We decided to be leisurely this morning and why not, it’s Sunday. After the Beer and Pretzel Fest yesterday, how do you top that? Well.. with a Faerie Festival of course! This was the Forged Fantasy Faerie Festival, say that five times fast! sponsored by the Drunken Smithy. The Drunken Smithy is a place that opened about a year ago at the Lebanon Valley Mall, I think I told you about it, because they offer axe throwing, which PSM and did a few months ago, we love it! We’ve done it in a few places, great fun and a great release!
The Drunken Smithy also offers forging classes, something, when we take, I will definitely share with you! Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Sounds fierce! It is! Looking forward to making something! PSM did buy me a hammered metal flower, actually it’s a dragon disguised as a flower and I so forgot to take a pic, I’ll do that, promise!
We were actually going to the movies and stumbled about the fabulousness of the Forged Fantasy Faerie Festival! It was like the Renaissance Festival in a mall, I loved it! There were people in costume, at least, some of them were in costume, I know some people live the life and this is how they dress every day. Faerie freedom! The best is when you see someone in full faerie regalia in an unlikely place, like loading something into their car in the parking lot. That was great!
There were so many vendors, some things repeated themselves, but all of it was wonderful and so many hand crafted items! There was music, minstrels, live Dungeons-and-Dragons role playing, face painting, libations, magicians, crystals, artists, and so much more, what else could you want?
Well…baby goats, that’s what! I was talking to a vendor and PSM came over and said “I don’t mean to interrupt…but there are baby goats”! What?! I have no idea, but I la la la love baby goats! And PSM knows it, I turn into mush! So…we rushed over, well, rushed while still being safe and not running into anyone and there they were! $5 for 5 minutes. My beau got me $10 minutes in with the baby goats! Some of them were only a few weeks old!!! I got in the pen, sat down and started loving on the baby goats! I was in heaven!!! Squeeeee!
Time with the baby goats was up…again, I was denied a baby goat or two…you really have to have more than one, they are pack animals. I think it would be so much fun to have a baby goat on the bike! In a side car?! Can’t you just see it?! Goggles and all! Yes!
We walked around some more, then it was time for the movies, luckily, in the same building. We headed over to the theater, got our water and popcorn, you have to have popcorn! Funnily…at home, I might put a little salt on my popcorn, but never butter, in the movie theater, must have butter! Don’t ask me why, that’s just the way it is.
We went to see The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It was SOOOO good! The tagline: The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II. It was based on Damien Lewis‘ 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII.
It was directed by Guy Ritchie, you can imagine the cinematography and style. It was very clever and funny, the dialog was brilliant, the cast…amazing! Henry Cavill, you know…Superman! as the lead, Gus March-Phillips, Alan Ritchson, Jack Reacher!! as Andres Lasson, what he could do with a knife or bow and arrow?!, Alex Pettyfer as Geoffrey Appleyard, master planner, Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride!! as Brigadier Gubbins ‘M’, the one who initiates the operation, Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians!!! as Freddy Alvarez, a master at explosives, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, new to me, as Henry Hayes, a great navigator, Rory Kinnear, he’s been in a lot of action movies, but I know him as a funny man, he was a fabulous Winston Churchill.
Freddy Fox played Ian Fleming, the author himself! Eliza Gonzales, as Marjorie Stewart, and Babs Olusanmokun, as Heron, both new to me, but I look forward to seeing them in future films! And lastly, Til Schweiger, I’ve seen him before, he plays a very good bad, and I mean bad guy!!!
There was action, a lot of it, adventure, great dialog, I mean funny and witty, violence, yeah, a lot of violence, it was WWII, fighting the Nazi’s, there’s going to be violence, but interestingly…not a lot of blood, in one or two scenes, there was blood, but overall… not much! Oh, and there were explosions, and fire, lots of those, and very clever tactics and ploys to do what they needed to.
Overall, I recommend this movie, I want to see it again, yeah, two thumbs up!
And on that note… Gute Nacht (gooteh nakt) [Good night in German]
First night with my family was fabulous, as always. Second night is always with PSM’s family, a fun time that!
It’s Tuesday, so it’s still a work day, that means, more cooking, just to fill in some of the gaps from what we ate last night at the first seder. We made two more kugels, another matzoh brittle, more gefilte fish, and more broccoli pancakes, oh yeah, more hard boiled eggs.
In between cooking, there was work to be done, for my job that is! I actually got a lot done, had a few calls, GES and dad went to the grocery store for some supplies, I did go out and treat myself to a chai at Starbucks, ended up talking to a nice guy about bikes, he commented on my Sturgis sweatshirt, how could I not talk about how much we love to ride?!
About 5p, I started to pack up my stuff and about 530p, I hugged and kissed everyone goodbye and headed to PSM’s family’s for seder. There were a lot more people at the second night seder, GES was having about 20, we had 11 last night, sound about right!
I walked in with my goodies, the fabulous veggie matzoh ball soup for me and the peach matzoh kugel for all. Let’s just say, I know it was good, but…there was absolutely nothing left for me to take back to PA and PSM! Happily disappointed!
We sat down about 630pm, I ended up at the kids side of the table. Kids being the youngest was about 16 or 17 and the oldest in their 20s, these are bigger kids. They still do the Four Questions, well, they’re still the youngest! Of course, I was also seated across from some of the older trouble makers, myself included, not complaining, there was a lot of laughter and love!
As all families, they have their own traditions, we sing Take Me Out to the Seder, sung to…you guessed it, Take Me Out to the Ball Game! They use different Haggadah’s, as most families do, but like most families, everyone takes a turn reading, participating in the service and the telling of our story.
I stayed until the seder was over and we started clearing the table, and some folks were heading out, it was about 930p and I had a very long drive home! Not looking forward to that…I got on the road, had the top down for part of it, of course! I decided to go through Connecticut, how much traffic could there be at 12-1am?! Well…not hours of traffic, but there was traffic! Seriously? I cannot stand driving through that state! I may have already said it, I enjoy the state, just not driving through it! ugh!
After about 3 hours, I probably stopped every hour, to get gas, walk around, keep myself awake and ready to go. It was a very, very, very long drive. I find that during the day, I can drive for what seems like forever! I remember driving from St Louis to Denver, CO, it’s about a 12 hour drive, I did it in one fell swoop, isn’t that a great expression! But once the sun goes down, I’m not good for the full drive without stopping.
I made it home safely, finished a podcast, started a new one, that kept me going for hours, I wasn’t sure when it was going to end, but good for my drive! I made it home about 330am and I was done! I emailed dad and my sister to let them know I was home, went into the house and was greeted with running, snuggles, and kisses from the fur babies, someone had fallen asleep and left them out.
I proceeded to love on them, get them in the crate, and it was all I could do to walk upstairs, put on my jammies, and fall into bed, the alarm was still coming at 6a, really?
All in all, a good trip, too short, but a good one. Family, friends, food, and fun, what more could you want? Notin’ I tell ya! Nothin’! G’Night!
Yesterday, after the Biker and Bike Blessing, I loaded up the convertible, kissed PSM and the dogs buh bye, jumped into said convertible, dropped the top and away we went! We being me and the cah! [I said cah because I was heading to Bahston!]
PSM gave me a way to avoid the traffic in Connecticut, that Connecticut is so famous for and makes people not want to go or drive through Connecticut. Ok, so maybe people want to go, I spent a great weekend there with CWB two years ago, but driving through it to get to Boston, not my favorite, or my husband, or my dad, or anyone else who has to do it. That being said, PSM gave me a route that would add about 100 miles to my trip, which meant about an extra hour, but I would avoid Connecticut, and it worked!
I arrived at my sister’s about 830p, eyes were slits, but I made it! After visiting for a bit, I was done! Down to the sofa in the basement, set up the blankets, jammies on, and I started talking to you and couldn’t sleep, really?!
I did not set an alarm for this morning, but lucky me…I woke up about 530a, fun! I lay there not thinking or doing anything, I just snuggled deeper into the covers, it was cold in the basement, but I was toasty under a few layers, works for me! Eventually I got up and wandered upstairs and my sister was in the kitchen with EJS, she was heading off with ACS, to do a father-daughter college tour and soccer ID clinic. Can you believe it…college tours! O M G!
MGS came down eventually, she had a soccer game in the afternoon, she was going to chill until then. GES and I started to cook some of the dishes we would need for the Passover seder tomorrow and Tuesday. She hosts first and second night. I’m always at first night and when I started dating PSM, we go to second night with his family. Their first night seder is usually held in a hall with a lot, when I say, a lot, I mean a lot of people! They’ve had up to 100 in the past! That would be something to see!
We have to strategize what we’re going to cook because there’s only so many good size burners and only so much oven space! We started with a matzoh brittle, y u m! This is one cup of brown sugar, one cup of butter, melted, then you put it on a tray of matzoh, which goes into the oven for 5 minutes at 350. When it’s cooled, you break it into pieces. Some people make it with chocolate chips and nuts, I’m a purist. You’re welcome, you’ll thank me later!
I started on the veggie matzoh ball soup, y u m! Then we made I lost count of how many hard boiled eggs, then the potatoes, we had gefilte fish to make too. This is where the musical burners comes in because there are only two large ones and we use large stock pots for everything!
We had thumbprint cookies to make, coconut macaroons, matzoh apple and peach apple kugel, charoset for just the two of us, since we can’t eat apples. I think that’s everything. You know…I really need to give you our recipes for these dishes, they are sooo good! Other people would be bringing items tomorrow, so we don’t have to cook everything like we used to when we were kids.
About 1030am, we went over to a friend’s house to help them with the crafts for her son’s bar mitzvah, it’s a baseball theme and she needed a little extra zhuzhing it up [you just have to say the word out loud]. That was a lot of fun, there were glue guns, batteries, lights, baseballs, the whole nine yards! And she had a Cricut, so I had someone to chat Cricut, you know I was in heaven!
After the craft party, we headed back home to cook some more. When we got there, dad had arrived! The family is together! We chatted and caught up while we made a few kugels, then everyone left for the soccer field, I stayed behind a few minutes to get the kugels out of the oven, the off to the game I went.
Great to see MGS on the field, it was a lot of fun, she’s really getting so much better! This was her first game with this team, definitely a new experience! I’m so very proud of her! I hope she knows that!
Let’s just say, I had my top down on the way to Boston, today…I couldn’t warm up fast enough when I was back in the car after the game. I could not feel my feet or fingers, thank goodness it all came back to me! Back at the house, a little more cooking and then it was time for dinner. They brought in pizza and salads, I had a nice big salad, I had to go to the grocery store earlier and got some of my favorite vegan cheese, Chao Cheese, the brand is Field Roast, I actually never noticed the brand name before! I was always focused on the flavor. It is a full, rich, cheese, and melts nicely!
Dinner is always fun at my sister’s house, lot’s of chatter, banter, silliness, and laughter, what more could you want?! After dinner we did the last of the cooking we needed to, cleaned up the kitchen, everyone else went up to bed and GES and I sat on the sofa and relaxed! What a day?!
I know I nodded off a few times while we were sitting there scrolling through our phones and watching something on tv, I know this because I kept waking myself up! ha ha. After a bit, I went downstairs and here I am telling you about my day.
I’m going to say Bonne nuit (bon nwee), that’s french for good night.
Say that 10 times fast! Today was a great experience, I told you last night I would tell you all about it today and here it is!
A biker and biker blessing is a truly moving event, we participated in our first one in Hawai’i. It was held at a church, it felt like every bike on the island was there! We met, there was a blessing, in Hawai’ian and we went on our way, knowing we were, well, blessed!
Today, we were with the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club [LVMC], there was also the biker/bike blessing with our Indian Motorcycle Riders Group [IMRG], it wasn’t an easy decision, but we went with the LVMC because we haven’t ridden with them yet and last weekend we had our first IMRG group ride of the season. I also needed to be closer to home, after the blessing and lunch, I high tailed it to Boston for a few days!
We got to the clubhouse at 1030a and there were already about 30 bikes and people there, by the time we left, I think we were somewhere between 50-60, maybe, I couldn’t tell, but there were a lot of us! It was fun meeting some new people in the group and seeing what everyone rides, that’s always the best part.
We were very organized, not us personally, the group. There were several people who would be blocking traffic, that means that they block traffic at lights and stops so we can all ride together as one big group. The idea, which I liked the analogy when we rode in Hawai’i was we should function like a tractor trailer, everyone stays together.
We left in one big group, I know someone was taking photos, I can’t wait to see them! I have to tell you, it is such a site to see all the bikes riding in one long procession, it sounds wonderful and it looks beautiful! We rode to the Lebanon VA Medical Center, what an honor! There were some residents who were outside watching, some in the lobby, and many from their rooms. We did a tour around the perimeter, came to park in front and we all got off our bikes and walked towards the chapel.
Father Paul was waiting for us, he was wearing a long white robe, full regalia, with sunglasses, a baseball cap, and sneakers! LOVE IT! We all gathered around and Father Paul read from his prayer book, a few prayers I recognized, what I loved was he added motorcycles in there! He talked about being able to ride was freedom, reminding us of what we can do, and to keep each other safe. It was a lovely ceremony.
We all received badges/pins, oh yeah, before we left the clubhouse, we all received an American Flag with the Biker Blessing on it to attach to our bikes! After we received our pins, we got back on our bikes and rode past Father Paul, who then blessed us each with holy water! SO cool!
After we were blessed, we made our way back to the clubhouse for a fine feast of picnic and comfort foods and good conversation. We met some new folks and really just enjoyed ourselves. I know we would have had fun with the IMRG folks, this was fun getting to know the LVMC folks!
After lunch we headed back home, played with the dogs a little, I loaded up my car and headed out and here I sit at my sister’s house writing to you. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow! I need sleep! After getting up about 6am, then the biker blessing, then a 7 hour drive to Boston, I’m beat!
Vroom Vroom…God natt (goo nat) [Good night in Norwegian]!
Today was your average work day, it seemed to go on forever, was yours like that? I looked up, it was 12p, then I looked up and I thought it was 3p, nope, it was 1p, then 2p, what happened?! I was very busy, so that should mean the day flew by and I didn’t have enough time to get what I needed to done. Nope, it was weird. I didn’t quite make my deadline, but I got a lot done, go figure!
After work, take the pups for a walk, they got in their smells, found some potato-chippy worms to munch on, munched on some grass, I listened to a podcast, and that’s how it usually goes for us. Oh, we did meet some of the dogs in the neighborhood, we said hello to Charlie, the teeny poodle who definitely tries to defend and protect his property and his humans, Calvin, the black and white great dane, what a sweet and gentle doll baby, having a moment on the other dogs names, but they all did the doggie meet-n-greet, let’s sniff there, oh my!
Then PSM got home from work and we tried a new place on our Lebanon Valley Libations Trail, The Union Beer House. It is in a random place, nestled in between some car dealerships and other businesses, you almost drive by you. When you walk in, it’s very cool, they have beer coolers on the left, a lot of coolers, basically, a wall of coolers, these hold bottles by the six-pack for sale. Then on the right, there are shelves of wine, and a cooler with beer cans, I didn’t get over there to look if the cans were for sale in six packs as well. The last cooler had single bottles of beer, again, didn’t get over there to see if they were for sale individually.
At the counter you can order food and drink, on the left were all the taps and a proper bar. When I say proper bar, I just mean that you can sit or stand at the bar and gather, chat, congregate, which is the same as gather, right? In the middle, wide open space, they had tables and chairs for eating, they had a high top long bar along the window. Then as you wander, they have a video gambling room, that was different.
The food was ok, I’ll be honest, the only thing on the menu I could eat was veggie fried rice and an order of 5 mini spring rolls, I asked about a veggie burger, I was told they have a black bean burger, but it was spicy. Fried rice and spring rolls it is. PSM had fish and chips. The chips were good, we both liked them.
The place was crowded with friends, families, single folks, groups, couples. It had a good atmosphere of people enjoying themselves on a Friday night. Kitchen closes at 8p, brewery closes at 10p, welcome to Central PA!
We went because it’s on the Libations Trail, but it wasn’t a place I would go back to. I could see going if PSM wanted a beer or some friends wanted to go have a beer and hang out, but overall, not my first choice. I enjoyed the experience and I’m glad we tried something new, but it wasn’t for us. We really like to sit at the bar and talk to people. Oh well…
Now, the plus…we were only a 2 minute drive from the Lebanon Valley Motorcycle Club! Score! We got there a little before everyone was going up to the meeting, we just missed the home made carrot cake, bummer! D is a great baker! I really like everything I’ve tried!
Tonight the place was packed, not quite standing room only, but a lot of people! I think because the weather is getting nicer and rides are about to start happening, people were there to get more information. Tomorrow, I’m excited, we’re going to a bike blessing, not telling you much more because I want to tell you about it tomorrow!
I’m glad I ran into R when I was at White’s Harley Davidson and he told me about the club, and I’m glad we finally went to a meeting and joined. Everyone is very friendly and has welcomed us warmly and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone. And…excited to go on our first ride with them and see what everyone rides!
And on that note, I’m going to wish you a शुभ रात्रि (shub raatree) [good night in hindi].
It’s Bee and Ruby’s Gotcha Day! For those of you who might know be in the know, because if you’ve never adopted a human or animal, why would you! So… ‘the gotcha day is the anniversary of the day on which a person or a pet joins a family by adoption.’ Isn’t that great! I gotcha in my family now!
Miss A’s gotcha day, you may remember, is February 14th, how perfect is that! And Ruby and Bee’s gotcha day is April 13th, we officially adopted them in St Louis in 2020, shortly after we moved there. As you know, Mollie didn’t leave Hawai’i with us, we knew she probably wouldn’t be when we moved there, and sadly, we were correct. After we moved to St Louis, we were walking around Creve Coeur Lake thinking, and talking about it, “wouldn’t it be nice to have dogs again, to walk around the park with us”, I told PSM when he was ready, let me know. And shortly thereafter, he said…I’m ready.
So…I went online to see if I could find another American Foxhound, that’s what Mollie was, and let me tell you…not easy to find. As I was looking at different shelters, I found Five Acres Shelter and I saw Bee, who had similar features to Mollie. I only say this because everyone always asked me if she was a Beagle when they saw her, honestly, if you didn’t know the foxhound, she looked like a beagle that had exploded, meaning, much larger!
I said…ooh! And when I clicked on her link, she came up with a friend…Ruby. The site said they were so bonded they hoped the two would be adopted together. I showed PSM the pictures and although he was only thinking about one dog, he said go for it. I filled out the application, put down his brother SM as a reference and we got a call from someone at the shelter to interview us. About 30 minutes later, we got a call from his brother “So…you’re thinking about adopting a dog, huh?” Wow, they move fast.
Even faster, a few minutes later we were setting up a meet-n-greet with the foster mom. She wasn’t available on Saturday or Sunday, did I mention this was Friday? What about Monday, sounds good. Since we were both working from home, remember, this is when everyone was at home working because the Covid stuff just started happening about this time.
Monday, we went to the shelter and met both dogs, what doll babies they were! And all of a sudden, maybe 15/20 minutes later, PSM said yes and I was signing paperwork and we were dog parents again…. Um…with no provisions at home, oops. On the way home we stopped at Petco to get dog beds, the foster mom gave us one bed, we call it the burrito, it’s actually sitting under my desk right now! It’s a brown oval bed they both love sleeping in! She also gave us one blue bear, we bought a few toys, food, a crate for both of them, treats, and a bed that fit in the crate, yup, we’re good to go.
We got home and brought them into the house, they sniffed every corner, oh yeah, we closed the master bedroom door, there was a giant oriental rug in there, the foster mom told us Bee has a tendency to sometimes go inside…and normally only on rugs/carpets, so we’d have to keep an eye on that. They settled in pretty well, found the beds to snuggle on and we laid down with them at different times, and we took them out back to their new yard, lots of room to run around.
♥️ Adoption Day 4.13.20 ♥️
I’d say they got used to us and their new home pretty quickly…they spent most of their time laying out in the sun out back. They also decided they needed to protect the yard, which I was finally able to cure them of that, ‘you’re ok, no one is invading your backyard! If anyone walked by…oh brother! So…I decided no barking before 8am, some people like to sleep! We would get up and take them for walks between 6-7a, then back home and they’re free to roam the house and back yard. And Ruby has finally realized the fire brigade didn’t need her help alerting the neighborhood!
We didn’t know what breed Ruby was, we just called her an attention hound because she’s so very needy and clingy, it fit perfectly! Then someone walked into the house to do some work and said “That’s a Redbone Coon Hound!” And boy howdy, is she! And they are needy, clingy dogs, that’s all there is to it! It has nothing to do with separation anxiety, that’s just the breed!
We’ve been lucky, there have only been a few instances when they tried to run away, a few in St Louis, and only once here in PA, I’d say that’s pretty good. I think the time here was because Bee was following her nose…they eat everything! Oh brother, a new smell here, no wait, a new smell there, no wait, a new smell…oh boy howdy!
Overall, we have gotten so lucky with these two, they are pretty well behaved, that’s what people keep telling us! They do great at doggie daycare once a week, they love meeting new people, they are not barkers, except occasionally, and they’re pretty good about meeting other dogs, it’s hit or miss, as with anything, and they do listen, for the most part. And…great snugglers, as you know I let them stay with me on the bed on occasion, and they love it! They get on the bed, circle a few times and then they’re out for the night, they snuggle up next to me, and into me, little hot boxes, and they keep me company all night. It’s a nice feeling.
There are so many more stories I have, but we’d never get out of here!
And you also know me…two things I love…ha ha! Yeah right! They are both things that PSM loves, but I enjoy going along for the ride and…depending on where we are the libation…the more he drinks, the more stuff I get, a win-win, wouldn’t you say?!
There are 18 bars, breweries, and distilleries on the list. Some we’ve already been to because that is one thing I explore, new places to eat and drink, but this time, we get points for participating, no passport or mug to buy. The way it works is you download the pass, but this one is virtual, you don’t have to remember to bring it with you when you go somewhere, so that’s a plus! “Did you bring the passport?” “Crud, no, we need to go back and get it!” none of that! So.. you download the pass, when you go to one of the establishment you check in and enter the code and collect your points. You can put the points towards free stuff, some of the stuff you get at the bar itself and some you get might be mailed to you. Either way, free stuff, wahoo! Some places have discounts on food and merchandise while you’re there, score!
Some of the places we’ve already been to, and several of them we like, and some of them we don’t. We’re trying to decide if we go to those early and get them over with or leave them towards the end, but I don’t want to end on a negative for us, so…decisions, decisions. There wasn’t anything drastically wrong with them, they just weren’t the places for us, but…being slightly competitive, we’re going to do them all! We met someone last year who told us about the Lebanon Valley Libations Trail just as it was ending and gave us all the codes from the bars they went to, so we were able to get some free stuff, score! This time, we’re starting at the beginning and we’re going all the way!
And, just like last time, I’m going to share our experience with you, because if I didn’t, what type of friend would I be?! A few of the places I’m really excited about because they’ve been on my list of want to try for a while, score!
Tonight, we went to the first place, not the first place on the list, just the first place. PSM called me to ask me out to dinner, it’s been a beautiful day and turning into a beautiful evening. He rode the bike to work and said let’s meet somewhere! He didn’t want to go to one of the places close to the house we go to regularly, so we decided on the Blue Bird Inn. This is a place our realtor took us when we were house hunting and it seemed so much farther away! At the time we were in a hotel about 40/45 minutes from here, so it was. Now…it’s about 15 minutes from us, score!
The Blue Bird Inn was built in 1859 and renovated in 2009. It’s a classic pub, big indoor seating area, actually there are several rooms, a very nice bar, then an outdoor seating area that is actually indoors, if that makes sense, it’s all windows, but it’s not inside the main room. Then you go outside and there is an upper level deck with a bar and a lower level, no bar. The outside decks both have tables for outdoor seating, it’s quite nice.
The atmosphere is great, the staff is great, the ambiance is great, the drinks, from what I’ve been told, are great, and yes, the food is great. I’ve enjoyed all but one trip there, they have great vegan options for me, but this one time, I’m not sure if the chef was mad at my veggie burger, but it came out hockey puck style! Yup, beyond repair, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so! But…my broccoli was great that night, saving grace!
As I mentioned, they have vegan options for me, they make cauliflower wings, tasty, but even better, cauliflower steak! If you’ve never had it, don’t knock it until you try it! A cauliflower steak is when the cut the cauliflower in a thick piece and grill it, fry it, pan sear it, whatever you do with a steak, you do with a big slab of cauliflower, except put gravy on it, that would be weird, for me anyway, but if you want to try it that way, go for it!
It was a loverly evening, we sat, talked, drank, laughed, rounded out the meal with some very good bourbon bread pudding, I recommend it highly. Yeah, we’ll go back! After we ate, and talked, and laughed, and had a great time, it had started to get a little chilly, so back on the bikes we went, stopped for gas, and then, home sweet home.
And that was our first stop on the Lebanon Valley Libations Trail, not to worry, we have until June 15th, and you know us, we’ll do it! Maybe one here and there, another day maybe two or three, or more! Who knows! But you know I’ll tell you all about each one!
And now…I say to you…Buona notte (bwona nohteh) [good night in Italian].
I was so tired last night after I got back to the states, but I’m proud of myself, I stayed up until about 10pm and then it was lights out! I think 10p is pretty good for 17 hours of travel!
Crashed about 10p, up at 4a, what?! Not cool! I refused to get out of bed, so I stayed put…until about 630/7a, it was so good to snuggle deeper into the covers, and to be in my childhood bed, secure and safe in a place I knew so well. I decided it was time to get up, so I took a nice long hot shower, thanks dad!
Got dressed, went downstairs, made a cup of tea, I found a cannister of vanilla chai powder, it was quite tasty, left it at dad’s house so I can have some the next time I’m there! I made myself a breakfast sandwich and sat down to get some work done. I was chatting with some co-workers about the eclipse and then about 315p, I went outside to see if I could see anything. Well…if you don’t have the special eclipse glasses, you won’t see much.
I zoomed my camera as close as I could get it, those are the very fuzzy pics, but wow, I found them stunning! The really bright white orb is me zooming in as much as I could…it was blinding! Then I went to the back deck and met some of dad’s neighbors, J&S, their kids, and J’s parents, it was a family affair! They offered me a pair of their glasses and what a difference!
I was able to put my phone behind the glasses, those are the amber pics, but then I got it right and the almost black with a sliver of the eclipse, oh wow! I even impressed myself! I share that with J&S, it was thanks to their glasses!
I was talking to people and we all expected that it might get dark, it didn’t, but it did get quite cloudy and the temperature dropped quite a bit. Some folks even said their animals went a little loopy leading up to the eclipse.
I watched for about twenty minutes, not all at once, I looked for a minute, then I took them off and talked to the neighbors. We continued like that for a bit and then it was done. I also needed to get on the road. I thanked them very much for the use of their glasses, exchanged information and I sent them the pics.
I loaded up the car with my stuff, grabbed my bialys from the freezer, thanks dad! I only forgot two things, as I found out when dad told me after he got home! I got in the car, dropped the top and I was off!
I didn’t hit any traffic on the way, stopped once for gas and I was home by 7pm, attached by the fur babies and the hubby, very happy to be home. Missed SDL and Miss A a bunch already, hard not to when you spend a week in close quarters with someone, but very happy to be home. I will be staying up until at least 10pm, I’m a little tired from driving and I still have this cough, but I’m ready to put on fresh jammies, crawl into bed and sac out!
As a side note, I don’t know if I mentioned how much trouble I had posting while I was in London that I gave up, so you’re going to get our whole trip, it will just be spread out a little, but it’s coming! How could I not share all that we did! And we did it all!
A fine good night to you my friends, a new day is coming tomorrow and I’m going to see if I can sleep past 4am, wish me luck!
Happy to be home and talking with you again! G’night!
It’s a new day, day 3 and we have lots to do! First, I want to take you on a tour of the restaurant in the hotel, it’s fun!
It’s a nice restaurant, wide, open, and inviting, if that makes sense. They have a few walls with animal heads, but just wait…the animal heads are all made of newsprint! Most likely paper mache on the outside, if you look closely, you can see headlines and typeset in the ears and on the face, horns, etc. It is very clever, if you take the time to look at it all!
The food presentation is nice, they have everything you might want or need for breakfast, pre-made scrambled eggs, eggs made to order, potatoes, grilled tomatoes, grilled mushrooms, think full english breakfast, then there are pancakes and waffles made to order, breads, cheeses, yogurts, fruit, breakfast cereals, muffins, coffee, tea, juices, you name it, they probably have it!
It was time to head out and say cherrio to London, and btw…they don’t say that, just in the movies, and if they do, I haven’t heard it!
They do say love at the end of every sentence, and I have to tell you, I like it, it doesn’t bother me, like in the south when someone , who I don’t know, calls me hun, or sweetie, it’s syrupy sweet and I’m not a fan! But call me love, it works, it’s just part of their vernacular. Ooh, I love that word!
We’re off…we got an Uber to Green Park, we were meeting our tour guide by the Constance Fund Fountain of Diana, isn’t she stunning!? I could just imagine, when it’s summer and the water is flowing.
There were so many tour groups meeting there, we finally found our guide, Alan, who was fabulous, by the way! I always thought if I was retired or we were living somewhere for PSM’s job and I couldn’t work for whatever reason, I would get a job as a tour guide, I would love it! One of these days I’ll tell you about a tour business…shhh…
We started walking, and Alan was very knowledgeable, giving us all sorts of tidbits and history and also very conscious of where the steps would be that we would need to get Miss A’s chair over. For the whole tour, everyone in the group was very aware and helpful where we were and if we had to pull the chair over something.
We started off, our first stop was by this amazing statue, across from the guards station on Marlborough Road, at St James Palace. We were waiting for the band to come out, we had such a great vantage point! While we waited, Alan gave us lots of great information, like there were only 2 guards there, that meant the king was not there. Interesting!
I love that I got Alan’s audio! He was telling us that when you look at their hats, the higher the hat, the higher the rank. There was an inspection first, I hope they pass!
Sorry it was slightly shaky, I was holding my hand up above my head, harder to keep it steady, everyone was so much taller than me!
Alan was trying to guess what they would play, would it be something serious or something light hearted. These are the Scottish guards, apparently they passed muster, here comes the band. Do you recognize the song?
We hated to leave the band, they were so very talented and I love that song! But…if we didn’t leave, we wouldn’t have the fabulous spot we did for the next phase of the tour and changing of the guard! [a lot of really cool background in that link!]
As we waited for the guards, we learned a few things. King Charles does not want to live in Buckingham Palace, understandable, with 775 rooms…it’s more of an office, so that’s why he and Queen Camilla are taking up residence at Clarence House, which only has 5 bedrooms, a little more manageable, which, was where William, the Prince of Wales had their residence, but since the King and Queen are there they’ve moved to Kensington Palace.
Since there were only two guards, that meant that the king was not in residence, if he was, there would be more. Also…the reason they walk back and forth, about every 10 minutes, is because it was a rule set down by Queen Victoria, if they are walking back and forth, they are proving they are not drinking or gambling! Oh my!
And from where we were standing, we could have reached out and touched a horse, we didn’t, but we could have! oh wow! such precision! such beauty!
Here are the guards walking back and forth!
Here comes and there goes the band! I don’t know if I said this, they only have the changing of the guard on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, mainly it’s dependent on the weather! Check out the full schedule in the link!
Here’s Alan telling us about the women in the guard! We definitely saw one! And the police officer at the end was a woman, again, girl power!
This was so exciting to watch, and this up close. Normally, you might be outside the gate or across the street, we were up close and personal! Turns out this is punishment duty! Oh my, that is quite the punishment!
After the tour was over, we got to stand and take pictures with the horse and guard! It’s definitely allowed, as long as you don’t touch their reigns or bridle, I think that’s what it was. I was ok, I didn’t touch anything! But…it was awesome! The horse we were standing/posing with put his head on my shoulder! He did!!!
After the pictures and me squealing about the royal horse putting his head on my shoulder, you are welcome for the ear worm! We walked to Trafalgar Square, it was right up the street. It wasn’t overly crowded, unusual, but nice. The fountain was doing it’s thing, people were walking around, climbing on things they weren’t supposed to, oh well, and the traffic was going by as if nothing would stop it.
I don’t know about you, but we were hungry! So…we went to The Clarence Pub in Whitehall. Thing thing about The Clarence…I was there with my dad in December 2022, then again with my dad, PSM, and my sister’s family in December 2022, a few days after dad and I discovered it. The food is good, they have a great veggie burger and sticky toffee pudding! I think I first saw it either on Gordan Ramsay or The Great British Bake Off and I first tried it in Glasgow, Scotland and fell in love with it and now, I try it whenever I can!
I just had to introduce it to SDL and Miss A and it did not disappoint! They went out of their way to find us a table, SDL had steak and ale pie and a beer, I had their veggie burger and a pot of tea, and Miss A had, you guessed it, sticky toffee pudding with ice cream, she was happy.
It’s a great atmosphere, warm and inviting, cozy, friendly, great staff, great food, great ambiance, what more could you want!? Would I go back? You bet, it might be my go-to for London trips for a good, affordable, convenient lunch!
It’s time to explore again! No the day isn’t even close to being over! We walked back down Whitehall looking at the architecture, the people, listening to the sounds of every day life in London, all the way down to Big Ben and Parliament. We learned somewhere that Big Ben is actually ‘just’ the clock and the tower itself is called the Elizabeth Tower, imagine that!
As we walked back down Whitehall, we were treated to another changing of the horse guard, but we were on the outside this time.
Let’s keep walking… we walked back to Buckingham Palace in all its glory and then we walked Constitution Hill to the Wellington Arch. It started to rain while we were walking, but did we care, nope, not at all! We were in London, the sun was out, and we were having a grand time! As we came out of Constitution Hill at the Wellington Arch, what did our eyes spy…THE Hard Rock Cafe! London!
Now…when I say THE Hard Rock Cafe, I mean THE Hard Rock Cafe, the very first, established in 1971, a very good year, if I do say so myself! The cafe was established June 14, 1971 and it was just that, a cafe. We decided we had to go in! [We really needed a looooo!] We maneuvered in, got a table, SDL ordered cheesecake for herself and a piece for Miss A and I had a pot of tea, there honestly wasn’t anything there for me, and we were just looking for dessert, I was happy with my pot of tea. Let’s just say the cheesecake was a big hit!
After we relaxed a bit and Miss A enjoyed the music, it was cool, they were playing classic videos on the TVs, things I haven’t seen in years! Next, you know we had to, we went across the street to the shop. I don’t know if I told you, but…wherever we go, we always look for the Hard Rock, SDL likes to collect their t-shirts, if it’s cool and the price is right, for me, I have a friend that I always get a pin for! I got him one when I was here the last time, at the store on Piccadilly, and I wasn’t originally going to get one this time, but it’s the original cafe/store! Shhh…don’t tell him!
As we were walking around, this guy who works there offered to take me on a tour of the museum downstairs, SDL wasn’t interested, so I went and it was cool! They had the corset Madonna wore in the Express Yourself video, Slash’s guitar, John Lennon‘s lyrics to Instant Karma (We All Shine On), a chair from Freddy Mercury and more! It was quite the treat!
When I came back upstairs, I found them waiting and Miss A was nodding off in her chair, it was time to go! I got us an Uber back to the hotel, there was no way we were walking! It was 3.2 miles and we had just walked how many miles, no thanks! 15 minutes by car or 60 by foot, hmmm…
We got back to the hotel, ordered some takeout and chilled out, it was a great day, but we were tired! I might fall asleep as I’m writing this to you, could you blame me?! What does tomorrow hold?! It’s only day 3, we have so much more to see!
Tomorrow I head to dad’s and on Friday, he takes me to the airport for my next grand adventure.
Brain is in planning and packing mode, work? Yeah, I’m still working, but is my head there? Well, it is, actually, I’m impressed with myself on that one! ha ha. I had two deliverables due, yesterday and today…got them in and now I have other work, but I feel free and clear to travel on Friday.
So…I’m traveling with SDL and Miss A, another one of our epic trips and I cannot wait, it’s going to be so much fun! We both came up with lists of places we want to go, since I was there 2 years ago, I know we haven’t talked about that trip yet, we will…since I was there 2 years ago, there’s a few things on her list that I’m happy to do again and I have some new stuff to add, weehoo!
There are a few things that are time sensitive, that we should book before they sell out, most things we can get tickets for last minute or they don’t cost anything. So…last night and today, I took our list and found some more comparable pricing on some things and then I added the hours and prices for others, we have options! Next, we need to get on the phone and map out what days we want to do the things that are filling up, for example…there is a Jack the Ripper tour, well, there are several of them, but it looks like the only day we can go is Saturday, April 6th, let’s book it! Other than that, we’ll try to schedule some stuff and play the rest by ear.
That is done, pretty much packed. I pulled out my clothes the other day, after doing laundry on Sunday and Monday, then I found the packing cubes, then today, I packed the cubes and put everything in one of my new eBags rolling backpack. It’s smaller than the travel backpack we usually travel with and as much as I like it, I have a feeling I’m going to have to go to my travel backpack, it’s just a wee bit bigger. What if I want to bring something back for PSM, or you my friends! I’m hoping to not buy too much on this trip, I was there two years ago, I brought back some good stuff! But you know me, I like to spoil!
My bag is packed, sort of, re-thinking at the moment, media/entertainment downloaded to my tablet, what’s left? Oh yeah, today I received the new toiletries I ordered, shampoo and conditioner bars so I don’t have liquids, let’s see how they do, I love my bar shampoo that I am currently using.
Yeah, I think I’m good to go, and yes, I have my converter for the electronics! I put it in the bag first, which i’m really happy about, because…almost every time I go to Europe, I forget to bring it and have to buy one, not gonna do it this time!
Ok, going to get some sleep because I still have to work tomorrow! But…getting very excited to share all our adventures with you! Ok, rambled on enough!
Peaches Prattlings 