Friday, August 20, 2010

England 2010 - Part I

Here are some pics from our trip to England.

We took a little prop plane to Toronto, then big jet to London. Here's Brett with the Folks.









Rose Cottage is the family home. It's a lovely place, with a great view. The property just out back is owned by an Arabian prince who breeds race horses, so we get baby ponies every year. The horses come right up to the fence every night if they see us and we feed them mints.





We have a blast with the folks! Lots of great company, great food, long walks in the country side, short trips to visit museums and interesting places...it's a great time.







Diana's sister, Nicki, and her husband Peter are a lot of fun,too! We went to a restaurant in Windsor with them. Windsor wasn't prepared for us to pour out on the sidewalks!

From left: Peter Needham, Adrian Day (dad), Brett Day, Diana Day, Nicki Needham

We try to get up to Leeds, which is in the north of England, when we can.


This is Theo, Conrad and Mich's son. Last time we saw him he was just 11,(I asked him if he was going to Hogwarts and, without skipping a beat he said "I hope so!") the time before that he was 5! He's 14 and plays the steel drum, guitar, bass and whatever else he can get his hands on! Fun kid!


This is Brett and Conrad in the conservatory having coffee. We're heading out for a hike!


Here's Brett and Mich...Brett went to school with Mich and Conrad way back in the 80's!

The Yorkshire dales are my favorite. Lots of rolling, green hills, dry stone walls and sheep dotted across the landscape. Yorkshire never disappoints with the sky effects!



Conrad was building a sculpture while we were there that required a huge scaffolding. Theo couldn't resist. Neither could Con!

Neither of us remember being pissed off, although this looks like we are. Just a funny picture of us! This is Brett and another college friend, Andy Beresford. The first time I met Andy we were at the beach. He cut a cast off his leg with a hatchet and later, at dinner, sand poured out of his prosthetic arm...good times!

Malham Cove is a place Brett has wanted to take me forever! When he started at Leeds Poly (his undergrad school) this was where one of his professors took the class to introduce them to the Yorkshire country side. If you saw the latest Harry Potter film you may recognize some of it!


Brett on a distant hill....a bird flew between us...what a chance of a shot!








And always reward a hard day of hiking with a nice pint!


...and a few curries!

We spent a day in London with William Potter (no relation to Harry) and Nono (they got married December 2010)






We went to a couple museums, and Brett placed himself beneath a full sized plane hanging from the ceiling...scary!






























England 2010 - Part II

OK, where were we...oh yea, we were visiting William and his soon-to-be wife Nono in London. Had a lovely day and back to Rose Cottage to spend time with the nephews before the big annual Day Family Party!


These are the "twins"...Brett's cousins. They are lovely girls and next time we're in England we plan on visiting them in Dorset. (I said it out loud so now it must happen!)

Diana's birthday was just after the party, so she was birthday girl for the Day bash as well.



This may surprise you, but the weather in England in August is unpredictable. To assure a good time is had by all, regardless of weather, dad got a few tents that we installed the night before


Here's Brett with his cousin Sue, and Sue with her kids.
This is a great shot...not sure what's going on here, but I can tell you no one was really mad...like the shot of Brett & I in Leeds....timing.

Some shots of the family having fun. All told there were 30-40 people there. Uncles, Aunts, cousins and friends eating, drinking and reconnecting...a tradition for 17 years now. The first one I attended was in 1995...our England wedding (well, party) and honeymoon. I met the whole family at once...whew! Always lots of champagne...but (I KNOW!) only before lunch, not after as well.

The next day we went to Henley on Thames for a picnic party for Diana's birthday. The little ones are Diana's nephews kids...so cute!


We went for a pub lunch the day before we left with just dad and Diana. My two favorite things to do in England is pub lunch (how can you beat a nice pint with lunch in a real English pub?!) and getting curry take-out. Got to do both a couple times this trip!
Couldn't resist this shot...


Oh, and my father-in-law pointed out these great cows for me...he even pulled over special to let me take this shot! XOXO