Greetings, my friends!
Here we are then, continuing where we left off in Taunton ...
So, barely having digested my dinner, I slept, ate breakfast (!), and then headed to lunch! What a life! Pat and Tony fetched me and after picking up Kath Buckell we headed for the Fox & Goose in Taunton. There we met up with Anne Forrest and Tony Bourke. Tony is the husband of my dear friend Karen of Serendipity Dragonfly. Sadly, Karen passed away earlier this year before we had a chance to meet, but I was so happy to meet her Tony and I know she would be ever so pleased that we met!
Here we all are:
Here we are then, continuing where we left off in Taunton ...
So, barely having digested my dinner, I slept, ate breakfast (!), and then headed to lunch! What a life! Pat and Tony fetched me and after picking up Kath Buckell we headed for the Fox & Goose in Taunton. There we met up with Anne Forrest and Tony Bourke. Tony is the husband of my dear friend Karen of Serendipity Dragonfly. Sadly, Karen passed away earlier this year before we had a chance to meet, but I was so happy to meet her Tony and I know she would be ever so pleased that we met!
Here we all are:
From the left: Tony Moore, Pat Moore, me,
Kath Buckell, Anne Forrest, and Tony Bourke
And here is a close-up of me with Anne (left) and Kath:
~~~
The fun-loving Kathy K. of the Purple Princess Diaries arrived to take the carriage driver baton from Tony. We whooshed on our way ... well, not prezackly. Traffic in and around Taunton/Bristol was pretty much of a jam for reasons no one could understand, but Kathy soldiered on and she was an excellent tour director all the rest of the afternoon, pointing out highlights as we made our way.
After freshening up, I enjoyed a requested pub experience with excellent beer and grub with Kathy and her husband Steve:
The fun-loving Kathy K. of the Purple Princess Diaries arrived to take the carriage driver baton from Tony. We whooshed on our way ... well, not prezackly. Traffic in and around Taunton/Bristol was pretty much of a jam for reasons no one could understand, but Kathy soldiered on and she was an excellent tour director all the rest of the afternoon, pointing out highlights as we made our way.
After freshening up, I enjoyed a requested pub experience with excellent beer and grub with Kathy and her husband Steve:
On Saturday morning, Steve and Kathy collected me and brought me my clean laundry (great hosts or what?) and away we went on a day of marvelous sight-seeing, broken in the middle by a superb chicken salad lunch prepared by Steve. You know, because I was starving!
As before, I will publish scenic highlights when I get home, but here are just a couple:
Me in front of the Bristol Suspension Bridge
Kathy and I, Bristol Harbour
~~~
For dinner, Kathy and I headed out to meet two other bloggie friends of mine. Please meet the delightful:
Liz Cavill of Crafty Sunflower and Ruth Doman of KangaRuth
Liz and Ruth both live in Bristol, too. We had quite a feast and not a few laughs about this little guy:
Among the dishes that were ordered was a selection by me of "whitebait." I thought it was just a white fish-and-chips-type-fish. It turns out to be wee white, erm, bait fish battered and served up in their entirety. Eyeballs and everything. No, honest, we did not glue a googly-eye on a fish finger! Well, c'mon, who could eat such a cute face? None of us!
Thank you Liz and Ruth for coming to meet me; it was a pleasure! And thank you to Kathy and Steve for all your hospitality!
I will leave you with this incredible photo I took of a home front in Bristol. The colors of the flowers here are so much more vibrant than any flowers I've seen in California!
Tomorrow I head out alone on my first train adventure. Wish me luck! I miss the Mister, but I will really miss the Mister tomorrow cuz I need his sherpa skills!
To be continued ...
~~~
Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*
As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!
As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! Please let me know you came by, so I can be sure and return the flavor!
*Life is too short!
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74 comments:
I'm having so much fun with your photos and posts! Ewwww to the bait fish *chum* but how exciting it must be to meet all those great folks!
What great fun you're having Darnell! Enjoy the rest of your trip, Cathy x
The Fox and the Goose sounds like a good place.
We actually had fish today but it didn't look at us.
Great host and hostess.
Wish I could have continued on with you as your having such fun. Enjoy the next part of your trip. Hugs Mrs A.
I am so happy for you having this fabulous adventure and meeting all these terrific bloggy women. Continue your safe travels and enjoy!
You are having such a great time in UK - wish I was there with you.
You should have eaten the whitebait whole!
It is a great delicacy here in New Zealand, and normally made into fritters or omelette.
Lovely to see your photos, and I remember Anne Forrest from a swap many years ago, I am trying to remember which forum. I think it was an ATC swap
Your happy face says it all Darnell!!
You look like you are having. Great time no you deserve it! How wonderful to meet fellow bloggers including the husband of the lady you were so sad to hear pass away earlier this year. I am not sure I could eat something staring back at me either. Love your pictures and those flowers with that red door could be an inspiration for a card.
Just caught up on this post and your last one. Looks like you are having an excellent, wonderful, friend filled time. Good onya Darnell keep it up.
What a delight it was to meet you yesterday evening. Whoever would have thought that whitebait would be the cause of tears running down my face with laughter! Have fun as you continue on your UK tour. xx
LOVE touring with you Darnell!
Thanks for the update!
Greetings
♥
Hi Darnell - it was lovely to meet you on Friday and thank you for the lunch. I'm glad to see you enjoyed Bristol and good luck with your train journey (I hope it's better than the one I had from Taunton to Exeter!).
Take care, Kath x
I'm loving seeing all the people you've met, so many of them names I'm more used to seeing under thumbnails in Mr Linky! I can't help thinking though that by the time you go home, you are going to be NEEDING those too-big knickers, with all the lovely meals you are eating the rest might be too small!
Jane
Am loving seeing your tour round Blighty. I have a friend who adores whitebait - I could never eat it either!!! Glad you got to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge. It's on my list of things to do! Xx
And so the trail of mayhem and laughter continues as you wend your happy way onwards Darnell. Wonderful photos and it's such a treat to see you with so many very dear bloggy friends.
Like Mrs A, wish I could have joined you for all of this amazing trip. But am so enjoying these posts!
Love
Di xxx
So glad you are having a good trip over here in the UK, Darnell! Perhaps that's why the sun is shinning so brightly at the moment, Jo x
It's been lovely to meet and spend time with you and to be included in the collective meeting with other bloggers too, my thanks to Liz and Ruth for such an enjoyable evening just yesterday and .... I'm sorry about the truly DREADFUL whitebait puns ... NOT!!!!
Hope the next leg of your journey will go far easier than you are anticipating though I totally understand it when you say you are missing the Sherpa skills of "the Mister"
Happy Sunday
Kathyk
loving travelling with you Darnell and so pleased to see you are enjoying your journey and all the bloggy friends you are meeting
Blessings
Maxine
Hi Darnell, So glad you ar getting to meet so many blogging friends and to see some of our beautiful countryside and historic places.
Kath told me you said Hi. So wish I could have met up with you.
Hope your train journey goes fine and you get to your next destination ok.
Take care.
Sue
Hi Darnell....it was so lovely to meet you at last and thank you for a great lunch...it was also nice to meet Kath, Pat and Kathy ...and you are right Karen would have loved knowing Tony meet you...
I shall look forward to following the rest of your 'bloggers trip'..
I've 'borrowed' a couple of your photos to pop on my blog...
hugs Anne x
Oh, David would have been in his element eating that fishbait...not for me though - ugh. Glad you are getting to see the sights, I love seeing the photos.
I hope some kind person helps you with your stuff on the train, we will be waiting to help at the other end and then whisk you away.... looking forward to seeing you!!! Big hugs, Annie xxx
I'm begining to understand why you needed a year preparing for your UK tour, Darnell, but it seems to pay off now. Really enjoy travelling with you here on the blog.
Take care!
Marianne x
There must have been a sad moment when you met dear Karen's husband. How I miss that lovely lady. If only you two could have met, you were such good blogging buddies. She really was the perfect English Lady.
Looks like a wonderful time for you all.
Hugs, Neet xx
Hello! I've been missing awhile .. Lost my dear friend last week and took a little break. So, you have not let the grass grow under your feet have you! Love seeing your photos and what a great trip meeting everyone! I love the Taunton area but it's been years since I was down there ... I hope your visit 'up north' is just as good ... see you very soon! Mwah!
How amazing - such fun looking people. I LUV Bristol - been there twice :-D Ooooh - one of my favourite meals is WhiteBait - a major dish here in Greece :-)
Pity you won't be stopping in at Greece on your travels :-(
Huggies
IKE xxx
Loving your diaries Darnell, especially the photos of familiar places. My Mums family are from Bristol so that is a home from home for me. Looking forward to hearing about the next leg xx
Beautiful post Darnell. You really have had a fantastic time with friends. Love all the photos and everyone looks so happy. Hugs Rita xxxx
Darnell, I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing you on your UK adventure. You are always a ray of sunshine but how lovely of you to bring that sunshine over here with you, I guess you didn't need the wellies after all;) I don't need to ask if you're enjoying yourself as I can see that you are in every photograph that I see. Thank you for taking the time to keep us all posted on how things are going and I'm looking forward to the next installments. Take good care of yourself Darnell and thank you for being you. Crafty hugs, Sandra x
Glad you had a chance to have a bit of a look round Bristol Darnell and had some good food even if the fish did stare back at you...lol. I really enjoyed our lunch at the Fox and Goose having already had a meet up with Hazel and Linda the night before, and then being able to meet Kath, Anne, Tony and Kathy K. was great so thank you! Hope your train journey goes smoothly, I'm sure you will be fine and look forward to seeing all your future escapades..lol. x
What an adventure!! Meeting all these lovely people, being chauffeured around, taking the train, dining out, seeing all those amazing historical sites... So very cool. Except for the whitebait.... If it looks back at me, then I'm not eating it either, lol!! Can't wait to hear all about it. Looking forward, as we all are, to your next post! Have tons more fun girly!!!!! xoxo Bev
Oh the adventures! Darnell, you are indeed loved!
=]
Good luck on your train trip. I'm sure you'll see some of the beautiful English countryside...........What a fun time you're having :)
It looks like we are all traveling with you and Hammy. Enjoy and use that internal compass.... okay maybe hand it off to Hammy. Love the photos!
I'm having a wonderful time on your trip but today I laughed and teared up with your post. I laughed about the fish, OMG! I couldn't eat something that looked back at me with those accusing eyes. Then I teared up because you look so happy at meeting all these wonderful stampers in person. That was so nice that her hubby was able to come and meet you. That was a tearful moment too. I need to go rest up for the rest of the trip.
Thanks for the lovely photos of your UK adventure, enjoy your time!!
Just been catching up on your adventures Darnell and so pleased you got to meet Tony! Lovely photos and great weather too, see you Friday
Val xx
Just been catching up on your adventures Darnell and so pleased you got to meet Tony! Lovely photos and great weather too, see you Friday
Val xx
Loving your posts Darnell. It's almost as good as being there with you.
Sherpa skills...are you taking the train to the Himalayas?...you might need some scuba gear. So lovely that you can meet up with all these crafters (and significant others) that you corresponded with while eating your way through Great Britain (have to say I'd be hard pressed to eat anything that looks back at me, too.) Looks like you're having a wonderful time though not doing much cardmaking. But, then, that's really not what your trip is about, is it?
The fun continues!! :) Thanks so much for sharing all the places you've been and the people you've met ... I feel like I'm on the trip with you!! Lolly xx
You look to be having a fun time, whitebait not included.
Trust your train journey will be trouble free. Sorry I can't make Cheshire though we live close by, as we are travelling back to God's own county, Yorkshire that is, for my birthday tea with number one Son!
Can't wait 'til Friday! I'm a bit of a giddy kipper when I think of it, nothing fishy I can assure you. :)
What wonderful photos and stories about your travels Darnell! Your UK blog friends are really making this trip amazing, and everyone looks so friendly and welcoming. Love the photo of the whitebait fish but ewwwww...I think I would like it more if that WAS a googly eye glued to a fish finger, and not a real eye. It was worth it to order this dish, just to be able to post that photo on your blog.
It's so much fun to place faces to names and you may have to take up scrapbooking once you get home, just to document it all! Yes, I know you don't scrapbook but some situations call for desperate measures.
Good luck on the next leg of your journay and thank you for letting us all tag along!
I am enjoying your posts so much -- feel like I'm on the trip right along with you! I'm so happy you're getting to meet all these blog friends. Wish you'd come to the Southeast, sit on the beach with me, and just talk & relax. North Carolina is NOT that far compared to this trip!
I love that Anne and Kath co-ordinated their lovely summer blouses for you, that whole colour grouping makes an even more fab photo! Sam very envious of your meetings!
Sigh, Auntie you look like you are having a grand time and I'm so happy (am impressed) that you got to do this and got it all organized to meet up with so many people in the blogger world as well as the husbands. Truly a trip of a lifetime! Everyone looks like they are enjoying you so much, which why wouldn't they! You are a sweetheart and they know it too. The scenery is delightful and oh so beautiful! Love the home front in the last picture, just stunning. The food, omgosh, the food looks so yummy except for the poor little fish face. No I wouldn't have been able to eat him either. lol Glad all is going well Auntie! I know you are touching so many lives as you breeze through all the little/big towns and making so many beautiful memories. Hugs, Brenda
What a fab time you are having and spoiled as well. Enjoy the rest of the trip pity you are not in my part of the UK
enjoy love and hugs Carole x
It seems as I travel with you. :-) Enjoy!
Hugs, Sonja
What an amazing trip [of a lifetime] you are having! It is so excellent that you are meeting up with stampers far and wide -- seriously awesome!! You tell that Shirley girl I had HI!!
Wow!! I am loving your photos and that you were able to meet so many fabulous people. I do not think I would be able to eat those fish, though.
So glad you're having a great time. See you VERY soon!
Hugs,
Em xxx
Sounds like you are having a ball. Keep enjoying yourself :)
It is just awesome that you get to meet so many people across the pond. Looks like you're having a great time. Good luck on your train trip.
April
I can see you had a great time !!!!!!
Ineke X
Thanks so much for taking us along with on this fabulous adventure! Fabulous post accompanied by awesome pics! Feel like I'm right there with you :)
Oh you lucky, lucky, lucky lady. I want to go to the UK so badly I could spit! Anne of Redanne fame, told me she was having lunch with you. And Anne F. has been on my radar since I started blogging. She is so sweet and pretty too! I am going to have to read back and see how all of this came about. It's my fault for not knowing as I don't keep up too well any more.
Sandy xx
Oh what fun you are having! That fish eye... too funny. Fish bait is what other fish eat. Oh my. Did you know that fish food flakes for your fishy friends in a bowl is just freeze dried ground up other fish. Who knew fish were such cannibals?!!!
Fun, fun, fun all the way and meeting some wonderful people, Darnell!!! Some more great photo's showing just how much fun you are having!!! Enjoy every minute!!!!
Hugz
More fun pics Darnell, feel sorry for the little fishy fella that nobody wanted to eat, though neither would I. Hope you have arrived safely to this part of the UK? I am sure Anne and David will be taking good care of you. See you VERY soon. Hugs Lottie x
Love all your wonderful photos Miss Darnell...hope you are having a blast!
Fun!!! Have a ball!
Did you diet before you left? Between you and me I lost two lbs. on a 3 week trip to the British Isles. What will happen to my weight when I go to France? It may be good that I don't drink wine. Have fun.
The trip of a lifetime! Meeting so many friends is just amazing! Wish there was a way to do that here--like everyone go to Denver or something!
Thinking of you on your travels and hoping all goes well during your remaining days in the UK. Live, laugh and love!
Wow! The whirlwind that is Darnell is continuing its happy journey across Britain! Can just imagine you in stitches over the whitebait ha ha! I'm so glad you're having such a great time & meeting so many bloggy friends. And I love that we all get to travel along & share your adventures.
Mwah!
Debs xxx
OMGoodness, I love seeing all of your photos! What a fabulous trip! The whitebait is hilarious! I wouldn't have eaten it either! The eye!!!!
Hi again, just read on Pat's blog about her meeting you, so I came back to see what I've missed. I've been away. Sounds like you are a having a super vacation and meeting many blog friends! Enjoy, Cheers & Hugs, Shirleyxx
Awe, of course you miss your guy and I'm sure he misses you too! Wow,you are one nonstop busy girl ....what a fun trip ,so much to do and see! Thanks for all the fun photos and keeping us all posted!
More wonderful photos and you're certainly enjoying lots of meals with friends. Just don't go near any scales when you get home! Howlovely that you were able to meet your friends dear husband too. Barbxx
Lovely photos! I couldn't eat the fish that was looking at me either! xxx
Wow! The travels, the hosts/hostesses, the chauffeurs! Oh my! Loving this little vacay you're taking us on!
We have whitebait here but they are eaten at a much younger age, so only like little worms (doesn't sound much better does it??) but they are delicious and much easier to eat the eyes!!! You must be pooped from all your running around but your having so much fun!
<3!
Aha, so much fun and my word, you are eating a serious amount of food (apart from fish eyes of course)... how do you stay so small?! How lovely for you to meet all those wonderful bloggie friends from many years... and clearly closely formed friendships have been made if they are doing your laundry! Onto the next post (loving them)....
And the adventure continues. You are making such happy memories, Darnell. I wonder how much of an accent you've picked up. ;)
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