Saturday, June 03, 2006

ENGLISH holiday

May bank-holiday half-term week here in sunny rainy England.
I suppose we should have known better than to expect good weather just because its June.

None of the clothes I took to Ipswich were really quite warm enough, so I resorted to wearing all of them all at once, all the time. (plus some socks I nicked borrowed from RW's laundry pile....)
I think we had our English summer a couple of weeks ago.

BUT - I have had a very good half-term week, largely due to the wonderful RW, and doing lots of very ENGLISH things, and seeing lots of very ENGLISH sights, taking my mind off the things from which my mind needs taking (grammar?).

I had lots of opportunities to exercise my fab new prize camera. Its rather better and much more compact than the one M bought me. I felt some slight twinges of guilt for keeping it, rather than the one he got - but only very slight. Though the one he bought had a more powerful zoom, which would have been useful for catching the bunnies on RW's lawn first thing in the morning.

And here is the less-twitchy nosed RW herself, on the lawn, first thing in the morning.


Only on our last day, though. The weather wasn't generally conducive to breakfast al fresco.

But the cold wet weather didn't keep us at home. No, we are ENGLISH.

We went to the Sussex - sorry Suffolk County Show. More County than country - I'd half hoped to come back with some exciting fleece/s (YES, fleece can be exciting) - but there wasn't a great deal of genuine country craft. Thatching notwithstanding. (Who would have thought that the sentence "thatching notwithstanding" could make sense?) (Yes, it did).
Lots of gents in tweeds, and quite a few young Conservatives farmers.

There were lot of genuine country animals.

Particularly sheep - watch RW's blog for further details.



And there were some wonderful heavy horses.



We also

went to Sutton Hoo. Not really British, (demn those angl0- saxon invaders...) but English I suppose.....

The girls were impressed by the old bones,

LG was impressed by the armour and weapons,

RW and I were impressed by the GOLD and fabulous celtic designs.
















We then did that very ENGLISH thing of loitering on the beach in cold miserable weather, pretending we didn't care whether or not the sun came out.


The sea was genuinely the colour of a tepid and too-milky cup of tea in an ENGLISH motorway cafe.








The girls got soaking wet trousers/ feet/ wellies/ trainers.

We picked up lovely pebbles,
sea-glass and exquisitely smooth- broken shell...



We pissed about experimented with my new camera's settings ........
........

(I wish my hair was really that colour... )




















And we looked for possible accommo- dations for the homeless RWs....





Thanks for a great time RW.

27 comments:

ramblingwoman said...

Hi Lettie, What a wonderful digest of our few days.

I just have to say as continuity expert that the show was the SUFFOLK show, not Sussex! And at one time you called me RS! And you got rather posh at one time (the influence of all those young fogeys) and said 'demn' instead of 'damn'! Picky, moi? I can talk - the amount of glaringly large grammatical errors in my blog! Should I ever be able to get on the computer to post it!

lettuce said...

well, Miss, the "demn" was deliberate....

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, i can see that demn was deliberate now! (contrite face).

Sorry to be the pickiest continuity person you know! Eee but would you have me any other way?

Identikit said...

Ah yes, I was thinking that Sussex was a long way to go to meet Young Farmers. There are plenty just across the border in Norfolk.

Perhaps The Knitting Circle had a stall at the Show eh?
Me knitting? That's another one of my "I have never"s.

Glad you're back, Lettuce, even if you're not!!

Miss Picky there should learn to stick to picking her nose like the rest of us!!!

Cream said...

What a great photo-diary!
I don't think that Rambler would settle for one of them beach huts unless they're like the Tardis!

L, I hope your weather has improved...Ours is glorious up here!

Kitty, that's 3 or 4 nevers already! Never say never!!

lettuce said...

Please Miss, will you check my corections?

The fabric of my life said...

Great photos. Love the wonky beach hut. We must have all the sunshine here as it is glorious and has been for days now.

Wendz - short hair can look great on older women, check out my MIL who is in her mid-sixties. Her photo is on my blog.

grumpy old woman said...

Lettuce sweetie, re: slugs (Tat's comment box) I heard on the Archers omnibus this morning that broken egg shells are a good thing to use - just a thought - I know ziltch about gardening, me, but thought I should pass it on ......

Oh, and yes I am managing to get out in the sun as well as study, thanks. Unfortunately I managed to pick up a virus the minute my computer was fixed - my geek friend is coming round this evening to see what he can to about it. PTB.

~(:o})=

Identikit said...

YEs, Talisker is whisky and yes, it is Single Malt. Ruth is fussy about whisky - I'll drink anything even the stuff she snorts at and calls cooking whisky. Cooking whisky? Who cooks with whisky eh?

Hope you had a nice day and have a good lunch with Trac.

ramblingwoman said...

Hahha le Chat. Cooking Whiskey? Well may be in Scotland they cook with whiskey? (I am refraining form being rascist here)

Sorry Lettuce if I offended you. That's twice in one blog! I didn't mean to! Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry

And how about them there LG and M then? Getting that wrong? Did they go back and change it?

ramblingwoman said...

Oh yes...great profile pic!

ramblingwoman said...

Oops sorry. Whiskey is Irish, Whisky is Scottish. Offending people all over the place!

ramblingwoman said...

ptb it's raining hard here. Summer's over.

Molly Bloom said...

It sounds like you had a great time!

Big up long hair!
Big up short hair!
Big hair in general!

I see you took a picture of my house while you were at the seaside. Not as good as Trac's...but...well...I try to keep it presentable...

lettuce said...

hahaha, I can nearly imagine Molly living in that hut.

M cooked steak for lunch today with a whisky, mushroom and cream sauce - pretty saucey it was too.

Glad you like the pic, RW, you took it!

lettuce said...

I do look a bit coy, don't I? maybe I'll take it down again ....

Identikit said...

No, don't take it down. It's good.

STeak and whisky, monkfish and whisky. They both sound good to me but sadly Ruth doesn't eat such things - just the whisky. What about whisky courgettes? Sounds horrid doesn't it. See how I suffer for love???

lettuce said...

well, maybe - though my hand looks like a face-hugger.

Couldn't you persuade her about the fish? I'd find it hard to do without meat and fish

Identikit said...

I don't think I can persuade Ruth. Maybe if she gets pregnant I might be able to. I'm sure fish oils and all that iron in meat are crucial in pregnancy.

anyway, bedtime, I think.

Bird said...

I love this post - it is so ENLGISH. hahahaha! this damn yankee loves the brit sense of humor (why didn't we inherit it - after all the apple suppsoedly -sp- doesn't fall far from the tree). i suppose all those other immigrants diluted it. (oh dear, i shall be chastised for that comment if any of my fellow US of A liberals read this comment).

I am done with grading, done with the two week partying for my grad and now resting -so-called. must put the finishing touches on my summer school course design and then teach again (6-week summer session) before popping off on vacation.

oh - and by the way - we northern californias also visit bloody cold-as-hell beaches. as a beachcomber, my job is to comb beaches, i will not be deterred by the weather (OCean Beach here in SF is rather dismal on a foggy day - but oh so beautiful when the sun shines).

now i'm off to read your rose post, having recently acquired a yellow miniature rose plant for my balcony garden.

come by and visit- i have a new, though rather lengthy post up.

The fabric of my life said...

Lovely photo Lettuce. Please don't take it down. You have artistic hands, lovely long fingers, I'm envious!

grumpy old woman said...

Love the photo Lettuce. I vote it stays!

~(:o})=

Tanya said...

I love your new photo Letty,why are you so shy? I know how lovely you are..... not long now, the cabin will be ready, the pool is ready, we are ready....

Jay said...

Sounds like a fairly fabulous time, all in all, and thatching notwithstanding.

Tanya said...

Letty the illustrations are from an old Janet and John book, aren't they great.. I am thinking of having them made into keyrings and magnets... What's your camera deal?

Onyx said...

That looks cold, but fun. I wish it were as cool here. Wonderful pics though!!

Joanna said...

I have spent my childhood on that very wet cold beach, well just occasionally it was sunny but I can't remember. My mum was alwasy windsurfing and she left me on the beach with strangers. I used to love going to the suffolk show but have not been for ages. I love that wonky hut its amazing and have painted severall times. Back to a hopefully sunny Suffolk this weekend.