A little catch up on what I got up too in Paris is definitely in order… I promise I will write more soon, however, today I will fill you in on England.
I have been in the UK for over a week now and I love it… riding on trains through the English country side, with a good book in hand and Laura Marling in my ears… I am feeling terribly English.
It is strange, although I have not lived properly in the UK for 13 years, whenever I return I feel as though I am home, as though I had never been away from my homeland. England just feels right.
-----------------
On Sunday the 21st we woke up at 3am to catch the 5am Ferry from France to the UK. It was wonderful, watching the sunrise over European waters was quite amazing... listening to the mix of French and British chatter on board, put a huge smile on my face as I tried to sneak in a couple of winks between coffee and croissants on the 3 and a half hour journey.
The afternoon was spent with my Grandmother in Eastbourne. We had a lovely lunch in a beautiful, old English pub, and then took a short ride around the country side.
The next few days I spent with my sisters, niece and nephew in Hastings, it was wonderful…
I also caught up with some old friends, drank cider, walked along the beach, along the west hill, took photographs and came across something rather unexpected…
in 1996 when I was 7 years old, I carved my name into the Hastings cliffs… a kind of tradition that has taken place for as long as I can remember… basically… if you visit the cliffs you carve your name into the stone…
I tried looking for my name amongst the thousands of entries when I visited Hastings 3 years ago… I spent hours roaming the cliffs trying to remember where on earth I was that Saturday afternoon when I sat in my gold and black skating outfit carving my name into the cliff face… I could not believe my eyes when I found it by chance last week… wow carved into the cliffs 17 years ago… Oh My!!!
I tried looking for my name amongst the thousands of entries when I visited Hastings 3 years ago… I spent hours roaming the cliffs trying to remember where on earth I was that Saturday afternoon when I sat in my gold and black skating outfit carving my name into the cliff face… I could not believe my eyes when I found it by chance last week… wow carved into the cliffs 17 years ago… Oh My!!!
The past 4 days have been spent at my aunty and uncles house in Milton Keynes… they live in an old pub / blacksmiths / converted barn that was built in the 1500’s it is beautiful. As I write this I sit in their library which used to be the barn / stables. I am surrounded by books, and am sitting in a beautiful old armchair in the patch of run currently streaming through the window… sigh! The perfect environment to be getting a head start on things to come…
Amongst looking at possible flat shares and artist studios, there has been a lot of baking and cooking delicious goodies.
Some lovely delights from the local farmer...
Yesterday my uncle and I took a stroll down the lane to a beautiful field, which was surrounded by blackberry bushes… we picked half a bowl each and headed back to begin baking an apple and blackberry crumble…. Mmmmmmmmhmmmmm it was fabulous.
Some lovely delights from the local farmer...
Yesterday my uncle and I took a stroll down the lane to a beautiful field, which was surrounded by blackberry bushes… we picked half a bowl each and headed back to begin baking an apple and blackberry crumble…. Mmmmmmmmhmmmmm it was fabulous.
The apples were Bramley… funnily enough these lovely British icons were grown in France… picked from my aunty and uncles garden in the South… and brought back to their homeland to be baked and consumed… by hungry British folk. Delightful!
The crumble was not complete ofcourse without custard. Yum!
- Ula
No comments:
Post a Comment