Christmas ham warmed by the fire ........ sort of

Christmas Eve ham. No oven because of remodel.

Moving Day

Just a bad lipstick application

All is well. On our way to dinner.

The judges gave her a 9.6

But the acrobatic face plant resulted in a few cuts and bruises. She is fine but when you see her in a few days just please know there was no elder abuse involved. Just a small obstacle course outside of Waterloo station on our way back for
Windsor.

Jeez he's got a funny look in his eye.

Check the sign.

East meets west in Greenwich

Ah, that's better

Something was just missing.

Prime meridian

The classic tourist photo of us straddling the prime meridian but say Mel, shouldn't our feet actually be in the picture?

No stone unturned

Trying to decide where to have lunch we have to consult our sources, and they are many. By the way, perhaps it's time for a real pair of glasses? Not that the pink frames aren't so very stylin'.

Kensington Palace Gardens

Now they all want a bite....

Look how she's following me, acting like all she wants is a picture. As if.

It was deelicioso

Came back past and the smell got me. Just ate lunch but had to have this.  Look at those onions.

Chorizo, Piri Piri Chicken, etc.

Street food London style. You have no idea how great this smelled but we were on our way to a Thai restaurant for lunch so I had to pass .... temporarily it turned out.

Greenwich Market

Now that's some fish and chips!

Breakfast in our Covent Garden Loft

Champagne Johnny outdid himself this time. Great location and sweet digs.

We're in London!

Awesome apartment in Covent Garden. More pics to follow. Love this place.

Inside roosts

The upper inside walls of the pidgeon coop contained these roosts. Commonly used in small numbers in many barns this was a colossal community effort at mass egg production. This building has 1000 roosts. The key is that wood pidgeons and doves lay two eggs at a time. If you remove just one they will keep laying - and you can keep replenishing your egg supply. With 1000 roosts that's a lot of eggs - mmmmmmmmm..................goat cheese omlets!

Basically a big stone pidgeon/dove coop

Built by the local community in the 15th century the idea was to provide the entire community with a source of protein - pidgeon eggs. Cattle were kept on the ground floor to provide heat and entice the pidgeons in through the small windows during the winter months. See the next photo for the interior of this building.

Ahhhhh....that's better.

Really unusual tombs behind the altar in a tiny church in the Cotswolds. From the mid 13th century, no idea why they are positioned like this. Maybe because there was only a small amount of room for the coffin in the wall behind this. In immaculate condition considering they are almost 800 years old.

The classic Cotswold shot

Weaver's cottages. Henry Ford tried to buy these and ship them back to the U.S. stone by stone to be reconstructed in Michigan. The British government put a stop to it and they are now owned by the National Trust. Beautiful even in the rain.

Cotswolds!

A perfectly normal English day, rainy and cool.  We didn't care.  Arlington Row is just beautiful in any weather. Mel

3am Bacon Eggs and Beer

Before our 4 hour stay at the Yotel.

Upper Class Mel

We're off

I

In the Virgin Clubhouse at Dulles. Yes, there is Champagne!

L'Auberge Chez Francois



We enjoyed this absolutely delicious tart at L'Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls on Friday after work. The chef actually went out to the garden and picked all the herbs and vegetables after we ordered it. Fantastic!

Pizza from the Garden

Jacques Brasserie, L'Auberge Chez Francois, Great Falls, VA

Birthday girl

L'Auberge Chez Francois, Great Falls, VA. Perfect dappled sunlight in the garden!