Bournemouth and The Jacksons

Hello there!

I wanted to share a photo that I took about two weeks ago when we were down in Bournemouth. It's a picture of the pier. I'm so late in mentioning our trip, but I've been doing school work like a crazy person lately so I haven't been able to get here like I want. But soon I will be back here full time again so...Woo Hoo! :)

Anyway, this is a photo that I took on my cell phone and you can see my gloved finger in the upper left corner. LOL. Yeah, I could have photoshopped it out, but I thought that it was funny to leave it because it reminds me of how cold it was that day. I took several photos like that because my hand kept slipping...probably because my hands were getting numb ;-) Yes, it was that cold! I guess that it was extra cold because we were near the ocean, but wow it was cold! It was a gloriously sunny day though. Right after I took this picture, Brit Boy and I hightailed it away from there and went into the town to get warmer.

As you may remember, I posted a while back and shared that we had gotten tickets to go and see The Jacksons perform. Well, we went down a few hours early before the concert and hung out. Bournemouth is one of my favorite places to visit. We did a bit of window shopping in the town centre and then we had an early dinner. Then we went to the concert. It was so great! This was our first time ever seeing The Jacksons and I have to say, they are amazing performers. You can tell that they have been performing most of their lives because they really know how to put on a show! I sang along to every song. LOL. They took us all down memory lane and it was an amazing trip. Brit Boy and I enjoyed it so much. We don't get to do things like that often, but when we do it's always a good time!

I don't have any photos of the concert because my cell phone camera is not that great, so it takes lousy photos indoors. Still, I'll never forget the fun we had so it's all good. And hey, if we get to see them again, maybe I'll have a new cell phone by then ;-)

Have a great Friday!

Upcoming Concert

Brit Boy and I had a great holiday weekend! It was a good time! Over the weekend, Brit Boy was looking around on the internet as he likes to do, and discovered that The Jacksons (Jermaine, Tito, Jackie, and Marlon) are bringing their tour to various venues around the UK in the new year. I have read about their touring back home in the USA over this past summer, so I was glad to hear that they were coming over here. Like many people, I would love it if the full original Jackson 5 were able to be out there touring together again, but sadly that is not to be. As you may know, Brit Boy and I were planning to see Michael Jackson at long last when he was to have his shows in London in 2009. But as we all know, those shows weren't to be.

Both Brit Boy and I have been fans of the whole Jackson family's music for a long time like so many others. Their music has been a huge part of the collective culture for decades and even though the full group won't be there, it will still be great to see the ones who remain because they are talented too. So we got our tickets and will be seeing them in the spring! It should be a fun time! It will be a great night of nostalgia and it will be good to finally see them performing together.

I'll share my experience when the time comes and hopefully I can get some photos :-)

In the meantime, you can find here some useful information about possible venues for your future events.

The Tina Turner Concert

I’ve come back to Earth now, so I can tell you about our trip to London to see Tina Turner. (smile) I have been hyped up for a couple of days now. And today I’m finally able to sit still and write a bit about it.

We took the train into London on Sunday morning. I love the train. It’s so much quicker and it’s just a nice way to travel. You get to see the countryside which I love and there are no traffic jams (smile) We arrived at Paddington Station a bit after noon. Before we left the station, we took a walk into the bookstore/newsstand. It’s always fun to see what they have in there. They have little Paddington Bears. They are so cute.

After our look around, we headed for the tube. We rode over to Victoria Station and had lunch at this great pizza place. I can’t remember the name, but we ate there before and it’s just really good. Our waiter was really nice and we got served very quickly. I love that place.

Then we decided to hop back on the tube and headed for our hotel. We timed it just right because by the time we got there, we were able to check into our room. We rested for a while and then got dressed and headed to the O2 for the concert.

Let me tell you, the Tina Turner concert was AMAZING!!!! Ms. Turner was like a force of nature. I have always loved her, but I was totally blown away at how amazing of a performer she is.

She sang all of her hits and everything else, such as… “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, “The Best”, “Proud Mary”, “Golden Eye”, “Addicted to Love”, “Let’s Stay Together”, “Nutbush City Limits”, “River Deep Mountain High”, “Private Dancer”, “We Don’t Need Another Hero”, and so many more.

She REALLY put on a proper show. She had at least six costume changes and was just beautiful in every outfit from long gowns that broke away to mini dresses that showed off her beautiful timeless legs.

The stage was set up with a catwalk across the back and her band played underneath that and the backup singers stood there too. Ms. Turner’s dancers came out all slinky and fabulous along the catwalk and down the stairs on either side. Then Ms. Tina made her entrance. She walked out on the top of the catwalk and her outline was illuminated by this bright light and then you saw her come into view as she stepped out onto a pedestal and was lowered down to the stage as she sang. My first thought was, wow, she is not afraid of heights. LOL. The height was quite a few feet. What an entrance! (smile)

When she sang “We Don’t Need Another Hero”, she got dressed in her outfit from the Mad Max movie and amazingly she looks very much the same as she did back then. And when she sang “Golden Eye” from the James Bond film, she came out onto the top of the catwalk through the golden eye emblem that twisted open and she stepped through. Brit Boy and I were amazed at the production value of her show. You can tell she comes from a generation of performers who REALLY can put on a show. I love the song “I Don’t Wanna Fight”. She didn’t sing this one, but during this point of the show, they showed a montage of her career as this song played and it went back to her days with Ike right up until today. It really illustrated to me what an amazing survivor she is and I just loved it.

One of my other favorite moments was when she sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. She had on her little red dress and her heels and she strutted across that stage like nobody’s business. This was probably my favorite moment. She just owned it. And she just worked it out on "Proud Mary"...wow!!!! (smile) Tina did her thing!

Later in the show, she did another bit where I was amazed at her not fearing heights. The stage had this arm with a catwalk and a basket with railing on the end. So she goes to this basket as she sings and the arm swings out into the audience over everyone’s head. She leaned over the edge several times and I held my breath. LOL. And then I realized that this woman is truly in charge of herself and free. She just goes for it! (smile) I admire her so much and I want to be like that….moving forward and truly, truly enjoying every minute.

Then after her being in the basket, she ran back across the catwalk towards the stage and then back to the basket and was singing and doing this all in 4 inch heels! (smile)

I can say that I was just enthralled by her and just couldn’t get enough of watching this amazing woman. She said early on in the concert that she had a bit of a cold and might not be her full self, but you couldn’t even tell. And this left me wondering, if that wasn’t her 100% performance, then what must that be like because she was full on Tina the whole time it seemed. (smile) She danced along with her dancers and sang full force and she left me winded just watching her. She never looked out of breath. I know I keep saying it, but she was amazing!!!!

Both Brit Boy and I loved the show. And I came away inspired. She reminded me that life is meant to be lived with gusto. There is beauty in being strong and assured and to love what you are doing. I think this is part of her secret. You can tell that performing is her passion. What a wonderful night we had! :-)

International Women's Day & Tina Turner

Tomorrow Brit Boy and I are headed to London. We are going to the Tina Turner concert and we are excited. We bought these tickets several months ago. I’ve always wanted to see her because I just love how strong she seems and how she just does her own thing. She’s one of those artists that you sort of put on your list to see and hope that you get the chance to have the experience. When the tickets went on sale many months ago, we didn’t know if we had a chance, but me being me, I just tried (smile)

One Sunday, I was upstairs on the computer and Brit Boy was downstairs and I saw her video on a 80s countdown I was watching on TV. Then I started to wonder if there were any tickets still left for one of her shows. The tickets had gone on sale days before. So I just hopped on over to check it out and lo and behold there were some nosebleed seats available and they were cheaper so it was a win-win. So we bought a couple of tickets and we’ve been waiting all of these months for our Tina experience (smile)

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day and I can’t think of a better day to see a legendary woman like Tina Turner. She has come through so much in her life and is now living her life on her own terms and I admire her so much. So as I’m dancing around in the cheap seats tomorrow night, I’ll be watching this woman who is a survivor.

And please check out the link on International Women’s Day, there is so much there to support, to cheer on, and to celebrate. I guess that you can tell this is something I really care about because I put two links (smile) Have a great weekend!

My First Blogoversary

Today is my 1st blogoversary! When I started this blog a year ago, I had no idea how much I was going to love going on this journey. As I’ve written before, this blog came along at a time in my life when I needed an outlet and it has been a great catalyst in my life. I’ve also been able to connect with some fantastic people from all around the world. I’m a Georgia girl, who came across the Atlantic and settled in England, and then kept traveling around the world everyday on this magic carpet that we call the blogosphere. I've met some great friends. What a ride! (smile) 

During this past year, I have had lots of fun along with some low points, but in the end, it’s all been great to look back on the highs and lows. And it’s all been great to experience it all alongside my hubby Brit Boy. 

Here are some of the things that I experienced and enjoyed sharing here on my blog during this first year of blogging: 

April 2008 - I got my unlimited leave to remain visa, which allows me to settle here and that was a wonderful step. We celebrated our wedding anniversary and the visa by going to see the play “Speed the Plow” starring Jeff Goldblum. 

June 2008 – We went to Wimbledon... what a thrill that was. We attended the Nelson Mandela birthday concert and we were able to see him speak briefly which was very moving. 

August 2008 – We went to the Madonna concert in Wales. 

September 2008 – We went to the Stevie Wonder concert. He was amazing! Stevie Wonder is Brit Boy’s favorite singer, so my hubby’s grin was a mile wide during the concert (smile) 

October 2008 – I was in the thick of trying to get my absentee ballot in for the election and after many attempts I got it in. This showed me that I have more persistence than I ever imagined. LOL. 

December 2008 – We went to the Simply Red concert. And at the tail end of the month, I had my visit to the US Embassy and it turned out well. On that day, Brit Boy and I got separated twice and found each other again, but I discovered for the first time since I’ve been here that I’m still able to take care of myself. And that was a great turning point for me, since I’ve relied so heavily on my husband since I’ve been here. I loved that day! (smile) 

Since the start of 2009, the big events have slowed down a bit, but it’s still been fun to share my life experiences with all of you my dear readers and commenters who make my day when you come to visit me. So I want to say a big thank you to you all!!!! (smile) This blog wouldn’t be what it is without you all. And thank you to all of my fellow bloggers for welcoming me into this world….what a pleasure!

Another London Concert Night

Brit Boy and I had another trip into London on Wednesday for our only true addiction….going to concerts. LOL. We went to see Simply Red. They are going to disband sometime next year, after 25 years by that point, so we just had to go and see them do their thing. The lead singer Mick Hucknall, will still record as a solo artist.

We got home Thursday at about 2:30am, so I spent yesterday chilling and we got some rest and relived it in our heads. Now I can share what happened. It’s always thrilling to get a chance to go into London and going to a concert makes it even more fun.

On Wednesday, Brit Boy worked a half day and then he came home around noon. We had a bit of lunch, watched a bit of TV, and then we got all suited up to go out into the cold on the way to a hot time in the city :-) It has been very cold here lately, but then it’s winter isn’t it. Anyway, we took our faithful old coach/bus ride into London. There’s a company that runs trips to London and mostly everywhere around Britain that we usually take. You can either buy your own tickets and then just catch a ride to and from the concert with them or you can get a package deal and they get the tickets and give you the ride. We have done both things, but this time, we took the second option and got our tickets from the coach company. The perk with this is that they usually get you pretty good seats to the concerts. It’s a win win situation.

So we headed into town and parked our car and headed to our pickup point for the coach. When you get to the coach and check in, they give you an envelope with your tickets inside and you hop aboard. This time we got a seat right at the front, so we had full view of where we were headed. This was both thrilling and a bit terrifying. It was really cool to be able to see everything and to feel almost like we were being hurled through the air. The big window was all that was in front of us so it felt almost like flying and this was fun. But it also got a bit hairy at times because our coach driver had a lead foot and tailgated and switch lanes a bit wildly :-) Brit Boy and I both thought a couple of times that we might just be thrown right out of that big, lovely window in front of us and onto the motorway/freeway as the coach driver slammed on the brakes many times. Eeeek!!! Let’s just say, our hearts were in our mouths for about 60% of the trip :-) We survived and felt like kissing the ground when we stepped off the coach. LOL.

On a calmer note, when I peeled my eyes away from what was happening ahead of us, I would glance out the side window and the view was wonderful. You can see so much from that high up. I’ve traveled that road many times to London, but from this vantage point, it was like seeing parts of it for the first time. I saw streams that were hidden in the woods and beautiful country houses that I didn’t know were there.

When we were almost there, the coach stopped for a bathroom and refreshment break at a rest stop. We were given about thirty minutes. Brit Boy and I went and had a cup of coffee. I had a coffee that was chocolate cookie flavored. It was really tasty. Brit Boy had a regular cappuccino. We stopped at this same rest stop on a trip before, and had fun playing with the various carnival-esque machines there. This time we didn’t bother. The machines are right near the entrance and the freezing air was whooshing in each time the doors opened. The time before, it was summer so it was lots of fun, and there were no icicles hanging off of us :-) The time passed quickly and we were all back onto the coach to finish the journey.

About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the O2. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a cool venue. It is on the Greenwich Peninsula and sits right on the edge of the River Thames. It was formerly known as the Millenium Dome. It sits there beautifully with the lights of Canary Wharf in the background. London is a fun spot at night. It has a groovy vibe.

Brit Boy and I walked along with a spring in our step…we were heading to our favorite thing…music!!!! :-) As we walked along the walkway to the complex, we noticed that they had a small Christmas market. Here’s a photo of the little castle they had set up.



On from that, they had a few stalls set up. We didn’t really linger for very long because it was an icy cold night and the breeze off the river was positively bone chilling. I knew that it was cold because Brit Boy, who is usually always hot, was running towards the building to get away from the cold (smile). Now that’s cold!!! So we scampered on inside.

The O2 was decked out for Christmas. One of my favorite things is the huge light fixture that hangs in the entry area. It is usually white or blue, but this time it had a colorful strobe going on. We walked around the outer ring of the arena, where all of the restaurants and clubs are…great people watching. Everything was even more sparkly than usual with all of the holiday cheer being spread around. They had a snowboarding/sledding area set up and kids from 8 to 80 were having a go at it. I would have loved to, but the line was long. Here’s a photo though with the little chalet to the side. The photo is kinda blurry, but you can get the idea. Brit Boy and I took the photos on his cell phone and it was kind of chilly still, so our hands were shaking a bit. LOL.




They also had special ornamental lights hung around the place. Here’s a pretty sparkly one.




And they were projecting snowflakes onto the roof and it created a great wintry atmosphere. Here’s a look.




Soon it was time to go in for the concert. It was AMAZING!!! I have always liked their music and I always thought that Mick Hucknall had a lovely set of pipes, but I was simply blown away…Brit Boy was too. Wow! You can definitely tell that this group has a powerful connection and a history because they know just how to put out the best performances and take you along for the ride. The musicians are true pros and the backup singers are amazing! They are all so good that it makes the performance seem effortless. But then I guess that that is what truly talented people do :-) And Mick Hucknall….he has a soulful voice that can just send absolute chills down your spine because he is so good, as many of you already know. Dang…he can REALLY SING!!! :-) The song they opened with was “It’s Only Love”…great song! I tell you, I always loved their sound and I always loved Mick’s voice, but seeing them live and hearing his truly divine voice in person is just an experience that I won’t ever forget. The recordings don’t do his voice justice. And I think that he might have had a slight cold, because he coughed once between the songs, but that was that. I guess with a voice like that, not much can shut you down :-)

They performed all of their hits and we loved it, including our favorite, “Holding Back the Years”. It brought tears to my eyes because his voice just soared to the heavens and as I’ve gone through my life, the words of that song just hit me deep. The part of the lyrics where he sings “I’ve wasted all my tears…wasted all those years”, it just means more to me as I go through my life. It makes me think that time waits for no one and sometimes you just have to let go and make room in your heart and you don’t want to look back at the end and see that all you did was mourn and regret your life away. This song helped me a lot when my mom passed away. In the beginning it made me cry of course, but as time went on, it became a salve of sorts and it made me see the greater picture of my life and the broad span of my mom’s life too and her legacy. The great restorative power of music has always been a comfort to me.

Near the middle of the show, Mick sang “You Make Me Feel Brand New” which was originally done by The Stylistics. Mick hit this one out of the park! The range of his voice is amazing and the raw emotion and passion that he puts into each note just sends you soaring with him. Here’s a video I found of him singing this song in concert. This is great, but I think he sang it even better when we saw him at the O2 :-)



The concert was great. Simply Red will be on tour into 2009, so if they come to your town or nearby, I hope you can catch this group before they disband. It’s all just true talent from top to bottom. You will find yourself singing along with every song. There was a great celebratory vibe and they are amazing! :-)

After the concert, we headed back to the coach and strapped ourselves in for the “adventurous” ride home ;-) Let’s just say, thankfully it was dark, so we couldn’t see enough to be scared. LOL. But we survived the trip thankfully and it was worth it in the end because we had a great night! The coach driver took the scenic route through Central London so we got a nice ride through the city, all decked out in its Christmas finery. What a cool night in more ways than one!

The Concert

I’m finally getting a chance to post about the Stevie Wonder concert. Sorry for the delay, it’s been a hectic couple of days for us, but now I’m able to get back here to share. Thanks for coming back to visit. :-)

So we went to the Stevie Wonder concert in London on Thursday night and it was simply the most sublime experience. Stevie Wonder is a living legend and in his case, this description totally fits. I have always loved him for being the peace-loving man that he is and for his playfulness. Many times during his performance he would joke about things. He just has a beautiful spirit. He inspires me. And he is a glorious singer. There is just something in his voice that I can’t describe that just makes you feel good. But you all know about Stevie’s voice…we just love him. :-)

In the lobby area of the O2, there is this light fixture that I just love and I have had a photo of it here before, but this time, it was illuminated. It flashes blue and just glows at night. I love it. Here’s a photo.



We walked around the outer concourse and soaked up the atmosphere of all of the other Stevie Wonder fans. I love this area. It is full of restaurants and is always vibrant when there is something going on at the O2. As I have mentioned before, it is like a little village to a point and it is great for people-watching.

Once they opened the gates to go into the arena, we made our way to the food stands. They have some good food in there. Brit Boy had a hotdog and I had some Chinese food. I had shrimp chow mein. Here’s a photo. It was really tasty.



The concert was great. Stevie had his daughter Aisha there as one of his backup singers. She sang a song on her own too. She is the inspiration for his hit “Isn’t She Lovely”. I remember hearing that she was the inspiration before, but it was just cool to see her in the flesh.

At one point during the concert he said that he had started out touring back in 2006, but he cancelled all of his shows for a while because he was so torn apart by his mother’s passing. He said that he had lost the first love of his life when she died. But then he decided to get back out on the road and make his mother proud, because he knows that she would want him to go on. He said that he realized that she would always be with him and that gives him strength. His mother passed in May 2006, the day after his birthday. He said he found comfort in having spent his birthday with her. So now he is out there again, sharing his gift with the world. :-)

Since the concert was on the anniversary of 9-11, he asked for a moment of silence to remember those who died.

Brit Boy and I were just thrilled to be at the concert. We would sing along and poke each other because we couldn’t believe that we were there. Stevie played a lot of his hits and the crowd just loved it! He just kept launching into songs and I kept saying to myself, “ I forgot that one…wow!” He has just made some great, great music and you just forget that so many favorite songs are by him. It was hard to get a photo in the dark on the camera phone, but here are a couple of blurry photos anyway of all the fun.


My two favorite Stevie Wonder songs are “Lately” and “As”. So when he played the first few notes of “Lately”, I just had a chill down my spine. Oh my gosh! I love, love, love that song and to see Stevie Wonder sing this live was one of the greatest memories of my life now. His voice was just sublime as it rang out around the arena. And I had to squeeze Brit Boy’s hand, because it was just one of those moments where you say, “Can life get any better?” :-) It was a wonderful moment and I tell you, my mind just went elsewhere for those moments. I was floating. I guess you can tell I liked it.

The whole concert was just great and Stevie Wonder and his whole band are just true artists. Stevie even had someone to help him stand on his piano bench at one point in his performance. He is a true performer.

He ended the concert with my other favorite song, “As”. Behind him, during the concert, he had different images on a screen and this just added to the vibe. So when he ended with “As”, the screen said like the song says, he’ll be loving us always. And Stevie, we’ll be loving you too!

Going to See Stevie Wonder

We are heading into London tomorrow to see Stevie Wonder and Brit Boy and I can't wait!! Stevie is Brit Boy's fave singer and I have always loved Stevie too, so we will be singing all the way to the O2. (laugh) I look forward to telling all about it when we get back.

Madonna's Opening Night

The Madonna concert was fantastic. She definitely proved that she can still perform with boundless energy, at whatever age she is. Brit Boy and I both said that we would love to have as much energy as she does and we are quite a few years younger than her. After witnessing Madonna do her thing and seeing the end of the Olympics, I feel the need to jump on a treadmill somewhere. (smile)

Much has been made about her turning fifty the Saturday before this, but she thoroughly made that a non-issue as she jumped rope, did a pole dance, and writhed around on stage as she has for years. And the girl can dance! (smile)
Madonna didn’t disappoint and was every bit as dynamic as I thought she would be. Here’s a woman who is a true performer and a definite pro. I have always liked her music and I have witnessed for myself just how amazingly she puts on a show. It is really something to see.

She came out to her song “Candy Store” and was sitting on a throne. What an entrance. A highlight was the bit when the fancy car was driven onstage and a party broke out. I don’t want to tell too much so that I won’t ruin it for those who are attending later. But it was fabulous. She did reworked versions of some of her past hits and she played guitar at some points.

All in all, it was a full circle moment for Brit Boy and me. We were teens in the 80s and Madonna and Prince were big idols then, so to come around and see both of them as adults is a great treat. And the great thing is that both Madonna and Prince are still doing their things and they just show me that great work goes on and lasts.

Madonna Tickets

Well, after quite a few days of wondering whether Brit Boy and I would get our Madonna tickets on time, we finally got them today. (smile) I just realized that there is a Madonna theme happening here since I wrote about her in my last entry too. But that’s okay. I like her music. It’s good time music. Plus ever since we saw Prince last year, we figured that we would try to see as many music stars from our teen and young adult years as we could to kind of bring things full circle. Prince and Madonna were huge in the 80s, when we were teens and they are still going now, so it is great to get to see acts that we have enjoyed for years.

We bought our tickets weeks ago, but there was a holdup in the printing and basically we were running out of days before the concert. Then the doorbell rang this morning and I flew downstairs because I knew it was our tickets. It was funny though. I had left a bag of plastic bottles and one with cans at the front door that we were going to put out for recycling, and I had to move them out of the way to open the door. Well, when I moved them, they made a lot of racket. The mailman probably thought I was one of those people that loads their houses with trash and keeps it. When I opened the door, I thought that maybe he didn’t hear it, but he said, “Are you okay in there?” I laughed to myself.

So on Saturday, we are off to Cardiff to see Madonna. I have never gone to Wales, so it will be a fun experience.

One Year Ago Today

I was just thinking today about where I was one year ago this very day. Brit Boy and I were having a wonderful day. We were in London and were staying the night at the lovely Hotel Novotel in Greenwich. We had decided to stay in London instead of having to travel all the way back home so late. We were in London to see Prince perform at the O2. He was doing a series called "21 Nights in London". He was amazing!!! I have been a Prince fan for so many years and Brit Boy loves him too. He is a part of the soundtrack of our preteen and teenage years. (smile) So we both were on our feet throughout the whole concert and I was singing along with Prince and the other thousands of fans at the top of our lungs.

There were two guys in front of us who were really enjoying it too. The one guy directly in front of me would turn around and point at me and sing along. And I of course had to reciprocate and sing along back at him. Then Brit Boy and I would danced together. So it was a WONDERFUL time!!! I love it when the whole crowd is vibing together and vibing with the artist onstage and it is all just a big party. Those are the moments in life to be enjoyed...when we drop all the other stuff and just let go.

Prince is and always will be my favorite musician. He did not disappoint. When he would launch into yet another hit, it made me realize just how much great stuff he has put out there. And he was so good that time that Brit Boy and I had to keep contributing to our gig addiction and go see him one more time in September as his 21dates were winding down. And Prince didn't really duplicate what he sang the first time. He has been very prolific. It was all worth it to see him one more time. He was great and we had the time of our lives.

Bournemouth, More Movies, and Lash Rescue

Yesterday Brit Boy and I had a date in the afternoon. As I mentioned before, he is on vacation for a few days and so we are doing our best to make good use of this time together. Of course the weather has decided to not cooperate with us, so we haven’t been able to go to Bournemouth to the beach like we had hoped yet, but maybe we will get a day of sun soon. Bournemouth is lovely. It’s a beautiful seaside town. According to their website, they are the greenest town in the South of England and apparently very happy folks according to a survey. Well, I can only speak as a visitor down there, but I think that I would be pretty happy if I lived down there. It has an easy feel to it and there is just something about the seaside. (smile) So I hope that the rain goes away in the next couple of days and we can get down there to soak up the green and some of the happiness.

So since Brit Boy and I can’t get to the beach, we have stayed closer to home. We went into town yesterday. We are becoming regular townies at this point. Wow! (laugh) Anyway, we went to the movies to see “Hancock” starring Will Smith. When we got there, the cinema was packed. I told Brit Boy that I never knew that that many people lived around here. It was a Tuesday afternoon, but it looked like a Saturday in a much bigger town. It was wild. The queue was almost out the door. We decided though that a few things had created this perfect storm of the throngs of moviegoers. The kids are out of school, it was a rainy day, and Tuesday afternoons are discounted. But it was all good. The queue moved fairly quickly and we got seats so we were happy. It was a fun time.

Before we went in to get our seats, we made a stop at the concession stand. Neither one of us had eaten anything much, so we loaded up. Each of us had a hotdog and a drink and a small popcorn. We didn’t share a popcorn because Brit Boy likes sweet popcorn and I like salty popcorn.

We found this out the first time we went to the movies here in the UK together. We got a popcorn tub together and were ready to share. Then I grabbed a handful and said, “Why is it sweet?” It looked like it was salted popcorn. This was one of those funny little cultural things. When we were in the lobby, there wasn’t a sign that said, “Salty popcorn here” and “Sweet popcorn here”. So how was I to know. And sweet was normal for Brit Boy and salty was normal to me, so we got our wires crossed and since we all come from our own experiences, it didn’t cross our minds, for Brit Boy to ask me or for me to ask him. It was funny and we laughed about it. It was no big thing. These things have happened from time to time between us in the past and we just see it as very cool that we get to learn about another culture through the person that we love most. This is one of the things that I love about living in another country at this point in my life…I get the opportunity most days to see the world in another way. So since then, we each get a small popcorn of our own, but we share our nachos and we like that. (wink)

So we went in to sit down and thoroughly enjoyed our hotdogs and drinks. Those hotdogs were really good. Then the movie started. I have read good and bad reviews of “Hancock”, but then we never follow reviews and just see what we like. Brit Boy and I like Will Smith movies and we really enjoyed him at the Mandela concert we went to, so we figured we would check out his movie.

We really enjoyed “Hancock”. It was laugh out loud funny to us many times just because his character said what he felt like. It was funny to see someone say the things that a lot of us wish that we could say when we get ticked off in life and we refrain from doing so. And deep down his character was a good guy. It was just a great laugh and a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Tuesday afternoon.

Oh, by the way, I did finally get my waterproof mascara remover. When we went around the corner from the cinema, we popped into the pharmacy and I got my lash rescue finally. (smile) I used my store points and didn’t have to pay anything for it, so I was able to rescue my eyelashes and not spend a cent.

Stevie and Memories of the Rain

Things have calmed down a bit since our trip to London for Wimbledon and the Nelson Mandela birthday concert, but there’s always fun around the corner. (smile) We have another event to add to our calendar for 2008. As I have written about before , we are going to see Madonna in Cardiff on August 23rd. Well Brit Boy and I can’t stop it seems, just yet. We are having to cut back like everyone out there, but we had to get one more event in for this year and then it is cold turkey withdrawal for “gig heads” like us. (laugh) We found out that Stevie Wonder is touring again and he is coming to the UK! He is Brit Boy’s favorite singer and he is a great, great favorite of mine, so we simply couldn’t pass up the chance to see this living legend in person. We often sit around and go through our list of who we have seen and who we still want to see perform. I told Brit Boy that we should write down our list to keep it all straight. (smile)

Anyway, we are going to see Stevie Wonder in London in September. We will go up for the concert and then come right back. And then we have promised ourselves that we are keeping our gig tendencies under control for a while. (smile) But we are just so, so excited! We have been really lucky to see so many wonderful performers in the last couple of years…from new artists to bonafide legends. So I will certainly share our experience of the concert here in my blog. We can’t wait for the show.

Yesterday I went out with Brit Boy while he went to see a client. He likes to have me come along for the ride. We had quite a distance to go yesterday…far into the Wiltshire countryside, to a sweet little town called Mere. It’s a lovely little place with cozy houses that are centuries old. The ride down that way of the world is always great. Yesterday though, we drove down there through continuous rain and it never let up. Here is a photo of the rainy weather that we traveled through.



Brit Boy remarked that it reminded him of our drive down that way about four years ago. Back then, we were on our way to Stourhead, which is the lovely place where Brit Boy proposed to me, on a sweet little footbridge. Stourhead is a huge country estate that is part of the National Trust. The National Trust is entrusted with caring for and preserving places like this and Stourhead is just gorgeous. To give you an idea of how picturesque it is, when we were there, they were filming the latest big screen version of Pride and Prejudice. It’s a very romantic setting.So anyway, on the day that we were driving down there, it was pouring down rain and then the rain was also coming at us sideways. (laugh) It was absolutely drenching, but it didn’t rain when we got there that day. So it turned out beautiful on the day we were engaged.

Yesterday, it certainly brought back memories for us. However this time, the rain never let up. It seems that July is going to be a wet month. But we are counting our blessings because the rain stayed away when we were at Wimbledon and at the Mandela concert. It couldn’t have turned out better.

Nelson Mandela and The Rest of Our Story

Today I will finish up my story of our time in London from June 23-28th. As I have said before, it was a glorious week with many highlights. I mentioned before that going to Wimbledon helped me to remember that there is still fun and good in the world because it was just a wonderful experience and was done so well. And I mentioned that there was also another highlight. It was the greatest of them all. Brit Boy and I saw Nelson Mandela! (smile) That was a glorious experience that neither one of us will ever forget. But I don’t want to skip ahead too much here. I still have the day before that to tell you about. So I will pick up where I left off last time.

On the Thursday morning of that great week, we woke up and took our time getting going. We had had an early wakeup on all the other days, so this day we decided to chill a bit. We got up at about 10am, got dressed, and then headed to the tube station. We topped up our Oyster cards at this point at the machine there. We figured that it would be best to do it then when the station wasn’t busy and there was a long line. After we put more credit onto our Oyster cards, we headed on our journey to Piccadilly Circus.

Piccadilly Circus is a wildly frenzied place, full of throngs of people and activity. There are tourists and native Brits all walking around this way and that together and I love the feel of it. I am usually not one for crowds of people, but in some situations like this, I feel it is the only way to go…you feel a part of everybody else. I like it there. You feel like you are in the middle of the action. It is touristy in bits, but what’s wrong with that? (smile) We like it a lot. It is like a playground to us.

We went to the area to have our nice lunch, or as Brit Boy calls it, our “slap-up meal”. This is his Brit-ism for a nice meal. (smile) We went to our favorite steak place for our splurge of the trip. We had been eating inexpensively the rest of the time so that we could spend a bit more to have our special meal. This place is becoming a bit of a tradition for us. It is not terribly expensive there, but it costs more than McDonald’s. (smile) Anyway, we had our splurge.

We had the same waitress as we had back in April, which was nice. She is always good to us. Brit Boy and I both had the steak and fries/chips, along with a nice green salad that we shared. For our appetizer, Brit Boy had potato skins and I had shrimp/prawns that were as light as a feather. Both things were so good. For dessert, we both had a slice of strawberry cheesecake that was divine. Here is a photo of mine before I dived in.



After our nice lunch, we headed to the tube station across the street. We went to the Victoria & Albert Museum. There is a tunnel from the tube that goes right into the museum and some of the others around there. Along the tunnel, there was a busker/musician who was playing his guitar beautifully…sort of a jazzy, classical feel to his music. He was great. I dropped a few coins in his case. Brit Boy noticed that the busker also had a sign telling about his website. It was cool….an age-old music tradition meeting new millennium technology. Gotta love it. (smile)

We went to the Victoria & Albert (V&A) mostly to see an exhibition of memorabilia of The Supremes. It was fabulous. The gowns were amazing and timeless. A lot of those dresses that were from the 60s still could look fabulous if worn now. There is something about dresses from the 40s, 50s, and 60s that transcends the particular decade and will always look good. There were programs, photos, and all kinds of artifacts of this fabulous group of ladies. Mary Wilson had held onto a lot of this stuff, so she put it all together and now we have this great exhibit to see. I heard her in an interview here where she said that she didn’t throw anything away from that time. Thank God for her. (smile) The exhibit also had film of her and others talking about Motown and The Supremes. There was also a bit of archival footage of Martin Luther King Jr and things about the Civil Rights Movement as a background to give a feel of the times when Motown and The Supremes were doing their thing. It showed just how massive their achievement was and how it shaped history. They altered the perceptions of many in the rest of the world. The Supremes were elegant and all of the girl groups after them have a great example to follow. The Supremes were at their height before I was born, but I grew up hearing their music like everyone else and I think they were wonderful. The little girl in me just wanted to break into the exhibition cases and try on all of the clothes. (smile) As a former wannabee fashion designer, I was loving the fashions and the music is classic.

Whilst at the V&A we also looked at the costume collections, the jewelry, the photography, and sculptures. We were only allowed to take photos in certain areas. Here is a photo of some busts in one of the galleries. It is a lovely place.



Here is the outside of the V&A. Very stately.



After we came out of the museum, we decided to take a walk to Hyde Park since it was a nice day. We sat on a bench for a while and looked out across the lake. It was quiet and peaceful there and you forget that you are in the middle of a big noisy city. Hyde Park is probably my favorite place in London.

We watched the little blue paddle boats going across the water and then decided to give it a try ourselves. So we paddled out on the lake and I must admit that at first it was a bit unsettling since the wind got up and the currents were dragging us sideways when that was not the way we wanted to go. (laugh) I kept hoping that we wouldn’t spring a leak. But eventually things leveled out. We both loved it though. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. Whilst we were there in the park, we could hear them practicing for the Mandela concert the next day. Here are a couple of photos of us in the middle of the lake.You can just about see the edge of our blue paddle boat in the second photo.





Then we took the boat back to shore and walked over and had ice cream from one of the stands in the park. We found another bench and sat watching guys and a girl roller-blading and doing tricks. Along this same stretch of road, vans were going back and forth with VIPs inside of them to and from the concert area. We didn’t see anyone though. All the windows were blacked out. It was a fun time though. We bought sandwiches and potato chips/crisps from a stand at the tube station and headed back to our hotel.

On the walk from the tube station to our hotel, they were having a concert at Wembley Arena, which is next to Wembley Stadium. We couldn’t tell who was performing, but the crowds around there seemed excited. We kept walking to our home away from home. (smile) We watched the big Euro 2008 football/soccer match…I sort of read and watched. Brit Boy was really into it. It was a good restful evening. The next day was Mandela. We couldn’t wait!

The next day, we got up with the great expectation of seeing Nelson Mandela. The concert wasn’t until around 6:30pm so we had some time to kill. We took our time getting up. We left our hotel at about 11am and headed to McDonald’s down near the tube station to have brunch. Then we left and took the tube to Green Park.

Green Park is a lovely park too and has lovely mature trees and is fabulously…well, green. (smile) It is a peaceful place to hang out. Brit Boy and I found a bench and sat there to take all the beautiful nature in. We talked and then the rain came. First it was light, so we were fine with that. We are both immune to bother about light rain now. (smile) I am a recent convert now that I have been here a while. Plus, the trees are so big and thick that the canopies of leaves sort of act as an umbrella. But soon the rain came down too hard so we hopped back on the tube and went to Oxford Street. We figured that we could find some shelter in one or two of the many shops along there.

We wandered around Borders for a while. This store is my paradise. I love reading. Brit Boy enjoys it there too. We also popped in to a few boutiques…can’t forget the inner fashionista. (laugh) We didn’t buy anything because we didn’t want to be weighted down at the concert and also we were trying to be frugal.

Soon the rain let up and stayed that way all the way through the concert later. We walked along to Hyde Park in excited anticipation of the concert. We queued up with everybody else and waited to be let into the gates. We eventually got inside and claimed excellent spots near the front of the crowd. They had a circle right at the stage cordoned off for people with gold circle tickets, but we were right behind that group and had a great view.

We sat down yoga-style on the grass and took in the scene. We were sitting next to a fellow who had come over from Germany just for the concert. He was nice. He asked me if I would hold his spot next to me and I said sure. So he went to get a drink. He had a piece of yellow plastic that he sat on, so I used that to hold his spot and I placed our binoculars on top of it. He was gone for quite a while and I thought that he might have found somewhere else to sit, but a while later he came back. He told me that if the rain did come that I could have his other piece of plastic to cover us since I had held his place. I thought that was so nice and so in tune with the vibe of the event. Miraculously though, it didn’t rain. The sky looked quite ominous at several points, but it held off. Here is a photo of the stage before the concert started.



Soon the concert got underway and everyone stood up. The concert was great. Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith helped out with the presenting and Will at one point came out on his own to get the crowd going. He said that he had to get in on the action since he was introducing all of the other acts and he wanted to see if he still “had it”. (smile) Well, Will still has it. He was great. He did a bit of one of his hits and then he did a bit of the theme tune from his show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. I was singing along through it all. It was great. (smile) He really rocked da house!! The crowd loved it.

Eddy Grant was also great and had a sing-a-long with the crowd. He looks the same as he did in the 80s and can still do his thing. He is a great performer and is going on tour again. He brought lots of life to the stage. Here is a photo of him in action.



Simple Minds was great. I loved it when they did their song from years ago, “Mandela Day”. They also did “Don’t You Forget About Me”. It was great because they were one of the acts from the very beginning who worked to raise awareness of Mandela’s plight and what was going on in South Africa. Here is a photo from when they were on stage.



The Children of Agape Choir were wonderful along with Annie Lennox. Their song was so stirring to the soul. They sang with a raw, beautiful power. Annie Lennox is one of my favorite singers and she is also one who has been fighting the good fight for years on behalf of those involved in the 46664 campaign. She showed a photo and talked a bit about this little girl who was an AIDS orphan and had AIDS herself. Her face was gaunt and she looked as if she were on the brink of death at such a tender age. Then Annie showed the other photo of this little girl, who was hugging Annie, and she looked like a totally different child. It showed the power of what the access to proper AIDS medication can do to save lives. The little girl is not cured of course, but she has been given a chance. It was a powerful illustration.

The Soweto Gospel Choir was wonderful too. They were a great addition to many of the acts that were on stage. They were dressed in beautiful brightly-colored outfits that just popped out at you. They were glorious to see and hear. Beautiful voices. Josh Groban was great. He has an amazing voice. Emmanuel Jal is a great hip hop artist who was a child soldier in Sudan. He is now performing music about reconciliation and hope and he is very talented. He really got the crowd going with his set too.

I really enjoyed everyone and there is just not enough room here to talk about all of them. I wish that I could. (smile) They had a great line-up. There were artists from all over the world and they were wonderful.

In the middle of the concert, there was a pause for the great one. Will Smith came out and introduced Mr Nelson Mandela. Here is a photo of him coming onstage.



Both Brit Boy and I were very moved by this moment. I was overcome with such joy at that moment when Mr Mandela or as they call him “Madiba”, came out to speak. I instantly welled up with tears because I knew that this was surely one of the greatest honors of my life to see him. There was a hush that fell over the crowd of nearly 50,000 people. Mr Mandela is coming upon his 90th birthday now, so of course he has to take it slow as he walks, but I know that he was determined to come and speak to us. He had traveled a long way to come to England, but he did so in order to help out the 46664 campaign and the work it does and also to be there for everyone to honor him on his 90th year of life. It was amazing, but you could just feel all of this love in the air when he was onstage. The air changed. It was wonderful. Mr Mandela gave a short speech, but every word vibrated all around us. And what I took away from it is what the slogan of the concert said, “it’s in our hands”. It was like he was saying, I have been on this journey my whole life and now it is your turn to do what you can. And I thought yes. He has done so much for humanity and if anyone deserves a rest, he does. I hope to be as able as he is when I am 90 years old. I figure that all of us were amazingly lucky to be able to see him and hear him. I know that it has validated and awakened some plans within me to help others. I just felt like he was passing the torch to all of us to do whatever we can to help others in whatever way we wish. I can’t be Nelson Mandela, but I can be me and do things even if it is in little ways. I have always sought out this path in life and now I just want to do even more. (smile) Brit Boy does too. The 46664 campaign is one great way to help others.

Near the end of the concert, Brit Boy and I decided that we needed some air and we were hungry, so we squeezed our way away from the front and went to the food stalls. The crowd was more dispersed back there. We went to a food van that was selling foot long hotdogs. The van had car license plates from the US all over it and it just so happens that one of the license plates was from Georgia…my old stomping ground. (smile) We ate our hotdogs and watched the concert from further back.

We made a run for it right near the end of the concert to beat some of the crowd heading to the tube station. Others were thinking the same thing. The security let us out of a side gate which was coincidentally the same side that we had been sitting along the day before, watching for VIPs. So in a full circle moment for the week, who should we see leaving out of this side gate but Boris Becker!!!! He was only a few feet away from me. (laugh) So Mr Becker was "thisclose" and I was thrilled. Back in the day, he was a fave of mine. I decided to not run up to him for an autograph because it was dimly lit over there and I didn’t want him to think we were going to attack him. (laugh) It was enough to just see him again. I took it as a good sign and a full circle moment that we had seen him twice…once at the beginning of our adventure at Wimbledon and once at the end of the glorious week at the concert. Maybe I will get an autograph one of these days! (smile)

The next day was Saturday and we headed home. We checked out of our hotel and walked back to the tube station in the hot sun. It was great though. I had become very brawny over the course of the week and pulled that bag like it weighed nothing even though it didn’t. I know that we must have walked thousands and thousands of steps by the end of our trip. We both joked that it had been like being on a wonderful marathon across a continent or two. (smile)

We took the tube to Victoria Station. We had a couple of baguettes and a drink. We then headed around to the coach station. Brit Boy and I were talking about the fact that the coach station is tiny and not even big enough for the amount of people that come through there.

We took our coach/bus back home and then got a taxicab back home. We both crashed on the sofa with a dopey smile on our faces. We were so happy to have had such fun and we were so tired. But I tell you, I will take that kind of tired any day, when it is due to such a wonderful ride like we had through that glorious week.

Acupuncture and London Here We Come Again!

I should be packing right now, but I am procrastinating. Although, at least I have piled my clothes that I am taking with me onto our bed. And in a bit I am going to go downstairs and have a bit of lemonade and then I will do my packing. Here is my wardrobe for next week ... fashionable, huh? (laugh)



Yeah right. (laugh) Well, maybe not "fashionista-esque", since we will be hoofing it a lot around London, but I am leaning more towards "casual and slightly fashionable". I am packing my sunglasses optimistically in hopes that I will need them to shield my eyes from all the bright sun at Wimbledon. Brit Boy and I are so hoping that the rain holds off for the tournament. We had lots of rain last night and today it is sunny and clear and windy. So if we can just have sunny, lovely weather like this for the tennis it will be splendid. One other fashion note, I am NOT going to be taking my “blister-blooming boots” this time. If you are not familiar, please read my post from our trip to London in April…I limped for days. (laugh)

Brit Boy and I ate a big breakfast this morning, so we both may not be hungry until 9pm. (smile) Since we are going to be gone all week, I am trying to use the last of our perishable food so it won’t go to waste while we are gone. The last few eggs, last few pieces of bacon, a few pieces of bread, and the last of the orange juice have now been consumed so we are almost all set. Whenever we get a space in our guts for some dinner, we will have a baked potato each and some brussel sprouts…and then tada…no perishable food left except for a few slices of bread and a bit of cheese to make sandwiches to take along with us tomorrow and then our consciences will be cleared. Since food shortages and high prices seem to be the rule of the day, we don’t want to throw away anymore than we have to.

Yesterday, I went to my next to last acupuncture visit. Karen and Ta were kind as always and I had my treatment. Karen and I talked as Ta made me into a human pin cushion. (smile) After all the pins were in…about thirty…she placed three big sponges along my body to cushion so that she could place the towel over me and thus the pins would not get snarled up or go in even deeper with the pressure of the towel. So they leave me in the room, all Zen and stuff, with the lights out and lovely Chinese spiritual music playing in the background. Then within five minutes the fire alarm goes off in the shopping plaza. I’m not losing my mind, but instead of being scared, I laughed first that this was my current condition with all the pins and I may have to run for my life in my underwear. (laugh) But good ‘ol Karen comes into the room just as the alarm pipes down and she says that it was a false alarm. She said, “Don’t worry, we will take care of you if there is a fire or anything. You are our friend.” Then she patted me on the arm. I told her that I had no fear and knew that they would look out for me. I was the only customer in the shop at that time. Karen is a sweetheart and I told her so. I always feel very relaxed in that tiny shop. (smile) Even though I have my last treatment coming up in the next couple of weeks, I am still going to stop by and say hello every time I get into town, just to see my friends.

Well, I better get to my packing. Just one last quick note. I won’t be able to post anything from tomorrow (the 23rd) through Friday (the 27th) since I will be in London and away from my laptop. I will probably go into shock and miss my little green machine, but we are trying to pack lightly. (smile) But rest assured, I will be taking notes on what we see and do on our next London adventure and I will also be taking lots of photos to share with you all. Brit Boy and I will be doing the rounds of London this time for sure…Wimbledon, King Tut’s exhibit, the Victoria & Albert Museum to see some Supremes memorabilia, and then on Friday we have the Nelson Mandela concert. And I will also share wherever else that we come across on our latest trip to the Greater London area. It’s always a fun time when we take a trip there, so I look forward to sharing it all here with whomever takes the time out of their busy days to read my blog. Once we arrive back home on the 28th, I will start spilling my guts on all that happened. (smile) Thanks for visiting with me here. Until then…take care :-)

A Quick Note

Just a quick note, in only eight days, Brit Boy and I will be at Wimbledon. I can’t believe it. We are both so excited about that and it is made even more memorable because we had the good fortune to be picked to sit in centre court. We are so grateful. We are just hoping that the weather is nice that day. Also that week we are going to see the Tutankhamen exhibition at the O2 and we are going to hopefully finally get to St Paul’s Cathedral and see Sir Christopher Wren’s fabulous architecture. A while back, I wrote about Brit Boy and me going to West Knoyle one day, which is right next to East Knoyle, here in Wiltshire, where Sir Christopher Wren is from. In all of our visits to London, we have yet to go have a look. So we are hoping to get there. And then on the Friday, we are going to the Nelson Mandela 90th birthday concert and we are overjoyed about that. That will be a true milestone to remember in our lives to see Mr Nelson Mandela. As I have said before, I will definitely share my experiences over that week here in my blog, along with photos. So the countdown continues. (smile)

Notes From My Sickbed

I have been sick for the last few days. I have spent most of my time in bed. Thankfully though, I picked the best weekend to be sick because the weather has been awful. It has rained heavily and the wind has been wild!!! On my first night of being sick, I couldn’t sleep well, so I tossed and turned. Outside I heard the wind blowing fiercely and I wondered if our house’s roof would last the night. (smile) Today the wind has calmed a lot though. And amazingly enough, as the weather has calmed, so has my sickness.

I had a bad sore throat and congestion and it was making me feverish and I just felt awful. So I retired to my comfy little bed that I share with Brit Boy and waited it out whilst I pumped myself full of medication and got some rest. Here is a photo of my cocoon for the last few days.




Still, even though I was stuck in bed, I still kept myself occupied whilst I got better. On Saturday, I read some magazines until I got a bit dizzy and had to put them away. I really felt horrible that day and was forced to just kind of really relax and do nothing but try to sleep. I ended up not sleeping much at all Saturday night.

On Sunday, I spent the day in bed again. I watch a few movies, one after another on this one channel. I watched one called “These Old Broads” with Shirley MacLaine and Elizabeth Taylor. Then I watched “Marooned” which was a space exploration film and I rounded it off with “Sinbad” which was a great bit of fantasy for a Sunday. After that, cricket started, but by this time I was nodding off to sleep. The match was between England and New Zealand, I do remember. I only slept for a bit. Then I woke up to see this updated and re-imagined version of “The Wizard of Oz” called “Tin Man”. Brit Boy came upstairs and joined me and we watched this together. We had watched the other parts of the story the past two Sundays and this was the final one. It was really beautifully done...so imaginative. After “Tin Man” was over, I read some. Then it was lights out. I needed to get some real sleep after not sleeping well the night before.

Monday was the Bank Holiday here and it was Memorial Day back home, both days off from work for many people, and a day of remembrance back home. Both days are also unofficial beginnings of summer. However, I was still not feeling good, so I gave a pass to both days from the comfort of bed. (smile) And anyway, it was grey and dreary outside, so there was no point in going anywhere to do anything. Like I told Brit Boy, it was a perfect day to be stuck in bed and to be sick.

By the way, Brit Boy spent the weekend studying and chilling out on the sofa. And when I called on him, he was a wonderful nurse, just like I am for him when he is sick. (smile) Brit Boy took a trip up to the High Street to get me a few remedies and to get us a few things to eat. There wasn’t much open, but the grocery store was all we needed and it was open. He said that no one was around when he was up there. He enjoyed having the store mostly to himself. (smile) I had asked him to see if they had any sorbet at the grocery store and thankfully they had some. I figured that it would soothe my throat.

So later in the afternoon, we watched “The Manchurian Candidate” starring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep on DVD and I had a bit of mango sorbet to cool down my throat. It was a great sick day...complete with mango sorbet, a great movie and my Brit Boy. Oh, by the way, today I am feeling much better and we ventured into town. (smile)Brit Boy had the day off and has tomorrow off too, so we are going to enjoy some days together without anyone being sick.

One additional note, I have added a couple of new tickers to the bottom of the page to chart how long Brit Boy and I have to wait until we go to the Nelson Mandela birthday concert and the Madonna concert. So those tickers now join the one for Wimbledon. Brit Boy and I are so honored that we will be seeing the great Nelson Mandela. We can't quite believe that. (smile)I will certainly share all of my experiences and photos from all three events here, in the weeks to come.

Salisbury and Madonna

Today it is cool and breezy here again, but sometimes I really enjoy days like this. It’s a perfect day for a bit of movie watching when I am supposed to be working on my work. (wink) Today is a work day and yesterday was a day for an outing with Brit Boy. Well, I was accompanying Brit Boy to Salisbury. He had to see a client. Before he went to his meeting, we got sandwiches and had lunch on a bench along the lawn of Salisbury Cathedral. I love the cathedral. Back in December, Brit Boy and I went to a carol service there. It was magical. The voices of the choir echoed around the sanctuary. Here is our wonderful view as we had lunch with the cathedral as our majestic scenery.



After that, Brit Boy left me for a while while he had his meeting, so I walked around Salisbury and window shopped. I love all of the shops there...a nice mix of department stores and many independent shops. I did purchase a couple of things. I walked around a discounted book shop and found a couple of books that I wanted to re-read. I got “Great Expectations” and “Dracula”. I read them when I was in school, but I must admit that I only halfway read them back then. So now I hope to give them my fuller attention this time around. After I walked around a while, I found myself drawn back to the serenity of the space surrounding the cathedral. So I went and sat down again on a bench there. This time, even though Brit Boy was not there, I still had company. Three feathered friends walked right up to me to say hello.



Soon Brit Boy was texting me and we met up again. We drove home through the lovely Wiltshire countryside. It is gorgeous. There are miles of hills and fields that look like great swathes of green and yellow. The green is everywhere and the yellow is made by a plant that is grown in abundance out here. It is called rapeseed and has a variety of uses. It is so beautiful...so golden in the distance. Here is a photo.



Later, back home, Brit Boy and I were sitting on the sofa. I was watching television and he was on his laptop. I leaned over and he was looking at upcoming concerts and things. We looked at the list and we both said the same thing. “Ooh, I sure wish we could go and see that and that and that.” We are so turning into ‘gig-a-holics’. (laugh) We are trying to break our habit, but we couldn’t resist an opportunity to go see Madonna since neither one of us have seen her and she is on our list of people to see at some point. I have always liked her. Plus, she is also an expat girl like me, with a home here in Wiltshire, so it is the neighborly thing to do in going to see her in concert. (smile) So our poor overworked credit card came out and we got tickets to see Madonna in Cardiff, Wales in August. We are both so excited! I have wanted to go to Wales, so here is a great opportunity. Brit Boy has been there once for football. Brit Boy and I don’t have a lot of money, just like a lot of other people, but we figure that life is to be lived while you can. Carpe diem and all of that. (smile) So on to the next adventure!

London and Cupcakes

My sinusitis or whatever it was, has nearly calmed down all the way. I had a bit of a sore throat also and that made me feel awful for those couple of days, but now I am doing much better. So I wanted to get back here and get caught up on what is going on. Here is my mini rewind back to Saturday.

Well on Saturday, I went to see Karen and Ta again, to have my acupuncture. It went fine. Then Sunday, Brit Boy and I just hung out around home and enjoyed the nice weather. The weather had been spring-like at that point for a few days, although today it is kind of windy and there has been some rain. The temperature also cooled off too, so I have been putting on my cardigan and taking it off because I can’t decide if I am warm or cold. (smile) Back to Sunday though, I spoke on the phone with my niece who lives in California. She was doing great and we had a good talk about all things retro. (smile) She is only about nine years younger than me. She says that my pop culture tastes from back in the day gave her lots of good memories since she followed some of what I followed. We discussed the upcoming return of New Kids on the Block and a lot of other musical acts from back in the day. It was a wide-ranging discussion and we talked about current artists. This conversation was peppered with me singing lyrics from everyone at random. It was hilarious. It was kinda cool that she said that she enjoyed following some of my tastes from back then and that she has good memories because of that. Awww. (smile) That was good to hear. It was a good talk, filled with good nostalgia.

Then on Tuesday, the 13th, I was in a baking mood, so I baked some red velvet cupcakes again. Brit Boy and I love them. They are SO not low-fat, but we eat them in semi-moderation. (wink)(smile) I won’t make anymore for a while though in order to save the specialness of them and to save our waistlines.

I have to backtrack a bit. I wanted to save this bit of news for last. Brit Boy and I are adding another event to our next London adventure. Back on Wednesday, May 7th, we got a chance to buy some tickets to a concert during a presale that we had registered for. We were able to purchase two tickets to the 90th birthday celebration concert for Nelson Mandela that will be held in Hyde Park on June 27th. We are so excited. It is amazing to think that Brit Boy and I will be seeing a truly great person of our times. We are really humbled by this opportunity. To see Nelson Mandela will certainly be a great highpoint in our lives. I will most certainly share this experience here on my blog. The timing of all of this works out great, because this will be the same week that we go to Wimbledon. So I will definitely share some of the experiences of that week here, along with some photos. It will be a fun week and we just can’t wait. So London, here we come again. Oh and this time, those blister-causing boots will be left at home. (laugh)