Dear Family and Friends, May 2
I must say that this weather really can become a bit annoying. While I'm ready for summer, summer doesn't appear to be ready for us. I'm looking forward to an entire day of bright sunshine and clear blue skies. I remember Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame described English weather in one of his books as akin to a dirty, damp dish cloth. I understand the sentiment. I feel as if the budding, bright green trees and the riotous blooming flowers of spring are just mocking me. I'm a sun person. I was born wearing shorts, a T-shirt and sunglasses. But for the time being fields of blooming rapeseed appear to be taking the place of the sun. Everywhere you drive the fields are covered in a bright yellow. I only realised last weekend that rapeseed and canola are the same thing. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed)
Last weekend we had our first weekend away. We drove down to Johan and Linda on the outskirts of London on Friday evening, and took a long looping drive through Sussex and Kent on Saturday and Sunday, staying overnight in Dover on Saturday. Johan gave me a crash course in English history at the town of Battle which is famous for the defining Battle of Hastings of 1066. It was at this battle that William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, defeated the English army of King Harold II and England essentially became a French nation. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings) It suddenly dawned on that this was why so much of the English aristocracy have French names.
The seaside towns along this coast speak of a faded and peeling Victorian grandeur. But still Hastings, Hythe, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate, Herne Bay and Whitstable remain ever popular resorts with Londoners despite the run-down feel to them. Traffic becomes gridlocked on sunny summer weekends as hundreds of thousands of people descend on these towns.
Back at home, I have started working on our garden, not that I really know what I'm doing. The lawn remains waterlogged and the flower beds are a mass of weeds. Trying to dig the weeds out is nearly impossible because of the clay like soil clings to everything with the result that you end up yanking everything out with the weeds. But that seems to be the way it's done looking at our neighbours gardens. Come spring, they pull everything out except the shrubs, turn the soil and start again. We had a specialist lawn man around on Monday to fertilise and spray the grass. We really need to improve the lawn before the dogs get here otherwise we are going to have bit of a problem with them walking muck into the house.
And it's not long before the zoo comes home – just three weeks tomorrow (Saturday). Oh happy day; we're really looking forward to that (and I'm sure the animals must be wondering what the hell they did wrong to be put in jail for six months.)
This weekend is a long weekend in the UK. We haven't made any plans (other than visiting the zoo, of course), but I'm sure it will include a anniversary dinner. We've been married six years. How time flies?
That's it for now. You can see a few more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/llewellynijones as usual.
Love, light & peace
Llewellyn
