Becky's gone home... - Regency Romance Novels

It was lovely to spend two weeks with my sister. It’s been three years since we saw each other and many many more years since we spent so much time together just the two of us. We laughed ourselves sick and had some good cries. It was like one of those French movies that has no plot, but you leave the theatre feeling glad you went. It’ll probably be a long while before I see her again and that makes me sad, but at least she chose the right two weeks to come! We had some lovely weather for her visit. It’s supposed to rain all this coming week, but I love the rain…as long as it doesn’t start chucking it down while I’m taking photographs. Becky…this song is for you (you have to go listen to it)…’Aint No Sunshine’ by Bill Withers. Becky, there literally…ain’t no sunshine now you’re gone! Here are the rest of my favorites photographs of our adventures.

On the bus to Grantham... — This shot is from the upper level of the bus on the way to Grantham to visit Belton House. The window was filthy, but it still looked like we were riding through a painting.

Becky's shot of Belton House... — Becky's lovely photo of Belton House. Several miles outside Grantham, Lincolnshire, this is the house they used in the BBC Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. There were quite a few scenes shot inside the house and several in the gardens. Remember Eliza walking up the gravel path with Charlote and Mr Collins to visit Lady Catherine de Burgh? Yes this is that gravel walk! And the whole garden smells of box hedges...heavenly!

Visiting the Cortauld Gallery in London — We had to go to London! Becky wanted to visit the Cortauld Gallery to see the Toulouse Lautrec exhibit. It was small, but lovely. I've always loved how he paints, but I didn't know she loved him as well. I learn something new every day.

Now that is one cute torchere! — This is on the top landing (the Cortauld gallery). I'm pointing to one of the matching 18th century torcheres shaped like footmen...or lamp lighters that guard the doors facing the stairs. I love these little guys. Every time I visit I always stop to admire them. I'm so glad my sister said stand over there, I want to take your picture! We got some weird looks from passing patrons. C'est la vie! Becky loved this shot. I love the angle. She's so good!

We tramped through the rain to Covent Garden and visited the Royal Opera House (my sister is a trained Opera singer - she has a gorgeous Metzo voice) and afterwards had Lunch at Byron's. The food was SO good! The next time you're in London near Covent Garden, if you're in the mood for a hamburger this is just around the corner. The chocolate shake...I don't know what they put in it, but it was addictive. The best chocolate shake I've ever had. The next time I go down I'll take myself back for lunch and watch the room in the reflected mirror along the back wall. That yellow behind my sister is the ceiling behind me. I asked her to pose.

Becky visiting Handel's House... — After lunch we made out way over to Handel House. This is where Handel (composer of The Mesiah along with numerous other lovely works) lived and yes composed The Mesiah. This is a reconstruction of his bed chamber. Apparently he really did have red bed curtains and matching red curtains. It looked stunning next to the grey. I didn't see the sign asking people not to take photos and no one said anything so on seeing Becky reflected in the old mirror I started snapping.

Me in the mirror... — Being in front of an old mirror with a camera in my hands I had to take my photo too!

Becky on Handel's stairs... — Becky on Handel's stairs. When we learned that some musicians were about to start practicing on the next floor we had to go listen so the lovely attendant in the bed chamber let us take the stairs (which isn't normally allowed - there's an elevator). It turned out the musicians were a quartet practicing for a performance that evening. I can't remember their name (but they used to be the Handel House resident group). We sat down in the room Handel used to practice in and it was just me, Becky and the musicians playing Baroque pieces. It was like we'd won a golden ticket. We were there at just the right time and they played for us while we sat there and cried. It was that beautiful! This is one of my favorite shots of her visit. She wasn't in the mood to stand on a backstairs for more shots which is just as well or we might have missed being seated for the music.

At the corner of Trafalgar and the Strand... — At the end of the day we headed back to Trafalgar Square to catch a bus to King's Cross (the train station). This was the day the center of London was full of Harry Potter fans waiting for all the actors to walk down a very long red carpet. We'd just crossed the street to the corner of Trafalgar and the Strand when we looked across to the stage set up on the back of the Square and there were the stars climbing onto the stage to the sound of exuberant cheers from the large crowd. It was very surreal! We probably had a better view than most of the people who'd gathered. Becky took this shot. You can see JK Rowlin in the green dress and Emma Watson in the grey dress. Becky got a few other close ups, but my little camera wouldn't get her much closer than this. We stood there waiting for a bus that never came. The Goblin called and suggested we take the underground. I hate taking it, but I really wanted to catch the 8:23 train. I was so tired I thought I told my sister there was another train at 9:07, but I said bus. We'd walked across London...I was tired...but I would be more tired before reaching a train. The Goblin's helpfulness was not appreciated when I realized we got off the underground at Euston station. I didn't understand why Becky was so determined to catch the 8:23 (it wasn't until later that she told me I'd said the 9:07 was a bus). We ran (well she ran I jogged) out of the station (once we figured out how to escape it) and down the street several blocks to Kings Cross. It's about 800 meters or 874.890 yards. I thought I was going to die. We were across the street from King's Cross entrance when I looked at the time. We had about five minutes to find our train and get on it. Yes it was on the farthest platform possible. Still recovering from a chest infection, I gasped for air as I forced myself to jog on cursing the railway people for transforming the place to make it take even longer to reach the necessary platform. My sister (who has run marathons for fun) was out of sight when I reached the platform. I stood there feeling like I was going to die...trying to figure out which stupid train I was supposed to be on. It was one of three, but there's never any identification. I stood there and screamed...which bloody train is it? And then my sister saw me (I couldn't see her) and screamed...Get on the bloody train! Then I heard a train start (thankfully the one closest to me) and this time...I ran...we leaped onto the train and about five seconds later the doors closed and it started moving. All that unwanted exercise was hell (I felt like I was going to die) but I'm glad we caught the 8:23. The thought of sitting at a train station for nearly an hour because we'd missed a train by three seconds would have been agony. It was a great day!

This shot was from our rainy day out. We went up to visit this antique market. This was

in the last building (there were more than we had energy to visit). I stepped into the room and thought, “Hello!” There was something about these lovely giants…I could imagine they were enchanted heroes turned into clocks…forced to tick away the centuries…no one to break the spell. If you didn’t know I love clocks, I love clocks. If I could have taken one home it would have been the second grandfather on the left. The one with the flat top, but they were all magical. Most of them weren’t ticking though. That made me sad. This was only half the room. There were another six or more large clocks all desperate for a home.

On Monday, our last whole day together we drove over to Suffolk to visit Framlingham Castle. Becky wanted to visit a castle and have a view. Well, it's hard to beat Framlingham for both of those. You can walk around almost the entire curtain wall and see for miles. The stairs you use to climb to the wall are original small worn twisting wedgy shaped steps...very freaky! There's a rope to hang onto, but I was sure I was going fall down the stairs and break a leg, but then most of the time we were there I felt like a psycho. The Goblin decided he wanted an ice cream so we headed for Aldeburgh, a seaside village we all love. It was supposed to be rainy all day down the coast, but we got there and the sun came out and it was glorious. Very few people bothered to brave the non-existent rain so we had a wide expanse of warm pebbles almost to ourselves. After half an hour of sunshine I stopped feeling psycho and returned to my normal happy self. It's scary what a little sun can do!

Becky searching the English Channel...this is my favorite English beach. I love the pebbles. The sound of the waves pulling the pebbles. The bright colours of the seaside houses. The bookstore. The ice cream. My favorite thing though is searching for holey-rocks. Amongst the millions of pebbles you can find these rocks with naturally formed little round holes all the way through them. I've finally figured out why. Most of the holes were fossils of round worm shaped creatures; I found a rock with part of the creature still intact! It's the only logical explanation for curved perfectly shaped like a worm holes. That day with Becky I found several rocks with obvious fossils. One looks like it was frog spawn or something...turned to stone...I'll have to take a photo and share it. In the mean time...this was Becky looking out at the English channel looking for ships. She never found any, but it made a good photo.

One of my last shots of Becky on the beach...she loved the day. It was a perfect last whole day together.

Becky's close up shot of the pebbled beach... — Becky's shot of some random pebbles up close. Now I'm going to miss her every time I go to the beach. Aint no sunshine now she's gone!

Comments

Teresa Thomas Bohannon says

July 18, 2011 at 10:43 pm

Thanks for sharing your lovely adventures and photos. I’ve missed you.
Smiles,
Teresa
Cari says

July 28, 2011 at 8:57 pm

@Teresa Thomas Bohannon
Thanks Teresa! I hope your characters are all being cooperative!!! I think my hiatus helped me for a few weeks, but I think that was torture. I live and learn…hopefully in equal measures!

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