Burritos, backrubs, and a cupcake

Sunday was back to a traditional day of fun - get the tube into London and wander aimlessly. We got off at Charing Cross station, walked to Trafalgar Square and discovered that there was a Hare Krishna festival happening - lots of food stalls around the square and the smells were amazing.

We went into the National Gallery for a mooch amongst paintings that are so well known and yet different each time you look at them. I have several favourites that I like to see whenever we go. The first is a very large painting of the horse Whistlejacket by George Stubbs - it is a huge canvass with the horse against a plain background. The next is any by Monet but especially the Water Lilly Pond - a painting so familiar because of it's fame but standing in front of the original is still a thrill. The final painting I'll mention is one by Henri Rousseau entitled Surprised. It features a tiger crouching in the jungle - my beloved is so gorgeous as he bought me a small copy of it for our flat.

If you're ever in London you must go to the gallery - it's free to enter and there is so much to absorb you need to give yourself a long time or go back regularly. You're not allowed to take pictures inside (understandably) but I very cheekily took a picture of the beautiful flower arrangement as it features one of my favourite flowers, the gladioli - they always make me think of Nanna H.

When we came out of the gallery, seemingly out of nowhere three very large carriages had appeared - when we got home I googled the event to discover that the celebrations were for Rathayatra which includes the chariots.  This was the 46th celebration in London and the chariots had travelled from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square accompanied by people singing and dancing in the streets.

This is my arty shot - chariots, Lord Nelson atop his pole, and big Ben in the background

We then wandered on and found a lovely little Mexican restaurant for our lunch called Benito's Hat - we had baby burritos (the normal ones were huge) one with chipotle chicken and one with pulled pork. It was a really good find and will be back again (if we can remember where it is).

On our wanderings after lunch we came across the below waistcoat in a shop window - it has cute coloured sheep all over it, very smart.

Our next mission was to find our usual day out treat - you guessed it, coffee and cake. We walked through Covent Garden where there are always street performers and buskers - the girl below was very good. I was watching her perform while Ken had found a car to perve on.

We finally found somewhere with very scrummy looking cakes - reassuringly they tasted even better.

I forgot to mention that it was father's day here in England on Sunday so on behalf of the brats and Bertie I was spoiling Ken - that included a back and shoulder massage. It was a walk in centre and I had one as well - it was really lovely.

Here's a couple of pictures showing some of the interesting buildings that are around every corner in London.

Our final stop was at TGI Friday's for a drink - mine was a Pina Colada Mocktail and Ken's was a Virgin Cuba Libre (big bang fans will know what that is).

It was a great day out and we're looking forward to the next one. Until next time be happy, stay safe, and find fun in every day.

Pamela and Ken
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Exploring Waddesdon Manor

Before I tell you what we got up to on Sunday I need to talk about a phenomenon that puzzles me greatly - people having a picnic in a car park!! What makes someone drive to a beautiful scenic area of the country and then not even make the effort to leave the cars to enjoy their lunch! The people below were less than 100 metres from open parkland which would seem so much more enjoyable. Okay, rant over - if the warm weather continues I'll share some of our favourite picnic spots with you over the summer.

Our day of fun was at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire which is a National Trust property. The house was built in the late 1800's for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and as you can see it is built to resemble a French Chateaux - or a fairy tale palace which I think it looks like.

We decided to leave exploring the house to another day as just as we arrived 4 bus loads of tourists arrived and were queueing to go inside. Instead we explored the beautiful gardens which were gorgeous in the sunshine (perfect for a picnic!). Dotted all around the grounds are statues which add to the European feel - here's just a few of them.

This is the view from the formal gardens at the back of the house - what you can't see is that children were rolling down the slope - we were tempted to join in but thought we might look a little silly - not that it's ever stopped us before.

Here's a few more shots of the area behind the house - we loved the carvings on these big urns.

This was a really nice feature on one corner of the house - ivy has been grown into a diamond pattern.

Another interesting feature was the drain pipes - twisted to look like ropes.

Also around the grounds are some more modern sculptures including this very odd carriage and horses, and two floral birds - I think the second birds head and beak look a bit like a platypus.

This is the aviary and unfortunately the flower beds in front of it haven't been planted up yet this year - they are meant to be quite spectacular.

Selfie in the sun - what do you think of my beloved's facial fur?

Very knobbly tree full of character

The rose garden was in bloom and is planted with hundreds of different types of roses - the smell was amazing. There were so many varied flowers and scents it was enchanting.

What used to be the stables now houses a cafe, shop, gallery, and toilets. It's a beautiful complex - I can't believe that horses used to reside there.

Very interesting wall face

These cakes greatly offended my beloved as he has an issue with the use of vegetables in cakes (though for some reason he tolerates carrot cake) the guilty cakes were  lime and courgette, and chocolate with beetroot.

Ken stopping to smell the roses

Blackbird babies in a man fern

Arty shot - bare bottom and manor

That was our exploration of Waddesdon Manor gardens - it is well worth a visit and it has a multitude of excellent picnic spots (apart from the car park).

Until next time be good, stay safe, and enjoy some time outside.

Pamela and Ken

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P.S: Final picture is of my gorgeous husband ogling an E type Jaguar which is his all time favourite car - if we ever won the lottery that would be top of his list of indulgences.

It's a dog's life...

On Sunday(last week) the Harefield Dogs Trust held their summer fair which is a fun day out for those with two legs and four legs. This year, for the first time, we took Bertie Boo with us. It's such a great event with dogs of all shapes and sizes - it always amazes me how well everyone gets on, and the dogs behave as well.

We arrived just in time to enter our gorgeous boy in the most dashing dog category of the fun dog show. Ken and Bertie paraded round the ring with a multitude of other dogs, and I know I'm biased but they were by far the most handsome pair in the competition.

Ken was interviewed by the lady that was compere for the event and the judge spoke to him to find out all he could about Bertie Boo - I think if it had been a female judge they would have had more of a chance of winning as Ken could have turned on the charm.

All the time we were there the stream of dogs and people coming in never stopped so hopefully the event raised a lot of money for the trust.

I think Bertie is wondering what on earth that wrinkly snuffly creature is?

I love seeing all the different breeds as there are some real cuteys - the puppy dog above looks like a cuddly toy - I should mention here that no matter how old a dog is I always call them a puppy as I'm sure inside that's how they feel.

Apart from Bertie Boo my favourite breed currently is the French Bulldog and I wasn't disappointed - look at the two below, so much character in such little bodies.

Above is a gang of Spaniels greeting each other - I should have videoed it as the wriggly excitement in each of their little bodies was pure joy.

The dog below is a bedlington terrior but we always call them lamb dogs as that's what we think they look like.

As it was a lovely sunny day there were lots of bowls of water around the field so that the puppies could keep hydrated, and there were also kiddie paddling pools for our furry friends to cool off in. I just Loved this puppy as she looked so adorable in her pink t-shirt enjoying the water.

There were lots of different activities to take part in, including picking the winner of the ferret racing (the one in the yellow tunnel won), dog agility, and finding treats under skittles whilst being timed. Bertie and I tried that one and let's just say we didn't challenge the leader board.

We had a great time amongst all the pooches, but as it was quite warm the old boy started to flag a bit and as Bertie was hot as well we didn't stay too long. Unfortunately we left before the golden oldie category in the show as I'm sure our Boo would have walked away with the prize.

We went to Harris and Hoole in Rickmansworth to cool down and I think Bertie Boo appreciated the coolness of the wooden floor.

So that was the Dog's Trust summer fair in Harefield - next event, the Christmas fair.

Why don't you see if any of the animal charities in your area have an event that you could support.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and hug an animal.

Pamela and Ken
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