Week 22 of 52

                       This week after being gone for two weeks I started working in the yard....I planted herbs in pots...cilantro...rosemary...chives...basil...English thyme...Italian oregano...all the herbs we use the most...

                                                                 starting to plant

pots planted

                           while I was gone the gladioli I planted started to come up

                      I bought some hanging baskets to put along the fence in the backyard

        Joe was very busy while I was having fun in England...he has been cleaning up the corner where the willow tree used to stand...

almost ready to get some sod to put down

Home...

             I have just had a very emotional weekend...I spent two weeks in England with my sister and family travelling with my Mom when she went for her four month visit...we went to lots of places one of which particularly stands out...Harewood House...

           Harewood House was the home of Princess Mary sister to King George VI the Queens father...we had a wonderful day looking around the house and gardens...we all decided that below stairs is where we would have belonged...we found this was the most interesting part of the house...

                                                              sign to below stairs...

                                              Me...Mom...Rose...taken by my niece Marie...

                    This year is Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee...60 years of reigning...so in honour of the Jubilee...Harewood House had an exhibition of Marcus Adams photography...he took Queen Elizabeths first photo shoot at just a few months old...there were lots of photos that were loaned to Harewood House by the Queen herself...they all came from the Royal Collection...it was very impressive to see...

                    Now to the emotional part of my weekend...I had to say goodbye to everyone and come back home...my Mom stayed...she will be there until September...saying goodbye to my nieces...my brother in law and especially my sister just about tore me apart...every time we have to do this I think I am not going to do this again...but how can I not visit my family...it was my choice many years ago to leave England and my family to come live in the United States and for the most part I am very happy here...I just need to quit dwelling on my trip and get over the fact that I am home...

Happy 80th Birthday Mom

                      Today is my Mom's 80th birthday...it is the first time in a number of years that I have spent her birthday with her...she spends part of the year with me and my family and part of the year with my sister and her family...at this time of the year she is in England with my sister and family...this year I have been visiting so I am able to celebrate her special birthday with her...

                                                             My Mom...Mary Boow

                                                                 

                                                         

Afternoon tea...

                        Today we had a girly day at my niece Marie's...Marie invited us over for afternoon tea...with the help from her sisters Amelia and Olivia...

                        she had traditional English foods...cucumber sandwiches...egg and cress sandwiches...smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches...quiches...pork pies...

                        then on to the desserts...scones with jam and clotted cream...cheesecake...chocolate covered strawberries...iced cakes...and two different kinds of tea...

                                                                    our invitation

                                            scones-cakes-chocolate covered strawberries

                                                                quiches-pork pies

                                                                          Marie

                                                  Rose-Mom-Olivia-Marie-Amelia

                                                   Angela-Rose-Mom-Olivia-Amelia

21 of 52

                                 
                                I have been in England a week now...one more week to go...we have been out and about...but this trip is primarily to spend time with my mom and sister and my sister's family...I spend lots of time with my mom as does my sister...but it is not very often that the three of us manage to get together...

                               This week Rose, my mom and I had a wonderful day out to Shibden Hall in Halifax Yorkshire...Shibden Hall was built in the 1400s...over 600 years of history in this one building...we had a good time going from room to room and  at times listening in to a school groups guided tour...

                                                                   Shibden Hall...

                                Rose trying the butter churning machine...Mom looking on...

                                                    My mom and I at Shibden Hall...


                                 After Shibden Hall we stopped at the market town of Hebden Bridge...my dad was born in this town...the building below used to be a woollen mill...it has now been turned into gift shops and tea shops...and yes we had a cup of tea along with some lunch...

                                                                 Hebden Bridge...

                                                            Lunch in Hebden Bridge...

A walk to Todmorden

         ...yesterday my Mom and I went for a walk to the local market town of Todmorden...we set off from my sisters house in Walsden and went along the canal for a little way...then along the street...first to Morrisons grocery store where we had a cup of tea and a bite to eat...then into Todmorden...

the village of Walsden sign...

along the Rochdale canal...

                                       a mid morning snack at Morrisons grocery store...

                                                          getting into Todmorden...

Todmorden sign...

                                                                    St Marys...

Happy Mothers Day...

            This is the first time in I don't know how many years that I have spent Mothers Day with my mom...she is usually in England at this time...she is in England now but this time I am with her...we went for a walk this morning to the local garden center...

                                                       my Mom among the flowers...

                                                           inside the garden center...

                                             eating her first 99' ice cream cone of the trip...

                                               walking through the village of Walsden...

Week 20 of 52

Wednesday 9th May
                               This one is going to be good if all goes according to plan...for the last few weeks I have been planning a trip to England...my Mom is going back to stay with my sister for a few months and on a whim I decided to book a flight and go with her...just for a couple of weeks...

                               Thing is my sister doesn't know that I am going to be there...my three nieces and my brother in law John all know I am arriving with Mom but Rose will not know until she is at the airport to pick up Mom...

                               I have been talking to one niece on Facebook and I have talked to John via phone and all is set up...at this time...two days before I leave for England...Rose doesn't suspect anything...I did send her an e-mail saying that Mom is bringing something with her and it will not fit into her luggage so she will have to carry it on...I also said that I hoped Mom could handle it...all I heard from her is that she is intrigued at what Mom is bringing with her...

                    Fast forward a few days...on Saturday May 12th my Mom and I arrived at London Heathrow airport and very conveniently Rose went to use the restroom right before we came through with our baggage...I managed to position myself to take a photo of Rose greeting Mom...

                                     below is the reaction when Rose realised I was there too...

                  As far as my 52 of 52...for the next two weeks I will be posting a little bit about my ramblings around my home town...

Week 19 of 52

                This week I am learning how to use my new camera...a couple of weeks ago my point and shoot camera that I have had for quite a number of years broke...just a couple of weeks before I take a little trip...

                I have been on-line to Amazon.com and to Best Buy looking for a camera to replace the broken one...Joe kept telling me to wait, not to do anything about a camera yet, that we would go together and look for one...

                A few days later a package came by UPS addressed to Aaron...mmm...I asked Joe about it and he said that he had ordered something he needed through Aaron...Aaron works at Amazon.com...I asked Aaron about it and he said it was his it got shipped to our house by mistake and Joe was supposed to be mailing it back...haha..got ya!... Pretty hard to keep secrets at my house especially when I am a little bit of a sneak/snoop whatever you want to call it...

                On Sunday I was given my Mothers day gift from Joe, Adam and Aaron...they all contributed to the gift...next Sunday 13th May is Mothers day but I will be out of town...

                 My new camera is a Canon Power Shot SX260 HS...it is awesome but I do need to learn how to use all it's features...here are my first few practice shots...taken around my yard...

                                                                  macro effect...

                                                                   fish-eye effect...

                                                                    normal lens...

                                                        same shot but using zoom...

                  Think I am going to have a lot of fun with this camera once I know how to use it...thanks to my guys...

               

Week 18 of 52

          This week the high school lacrosse team that Aaron coaches was in the cities for three lacrosse games...it is a first year lacrosse team...most of the players have not played lacrosse before...they won one out of the three games...Joe and I went to see part of one of the games in St Paul...

          On Saturday night the team attended the Minnesota Swarm lacrosse game...they were part of the opening...they went onto the field while the Swarm were introduced...here are a couple of photos from our evening...I think I totally embarrassed Aaron with my dancing around in my seat...thankfully nobody took a photo of that...

                                               the opening act...Santiago X The Natural...

                                            the team...Grand Cities Predators...on the field...

          Now to my week 18 of 52...a couple of weeks ago I bought some gladioli bulbs...last week I made another flower garden which I wrote about here...I amended the soil with some peat moss...and today I planted the bulbs...

                                                             the Gladioli bulbs...

the bulbs planted...