New England Patriotism

Memorial Day in New England is like the opening weekend of summer and everywhere you look there are American Flags....proudly displayed on houses, docks, mailboxes, town squares and in every small town cemetery. It is customary to place a flag at each gravestone of a Veteran. We truly have had out-of-town visitors comment on the impact of the sight of all the flags, you can't help but feel the patriotism of New England!










“We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home. . .But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.”







We attended the Memorial Day parade and ceremony in Hull to cheer on Haley's boyfriend, Tommy, who is marching with the police officers. Believe me, there was not a dry eye when the bugler played TAPS and the "wreath of the soldiers", carried by an honored Girl Scout and a Boy Scout was floated out to sea.

There is no I in "TEAM"!

Well...there may be if you are dyslexic! "Wr so prd of Haly an hr accmplsmnts I jst hv to brg a bt!"
I'll bet you had some trouble reading that at first but you figured it out.......it's because your brain automatically knows the rules of phonics and fills in the spaces with the missing vowel sounds and letters needed to read this short sentence. Now think of how difficult it would be to read a whole "Ancient Civilizations" text book if it were written this way... exhausting, right?
In a classroom of 28 students, a teacher in our public school system is expected to challenge every individual....the shy, the overweight, the angry, the hungry, the blind, the hyperactive, the wheelchair bound, the gifted, the bored, and the dyslexic!


When I asked Haley what it was that kept her positive and in school she talked about the "TEAM" she had on her side. All those special teachers along the way who developed her IEP (Individual Educational Plan) and taught her how SHE had to study and how SHE had to learn....right through four years of college. In elementary and middle school, I considered being Haley's "advocate" a full time job but somewhere along High School she took over and that is what made her strong enough to take on the challenge of college......AND SHE DID IT -- SHE GRADUATED!



















It was a fun day and we celebrated with friends and family.

Afternoon Tea with a twist!

Prêt-à-Portea at The Berkeley is designed to add a creative twist to the classic elements of the traditional English afternoon tea with cakes and pastries inspired by the latest fashion season's catwalk designs for the style conscious (who me?). It may not be the quintessential English afternoon tea but who cares? It's fabulous darling!







Do you recognize......
Victoria Beckham peach coloured sponge cake tote with chocolate crocodile print
Marc Jacobs raspberry and lychee cream jumpsuit with over-sized chocolate flower belt
Miu Miu vanilla bikini biscuit with navy icing and signature white bow
Tory Burch strawberry and rhubarb bavarois dress with flattering gold button detail
Prada summer dress of papaya, red currant and blueberry mousse, topped with pate de frui
Jil Sander coloured block dress of crème de menthe and coconut jelly with must-have sparkly sunglasses

All served on fine-bone china by Paul Smith, complete with handbag take away boxes......
And one little chocolate for Rick ..... fabulous darling!

Vroom Vroom

Italian artist's Vroom Vroom sculpture adds va va vroom to London's Park Lane......
At 13 feet high, it certainly won't go unnoticed on one of London's busiest streets just in front of the Dorchester Hotel. The sculpture features a vintage Fiat 500 - the last car the 44 year old Italian ever bought - and an oversized "a-lu-minium" hand modeled from his son.




I knew you would like it but the sculpture is only on display through May!

Our Norfolk Weekend

"On the Road Again" this time to the East coast...Norfolk. We picked up our cute rented sports car, downloaded our destination in Tomas-Tomas and headed East about 3 1/2 hours out of London. We had a long Easter weekend, the weather was glorious and the coastline was calling us!
We stayed in the Georgian market town of Holt at a posh B&B with restaurant and deli.... Byfords.
"a higgledy-piggledy, bustling place, popular not just at mealtimes but also with the locals dropping in for coffee and cake....a lot of thought has clearly gone into getting the little things right"
The Sunday Times





Sandringham is the Norfolk retreat of Her Majesty The Queen and it was opening weekend, in fact it is where the Queen went last Saturday after The Wedding to relax. We were only allowed to tour four rooms but the grounds were just beautiful, especially the forest areas full of bluebells and camellias.




Some of the highlights of our weekend included lunch at the Hoste Arms in Burnham Market, the Lavender Kitchen in Walsingham, and the beach huts lining the coastline in the seaside town of Well-next-the-Sea. The tide was out so far that we walked quite a way with wet sand between our toes and never saw the water!















After a hearty breakfast at Byfords we headed back to London with a stop in the historical city of Norwich to walk through the Cathedral. After walking the perfectly preserved medieval cobbled streets of Elm Hill I think it is a city we could easily hop on a train and spend a weekend exploring.
Hmmm....maybe an idea for an AWC overnight trip!

Our BEST photo of the day!

We are all suffering from it today....PWD - Post wedding depression!
Wasn't it just beautiful!

Wedding Thursday - Camp London

For several days, the campers in front of Westminster Abbey have been interviewed by the media but this morning we saw the first tents set up along the Mall. The people we spoke to were cheerful and enthusiastically looking forward to the next 24 hours. This cute bunch of ladies were in the same spot for the last wedding, Andrew's. They had just put on their kettle for tea and were already looking forward to their chilled bottles of wine for later. One of them told us that the "bubbly would be arriving in the morning - that is if my grandson wants to remain in my will!"







And when we walked home .... WHAT?
Who is that in my window?
Looks like I have guests!