beautiful garden tea house that we visited for a much needed cup of coffee and traditional scone with butter, strawberry jam and clotted cream. Delicious but Greg wouldn't try any - I think the word "clotted" was too much for him. <----- (It couldn't be that he just didn't want a bun with butter and cream on it!!!!)

Today Greg had to work so I have been on my own. I walked into Sutton and shopped a bit in the morning. Greg came home for lunch and Samantha called to see how I was doing. It's windy and grey outside so I did some baking. I have banana cream pie cooling on the window sill and a plum tart on the counter with a small apple pie. I don't know how to do baking in a small way.

The TV cable repair lady has been my only visitor but the afternoon is almost over and I haven't watched the movie Greg set out for me. So that is next on the agenda.