Hello again!
Firstly, (for my European viewers only) that under new European regulations I have to inform you that any 3rd party things on my blog may be collecting data.
The only 2 that I have, as far as I know, are Statcounter and Microsoft Translator. I don't know if they do collect any data but have now done my duty in informing you all!
This blog is late as I have only recently returned from my visit to my sister Marion in the UK, so am now including her 80th birthday and party in July as well as my stay which began in June.
It was lovely staying with Marion and we had a load of laughs reminiscing about our childhood etc. I also went with her to the Gardening Club, where I learnt about bee-keeping, had a trip out with the Friendly Club to Deal, and a couple of visits to Slimming World where Marion and Trudi are doing very well! We also had a trip to France to visit old friends there (when I say 'old' I mean 'long time'!)
As I have so many photos, I've tried to upload the best and will be putting captions under most of them to save time. So here we go!
 |
| I can recommend flying direct from Perth to London! |
 |
| Marion with a pretty tree in her garden |
Marion is a keen gardener and beside some lovely flowering plants has loads of vegetables growing, so I was able to enjoy some English runner beans and new potatoes from the garden as well as home grown mange-tout, broad beans, tomatoes, asparagus, carrots and lettuce etc. while I was there. She also has some blackcurrant, blueberries and strawberries
 |
| Jill, Bob, Wil, Marion and Alice in the new extension to Trudi and Matt's house |
 |
| Matt and Trudi |
It was lovely to see everybody and the new extensions to the house, which have made a great difference.
 |
| We had a ride out to the beach at Grain. |
We had various shopping trips out, one being to the big Bluewater shopping centre, which is very light and airy with not as many fluorescent lights as we have here in the Aussie shopping centres. It actually has quite a bit of 'real' daylight coming in! The decor was superb, and we had lunch here in the Loch Fyne restaurant, which was very good.
 |
| Bluewater shopping centre decor |
There was a saying over these beautiful carvings which read, over the 6 sections, "So are you to my thoughts as food to life....or, as sweet season'd showers are to the ground"
 |
| Me beside the model dinosaur. You can see the natural light coming in from outside where the cafes had their tables set out. |
On a trip to Deal (Kent) with the friendly club, when we arrived, we went first for a coffee and I could not resist taking this photo of the painted doors in the the ladies toilets! They really enhanced the loos, chuckle!
 |
| Me in one of the old streets in Deal |
 |
| The Kings Head pub |
 |
| Fishing boat on the beach |
 |
| Marion standing next to an old Morris similar to the ones she and Bill used to have |
 |
| Fishing boats and beach |
Here you can see the pier in the distance. Due to renovations, the cafe at the end of it was closed when we were there.
 |
| Deal castle, circular built as strength against cannon balls! |
We thought we should have some real local fish and chips while we were there, and found this fish bar not far from the castle. The fresh caught cod was superb, and the owners were very congenial and gave us a lot of laughs!
 |
| The owners of the Blue Mermaid fish bar |
I was even invited to 'cook' my own piece of fish, chuckle! (Well, it looked like I was cooking it!)
 |
| Marion enjoying her fish and chips |
The pier and beach at Deal. Look at the colour of the sea - I've never seen it looking so blue!
It was a lovely day out, especially as the weather was perfect, as it was for all of my stay in the UK!
Before we off for our sojourn in France, I took this photo of Marion's roses.
 |
| Marion's roses...... |
Since we last visited Marion, she has had the front of the house paved and it has made it much more usable and easier to back out the car when the road is congested with parked cars.
Marion had been invited (with me to tag along, chuckle!) to spend a few days in Cherrienes, France, with her friends Robert and Veronica. Cherrienes is where Marion and Bill used to have a little house, and where we would be staying was just up the road from there, so Marion would also be able to visit the French neighbours while we were there. I have so many photos of this French visit that I have had to be really ruthless choosing the ones I am uploading, as we did and saw so many lovely things. We were in France from Friday til Tuesday.
 |
| Marion - lunch stop in France after leaving the channel tunnel |
 |
| Model sheep and lambs in the garden. |
This is where we stayed with Veronica and Robert. These sheep and lambs looked very real!
 |
| Colourful geraniums in the window box |
 |
| Robert and Veronica - dinner on our arrival |
Whenever we were eating 'in house' Robert and Veronica cooked us delicious meals!
On Saturday afternoon our hosts took us to a garden in the locality. Although small and quiet, it had some quite spectacular plants in it. There were also various garden ornaments hidden amongst the bushes.
 |
| This little girl is shading her eyes from the sun! |
 |
| I call this the candy floss bush - I can't remember the French name for it! |
 |
| These beautiful flowers were on another bush. |
 |
| We were told this tree is very, very old! |
 |
| Marion and me in one of the rose bowers |
Here is an old pot and chopping block.
It was a lovely afternoon out and very interesting.
In the evening we went to the Ferme Auberge restaurant in Cherrienes to celebrate Marion's 80th birthday. It was our gift from all the Aussie relatives and was what she wanted as it would be lovely memories to recall of her French and English friends. Besides Veronica and Robert we invited Dominic and Claudette, the French neighbours who also lived just up the road.
 |
| Me, Marion, Veronica, Robert, Claudette and Dominic at the Ferme Auberge |
Here I must add that the village of Cherriennes has no shops and now not even a bakers any more, but the Ferme Auberge is renowned for it's good food and service and Marion and Bill were regular customers there, often taking friends and relatives with them when they visited. Therefore, I have to show some of the 5 courses which we had - all accompanied by various liquors and wines of course!
 |
| Aperitives |
 |
Entree - pate with delicious sauce
(Sorry about the lack of accents over the words,
I can't work out how to get them on this blog program!) |
 |
| Main course |
The main course was braised buck with French beans and potatoes in cream sauce - delicious!
 |
| The cheeses |
 |
| The dessert |
The dessert was servings of apple and rhubarb pie, strawberry sorbet/icecream, and creme brûlée (this time the accents worked!)
Altogether a highly recommendable meal!
Marion was also able to see and talk to another 'Robert' who is the father of the owner of the restaurant. He was delighted to see her again, and although I couldn't understand all he said, it was obvious he enjoyed a good joke.
 |
| 'Robert' and Marion |
And for all you dog lovers, this is the Ferme Auberge's beautiful dog!
The following day, in the morning we visited Annette and Phillipe, also neighbours, and afterwards we were all invited for lunch at Dominic and Claudette's.
 |
| Annette |
 |
| Here we are underneath Dominic's huge cherry tree! |
On Monday, the day before we left France, Robert and Veronica took us and Claudette to Monet's house and gardens. It was about a two hour's drive but well worth a visit, as you can see from the photos below.
 |
| Monet's house |
 |
| Some of his paintings |
 |
| The kitchen - lots of copper pots!...... |
 |
| .....and the range. |
The gardens were crowded with visitors, but roped off in such a way that everything could be seen, but very rarely were there people in the way when photographs were taken.
A selection from my photos of some of the flowers in the gardens
 |
| The depicted famous lily ponds.... |
 |
| .....and boat, as shown in his paintings |
Now, of course we come to the big events, Marion's birthday on the following Monday and then the party the Sunday after. Once again I have had to be ruthless with the photos, so if any of you who are viewing this blog find yourselves not included, I beg forgiveness, for they were probably only back of head shots, chuckle! I acknowledge any of Graham's that I have uploaded besides my own, as well as those of Marion.
 |
| Some of Marion's presents opened on her actual birthday |
Present opening on Marion's actual birthday
 |
| Opening Guy's present - TV HDD, and The Oseman's present - an iPad |
 |
| Birthday lunch at the Windmill Pub - Marion, Trudi, Will and Alice |
 |
| Marion and me! |
The rest of the week was mostly taken up with preparations for the Sunday Tea Party, which was very successful with plates of lovely savouries, sandwiches and cakes. There was also a Magician who went from table to table performing his tricks. He was very good indeed, and if any viewers from the UK would like his details, me or Marion have his business card!
 |
| Preparing the hall - Trudi and Guy |
 |
| Me waiting for cousins to arrive at 'my' table! |
 |
The Pimms serving table
Alice, Guy, Marion, Trudi, Julie. |
 |
Sam, Bob, Jill, Jan
Matt's Mum and Dad, sister and her son |
 |
| Me, Steve, Ulla, Shirley, Tony, Gerald and Jane. |
 |
| Marion with Trudi who was doing the 'welcome' speech |
 |
Guy with Marion's hairdresser and her husband
and Dorothy and Terry her next door neighbours. |
 |
| Will with his girlfriend Corrina |
 |
| Alice's table - Farrah, Natasha, Lynn, Alice, Tim and Steve |
As you can see from all these photos, everybody was enjoying themselves!
 |
| Marion chatting with Ulla and Steve |
 |
| Me |
 |
| Marion |
 |
| Matt |
 |
| Trudi |
 |
| Guy |
 |
| Alice |
 |
| Farrah and Natasha |
 |
| Rosie |
 |
| Mick (taken after the party) |
 |
| Four scarecrows! |
(I will add here that for 2 weeks a lot of the houses in the village had been making scarecrows, as had been traditional for the past 2 years. Voting was done at a small cost and the proceeds went to the upkeep of the village church.)
It was lovely to see all the relatives and friends and 'a good time was had by all!'
Marion opened all the presents they had brought, which were many including vouchers and a great variety of lovely gifts - all of which were well deserved and Marion is a wonderful and very caring lady and the best sister I have ever had, chuckle!
I have more photos of the prize winning scarecrows at the church fete, but will have to leave them for now, as I keep getting 'error' message, so presume I am up to my limit for this bog!
I also have photos which John sent me of their recent camping break, and some of Mike's taken while I was away, which I will have to leave for another time!
Hope all these photos haven't been too boring, chuckle! I certainly enjoyed my time taking them and my time spent in the UK and France. Now it's back to the usual routine!
See you again sometime - the 'rest of July' blog will probably be late too!
(If there seems to be a big blank area at the bottom of this blog, please ignore it if you want to scroll down the the 'older' and 'newer' post icons.
I have no idea how to get rid of the blank bit and have tried lots of times to no avail!)
