Test results…Covid is insidious…On the move in 24 hours…

This was where I stood waiting for my dinner delivery. The hotel doesn’t allow drivers to enter the parking lot. I waited outside for 30 minutes in the cold when the driver was late.

I am sitting on the bed propped up with pillows. I’m showered and dressed, but I am somewhat surprised I got that far considering how I feel. Yesterday, we both tested negative, but the virus is not over for us by far.

By the way, the letter “L” on my keyboard isn’t working, and each time I type a word with an “L,” I have to bang the key as hard as possible. It has been a task these past many days since we tested positive, and our strength was severely impacted. I’ve tried using words that don’t contain an “L,” but thinking of those words is more of an effort than banging on the key. It’s having other issues as well. Once we get to the US, I will be getting a new aptop, (oops, laptop).

I purchased this HP Chromebook from Amazon India when we were in Udaipur, India in 2020, while on a private tour staying in a hotel. It arrived in one day, so I didn’t complain when everything wasn’t perfect, although it was supposedly new. I’ve been doing workarounds for the past two-plus years, and I am ready to start anew,

So, yesterday afternoon, the PCR tests were negative, although we both have many lingering symptoms, mainly weakness, a lack of energy, and a relentless cough. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed an irritation in my eyes which, as a contact lens wearer, can happen when the pollen count is high, which right now in London is at its highest.

My eyes have never been so red, swollen, and oozing. I took out my contacts, used Visine, and applied warm compresses throughout the evening, including every few hours during the night. I’ve been taking Benadryl, but I’d never experienced anything like this. At one point, I read that Covid can cause eye irritation, and it was impossible not to attribute it to that. This morning, it was a little better but still scary-looking. I look like a zombie. Hopefully, by tomorrow when we leave the UK, it will be better.

We made a plan to get out of here tomorrow. Today, we’ll take the final two PCR tests we have left to use for flying. The US requires negative tests to enter the country, regardless of where we are coming from. We chose an oddball airline, Iceland Air, to get us to Minnesota. It was the only airline that could get us there in the shortest time…11 hours and, at the best price we found of US $1470 for the two of us.

Tom did extensive research and found this flight which flies to Reykjavik, Iceland, where we’ll transfer to another flight heading to Minneapolis. Many flight options consisted of 30 to 40 hours of travel time, priced at US $4800 for two! This peculiar route saves us hours on layovers since Minnesota is so far north near Canada.

The only tricky part of this route will be when we reach Iceland, we’ll have to collect our bags and go through immigration and security to make the next flight 90 minutes later. This was a risky decision, but we preferred the risk of spending 30 to 40 hours getting to the US, considering our present condition.

If all goes as planned, we’ll arrive in Minneapolis by about 6:30 pm, get our rental car, and head to our hotel. We can’t wait until all of this is over, and we’re situated in the hotel with a kitchen where we can make breakfast and keep our ice tea cold. We won’t miss a night’s sleep, which was essential to us.

Since we’ve been in a hotel room the past ten days, with no fridge, we relied on hotel food and Deliveroo, which delivered peri-peri chicken and broccoli to me the past few nights, while Tom walked the short distance to a McDonald’s to get some things for himself. It will be great to have more options and be able to eat healthier meals.

We’ll be back with a post before we leave for the airport tomorrow and then, yeah, from our hotel in Minnesota on Monday.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 30, 2021:

The previous night’s trail cam photos picked up this porcupine! We are so excited to see this! The prospect of getting this photo prompted us to purchase the trail cam. For more photos, please click here.

Back at the farm…Pygora goats…Nutrients

Posing for a photo atop the picnic table. “The pygora goat is a cross between the pygmy goat and the angora goat that produces three distinct kinds of fleece and has the smaller size of the pygmy.”

Fascinating Fact of the Day St. Teath, Cornwall:
“The first recorded mention of cricket in Cornwall is an advertisement in the Sherborne Mercury on 18 June 1781 for the sale of cattle at St Teath, near Camelford. The advertisement was dated 14 June 1781 and signed by Nathaniel Long.  Whereas the annual sale for cattle at St Teath, near Camelford, Cornwall held on the first Tuesday in July had for several years feeling rather neglected. This is to inform the public that the Gentlemen farmers, etc., of the neighborhood, will produce a large show of cattle of the said day being the 3rd day of July next.”

Yesterday afternoon, farm owner Lorraine walked with me out to the paddock to see the pygmy goats and take better photos than I’d taken from a distance. It was a pleasure to get up close and personal with these adorable animals.

They had no fear of me. Lorraine and Graham acquired them at an early age, and not unusual for goats. They are friendly, playful, and hilarious in their antics. They plan to keep them as pets rather than for any other purpose.

I was able to pet them, unlike the wildlife in Marloth Park, and then even nudged me for more when I stopped. Below is additional information on these adorable animals:
The four of them continually hang out together.
From this site:
“They are generally quiet and docile, but there is some variation, as one would expect with goats. Housing requirements are less demanding than for the dairy breeds since the goats are so much smaller. Kids are reared on the dams, so milking is only rarely necessary. 
Castrated males (wethers) make ideal pets, but entire males should not be kept unless separate accommodation can be provided for them. The goats like company, so keeping single Pygmies should be avoided.
Pygmies need a high proportion of dietary fiber daily (80% by weight of the diet is a guide), hay being the main feature; they also need small amounts of low protein goat mix twice a day. They graze and browse well, but tethering Pygmies should be avoided.
Each of them has a name, taken from the TV series Poldark. “The Pygmy Goat Club has set breed standards regarding size and type and organizes show classes for Pygmy goats. It has its registration and pedigree system aimed at improvement by selective breeding. The adult Pygmy has a maximum height at the withers of approximately 56 cm for males, less for females, short legs, and cobby bodies that give an impression of perpetual pregnancy. They can be any color except completely white, with white Swiss markings on the face not allowed.”
The Pygmy Goat Club publishes an excellent booklet, “Pygmy Goats,” that describes all aspects of housing, feeding, breeding, and general welfare of these goats. It is recommended that this booklet is purchased and read before deciding to go ahead with keeping Pygmies. The P.G.C. has a website: http://www.pygmygoatclub.org, where further details can be obtained about the Club. There is also a network of P.G.C. Regional Advisers.”

Lorraine and I chatted about the farm, wildlife, and our travels as we stood in the bright sunshine. I loved the feel of the warmth from the sun, which has been a rarity of late, with the typical cloudy, rainy English weather.

After the walk on the farm, I returned to the house to prepare dinner. I’d sauteed mushrooms, garlic, onions, and aged white cheddar cheese to stuff the cut and flatten chicken breasts which I neatly wrapped in bacon and baked in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes at 190C, 375F, depending on how hot the oven cooks.
They approached me without hesitation.  “Pygmy goats are miniatures, genetically dwarfed; they are kept mainly for enjoyment, interest, and companionship.”
With rice and salad for Tom and salad and cooked watercress for me, we had another great meal. I’m rarely able to find watercress in markets throughout the world but found it here. It’s a nutrient-rich “superfood” described as follows: 
One cup (34 grams) of watercress contains the following:
  • Calories: 4
  • Carbs: 0.4 grams
  • Protein: 0.8 grams
  • Fat: 0 grams
  • Fiber: 0.2 grams
  • Vitamin A: 22% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
  • Vitamin C: 24% of the RDI
  • Vitamin K: 106% of the RDI
  • Calcium: 4% of the RDI
  • Manganese: 4% of the RDI

It’s not that I regard the RDI (the British version of the US RDA) in the highest regard for its recommended daily allowances. We need a higher amount of nutrients than they suggest as a minimum. 

As for watercress, it is not the most delicious vegetable eaten raw but cooked for a few minutes; adding a little butter and salt makes it quite tolerable, if not delicious. Once cooked, one large bag results in two servings. It’s like spinach…cooked down. There’s not much there.

In the evening, we watched the final episodes of season 2 of Seal Team on CBS All Access on Amazon Prime, which is GBP 2.37, US $2.95 a month with commercials, or GBP 4.78, US $5.95 without commercials. It was an excellent series that we hope returns for another season.

“The pygmy goat, also known as the miniature goat, and African pygmy goat, is a breed of miniature domestic goat. The pygmy goat is quite a hardy animal and can adapt to virtually all climates.”

Today, we’d planned to head to Bodmin Moor but have decided to go tomorrow instead. We’re caught up in handling some financial tasks and resulting “paperwork.”

We’ll be back with more tomorrow with two days and counting…


Be well. Be happy.
Photo from one year ago today, September 18, 2018:
When the hornbills were satisfied with their day’s work, they headed back to the birdfeeder for a bit of sustenance. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…A Sunday morning drive in Cornwall didn’t disappoint…Three days and counting…

The side of the Parish Church of St. Tudy. We walked on a narrow stone rain gully on the side of the church to reach the cemetery.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About St. Tudy, Cornwall:
St. Tudy is a picturesque village and parish located close to the western edge of Bodmin Moor, five miles northeast of Wadebridge. The village grew around an original Celtic graveyard still referred to as ‘God’s Acre.”

Sunday morning’s visit to two churches was not only exciting but highly entertaining when we entered the Parish Church of St. Tudy to find several parishioners and Reverend David Seymour sipping on coffee and tea with what appeared to be homemade biscuits.

We wandered into the church a short time after the service ended when several parishioners had coffee, tea, and biscuits.

The moment we tucked our heads to enter the short door to the historic 17th-century church, we were welcomed with open arms, offered to partake of the drinks and biscuits, and immediately engaged in lively chatter.

The cemetery was filled with history.

Whenever Brits hear our American accents, they can’t help but share stories of beautiful experiences they had visiting the US, most often to New York, Las Vegas, and various parts of California.

Birds are nesting in this louvered window.

One of the parishioners was excited to share his story of having his wedding vows renewed several years ago performed by an Elvis Presley impersonator at a chapel in Las Vegas.  

Others inquired about our travels, but we didn’t share as much as usual, preferring to hear their stories about their lives in St. Tudy and their love of Cornwall.

The church’s bell tower is similar to those in the “Game of Thrones” series and other historical movies and TV shows.

The pride the English express about living in Cornwall, is evidenced in each person we’ve met. One of the gentlemen, a gentleman indeed, walked me over to the plaque on the wall commemorating Captain William Bligh, proud of the bit of history bestowed upon this community and church.

A stone plaque on an interior wall in the church to commemorate Admiral William Bligh, 1754 -1817 depicted in the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.”  The original movie was filmed in 1935 (see here). Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty’s launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men reached Timor, a journey of 3,618 nautical miles.”

He explained that the famous Captain was buried in the church’s cemetery, but he wasn’t exactly sure where the headstone was placed in his honor. We’d have loved to read his tombstone, but there were hundreds of headstones, and it would have taken hours for us to find it.

Simple yet beautiful pipe organ.

The grass in the cemetery was thick, and the underlying soil was uneven, making such a trek a tripping hazard. However, Bligh died in London, where his official burial monument is located. Below is a photo of his tomb.

Captain William Bligh’s tomb is located in London. (not our photo)

From this site:
“Bligh died in London in December 1817 and was buried at what was then St. Mary’s Church, his family’s local parish church. It is now the Garden Museum, and Bligh’s tomb is surrounded by lovely plantings.”  


He wrote the following to his wife, exactly as it was written (including typos):  “Know then my own Dear Betsy, that I have lost the Bounty…on the 28 April at daylight in the morning Christian having the morning watch. He and several others came into my Cabin while I was a Sleep, seizing me, holding naked Bayonets at my Breast, tied my hands behind my back, and threatened instant destruction if I uttered a word… -William Bligh to his wife, c. June 1791″

It has stained glass windows at the altar.

Again, for more on this story about William Bligh, please click here.

Once the conversations ended and the parishioners began to leave to continue their day, the Reverend welcomed us to stay and take as many photos as we’d like. All of a sudden, this church had a special meaning to both of us.

Cushions for the parishioners.

We were anxious to learn more details about the church and were able to find some morsels, as we’ve included today.


From this site:
“The parish church is dedicated to St Tudius, a sixth-century monk and missionary who has a strong association with Brittany and may even have been the important Breton Saint Tugdual. The church, whose graveyard contains an interesting ‘clink’ building and a pre-Norman carved stone, dates back to the fifteenth century.

The side altar with a square baptismal font.

The family of Captain William Bligh, of “Mutiny on the Bounty” fame, lived in St. Tudy for many generations at Tinten Manor. Captain Bligh was born here in 1754, the fateful voyage of the HMS Bounty took place in 1787. The church town is the only village in St Tudy parish, characterized by rolling farmland and woods.

The village of St Tudy is just two miles from the start of the Camel Trail and within easy walking distance of Bodmin Moor.”
Tom next to the main door of the church, the only entrance we could find.  “In some churches in the UK, the “Devil’s Door” is a small side door, a structural feature found in the north wall of certain medieval and older churches in the United Kingdom. They are widespread in the historic county of Sussex, where more than 40 extant churches have one.  They have their origins in the early Christian era when pre-Christian worship was still popular and were often merely symbolic structures—although they were sometimes used as genuine entrances. Before and during the Middle Ages, the north face of a church was considered to belong to the Devil and to people considered heathen. Churches were invariably built to the north of roads and tracks, to ensure their main entrance was on the south side.”
Speaking of the Bodmin Moor, tomorrow, on a predicted sunny day, we’ll be heading there to explore the many sites in the area, which will be our final outing in this area of Cornwall. Tomorrow’s post will be several hours late.
More stained glass windows.
On Thursday, we’ll pack and get ready for our following location in Witheridge, Devon, Cornwall, and on Friday, we’ll make the two-hour drive to our next new home. We love these short stays in England!

May your day bring you joy and fulfillment!

Photo from one year ago today, September 17, 2018:

This toad spent months with us.  Some nights, she faced this way, and other nights, she faced the wall. A male joined her months later, and days later, they were both gone to make a family.  For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…A Sunday morning drive in Cornwall didn’t disappoint…

As we approached St, Michaels and All Angels, Church of England, we were awe of its beauty.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About Michaelstow, Cornwall:

“Michaelstow is an attractive village and parish located about three miles south of Camelford in North Cornwall. The name means ‘St Michael’s Holy Place,’ and the parish church is dedicated to ‘St Michael and All Angels.’ The River Camel runs along the eastern edge of the parish. Helsbury Castle, an ancient, circular Iron Age hill fort, lies half a mile to the north on Michaelstow Beacon.”

Yesterday morning, we were entirely out of photos. We haven’t been out as much as we would have liked with all the rainy days lately. Although it was dark and dreary with rain on the horizon, we decided to get out anyway.

A sign identifying this particular Church of England.

The goal was to explore a few nearby villages taking as many photos as possible before the rain started again. Today, we’re experiencing the same kind of weather with rain expected at any moment.

As I write here now, Tom is watching yesterday’s Minnesota Viking game online. For some reason, this morning, the WiFi signal was too weak to allow him to stream the game. Finally, he’s been able to get it to work. 

The baptismal font.

The only reason we could think of this difficulty was the Monday morning surge in the use of the internet and the clouds affecting the satellite signal. In our travels, he experiences the same issues resulting in watching the game being frustrating and time-consuming.

I postponed starting today’s post to avoid using the WiFi, perhaps providing him with a better signal. But, this rarely provides much improvement when writing on this template doesn’t use much bandwidth (until I load photos).

Ornate wood carvings at the ends of the pews. 

Tom had seen an exciting photo online of a historic church in the nearby village of Michaelstow and searched for directions online. But it didn’t take more than a few seconds upon entering the tiny village of Michaelstow to see the impressive church’s historical tower, a true reflection of English history.


St. Michael and All Angels, Church of England, were truly breathtaking. Unfortunately, we can’t find the exact date the church was built at any of the few online mentions of this particular church. We suspect it may have been in the 13th century, but we did find the following information from this site.

Pipe organ.

“Michaelstow (Cornish: Logmighal (village) and Cornish: Pluwvighal in Trygordh (parish)is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about three miles (5 km) south of Camelford. The hamlets of Fentonadle, Trevenning, and Treveighan are in the parish.

The civil parish of Michaelstow is in the deanery of Trigg Minor and Hundred of Lesnewth. It is named after ‘St Michael’s holy place,’ and the parish church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. There is a fine tall Cornish cross in the churchyard. Its original location is unknown; until it was removed in 1883, it formed part of a series of steps up to the churchyard. Three more crosses are at Trevenning. The River Camel runs along its eastern edge, and the surrounding parishes are Lanteglos-by-Camelford to the north, St Breward to the east, St Tudy to the south, and St Teath to the west.

A side alter.

Helsbury Castle (Cornish: Kastel Bre Henlys, a castle on the hill of the old court’), an Iron Age hill fort, stands on Michaelstow Beacon half a mile north of the village.”

Upon arrival at the church, we checked the vestibule to find the front door locked. As we wandered about the property, we found a side door opened (referred to as the transept) and entered.  

The pipe organ is located at the end of this aisle.

Although it was Sunday morning, we didn’t see any visitors or parishioners. Nonetheless, we entered, finding the interior not only historical but exciting in several ways.


No, it wasn’t an elaborate decor as we often see in historic churches, but it had several features that caught our eye, which inspired us to take photos to share here today. We weren’t disappointed and soon forgot about the cloudy day.
Stained glass windows at the alter.
We wandered through the cemetery, reading headstones and searching for any relevant historical facts and dates.  In many countries, especially in small towns and villages, we’ve found ourselves wandering through cemeteries, searching for the unique and the unusual.

As for the church’s build date, Tom found this information this morning to explain it further. Click here for more details:
 

MICHAELSTOW MICHAELSTOW SX 07 NE 6/113 Church of St Michael – 17.12.62 GV I“Parish church. Possibly C13 origins enlarged in C15. They were restored in 1826, in 1870-1889 by Messrs Hine and Odgers, and 1982. Stone rubble with granite quoins and molded granite plinth and strings to west tower. Slate roofs, nave, and chancel in one. Plan: Nave and chancel possibly with C13 origins with four-bay north aisle and 5-bay south aisle added in C15. Circa C15 south porch and west tower. Exterior: Unbuttressed west tower of 3 stages with rectangular stair turret on the north. Battlemented parapets with crocketed pinnacles surmounted by crosses. Molded stilted arch to the west door. C19 3 light west window and 2-light belfry openings with slate louvers. C19 tracery in the south aisle, simple 3-light Perpendicular tracery in chancel window, and circa C15 3-light Perpendicular window with cusped heads at the east end of the north aisle. Piscina on the exterior of the north wall of the chancel. 3 C15 Perpendicular windows in the north aisle and blocked 4-centred molded arch to the north door. South porch has a 2-centered hollow-chamfered arch with a sundial of 1684, C15 wagon roof, and molded basket arch of Catacleuse stone with hollow chamfer and carved with floral motifs. Interior: Plaster walls. Unceiled C15 wagon roofs in nave and north and south aisles with carved ribs and wall plate partly restored. Particularly high-quality carving in the north aisle with evidence of pendants at the east end. C19 roof to chancel. 5-bay arcade to south aisle and 4-bay arcade to north aisle with granite type A (Pevsner) piers, molded bases, molded 4-centered arches, and carved capitals of Caen stone and Polyphant stone. Piscina and credence in the chancel, circa C15 font and Royal Arms dated 1727, painted on timber board. Circa C15 bench ends rescued from Church of St Tudius, St Tudy. Other benches 1882. 2 commandment boards dated 1803 and signed Henry Hocken and Wm Symons, Churchwardens. Bell dated 1550. C16 and C17 memorials. Maclean, Sir John Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor in the County of Cornwall 1879 Pevsner, N, and Radcliffe, E The Buildings of England, Cornwall 2nd edition, 1970 Church guide.”

The side view of the historic church in Michaelstow, Cornwall.
We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s post when we happened upon a fantastic social experience during Sunday’s explorations.  More will follow!

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, September 16, 2018:

Kudus are usually early morning visitors, although we’ll occasionally see them during the day and evening. For more photos, please click here.

Coffee or tea…What is the favorite beverage in the UK…a “cuppa” what?…

The driveway from our house to the narrow road.

Fascinating Fact of the Day About St. Teath, Cornwall*:

From this site: “The village sports an old clock tower in the center near the church. It dated back to 1920 and was erected in memory of those who lost their lives in the First World War. The clock was built from Delabole slate donated by the quarry and constructed by volunteers to a plan by local mine manager, Mr. Oswald Swete. The four clock faces are driven by a weight-powered mechanism that needs ‘rewinding’ every six days. The village has an interesting history. St Teath (from whom this village acquired its name) came over from Wales, with her sisters, to this area of Cornwall to bring Christianity to those living here. Since then, the village has seen much change with the rise and fall of both mining and the railway. There is plenty of evidence of both around the area.  The oldest part of the village surrounds the village square – the focal point of the annual summer carnival, Remembrance day, Christmas lights, and New Year Celebrations.”
 

We often assume that the people of the United Kingdom are avid tea drinkers and, although they’ve heartily adopted coffee consumption, making it more prevalent than tea, they are still big tea drinkers.

There’s a ticker running at this site illustrating how many cups of tea are consumed in the UK each day. It’s shocking to see how fast the ticker runs into the millions of cups each day.  

Storage building on the farm.
Coffee consumption has grown in the UK over the years. Here’s an article described here:

“Stereotypes suggest that Brits favor a builder’s brew over any other beverage, but new figures released by the British Coffee Association (BCA) tell a different story.

Reliant on the caffeine spike a morning brew offers to face the day ahead, the BCA has revealed that the UK’s coffee consumption soared to 95 million cups a day in 2018, up from 70 million in 2008. That’s an increase of 25 million over the last ten years.”

The exact stats on coffee versus tea consumption in the UK is confusing and elusive. Some say coffee is more prevalent, while others claim tea is the preferred beverage of choice.

Pygmy goats were checking me out.  Next sunny day, Lorraine will take me out to meet them inside the fences.  Photos will follow.
“Part of the research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), included a survey of 2,000 adults in the UK. It found that nearly a third of those surveyed said they didn’t drink coffee at all, while at the other end of the scale, six percent admitted to drinking six cups or more a day, with the average person consuming around two cups a day.

“Interestingly, it also revealed that 65 percent of coffee is drunk at home, 25 percent at work or while studying, and the rest is consumed in shops, bars, and restaurants. “In the last decade, we’ve gone from a country of tea-sippers who enjoy the occasional instant coffee to a nation of seasoned coffee connoisseurs exploring a large variety of roast and ground blends,” said Chris Stemman, Executive Director of the BCA.”
Pretty house in Michaelstow.

In our experience while in the frequent presence of Brits over the years of world travel, we’ve seen tea as the preferred beverage.  But then, many of our British friends are regular coffee drinkers.  So, who’s to say they haven’t adopted the passion for coffee drinking so common in the US and many other countries worldwide?


Tea’s illustrious influence in the UK has led to various teas worldwide, but there are certain teas the British favor.  Favorite teas include: 
Most Popular Type of Tea in England
  • Black Tea. Black Tea, of course, tops the list, mostly taken with milk, mostly in teabag form.
  • Earl Grey. Earl Grey was believed to be named after a gift of tea from China was presented to the then UK Prime Minister Charles Grey in 1830
  • Green tea
  • Herbal teas
  • Oolong
  • Others
Cornfield in the neighborhood.

Surprisingly, we don’t see a wide variety of teas at the supermarkets, not nearly as many as I’d seen in the US many moons ago. As for coffee, many Brits drink instant coffee.

Over the past seven months, since I had open-heart surgery, I’ve avoided drinking coffee. I found the caffeine seemed to make my heart race. Instead, I’ve been drinking one cup of green tea (includes caffeine) each morning, followed by herbal teas later in the day. I’ve yet to find a herbal tea that I love.


But, then again I was always both a tea and coffee drinker starting with coffee in the morning and having tea in the afternoon, caffeine never seeming to be an issue. Tom began drinking coffee only in 2004. He now drinks it without sugar and uses coconut cream instead of milk or cream.
Old building/barn converted to a house with solar panels.
Speaking of milk, here’s a morsel:
“The research celebrates Britain as a nation of tea drinkers, with a few surprising results like almost one in five putting the milk in first,” said Emma Stanbury from Arla B.O.B milk which commissioned the study. “And with more than fifty shades of tea, everyone’s favorite is a little different.”

When we grocery shopped a few days ago, I decided to try something I’d never considered in the past…make instant caffeine-free coffee adding “double cream.” Much to my surprise, it tastes delicious, and I believe this will be my new morning beverage.  I’m very enthused about being able to have coffee in the mornings when Tom’s coffee always smells so good.

Later in the day, I’ll have a few cups of green tea, including each day around 4 pm, tea time minus the biscuits. It’s not quite “high tea” but a treat at that time of day, now that we’re no longer doing “happy hour.” 

This morning, we took on a fantastic drive in the area and came across some excellent sites and a “people” experience we can’t wait to share tomorrow with many photos. Please check back. 
Enjoy your Sunday!  Have a “cuppa,” as the British say!

Photo from one year ago today, September 15, 2018:

This is the same family with seven chicks we’d seen a few months ago. For more photos, please click here.