August-2 2007

August 2007
We have been back to the UK to visit our family and renew our health insurance. Our own apartment is let at the moment so we split our time between our children in the London area.
Our son Chris and his long time girlfriend Jodi have finally announced that they will get married next April and we are delighted. We met Jodi’s mother and father, Annie and John, for the first time and all had a meal out in Hertfordshire near to where we lived while we lived when the children were small. There was lots of wedding planning and excitement all round and we were able to sort out accommodation for the event, important as it will be near Shrewsbury.
From Chris and Jodi’s flat we moved to the flat our youngest daughter Eleanor shares with her boyfriend Martin in the East End of London.

We were made most welcome and quickly treated to a family barbecue and party. The summer in the UK had apparently been awful but once we arrived it was just beautiful.
The flat overlooks parkland and a section of the Grand Union Canal as it heads south towards what was the dock area of London and the River Thames. It was fun to see classic canal ‘narrow boats’ navigating the waters. English canal boats are long and very narrow because the canals are also narrow and have just enough room for two to pass one another in most places.
We decided to be London tourists as we rarely get the opportunity. Our major plan was to take the Thames River boat from Embankment and visit Greenwich for the day. This used to be the centre of Royal Naval activities near the capital and the former Naval College, now a museum. We had no special goals except to relax and enjoy the views.

We really enjoyed Old Father Thames and listening to all the history as told by the men who operated the ferries. One was the fourth generation who was a fully qualified waterman. As a child I remember my father driving through London’s docklands and waiting for ocean liners to cross the road. Now the area is covered with high rise office buildings and apartments but public houses such as The Prospect of Whitby remain from Elizabethan times with little change.
At Greenwich we spent much of our time in the street market and bought some steel and brass fairies and a mouse to add to our steel silhouette collection in our cabin in Colorado.
Now we return directly to our cabin in Colorado and look forward to camping and forestry. But the major event will be the birth of our second grandbaby. This has been much anticipated and we have timed our visit to be there for the event and to look afterAspen while Bridget delivers.