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Finally! The Bayeux Tapestry is finished.

2/25/2013

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I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the world’s greatest works of art, has finally been finished—some 900 years after it was commissioned to mark William the Conqueror's victory at the Battle of Hastings. 

I know I’m happy—though not so much because the tapestry is complete but because I no longer feel bad about the quilt I started three years ago and haven’t worked on since. 

I realize I have plenty of time.

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This is the Bayeux Tapestry—not my quilt.

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Downton Abbey Paper Dolls

2/20/2013

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Sob, gasp, snuffle. Season three is over! Sob, gasp, snuffle. But here's something to keep you active: Kyle Hilton has created four sets of Downton Abbey paper dolls to print out and play with. Never mind that—sob, gasp, snuffle—two are dead! Note the different expressions you can choose from, depending on how the character is feeling. I found these dolls on Vulture, where you can enlarge and print. Have fun. Sob, gasp, snuffle.
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Poor Mary will never—sob, gasp, snuffle—be happy again. Check out the naked Mr. Pamuk!

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British Icon #3: Cricket

2/17/2013

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Is there any game more baffling than cricket? But really, who cares about learning the rules when there are so many more important things to pay attention to: those dapper white uniforms; the tea the spectators drink and the cucumber sandwiches they eat; the word “wicket;” and the cool and genteel nature of the game itself. Who cares how it’s played?
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Willow bats
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Natty attire

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The British Hedgehog

2/13/2013

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Maybe you never thought about this—I know I never did— but the hedgehog has been around in some form or other since the time of the dinosaurs. How on earth did they survive? I mean, if the sabre-toothed tiger couldn’t hang on, how could a tiny hedgehog? 

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Hedgehogs are another British lovely, not only because we don’t have them here in the states, but because they’re so darn cute and prickly at the same time. 

What’s not to love in a small, round, cuddly creature that spits on herself by licking a rock or piece of wood to start the saliva flowing, then swinging her sweet little head back and forth spitting everywhere? 

Cute, huh?


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Sesame Street & Downton Abbey

2/8/2013

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In case you've been in a cave with no access to television for the past three years, Downton Abbey is a Masterpiece series about  the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era.  
Warch the Sesame Street Muppets spoof Downton Abbey as Carson, the proverbial butler, serves Lady Grantham, the proverbial lady of the manor at the proverbial dining room table.
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Rupert Bear

2/4/2013

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What do you do if you are a newspaper competing for readers and your main competition has an extremely popular cartoon character that is stealing your readers away? 

That’s what Britain’s Daily Express was facing back in the 1920s, when people still depended on newspaper to get their daily news—unlike today when newspapers are gasping for their very last breath and struggling with this internet/social media environment that has forced them to change just about everything they ever knew and understood about the news business. But I digress. 


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Saturday 9/21

Land at Heathrow, train to paddington, train to Exeter, train to barnstaple, walk to The Old Vicarage—where we are staying until Thursday.
Have to remember how to read these boards.
Our room.
Love the bath!
First, tea in the garden.
After our tea we walk to the bus station to pick up bus schedules. Hop the 21 to Fremington, which is where we left off last time.
On the path.
Ha! Bob wants “he was a character” on his tombstone.
Fairly uninteresting walk, mostly along marshes.
Security idea for PP@L
We’re on an old railroad line, cute tunnels and all. This looks like a tunnel from the Thomas videos.
Our first pub. This is Instow.
My new favorite drink. It’s cucumber and elderberry and so good I have two. Which means we are finished for the day! We’ll complete this stretch of the walk tomorrow.
We order fish& chips takeaway rather than eating it in the pub because (a) it’s about half the price, and (b) fish & chips taste best outside! Check out the newspaper wrapping!
Not so healthy but it’s the first night and we’re on the coast where the fish is fresh, so.

Sunday, 9/22 Morning

Ate a marvelous breakfast, then walked straight out of Barnstaple to pick up the path heading northwest.
We fill out a little form the night before, choosing our breakfast time and meal items. Plus, there’s a sideboard of granolas, yogurt, fruit, etc.
View from our table.
Walking through Barnstable before hike.
The path. Heading first to Braunton.
The path is flat and fairly unremarkable. Sky is threatening.
We reach Braunton, almost pass right by this, then decide to stop for a short break.
Lovely inside, nicest people.

Sunday, 9/22 Afternoon

We walk Braunton to Saunton, intending to catch bus at Saunton, except I read Saturday’s bus schedule instead of Sunday’s because it’s so easy to do that and we soon find out there is no Sunday bus service in Saunton.
This Is looking back to Braunton. Path leads along this estuary. I think it’s an estuary.
Blackberry bushes are everywhere!
We’re right next to military training grounds.
Lunch break. Sandwiches. Forgot to pack dessert.
Ha! We see this sign as we close the gate after walking across the field.
It’s here that we realize that no bus will be coming. Luckily there’s a golf course right next to the path and we bum a ride to Braunton, which we know for sure has Sunday buses.

Saturday, 9/22 Evening

Our main goal on Sunday every time we come to England is it to make it to a Sunday Roast Dinner. Usually we miss it. Today though we are lucky: we find a good place in Braunton and end the walk on a full-belly note. Total miles today: 11.5.
Roast beef, potato, assorted fresh veggies, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding. Yum.
Waiting in the rain for the bus back to Barnstaple.
The Vicarage at last! We are both exhausted.
This waits for us every afternoon. That’s fresh cream on top.
Washed our clothes though not very thoroughly.
Choose breakfast and go to bed!
  • 2019 Trip Blog
  • Our Hikes
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