Serena's US Open Win

Today I wanted to take a moment to highlight a true champion and her name is Serena Williams! She is extraordinary and I admire the true tenacity, athleticism, hard work, and dedication that Serena and her sister Venus have displayed to the world time and time again! Like everyone else, I've read about the tough road that they've had to travel in order to be two of the best tennis players ever and so every time they win I take a moment to contemplate what got them there. Often we only see people when they get to the finish line, but as we all know, there is so much that goes into succeeding before the world ever knows about it.

 

As I have watched the Williams sisters over the years all that I can think of is how lucky we all are to see not one, but two women from the same genes delight us with their amazing athleticism. We all come to the world with gifts and these ladies are sharing theirs each time they pick up a racket.

 

Sometimes when I'm reading or hearing about someone who was great at what they did throughout history in any field, I sometimes think how cool it would have been to be alive to witness their greatness firsthand. That's why I'm so grateful to have been able to see both Serena and her sister Venus play at Wimbledon in years past. When I saw Venus play, she won her match and she was amazing! Even though Venus has her challenges with her disease nowadays, she still has the heart of a champion. When we saw Serena play a couple of years back, she didn't win the match that we saw, but still, I felt so grateful to be there. In the future when they have both retired, I won't have any regrets because I saw both of them in their prime. To see someone do what they are meant to do and as an extra to see them do it well, is such a treat!

 

With her win in the US Open last night, Serena won her fourth US Open title and her fifteen Grand Slam title. She played against Victoria Azarenka and they both were incredible! Hats off to them both.

 

Over the last ten weeks or so, Serena has won Wimbledon, an Olympic gold medal in singles and doubles with her sister Venus (third Olympic doubles gold), and now she has won this US Open title once more. The statistics for Serena and Venus are astounding. Here are some photos from last night... 

 



 

 

 Above: Victoria Azarenka alongside Serena Williams

 



All photos courtesy of Getty Images

 

So there it is...my little tribute to Serena, her sister Venus, and indeed to Ms. Azarenka. Well done ladies!



Wimbledon Pics

Here are some of the pictures that I took when we went to Wimbledon as I promised. It was hard to decide what to post, but I hope that these give you all an idea of what it's like inside the grounds. It's a beautiful place and I highly recommend it if you get the chance to go sometime. This is one of those cases where the truth definitely lives up to the hype :)

I wrote a long piece about it when we went three years ago, so I won't repeat myself in this post. I figure that I'll just write this short bit and then just let you enjoy the pictures without a lot of words getting in the way :)

I will say that Brit Boy and I had an awesome time and it was REALLY hot that day, but I loved it! We have to relish those warm days here when we can get them ;-) The tennis itself was top notch and I just admire the athleticism of all of the players. We saw Serena Williams vs Marion Bartoli in the first match. I really enjoyed watching these two ladies play. Both women are excellent players. I was especially pleased on a personal level to see Serena play even though she didn't win. I saw her sister Venus play three years ago, so now I feel complete that I've seen both of them play. I just think that it is beyond incredible that there are two champion players like that in their family, not just one. What an incredible and inspirational story! Serena has had quite a health scare this past year, so good on her for competing the way she did! She will always be a winner to me! And congrats to Bartoli on the win.

In the second match we saw this year's mens' winner Novak Djokovic play against Michael Llodra. I didn't get any pics of this match because that was when we took a break, so we were in and out. The third match was between Roger Federer and Mikhail Youzhny. Federer won and it was a great match too. All three matches were fun to watch and I'll say it again...everyone showed how much of an incredible athlete they were. Watching everyone play just reminded me what dedication to something can really do. I applaud them all!

Well, I guess I wrote more than I intended, but oh well ;-) I got to share how much I loved it! Anyway, enjoy the pics! They're presented in a kind of collage style and kinda random, but I hope you enjoy them. Just click them to see a bigger one. Thanks as always for stopping by! :-)

Headed to Wimbledon Again

Hello there! I just wanted to drop in with a quick post today, as I take a break from packing. Brit Boy and I are headed into London tomorrow for a few days. We're going to Wimbledon on Monday. Here's my post from three years ago, when we went for the first time. We were surprised that we got tickets this year. They do a drawing for tickets so we never know if we'll get tickets or not. So we're really pleased to be attending again :-)

The weather has been a bit dodgy lately, so I'm hoping that the weather will be kind to us. No matter what...it will be fun to go again. I'll definitely blog about it all when I get back and also I have a couple of foodie posts to share too. So watch this space! Have a great weekend! :-)

The Sports Ground Debut!

Hello all! Happy Friday!

Well, in my previous post I talked about watching the Super Bowl. It was a great night here at the Yellow House and we ended up staying up for the whole thing, which was well after 3am here. It was fun!

So I thought that I would mention another ‘sporty spice’ kind of thing to continue this trend for one more post. No, I haven’t taken up a sport…yet ;-) However, my Brit Boy, who is the real sporty one around here has opened a new chapter in his blogging life.



Brit Boy has started a new sports blog called, The Sports Ground, and he will cover a wide array of sports, since this is one of his great loves. He will concentrate mostly on football aka soccer, but he will also be blogging about sports that are enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic. One of his recent posts was about his take on the Super Bowl, so the transatlantic life of the Yellow House extends into his new blog, just like it does in mine.

So if you’re a sports fan or if you just want to read the knowledgeable musings of Brit Boy on all things sports…take a trip on over and check him out! :-)

*****

As for me, I’ve been doing fine and will be blogging about one of my new favorite things in my next post. I love a cliffhanger…lol.

Have a great weekend!

Our Day at Wimbledon

Our day at Wimbledon was fantastic. Brit Boy and I both kept saying, “I can’t believe that we are here.” You know how it is sometimes when you look forward to experiencing something in your life and then you finally get to experience it and you say to yourself, ‘Is that all that there is?’ Well going to Wimbledon was not one of those situations at all. (smile) We have all had our share of letdowns in life and God knows that I have had my share in my life, but this day at Wimbledon was just a beautiful reminder that there are still some great experiences out there despite the problems in the world. Our experience at Wimbledon was my first of two reminders last week that there are still glories and truths and things in this world to be excited about. My other reminder came a few days later, but more about that to come.

So Brit Boy and I got up bright and early on Tuesday, June 24th and readied ourselves for our day out. The gates were to open at Wimbledon around 10:30ish and since we had to travel a bit from Wembley to get there, we had to get going early. We had a bit of a hiccup that morning with our hotel room. I mentioned in my last entry that we had to wait a good while to get checked in and then had to collect our key later. Well the fun just kept happening because that morning I was the first into the shower and it was not working. Ugh!!!! Not a good thing.(laugh)But I didn't miss a beat and just plopped myself down and had a very quick bath and Brit Boy did the same. There was no way that we were gonna turn up at the storied lawns of Wimbledon without touching a bit of water. (smile) This was only a minor blip. Nothing was going to stop us that day. I wore my mom's green-stoned ring. I always wear something of hers when I go somewhere new here, because I feel like I am taking her with me. I never got the chance to show her England like I wanted to because she missed making it here by three months. So I take a bit of her with me and it feels like it sets things right. So anyway,when we got down to the lobby, we reported our shower not working and then we were off to Wimbledon.

Brit Boy and I had been praying for great weather for weeks and we certainly got it that day. It was just wonderful…warm and sunny with a breeze. I had always heard that the Wimbledon area was leafy and green and it is that way on the walk down to the complex. There were shuttle buses taking people to the tennis complex from the tube station, but we just walked along with everyone else. The day was too pretty to not walk the couple of blocks and take it all in. Along the way, there were vendors selling food and things. Also there were street teams giving out cereal bars to spectators. Brit Boy and I got a couple. They were chocolate and orange cereal bars. The chocolate and orange combination is a very popular combination here in England. It was free and we hadn’t eaten yet, so I ate it as we walked along. (smile) Brit Boy ate his when we sat down later.

Just as we arrived, the gates were opening. Across the street, some people were veering off to another area to wait to see if they could possibly pick up some tickets to at least get into the grounds. We had thought about doing that too if we hadn’t been so lucky to get our tickets. It is a good option and a good chance to get in also. So anyway, we went through the gates with everyone else and then went through security. They just checked your bags or whatever you were carrying. We traveled lightly. I only had my small over the shoulder purse and my camera. Brit Boy carried a small bag with a couple of things in it.

Once we made it through security, we headed over to get a bit to eat. We timed it just right, because there weren’t too many people in line at that point and the drinks were nice and cold.(smile) We found a nice seat on a bench near a flower pot and had sandwiches and Pepsi. Then as a chaser, we had the traditional strawberries and cream that are a part of the whole Wimbledon scene. They were nice. Brit Boy did remark that he thought that the cream was more like milk than cream. We both thought that it would be thicker when we imagined what it would be like, but it was still wonderful. Here is a photo.



After we finished our little picnic, we took a walk around. People were steadily arriving and there was a lovely atmosphere. Our first quasi-“celebrity” that we spotted was a journalist from Sky News here in the UK. I can’t recall her name and neither can Brit Boy, but she was one of the blond ladies on there. (smile) She was talking on a cell phone as she passed us. Here is a photo of the part of the grounds that they call Henman Hill. It’s named after the former British #1 tennis star Tim Henman.



Then we walked around to the souvenir shop. We were going to go into the museum, but it was closed at that point. We always try to find a keepsake from our adventures together, so we bought a little keepsake box that has the Wimbledon insignia on it. Each of us also purchased a t-shirt. Mine is pink with the Wimbledon emblem on it done up in sparkly beads. What can I say, I love a bit of bling sometimes. (smile) Brit Boy opted for a basic white shirt with a small emblem on the chest. Here is another photo of the grounds.



After a bit more of a walk around, we went ahead and made our way to our seats in Centre Court. While we waited for play to start, we saw the backs of retired tennis star Tracy Austin and Sue Barker who were doing a courtside bit of chat for tv preceding the match. Sue Barker is a former British tennis star who now does commentary and sports presenting for the BBC. Tracy Austin also does commentary for the BBC. Here is a photo of Centre Court before the first match.



The first match that we saw was Venus Williams versus Naomi Cavaday. From her very first serve, I was just in awe of Venus’ muscular tennis-playing prowess. Wow, you can see why she is the champ. Her serves were like lightning. I told Brit Boy that I so want sleek muscular arms like her. She is powerful. She is tall and has long legs and arms which would make you think that would make control tough for her. But she uses her length to her advantage and couples it beautifully with sheer athleticism. She is a great athlete and I am so glad that we had a chance to see her play and win. (smile) Her opponent Naomi Cavaday was good too. She held her own and kept the match close most of the whole way through.

The second match that we saw was Rafael Nadal versus Andreas Beck. Nadal is also tremendously muscular and powerful in his play. I watched the monitor that showed the speed of serves and he and Venus had serves that were similar in speed…well into the 100mph plus range. During the match, a lady collapsed in the stands across the court from us. This guy ran up from several rows down to come to the lady’s aid. The guy running was the reason that most of us noticed the activity. Brit Boy and I wondered how the guy noticed it from that far below the commotion. We wondered if he was a doctor or something since he seemed to be tending to her. There were others crowded around the lady and security was there to help. The guy that ran up the stairs yelled, “Call 911.” We figured he must have been from my side of the pond, because here the emergency number is 999 and it is 911 back home. And kudos to him and all of the other helpful people that were there to help this lady. She was helped away to get medical attention and I guess that she was alright. I hope so. The match continued on after an initial halt when she passed out.

In between the sets you are allowed to go in and out of the match to get refreshments or whatever. Brit Boy and I sat through both of the first two matches, because we didn’t want to miss anything, but by the third match we were getting hungry. So we ducked out after the Nadal match and went to get food. This time the lines were quite a bit longer, but we still made out okay. This time Brit Boy had a tuna and cucumber sandwich and I was feeling adventurous and had a wrap with duck in it. I had never had duck before, so I figured that I would live a little. Well, let me just say, that was my first time and last time having duck probably. I ate it and didn’t let it go to waste, but I didn't like the taste. Brit Boy said that he had had duck before and he didn’t like it also. So that is another thing we have in common. (smile) I know that lots of people like duck and that is great. Everything doesn't suit everyone's taste. That is the fun in the world...there is something for every taste. (smile) After we ate, we walked back towards Centre Court, but stopped off to share a cup of ice cream…it was praline and caramel. Lovely stuff. (smile)

Then we went back to watch the last match with Andy Murray and Fabrice Santoro. They had started by the time we got back so we had to wait a minute to go back to our seats. This match was good too. Murray won.

When we were walking around the grounds before we left, we looked at one of the balconies and saw tennis greats Boris Becker and Tracy Austin being interviewed. Boris Becker popped up again in our London adventure later in the week and he was nearly thisclose. (smile) I’ll tell about that later. Here is a photo of a bit of a trellis along the grounds that I thought was pretty.



We walked back to the tube station with all of the other happy spectators. It had been fabulous and everyone was in a good mood. The tube station was bursting at the seams by the time we got there. There were scores of people queued to buy tickets. Thankfully we had our Oyster cards which are a prepaid card that you use for journeys on London public transport. We bought them before the last time we went to London and now when we go up there we just top them up with more credit. So we swiped our Oyster cards, got on the tube and headed back to our hotel.

We had a glorious day and we will never forget it. Going to Wimbledon is a great experience that we hope to repeat again. I don’t know if fate will hand us Centre Court seats like that ever again, but after that great experience, we can’t be picky. (smile)

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 :-)

Hotels for Good Times and Rights of Way

Yesterday was a good day again. Here in England they have an extra Easter holiday on the Monday after Easter, called appropriately, Easter Monday. How cool. As far as I am concerned, any extra day that I get to hang out with my Brit Boy is a good thing. Well he is a cutie so how can I resist. (wink) So anyway, we went into town and picked up a few things that we needed. We were mainly going into town to pick up a gift for our nephew, who is having his birthday this Friday. We got that and then we decided to go and browse in the music store, but didn’t buy anything. We passed by the shop where we got our wedding bands and we always do this thing where we look into the window to see if the guy that sold us our rings is still there. We call our little game…wait for it…”Spot the Ring Guy”. He was hilarious and kind and I told Brit Boy that he looked like he would be one of those guys in one of those hip 60's detective shows with the closely fitting swanky suit. He is a guy of a certain age so I figure he must have been pretty cool back in the swinging 60s because he still has that air about him now. Anyway, he was cool. So the week after we bought our wedding bands two years ago, he wasn’t there for about two weeks in a row and we joked that he must have retired to some tropical island with the proceeds from the sale of our rings. Yeah right. (laugh) Our ring commissions would have possibly got him a nice pub meal and a trip to the movies. So after those two weeks he was back and since then when we pass by we always look in to see if he is there. It’s just nice to know that he is there…continuity you know. And he was so nice to us that when he does retire, I hope he has the best of everything. (smile)

After hanging around town for a bit, we then went to have a bite to eat. A simple bit of fish and chips and we were set. And then we drove home and took the scenic route. As I have mentioned before, we live in a small village and drive into a bigger town to shop and things. So we get the great pleasure of going through some of the greenest lovely landscape that you could ever lay your eyes upon. Lots of rolling hills, sheep grazing, and little cottages and it makes my touristy radar soar. I have been here nearly two years and I am more used to things here. But sometimes I release that familiarity and just put on my non-native cap and take all the beauty and difference in. I keep telling Brit Boy that we shall have to take some long walks in the countryside when the weather finally turns a bit warmer. They have paths along a lot of the fields that are public right of ways, so you can walk along the hills and across some of the meadows and soak it all in. He is keen to do it too. So when we do get a chance to take some walks out there, I will certainly post the photos here on my blog. I can’t keep all that beauty to myself. (smile) So watch this space for my photo love letter to the Wiltshire countryside. It is truly gorgeous.

In other news…after Brit Boy and I got back home, we decided to go ahead and book our hotel for our trip to London in April. We have a lot of activity coming up in the next few months that I will share with you here. In April, we are going to London for a long weekend to hang out and sort out my new visa. We are also going to the theatre to see a play. I will definitely share here in this space how awesome it all was. I love going into London and I love taking photos there, so I will be posting some of those photos here also. Then the next day we are meeting a new friend of mine for lunch. And the next day, we are heading to the immigration office to get my new visa. I will write more and tell about all of that closer to time. So anyway, the Brit Boy and I went ahead and booked our hotel online and it looks great in the ad. But I tell you, I always have a great time when we get to go to London, so even if it was a tent, I would be grinning from ear to ear. So here’s to booking hotels for good times.

Brit Boy and I will also have to be booking a hotel soon for our next trip into London after that. We are going to be going to…wait for it again….we are going to Wimbledon in June and we were gobsmacked when we got that news! We had to enter into a public ballot back in December and to our great surprise we got tickets. And the really, really cool bit is that we got CENTRE COURT!!!! We do still not believe that bit of luck. So now we are both just praying furiously that there is no rain. (smile) I will certainly be sharing that in future entries and letting you all know how it all went. The Brit Boy and I are doing our best to make the times as good as they can be these days, because we have been through a lot of bad things over the past two years. So it is time to live, love, and let the good times roll!