Day 26: Homeward bound

Today was supposed to be warmer and sunny. There wasn't a lot of evidence of that this morning, although the temperature did, I think, get to 15C.

We had breakfast, packed and met up on the outdoor area of the bar.  Sue managed to get us all free coffees. She did some sketching, I did some stitching and Alf kept us entertained, although not, this time, with his mouth organ.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that Turks, the company that run the ferry service, have a boat called Jeff, that they use mostly for events, that was a Dunkirk vessel. According to the young ticket collector on our journey yesterday, Jeff made three trips to Dunkirk, carrying 100 men each time (licensed, apparently, for 20). We looked for Jeff near Hampton Court, where our informant said it would be moored, but didn't find it.

Sue and Alf left around 1pm to catch their trains home. It was Sue's idea to take a selfie. I'm not very good at taking selfies (and no, I do not want a selfie stick!).

 This was my least un-favourite of the 4 we took.

For some inexplicable reason, Sue and Alf preferred this one.


After they left, I checked out, 1.00pm being the latest I had been able to negotiate as the hotel is fully booked tonight. I then repaired to the dining room to have some lunch, watch the river, and read.





There were some curious inflatables with outboards - rubber duckies I guess, battling the current.







I sat in the reception area to stitch and read until my car and driver arrived at 3.45. I had moved my pick-up forward an hour from 4.45 because I couldn't extend the room. As it turned out, the driver had been an hour earlier still but hadn't come in.
I was annoyed about that, until I got to Heathrow at 4.15, walked past the outdoor "passenger smoking area" to discover that the Qantas book-in counters did not open until 5.15.
There was not a single seat in the booking area, so I became second in the queue, sat on my suitcase and read my book until 5.15. It didn't do my suitcase a whole lot of good, but it survived.

The passage through customs, immigration and security was efficient and fairly quick, in spite of my artificial knee.

So here I am, at 7.15pm, in the fairly empty Qantas Lounge, topping up the charge on my phone, writing my last blog from Blighty for this trip and ready to stitch and read until my plane leaves, hopefully on time, at 9.15pm. I am ignoring most of the food and drink, but have just accepted a tiny plate of calamari.

My final post will be from home - just to round off the trip. It has been terrific. I always doubt my ability to manage on my own and surround myself with support. It has paid off, and I've had a deeply satisfying month. Thank you so much to all the friends and family who contributed and made it so.

Day 25 To Richmond on the Thames

Today was forecast to be 16C - way more than any other day since I arrived nearly four weeks ago. Even fortified by a hot breakfast, it was cold down on the river, where the high water had dropped by a few inches.


Eventually the Turks Ferry website told us the ferry we intended to catch was running today.  Fortunately Sue rang them and got the news that because of the fast, high water, the first ferry would be about 20 minutes late arriving.

Down at the landing jetty I got to identify Canadian Geese, a coot (just near the pylon)

and, of course, the swans - all feeding on the detritus collecting around the wharf.












Our boat, when it arrived, was the Kingston Royale.

I can't resist the chimneys of Hampton Court.



The fence is in the process of being painted gold.




As we reached Kingston the waterside filled with apartment blocks.

We changed boats in Kingston. This time it was to the paddle steamer, Yarmouth Belle - late again because of a problem with the lock.



We sat outside this time. It was by now a little warmer.








This is an interesting stretch of the river, with lovely boathouses,

 

bridges,



bare trees,

and some extraordinary institutions - including schools.












We went uneventfully through the Teddington Lock.

past lovely trees



























and into Richmond, where we had a very quick lunch at the White Swan.The lateness of our arrival only gave us about 40 minutes for lunch.






There were more passengers on the way back so we sat in side. Sue sat outside for a while to take photos.

The trees are lovely, there is a lot of mistletoe

and some extraordinary decorations in the yards running down to the river.








There were a number of children on the trip, one group entertaining themselves with bubbles.

In Kingston we changed boats again, this time to the Southern Belle. We chose the downstairs saloon which had very comfortable seats but fairly high windows.






The windows provided a view of the tops of trees. It is a a view worth seeing - the trees are very beautiful in their bare state.




I can't arrange them here into a long strip - but I'd like to.

Towards Hampton Court we came across a horse-drawn carriage and the newly painted fence was sparkling in the afternoon sun.

I ended my trip, as I began, with the chimneys.






It was a lovely trip.




We had a bit of a rest before meeting up for dinner - a long, leisurely affair with a young crested grebe diving under our window and a worthy sunset.


















A fitting end to a lovely day. Tomorrow we leave, Sue and Alf back to Margate and me to my journey back to Australia.

We have time for lunch together tomorrow.

Day 24: East Molesey

English people know about birds. I noticed this at the Embroidery Retreat and with cousins in Cheltenham. It is being reinforced here by Sue and Alf, who have a whole range of identifiers for my classification of 'duck'.

This, although the photo is not good enough for identification, is a crested grebe, which, of course, brings to my mind Molesworth's Botany Walk ("The crested grebes are mating").


This morning was sunny. The temperature was only forecast to reach 11C (double figures created much excitement on the BBC late news last night) but it was pleasant and warm in the sun. We spent the first part of the morning sitting on the deck of the hotel dining room overlooking the river. Sue sketched and took photos, Alf played his mouth organ and I stitched. 

Most of the trees are still bare, but there is a magnolia in full bud in the property next to the hotel.


I managed to add the stumpwork leaf and the silk purl stems to my violet from yesterday's class.










We then went for a walk across the bridge, looking back at our hotel. The rounded section is the dining areas, and the area to the left of that is the outdoor decking we had earlier occupied.


The river is still running high.
















Across the river, on the other bank are a few boats for hire and a narrowboat that looks permanently moored - and, of course, more duck-like things.






There were lots of people out - with kids, dogs, scooters, bicycles and prams.


We walked down the muddy path to the weir.










We found where the swans were building their nest.



















We then walked back over the bridge and along the bank near Hampton Court. We are hoping the boat to Kingston and Richmond will be running tomorrow, but there seems to be a number of cancellations - probably because of the height of the river.





There are curiously pollarded trees.














Back in the hotel late this afternoon I managed to almost finish my violet. All that is left to do is to put some gold pieces in the centre of the stumpwork violet. I'm thinking this might end up on a box lid, if I can find one of a suitable one.

There was no sunset visible tonight, such was the heavy cloud cover. We did, however, notice a tribe of wood pigeons in the larch tree next door.













We were all pleased to hear that Christine's  minor surgery went well today.

Tomorrow's forecast is for an astounding 16C. We are hoping the ferry will be running to Richmond, or at least Kingston. We will have a good time, regardless.