It was Monday evening when we got back from Paris. B&P were at the end of their two month house exchange and were scheduled to go home through Bristol. The plan called for them to spend their last night in England at our flat.
Tuesday morning, Pam called about 9:00 to say they were on their way. They couldn't bring the car from the house exchange so they took the train to Bristol. They had to leave the car at the Southwell house but had to get themselves and their luggage to the train. Turns out that there is a little feeder train that comes within a mile of the house and goes into Nottingham. So Bruce took Pam and their luggage to the train station, drove back to the house, left the car and walked to the station while Pam watched the bags. It all worked out. Maybe not easily, but it worked.
B&P literally had enough luggage to last them for two months. British trains no longer handle luggage - so you have to hand-carry everything. We knew of the problem (we've faced a similar problem getting here) so when B&P came here with Jonathan and Catherine they packed the stuff they no longer needed and left one of their larger bags here. That didn't solve the baggage problem completely but made it simpler.
The weather wasn't particularly nice and by the early afternoon there was a light drizzily rain. B&P took a taxi from the train depot and showed up about 2:30. We had wanted their last day in England to be memorable. As we visited and got caught up on the latest happenings the rain stopped, it dried out and we were set for a beautiful evening - We're this is typical Bristol weather
Wednesday morning the airport cab showed up right on time and then they were gone. They had six bags, four to be checked and two hand-carry's along with Pam's purse, Bruce's camera bag and Bruce's computer. We got an email later saying that they were home safely, their house was in good shape but it was expected to be hot - a high of 105°F. After the cool of England, that has to have been a real shock to their systems.
Later in the day on Wednesday the doorbell rang and I answered using the intercom. A man's voice asked if we were "Penguins-on-tour." After I got over my shock, I had to admit that we were, and invited him up. The man introduced himself as the author of a local website called www.pooleswharf.co.uk . Trevor said he had found our website on a Google search and had been trying to figure out, from the clues on our website, where it was that we lived.
Trevor himself seems to be a gregarious, Renaissance man with boundless energy. We have bumped into him several times in our wanderings and it has always been a treat. One of Trevor's other interests is a narrow boat that he keeps anchored in the marina between Rownham Mead and Pooles Wharf.
One of the downers this past couple of weeks that has affected both Nancy and me has been hayfever (spring allergies). We were both hit (slammed actually) with allergies the day that B&P and J&C visited. Our assurance to Catherine that we were not infectious was met with wary skepticism. Our symptoms seemed to be fading by the time we left for Manchester and Nancy was free of the sniffles. I, on the other hand, signed up for another round and have been miserable. I have had allergies all of my life and have been unable to stop them, but I do know what to expect and how to get through it.
This last week has been cold and windy. I'm sure it was the wind that caused my allergy problem but who knows. The locals are disappointed in the weather but consider it to be within the three-sigma for summer and we may have similar weather for the rest of summer. Nice and bright in the morning and early afternoon, changing to cloudy and overcast. Some days we get a little sprinkle or two, some days none.
Wednesday was the summer solstice; every year Stonehenge allows people to walk up to the stones on this day. About 17,000 people showed up at dawn to celebrate this year, lower than the usual 20,000 because the weather was kind of dreary. Like any gathering of people there are always one or two idiots. In this case, a young man crawled on top of one of the arches - had to be escorted down and out.
Saturday we walked to the "big" Sainbury's across the river in Ashton to find some margarine to make chocolate chip cookies - Ruth was coming for dinner and she is allergic to butter and Nancy couldn't use what she had. England does not appear to have margarine as a bread spread. After searching though lots of possibilities that all contained butter we found a hydrogenated vegetable oil that was meant for baking.
There is one small difference at the grocery stores that I find entertaining and a little frustrating. The grocery carts in America have two fixed wheels and two swiveling wheels. If you give them a little push and let them go - they go straight and you don't have to think about them. The English carts have swivels on all four wheels and move in any direction and move sideways as easily as straight. If I'm distracted while driving, I'm likely to drift off into other shoppers. I guess that makes me easy to entertain.
Nancy finished a cotton sweater and there's a photo on her pages. Adam sent Evan's chest measurement and she has started his Aran sweater.
We are now at the half-way point of our six months and are sitting down in the next couple of days and lining out what we want to see and do. We have to get to Ireland, and we have Scotland planned, just getting it all down so we can make it happen. Lots of fun!