A productive and fun day with Evensong!

      Today was a very productive day! We set off first thing for Direct Workwear, to buy Dad his high viz  motorcycle gear. The man that ran the place was really nice, and it was good, because it had great parking. It was nice and sunshiny today. 

After Direct Workwear, we went out to Thompson's Fish and Chips on the A64 on the way to Scarborough. Minutes from our hotel, and close to where the smash up was yesterday, the food was excellent! And they had free Wi-fi! 

Back to drop off the motorcycle wear, then on to the park and ride to drop off our car and take the bus into town. 

   We got off close to the Minster, and had a wander around inside it. We saw the plaque commemorating William Wilberforce, and lots of other really neat things. We found that Evensong started at 5:15, so we went out to the Shambles and shopped around, so we could be back for the service. 

The choir that sang the service was wonderful! We had heard them practicing earlier. We both really enjoyed Evensong. 

      After the service,  we went to Betty's Tea Room and Cafe, and both had the Swiss Rosti, which was shredded potatoes, cheese and bacon. Jack had Ginger Beer, and Mom had Elderflower Bubbly, both really good!

 After that we rushed to the bus, which we didn't need too, and here we are, back at the hotel!

Raining in York. What a surprise!

Today Mom brought Jack breakfast in his room, that's because he was still in his bed at 9:15, and breakfast ends at 9:30! Today we were thinking about walking around York, but since it was raining, we decided to drive to Scarborough instead.  On the way, we got to watch an impromptu get together!  Coming back, just minutes outside of our exit, there was a three car smashup. The ironic thing was, the most smashed up car was the one that was carrying the ad for the approved automobile body work shop!

  It is about 35 miles east of York, on the coast, people often go there to walk near the seashore, but we only went there to take pictures and come back. 

     On the way, we passed a huge humane pig farm! Each pig had their own small green Quonset hut, with a fenced yard (Today it was a stereotypical mud pit)

The green English countryside looks pretty, even in the rain.   

When we got back, we found a pony wandering around the side of the hotel! He looked like he wanted to talk to us!

It was a bit sunny here! Over to Mrs. Kay's for dinner, where it was delicious beef burgundy with suet dumplings, mashed potatoes and cabbage. After dinner there was cheese, grapes and biscuits. Mom was able to get one load of laundry finished. 

Jack and Dru found out where to get the lime green vests for Dad, so they will make a trip there tomorrow. Plus, the Viking Museum!  

NRM - National Railway Museum in York

Today, the children next door didn't wake us up until 8:40. We got ready, ate our breakfast and then headed out to tour the town of York. First on our list was the National Railway Museum (http://www.nrm.org.uk/). We spent a lot of time there!  

The museum is trying to fund an effort to restore the Flying Scotsman to running status: http://www.flyingscotsman.org.uk/

We think this is a really worthy cause and if you have a bit of spare coin, please join us in helping them.  Thomas would be proud of you!

         We got there at about 10:30, and left around 1:00, and got tickets for the hop on, hop off, double decker tour bus.

We rode around the city one time and about a half, and jumped off. We walked back to the National Railway Museum, because we wanted to go to their little eating with the trains cafe, called the Queen Victoria. We had two pots of tea, bacon and lettuce baguette, and a fruit scone. It was very very good!

To get out of the car park, we need to pay 7 pounds in coins. Not seven pounds of coins, but seven 1 pound coins! 

Mom is getting really good at driving, no roundabout errors, and it was rush hour traffic in the middle of York! Next stop, Monks Cross and the Asda Supercenter! We found a couple of products worthy of photographing. 

Back to the hotel.  Mom is going to see Mrs. Kay at dialysis tonight. 

Easter Monday

Today was a slow to start day. We must have been really tired, because we didn’t wake up until 0930! We hung around the room, reading and playing with iPods.

At 1230 we were on the road to the party thrown by the other Emma and Paul. Not the ones from Australia, although the ones from Australia are staying with them. 

It only took 30 minutes to drive, so we drove around on the country lanes. It was a very gray day today. About 45 deg F, warming to 51. Hardly any rain, though.

When we arrived, there were quite a few people already there. Jack and Dru were introduced to all the relatives, some we already knew

Two huge tables of food, the first with ham, prawns, Coronation Chicken, bread, potato salad, salad, quiche, and pate. The second table had the sweets, the large chocolate cake, sultana cake, cookies from Aunt Denise, very yummy, a lemon roulade, another kind of cake, fresh berries, cream, cheeses and water biscuits. Of course you know by now that every thing was absolutely delicious, and also way too much!

Eve and Aunt Denise performed a rendition of “A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down”, with Eve doing the dancey bits.

Jack and Jackal spent the time eating, and playing games on the iPods. 

After much conversation and laughter, Jack and Dru headed back home, not wanting to challenge her driving with the dark. They made it home with no problems, and are thinking about the Railway Museum for tomorrow.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Today we started out with Easter Sunday service at Christ Church, really close to Mrs. Kay's house. Paul used to go to this church when he was younger and lived in York, and also his Cub Scout troop was based there. Eve had been baptized there. He met many people that he had known from before. The service was casual contemporary, one with lots of audience participation, Dru's favorite Easter song was the first hymn they sang, Christ the Lord is Risen Today (the song Hap could not get on the schedule at home).

We had an extended refreshment time with tea and cups of biscuits, as Paul re-acquainted himself with friends from church. After church, Jack and Dru drove back to the hotel, and read and listened to their iPods, until it was time to go to Easter Dinner at Mrs. Kay's at 1445 local time.

There we met the other Emma and Paul, who were great fun! Emma is Paul Langstaff's cousin, and she is housing the Langstaffs during their York stay. The dinner prepared by Kay, and bit of helping by Len and Paul, was superb. The first course was a choice of melon, or pate on toast with butter. Next came roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes, boiled new potatoes, leeks, carrots, cheesy cauliflower, and gravy.

For dessert, fruit salad, key lime pie, and blueberry creme brulee, with coffee. We all sat around the table, talking and laughing and eating, and eating and eating. Denise, Kay's sister, dropped by to join us for a bit. At 7:30, it was time to go, and it was amazingly so light outside!

Tomorrow, Emma and Paul are throwing a huge party at their house in Selby, Emma is counting on Jack Arnold to eat a lot! He says he'll help her out! Promised is a chocolate cake as large as a dining room table! A big task, but Jack believes he can accomplish it as he has many times before! Church snacks have prepared him for this monumental eating task that lies ahead of him!

The Easter Duckies in Mrs. Kay's back garden wish you the very best Easter, pointing out that is the only kind there is!

Tripartite Shopping

Today was a meet-up between friends from the USA, the UK, and Australia! The world has become very small, indeed!

At 1130, we received the call we had been waiting for! Paul, Emma, Jack and Eve were at Mrs. Kay’s, would we like to pop ‘round? Yes, indeed! Upon our arrival, there were hugs, kisses, smiles, tea, coffee, and biscuits all around. We then piled into our two vehicles to go into the main center of York.

The Langstaffs had rented a a huge 7 passenger van for only 391 pounds for three weeks, a Ssangyong Rodius of Chinese build, it was quite beat up on the outside. Dru must not be doing too bad with her driving, because Paul and Emma allowed Jackal to ride in her car. 

Each of our cars had a disabled badge, which means we got to drive through the pedestrian areas of York. It was amazing to see the crowds of people part to let us by.

In the town square was a food tasting fair, lots of people milling about. Mrs. Kay took Eve to the Disney store, and was so happy to buy her a lovely pink gift.

We then wandered the stores, and the open air market in the Shambles.  Then it was time for lunch, at a place called Kennedy’s. We had lovely food and drinks, courtesy of Mrs. Kay.  

After lunch, we had a bit of a wander again, and back to Kay’s, where we watched the Cambridge-Oxford boating race. Cambridge won! I guess the power of Jackal’s T-shirt beat out the power of Mrs. Kay’s sweatshirt. At the beginning of the race, Mrs. Kay vowed not to remove her sweatshirt, until Oxford won.  We think she’s going to get tired of that sweatshirt! 

We then zoomed back to our hotel, and didn’t even use the GPS, Mom’s getting so good at driving to and from Mrs. Kay’s! The big thing for this evening was the premiere episode of the new Dr. Who season. Jack loves it, and thinks he may be getting a Dr. Who addiction!

Tomorrow we will wake up early, and we will go to the Easter service at the church near Mrs. Kay’s house, and then we will have Easter dinner prepared by Mrs. Kay.

Wonderful friends, cold weather, great food and clean clothes!

Today was another cold day. This time, with a bit of rain. We are going to put off going on the Yorkshire Moors railway until JackL, Eve and Kay can come with us. Today was a grocery shopping day with Mrs. Kay and Len, to get food for the big Easter celebration at Mrs. Kay’s house.  Kay, Len, the Langstaffs and the Arnolds will be there. Kay and Len actually wanted to ride in Dru’s car, even though she was driving. It was good for her, because Mrs. Kay sat in the front seat and gave helpful hints, such as, “Give way on the right- and then give a small wave of your hand, without moving it from the steering wheel, so the other person knows you are giving way. ” We set off about 1200, after hanging out Jack and Dru’s now clean clothing.

First stop was Sainsbury’s. Kay had been making her list out for days, and it was long. Jack and Len stopped to look at the car magazines. They had been chattering happily in the back seat about cars and airplanes, both subjects of great interest to them both.

Mrs. Kay did not find any desserts to her fancy, so next we stopped at Marks and Spencers, where she picked up 2 Key Lime Pies, and a Creme Brulee with wild blueberries. Back home, Kay and Len assembled an Old El Paso Chicken Enchilada kit.  Jack reported he had has these when he was in Australia and stated they were delicious. Dru put together the salad of leafy greens, with French dressing, and we sat down to lunch. Very excellent. 

For dessert, we had Hot Cross Buns with butter, and cups of tea for Jack and Dru, coffee for Kay and Len.

By the time the second load of clothes was dry, it was 1715. Jack and Dru headed back to the hotel with clean clothes, Mrs. Kay was going to take a bit of a nap, and then go to her niece Emma’s house, to visit with the Langstaffs, who were on their way from Cambridge. They had arrived from Australia last night.