This and That

By the time you read this, it will be Sunday, but I am writing it on Wednesday. I leave today for my sister's crop in Kentucky. As it turns out, I have a lot of extra time. I was on the fence about decorating for Halloween, so with Butch's encouragement, I decided to do it! Got that done first thing this morning, cleaned out the refrigerator, finished packing---all by 9 a.m.--- and am now writing a few blog posts. Calling Sandy next!

I love to do "this and that" posts  once in awhile just to deal with all of the odd photos that I have.

I'm pretty sure I've already posted this photo (can you tell I don't even read my own blog?). Still, I think it's worth repeating. Gren, Diane's husband had this sweet greeting for us when we arrived. Love the little kiss in the corner---whether that was intentional or not!

 I loved everything about this store--Cath Kidston. The counter made out of old suitcases was so cool! You can even see the tote that I bought displayed on the right.

I sent this photo to Connie. Five Guys is her favorite. I had no idea it originated in Nottingham some where in the 1600's!!

The Wonder Room was at Selfridges. I'm still wondering what's in there. Everything was pretty expensive, so I'm sure this room would have been off limits for me. I wonder what the little green sign means. Probably, "yikes, let me outta' here!"

Elizabeth snapped this shot of us on our train ride to Nottingham. We had quite a discussion about stitching that the "ticket taker" lady got in on. She showed us photos of her work. She spent quite a bit of time with us. I started to wonder whether she needed to get back to work. Or maybe, collecting the tickets is a very brief job, but someone has to do it!

Grenville and Diane own a bath outfitter shop. They showed us around. I was quite taken with the toilet that is all the rage in England. It's completely self-cleaning---no need for toilet paper. It "flushes you" and then dries you. I would have loved to give it a try, but it was for display only. Better for the environment AND our bottoms! Now if the toilet could clean itself, that'd really be somethin'!

 This was my tea that the concierge carried to my room when I was lost in the hotel. This is what it still looked like when I threw it away. It was disgusting! Not the same at all!

When Gren got us in the Council House and we got that private tour, I stopped to look in this case of silver. Karolyn pointed this out. I thought it was pretty ironic, so had to take a picture. Of course back in 1961, you could still smoke everywhere!

I sent this picture to Butch---England's version of the dollar store. If this was in the states, they'd have to call it the "dollar and a quarter" store due to the conversion rate of the pound!

I'm always asking Diane what things mean. Bespoke means "custom"! After this, I seemed to see that word everywhere. Makes total sense when you know the meaning. I never knew that English was a foreign language! Another word Diane used at our book club meeting was "doddle". We all took notice and said (as only Americans can) "whaaattt?" with a puzzled look. Turns out "doddle" means a joke. Well, that "doddle" was on us! I'm not even sure if I've spelled that correctly. It could be "dottle."

I snapped a picture of this poster in the tube station. Here, we talk of sex slavery, but as far as I know, we don't have posters around---maybe because we don't have subways in TN. I think it's a good idea. I'm pretty oblivious to things and probably would have no idea even if I did "see something." Tennessee is supposed to be a bad place for this sort of thing.

That just about wraps it up. These are all of my leftovers from England. It's actually kind of sad. It sort of feels like I'm seeing England in the rear view mirror. Until next time...

And then there were ...

...the gardens.

I won't bore you with too many photos. I've narrowed it down to just the best!

 Okay, not the best photo of me, but the garden was spectacular.

These two shots with the tags are from the Reg Taylor garden store. It's where I bought my plums and blackberries.

This is the kitchen garden at Hampton Court Palace. It was so cool to have a garden in the middle of the house!

 If I recall, the Hampton Court Palace has a garden that encompasses 30 acres!

 This was part of the formal garden at Chatsworth.

 Pink is my favorite color in the garden. I'm always drawn to pink flowers.

 I have no idea what this is---my plant identifier app didn't work for me on this trip. I guess it only works in the US.

This waterfall went on and on at the back of Chatsworth.

See, I promised it wouldn't be too long! There's a tour I plan to take the next time I'm in London called "the secret garden" tour. I have no idea what it is, but I'll be all over it!

Friday Funnies!

Finally, some useful facts have been released by TSA about all of those airport full body scans!

FULL BODY SCANS AT AIRPORTS

TSA disclosed the following

Airport Screening Results:

2017 Statistics On Airport Full Body Screening From TSA :
Terrorists Discovered	0
Transvestites	133
Hernias	1,485
Hemorrhoid Cases	3,172
Enlarged Prostates	8,249
Breast Implants	59,350
Natural Blondes	3

 Additionally, It was also discovered that 308 politicians had no balls at all.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Throwback Thursday

 I loved Bic pens and cassette tapes. They don't make cassettes anymore, but what about the Bic pens? I don't think I've seen them around. I loved them!

 I had a lot of Tupperware, but this pitcher was not one for me. It was probably too expensive.

 Yeah! Remember the kids who hoisted this up on their shoulder?

 Yep, and then trying to fold it back and putting it back in was tricky!

OMGosh! We did this. We were lucky we didn't tip it over.

 And the smell and the sting when it hit your bare legs!

Yep, you'd slide off and have grass burns too! Anything to get wet!

What I Buy Wednesdays

Well, you would think that after my trip, I'd have a break from shopping. But no! Not when there's the first Christmas shopping opportunity.

Stephanie, Mindy and I went to the Wilson County's Mistletoe Market. I had one rule going in: No FOOD or JEWELRY.

Here's what I bought:

All  FOOD and JEWELRY!!! Oh, and a cheap pair of readers. The little framable Christmas print and cooler cup were "free." 

As it turns out, I'm making the chicken enchilada soup for my "sisters crop" this week. Plus, I just got invited to a Halloween party. We're supposed to wear a costume, but I told the hostess (my friend, Nancy E.) that I don't do costumes. Luckily, I bought a couple pieces of Halloween jewelry. That will have to do!

I don't foresee any purchases this coming week since I'll be scrapbooking at Kentucky Lake. But, you never know!

What did you buy this week?

Not My Trip!

So today for Travel Tuesday, I'm going to mention another trip---but not my trip.

When some of our book club members decided to go to England, Butch was all like, "Hmph! Well maybe I'll just go somewhere!" I said, "Go ahead!"

So, he did. He got with Bruce and put together a trip through Roads Scholar to Portugal.

When we both got back, I figured out how to get our photos on our Apple tv. Then, we had our own happy hour and spent 3 hours---yes, 3 HOURS---going through our pictures. It was actually pretty fun---for us. No one not on the trips would have enjoyed it. Sometimes he got a little too detailed with his photos. Luckily for him, I didn't remember too many details about my trip! I was jealous that he journaled. I didn't. I just didn't have the time. He doesn't sleep well when traveling, so that gives him more time.

There was a whole lot of this!

When it was my turn, I never felt the need to get up to explain something!

Still, after our marathon picture viewing, the next morning, he remembered a few more things. When I asked why he didn't mention them the night before, he said I rushed him! Maybe I did, but he got to go first AND had more pictures than I did!

As we reviewed our trips, this is what I heard: blah blah blah blah WINE. blah, blah, blah, WINE. blah, blah, blah, WINE. Here's the proof! He said he had never seen such beautiful wine country.

 So do you think 9 bottles of wine could be a little much!!

Just kidding, they had a great trip and it wasn't all about wine. The first day they arrived, they had dinner at the apartment of this couple:

When Butch checked Trip Advisor about the best place to eat in Lisbon, this came up. He was hesitant, but then read the reviews where people raved about the food and fun. They only have two tables of 4. On the night they went, there was only one other couple from Australia.

This was the first course for just the two of them! He said they had a great time and the food was delicious. I'm sure there was plenty of wine involved.

 One of the many churches they visited---where wine played a centrical part!

 This is just one example of the streets throughout Portugal.

Many, many churches---still a primarily Catholic city.

Butch said that it wasn't until the second day that their group realized that he and Bruce weren't a "couple!" Some of the group questioned as to whether the boys always take separate vacations from their wives. A few concluding that maybe it's not such a bad idea!

 Oh look, a departure from wine!  That tile--I would love that around the pool or on the patio!!!

All kidding aside, they had a great trip and I'm so glad. Actually, his pictures and stories were so interesting, that now I want to go to Portugal! Maybe another girls trip another time. I'm so happy that we can enjoy traveling in whatever way that works for us!!

Too many trips---too little time!