Monday in Bladon

As I was unpacking the alarm clock that had served us so well in London, I must have hit a button that caused it to jump ahead an hour. We told Diane that we'd be up and around (and ready for a full English breakfast!) by 10. We woke up and stayed in bed howling with laughter. Now, a week later, I can not for the life of me remember what was so funny, but I do remember that we were laughing so hard we were crying and we woke Diane! Now, that took some doing because her house is BIG and our room was not that close to hers!

Anyway.....after we laughed our heads off, we noticed the time - about 10 minutes to 10 - so we got dressed and headed to the kitchen where we expected to find Diane slaving over a hot stove. But, what we found was that it was not even 9:00 yet! I put on the kettle (since I now remembered the right way to do it) and pretty soon Diane came down to start breakfast.

Oh, how we love English breakfast! Fried eggs (or scrambled if you are Kimber), bacon, sausage, fried tomatoes, beans, and fried bread. I LOVE fried bread. There, I said it and I am not ashamed. I could eat fried bread every day at every meal. But, only if Diane is there to cook it for me.

After breakfast, we went to Bladon. I had a bouquet of sunflowers to put under Dad's bush. I've done this every trip since 2002, so I figure the groundskeeper of the cemetary is wondering why, every 2 years or so, there are sunflowers under that silly bush. The top photo is a perfect photo of "our" bench and "Dad's" bush.

It was a beautiful day and Sir Winston's grave was decorated by the Dutch ambassador in honor of the Dutch Resistance. There is a school right next to the cemetary and the children were outside and we could hear their laughter which made me smile.

So, I honored my dad and silently thanked him for instilling in me a curious nature and an appreciation of diversity - both traits that served me well during the previous week. Of course, I shed a tear or two and a hug or two with Diane and Kimber.

We spent some time in the church because although the sun was shining, the temperature was a bit cool. We left as a tour bus arrived. Those silly American tourists, pushing and shoving for a picture with the church in the background, walking all across the graves, talking in loud voices. It was time for us to move on.

Diane dropped us at the Blenheim Palace (bottom photo) gate and as we walked towards the palace, Kimber stopped frequently to admire the view and take pictures of the pristine grounds. We could have walked barefoot and probably would have if it weren't so stinkin' cold.

We toured the palace which was fun; I never get tired of wandering around Blenheim. There were some new exhibits which were interesting. After the tour, I was waiting outside for Kimber who was in the bookstore. A man walked by me who took my breath away, he looked just like my dad. So much so, that I found myself staring at him. I saw Kimber through the bookstore window and she was frantically motioning for me to come in. I went in and she said to me "Do you see that man? He looks just like your dad!"

When I went back outside, the man had been joined by his wife. I approached them and asked if they spoke English. In very British accents they said "Yes". So I told the gentleman that he looked like my dad. He said he was glad to have a twin in the United States. I told him that my dad had passed away several years ago - and I had to wipe tears off my cheeks. He very kindly touched my arm and said "I hope that seeing me has brightened your day." Both he and his wife were very kind and didn't seem bothered at all by the crazy American lady.

After spending the afternoon at Blenheim, Diane came to pick us up. We went out for fish and chips and mushy peas then back to Diane's. We had scones with clotted cream for dessert and I discovered that I could eat my weight in scones with raspberry jelly and clotted cream. In England they have something called double whipping cream or something like that which puts our "heavy whipping cream" to shame. To. Shame.

It stays light so late that time gets away from you. Before you know it, it's 10:30 or 11 o'clock but the light outside makes you think it's much earlier.

Tuesday is Oxford! One of my favorite places in the world.