September endeth

September comes to an end: David celebrated a birthday and the weather was pleasant-- unlike August! As ever, Soli and Felix are full of beans. Here are a couple calmer moments-- certainly opportune photo ops amidst so many blurred "action photos" taken while trying to get some decent ones!




How could Granny Linn have known when she sent a care-package months ago via surface mail that her grandsons would by the time of its arrival be enamoured of the film CARS ? Two pairs of CARS socks each-- enough for every hand and foot, and the source of great fun and smiles! And this was before we even had breakfast!

Beckenham Place Park

We've recently visited Beckenham Place Park for the first time. It's definitely a place I'd like to return to for hither-thither walks with my hither-thither boys. We went with our friends Howard and Noa that time, and I imagine we will again!


For blurbs on this and other local parks (most of which we do visit!):
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/LeisureAndCulture/ParksAndRecreation/LocalParks

Glastonbury Abbey

We found ourselves near Glastonbury so spent part of a day there, mostly at Glastonbury Abbey. It was a pleasant, well-kept site within which we wandered amongst the ruins, ate our sandwiches on a bench under a dappling tree, and learned some interesting historical facts.




In the 16th century, King Henry VIII abolished and demolished most of the monastic system in England. Therefore there are some sites like this around the country, where cathedrals, convents, abbeys, monastaries and the like are now ruins rising out of mowed green lawns and are visited by tourists, just as intact cathedrals are.


For more info on Henry VIII's destruction, peruse this web page: http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/suppression_of_english_monasteri.htm


And then there's the whole Arthurian legend. We didn't have time to delve into that or climb the Tor. For more info on this and other mythical aspects of Glastonbury, go to http://www.time-scapes.co.uk/Glastonbury/glastonburylandh.html

fiddle and guitar

This guy didn't have much to say when we ran into him lugging his contraption down a cobblestone alley earlier in the day, except that he'd be in front of the bath house (in the city of Bath) a bit later. So we looked out for him and were impressed with his ability to play 2 instruments simultaneously and well. Soli was fascinated. David waited patiently while I enthused. Felix, well, he just likes to dance.

more holiday highlights

During our stay, we met with Sarah (David's sister), Chris (her husband), Beth (seen below with Felix) and Rebekah (no pic of her here but see http://rebekahsfaces.blogspot.com/ for plenty!)at a "country park" not far from Bristol, where they live. It was nice to catch up in a relaxed and varied setting where we could all meander over and play within several acres containing playgrounds, orchards, cattle, an inflatable play area, and even a little boating lake complete with geese.



We also spent a day in Bristol at the Soil Association Organic Fortnight festival/market. I've been a member of the Soil Assoc (see link on right) for a while but hadn't been to this event before so was glad we happened to be up there at the right time of year! Best photo we have from that day is of this rather dapper (and very friendly) pot-head!



We visited Wookey Hole caves and dinosaur valley. Soli wouldn't go into the cave and was wary of the full-scale dinosaurs outside of it, but we did have fun there-- especially posing as cave people!





We went to Longleat safari park, which 40 years ago became "the first location outside of Africa to open a drive through Safari Park" (www.longleat.co.uk/attractions/safari-park.html). I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, but the animals mingled naturally and contentedly. Of course I'd prefer to just go to Africa, but short of that expedition this suited us well and was definitely educational and fascinating for the kids!





It was something of a rush to be so close to a rhino. I was really struck by their physique-- the horns, skin and head shapes as well as heft and apparent strength.