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HELLO EVERYONE who still reads this!!

THIS POST CONTAINS SOME OF THE CATCHING UP THAT I HAVE WANTED TO DO! HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.

A FEW MORE PICS FROM THE BEATLES TOUR...

the "real" Penny Lane in Liverpool

...by Strawberry Field

LIVERPOOL - Fab 4 Beetles Tour -- this is the gate to Strawberry Field. A few posts back I had already posted some pics from this tour...however, I was having problems doing the post and it was taking me forever, so I stopped. I just now decided to put in a few more pics, but I can't remember which ones I left out...and I don't know how to go back to look without messing up everything I have done so far!! So, sorry if I am repeating myself. I LOVE this gate.

THE TATTON GARDEN SHOW in CHESHIRE

The following few pics are from the Tatton Garden Show. The flowers and gardens were gorgeous!

Amazing! If you can see...there are flowers and plants in the seats of the chairs and all over the table.

CEMETARY ADVENTURES IN CHESTER

...in the cemetary...

Rachel and I went for walks in the evenings--several times stopping in at this old cemetary near our home. This was tucked back in the trees and we found it quite unexpectedly! It was kind of creepy. No one else was around....oooooooo boo!

BEESTON CASTLE RUINS in CHESHIRE

The view from the castle ruins. Very beautiful!

Me and "B" at Beeston Castle...

"A BIRD OF PREY" -- this is for Richmond who LOVES these things! We saw this at another castle (it's newer and is really a hotel) and is located a little ways from Beeston Castle.

This is the entrance to the ruins of Beeston Castle which is very close to where we live--in Cheshire. It was a beautiful day when we went...Rachel was still here so it was the three of us. The castle is up on a high cliff and you can see if from miles around. Brian sees it everyday from the train on his way to work. The hike up is not bad at all and on the way down there are trails through the trees to walk through.

A VERY "FEW" SHOTS OF LONDON

London was such a neat place, but I really didn't take a lot of pictures. A lot of the places we went to see you weren't allowed to take pictures. Rachel and I went a few days ahead of Brian and he joined us for the weekend. We learned to ride the tube everywhere. It was easy and fast--we liked it!

I "think" this was Trafalgar Square???? OK--it was so long ago it seems that we were in London and I'm not sure anymore...but hey, I LOVE the fountain! (Ask LoAnn where this is!)

The gardens at Kensington Palace. We went inside also, but for me--a big disappointment as most of the Palace was under renovation and only a small portion was opened and it was just--disappointing!! HOWEVER, outside of the Palace was "The Orangery" which was a small restaurant so we had lunch there. It was so yummy! That kind of made up for the previous disappointment :)

Sorry about the blurrrrr....we went on the London Eye--recommendation of Carolyn Mildenhall! It was pretty cool. We went at dusk so could still see the city and also the lights.

While we were down by the London Eye, we ate at an Italian restaurant called Caffe' Vergnano. The food was great--we love Italian. I decided to skip dessert and instead ordered a hot chocolate. Well...let me just say it was the BEST stuff I have ever had and quite a surprise! It was thick drinkable chocolate with whipped cream on top. I just couldn't get over how good it was. Brian asked them how they did it and they said they sold the mix. Well, we came home with a can of it and WOWeee ZOWeee...we don't have it very often, but it is fantastic. The ingredients are just chocolate, sugar and thickener which is mixed with milk. We looked it up online and found a demo on UTube where this guy was making his own home-made version. It is similar to the cooked chocolate pudding. YUM. Then I remember watching the movie "Chocolate" and remember the chocolate lady pouring the old lady a cup of this thick chocolate and then put a pinch of red pepper in it. I found some chocolate in a candy shop here in town that has red pepper in it and bought it for BRIAN. He let me have a taste and it was GOOD. OK, I know this sounds like all I do is eat chocolate, but not true. I just can't believe how good it was. Look it up and try some for yourself! It is the best treat ever.

OH -- also I just learned how to make scones...thanks be to Shirley Burgon! They were to die for. I gave most of them away to my VTs because if we ate them ourselves we would be as big as England itself. I'm not fat -- yet.