September 27th, 2010 | General
Do you know what happens if you are a little late returning to the car you left in the car park just below Windsor Castle? The warden boots your car–locks on a wheel clamp–and charges you 120£ (125£ if you use a charge card instead of a debit card or cash)...
September 27th, 2010 | General, Travel
It was not that we didn’t have a plan. Rooms at Grovefield House Hotel were booked a year ago. Everyone was up on time, bathed coffeed and nourished. The cars were loaded with wedding attire and other necessities. Only one run back in to close windows was necessary....
September 26th, 2010 | Friends, General, Time Passes, Travel
An evening at Homewood is incontrovertible evidence that time has passed. Samantha was my classmate at Princess Helena College in Hertfordshire. The original Queen Anne building was enlarged by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) in 1908. In 1935 the house and...
September 24th, 2010 | General, Travel
It was in Bath that we changed Nüvi’s voice from Daniel to Serena. I had favored Daniel, English-accented and resonant; besides, I am sentimentally attached to the name. Serena, we had heard was the best voice, the most audible and the most authentically human. It’s...
September 23rd, 2010 | General, Travel
It rained during the night. Boughs bow in the colorless light, the flagstones and rock walls are damp and the lawn glows that brilliant, peculiarly English, green. It is our last day at New Cottage and this is a lovely morning. There is, as usual, too much left in the...
September 22nd, 2010 | General, Travel
Nüvi: “In 0.6 miles turn right on road.” Nüvi: “In 1.3 miles turn left on road.” Left to our own devices, we would never have headed down an unnamed macadam track even if we thought that Kelmscott Manor was somewhere in that general direction. Left to a GPS device, we...
September 21st, 2010 | General, Travel
Blenheim Castle is a much slicker operation than the last time I was there, and much more costly. It would be. I haven’t been there since 1975. From New Cottage, Blenheim is a hop, skip and jump down Woodstock Road. My Dear One had never been; this was my...
September 20th, 2010 | General, Travel
It takes a day or two to settle in. Saturday afternoon, jet-lagged and disoriented, we set out in search of food. A map kindly provided by our host located essential resources in the area and Sainsbury’s seemed like the best choice for basic shopping. We fed the...
September 20th, 2010 | General, Travel
Outside the little flagstoned-floor solarium in this thatched cottage, one of three surviving buildings of the catastrophic fire of 1793, the last of the freesias and dahlias and hollyhocks sway under soft clouds and glimpses of pale blue sky. It is quiet. I hear to...
September 7th, 2010 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General
I found the best foodie website ever: http://nutritiondata.self.com. My Dear One asked if I would make carrot cake. Years ago we found somewhat unusual recipe that makes a particularly savory cake, not terribly sweet, and pleasantly moist. Since then we have improved...
