Sam's Special Mention

Sam

what a stupid mistake to make;)

Apes in Chatsworth

Day 18

    Ever heard of Robin Hood and Lady Marian? Well we're best friends and I hung out with them in Sherwood forest. Not to brag or anything.

     Julia, Sam and I went to the Sherwood forest Go Ape. Go Ape is a rope and zip-line course in the middle of a forest.

 

Day 19

    We spent the night in Matlock with Julia's friend Pam. Her daughter Anna and I have become kind of close after hanging out for 2 days, she's only 14. The morning after Go Ape Pam, Anna, Julia, Sam and I went to Chatsworth estate. It was more than magnificent!

 All three of us inside the house wandering around.

Rembrandt and his hidden masterpieces.

Maze completed! I was the one who got lost!

Sam is obsessed with slapping my thighs. Oof painful.

I am the Black Swan!

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Chatsworth Estate

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The coolest band!!!! Check out the saxophonist;) 

Girls Night Out (just kidding)

Day 17

     Sam had work today so Julia and I were on our own. Sam works with John, his gardener, he goes and does landscaping jobs. I tried to blog a little bit today but my computer crashed and my adapter is being shipped around England.

      Today was kind of a chill day for me. Julia and I picked up her friend Cathy and went to the Heath. The houses were all like massive estates. We took a small walk around some of the houses and walked to The Heath Tea House. The tea house is literally someone's home. They have a small cafe on the bottom floor of their home and cook everything in their kitchen. It was so tasty and very quaint.

      CURRY NIGHT!!
     I stayed veggie for curry night... We met up with quite a few people from Julia's works. I'm going to get their names right.

Sonya, Adele, Jo, Julie, Graham, Danny, Natalie, and others that I forgot what a waste....

     First we met up at Fernandez, a pub in Wakefield. No I didn't drink anything but water. 

  We had a reservation at the Red Chili II, an Indian restaurant. One of the waiters had some eyesight problem and you never really knew who he was looking at. It was cheese and spinach and it was so good. Me being clumsy and stupid while at the buffet, managed to drop a Eggplant Pakora into a massive bowl of sauce. SMH (if you do not know what this means Google it or ask a young person in your family). 

YORKIE

Day 16

     YORK! 

     Today Sam, Julia and I traveled to York. We walked through these beautiful gardens and happened to find a large horse!:) Julia and I were the only ones who could get our feet in the stirrups. Sam on the other hand, with his four foot leg height, was going to pull something or tear something if he tried to sit all the way down. 

    We continued into York heading toward the Shambles but got pulled away by Betty's. Betty's is a very posh English Tea House kind of. I had Summer Fruit Brioche, it tasted wonderful but the silverware was awfully confusing. Being a posh British tea house i was given a fork with a knife like edge to it and a spoon. Um hello last time I checked to cut bread you need a real knife and a real fork not puny, play silverware. I think a small monkey would have been better off using them! 

    We continued wandering around the Shambles after Betty's. We came across some buskers, the Y Street band! 

http://youtu.be/fdaJZfyOnW8

    

LEED(s) Me Home

Day 15

     Sam and I took the bus into Leeds this morning seen as though Julia had to work. When we got Leeds and waked out of the bus station there was a massive outdoor market! Sam being a guy has to eat every few hours, he stopped in the market and got a bag of egg shaped (not flavored) gummies! Strange, but they were really good.

     We wandered around the new Leeds Trinity Shopping Center (Mall), went into so may stores but didn't buy anything.

       While Sam and I got "lunch", really just a smoothie and a danish, with the wonderful power of twitter said that a girl was going to be performing in a record store. We went to go and see her and I now regret not filming her because she was THAT good! Her name was Emily something but I can't remember. She was so small but had such a powerful and different voice, brilliant!!

      Just before we caught the bus back to Wakefield we had a crepe each and they were so hot (temperature wise) and it to be 30 degrees already. The bus was 1000000000 degrees I actually thought I was going to die, and I thought Sam was going to pass out at one point...

   
  Later on after Julia, Clive, Thomas and I had dinner, Sam went to his Dad's, Julia took us to a dam. We had a little walk around the lake thingy. Walking around we passed a man and his Meerkat, Mishka. She was playful and made a clicking noise when anyone tickled her stomach.

Thomas and I as Meerkats! :)

Crying Castles

Day 14

  

   I had to leave Uncle Nick's house today. :( I'm not going to lie I did cry. Being a deal older than the last time I saw him I feel that we were able to bond as friends and it was more fun. Leaving was hard, I cried for ten minutes in the car. It will probably be another two/ three years before I see him and Lolly again. Grandma and I drove for about two and a half hours before we got back to Gildersome. 

    Once back at her's, I had a baguette (yum)!!!! I attempted to blog but laziness got the best of me, instead I watched Schindler's List. It was a very touching film to say the least. 

Day 15

  I slept in way late this morning! Grandma was having her hair done by a lovely lady Danielle. I decided I would trim my hair while she was there. She did a very good job and was so funny! Danielle is VERY pregnant, she was telling us about her experiences being pregnant and cute stories. After Danielle left Grandma and I had lunch at Nando's!

     Julia and Sam live down the road from Margaret and Charles, so I popped in to say "hi" before going down the road to Julia's. 

   Sam, Thomas (Clive's son) and I took a walk to Sandal castle, it was just such a nice breezy night and we climbed on the ruins. I almost fell multiple times! Whoops. As per usual I was laughed at not helped up, oh well... 

Disco Pants and Hibernation

Day 12

       Lolly and I went to the shopping center so she could find summer clothes. We spent a good hour and quitte a few pounds in Primark. I found these fabulous disco pants. They are high-waisted, black, and shiny. Lolly got some high-waisted shorts that were super cute on her. i bought quite a few other items as well. (I'll show you those when I get home)! 

      Uncle Nick, being a stereotypical man, was bored of sitting outside. We decided to take a drive to Ironbridge.  Ironbridge was where the industrial revolution started in the UK. The bridge that gave Ironbridge its name was the first iron cast bridge in the world! 

      I had yet another ice cream here. I think I'm beginning to look like an ice cream! We went home after that because it was so hot and had a smorgasbord. Oh did I mention I was sleeping in a tent! It was so much fun. 

Day 13

        Another hibernation session with Charlotte Affolter. It has been so hot in the tent and just all day really, that I became so tired so I slept into the morning and then again for 2 hours in the afternoon. After I woke up in the afternoon Uncle Nick made his famous Turkey and Chick Pea Curry. Oh My Lord it was so good. I inhaled it, there was no chewing involved. 

       A lot of the time I was at Nick's all four of us were laughing and talking. There wasn't much television or anything. I nearly peed myself on numerous occasions. i recorded Nick and Grandma singing a dirty RAF song.  

*WARNING DO NOT WATCH WITH SMALL CHILDREN AROUND*

Its not a llion its a giraffe

The video is fixed soz

Its Not A Lion Its A Giraffe.

Day 10

      Since my last post it was mostly packing or more like repacking my case. Stevie and I went to a cool party at her friend Vicky's house. It was epic. The weather was gorgeous and many horses were there. Most of Stevie's friends thought my american accent was very entertaining lol. When we finally arrived home we just chilled for a bit on the website called StumbleUpon. Then I went to bed "early" preparing for my train ride the next day to my Nunk's house.  

Day 11

       After an early rise I caught the train at 10:24 am to Birmingham new street. It was a 3 hour journey but i slept most of the way. The lady that sat next to me on the isle seat was fast asleep at my destination point and I started freaking out because I didn't think I was going to be able to get off haha. As I got off the train I saw my Uncle Nick and Cousin Lolly (her name's Lauren but everyone calls her Lolly) standing at the platform waiting for me.

We caught another train  to wellington and arrived home at nicks house. As we arrived at the house Grandma was already at the house with her little cuppa tea.
Viewed my sleeping arrangements outside in a big, blue tent which was really fun sleeping in because the weather was pheonomenal :)

That night we had a catch up, a good meal (crispy chicken from a Jamie Oliver's recipe book) It tasted great. The chicken was really juicy and succulent. My uncle Nick's a great chef. I experienced Jersey royal potatoes. They were gorgeous.

After a good old laugh we went to the tent, had a chat with my favourite cousin and headed to bed. ZZZzzzzzz

Nunk was not drunk! I swear!

Schizophrenia and Big Wheels

Day 8

     Today I was really tested in Psychology and my comfort with mental illness. Steph owns a care home for people with mental illness, but especially Schizophrenia. I'm not allowed to use names but I will tell you about the people I met.

         The first person I met has been in care homes since he was 13 years old. He had called Steph "Charlotte" earlier in the day, and he seemed pleased to know that I was a real Charlotte. He was so nice and quiet; he said I had beautiful eyes and that he had golden eyes. He was new to the home, and had only lived there for a week or so. He had to leave his other home because kids kept taking his cigarettes, and he finally yelled at them. Of course the parents took their kid's sides and he was moved to Riviera Court. 

       Then I met a hippy lady with very long dreadlocked hair. She loved my chevron bracelet and we got to talking about California and how she'd always wanted to go! She was very interested in getting to know me and about my family.

       I was introduced to another man who had met someone from San Diego. We talked about San Francisco and California. He was the nicest man I've ever met. He waved to Steph and I as we were pulling out of the driveway!

       Even though all of these people had Schizophrenia, they were very nice and interesting. It was such a great experience and makes me start to think about what I may want to do with my life.  We had our lunch in the home, Lasagna! After lunch we headed to Babbacobme for an ice cream. I had black current and clotted cream, though it sounds disgusting, it was officially the best ice cream I've ever had.

Day 9

      Had to get up again today!!! I went with Steph and Rick to start working on Torquay Festival! We met with the street warden, John at a cafe on the harbor. Then Rick had a meeting with Karl, a youth group leader, to try to get kids to come and help build a cardboard tower.

        The designer Olivier created this tower at Glastonbury Festival, the Torquay statue will be the clock tower. It is such an exciting project and I'm sad I can help out and participate. After a quick power nap we went to Torquay Town Council to check everything over with a representative or someone. While walking out of the Town Council, we saw people sitting at desks watching traffic cameras. WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!

       When Stevie got home from school Wayne, Steph, Stevie and I went aroung the big ferris wheel. There was no line so they sent us around 4 times. To be honest I was done after the first time around.

      For dinner we had Pizza Hut, which is much better here than in the US. Thats all for now Folks xoxooxx

Andy Murray has 3 Bags Full of Gooseberries.

Day 7

       England is made up of many little villages; they are all special in there own right. The village we went to, Galmpton, was in the middle of no where. There was a gooseberry festival going on today. I figured it would be fun since I was found underneath a gooseberry bush, and not conceived. We went to this festival specifically to see a local band "3 Bags Full". Even if we were there four hours early. The fist entertainment was Joe, a reggae singer form Jamaica, who was a very good singer/ entertainer. Then the local brass band played, I genuinely enjoyed the Grease medley at the end. My least favorite act was the Brixham College Big Band, a group of 11-16 year-olds playing instruments and singing. The instrumental bit was quite good, they were talented for being young. The singers, that's a very different story. The "lead" singer was as white as they come and was singing like an Aretha Franklin wanna-be.

       3 Bags Full were fantastic. They only sung covers but they were so fun and into the whole performance. I danced from when they started to when they left. There sound was kind of tropically influenced but rocking at the same time!

        My favorite  part of the afternoon was being in a British pub when Andy Murray won Wimbledon. We were all sat in a small room in the back with the match being projected out onto a wall. That last 5 or 6 advantages were brutal, everyone was yelling and clapping. When Djokovic stuffed it in the net, everyone was on their feet screaming and crying. I even started crying (no surprise there), grow men were even crying. It was an experience I've never had before, there was such a unity in the room. It was AMAZING!!!!

         Morris dancers preformed with their sticks and Rasta dreadlock beanies. It was a very complicated dance by the looks of things. (NOT)!!

I met/ re-met Sam and Lisa, they didn't recognize me. I mean its only been 14 odd years! They were lovely and send Mommy and Daddy their love:)

Kind of awkward.... My fault! Taataa for now xoxoxo

Wedstock and Earls

Day 6

     Up and at 'em it was today.  Today we headed to Cornwall for a music festival style wedding, Wedstock. We left at 12:00 p.m. and drove down to Cornwall. Did I mention this wedding is on an estate? Lord and Lady Eliot's estate. The way to Cornwall is very scenic and you have to go over the Brunel bridge. 

   The wedding reception was held in a marquis, a beautiful blue and white striped tent. There were little flags hung all around the tent and fairy lights.  It was so different and beautiful. The bride and groom were the loveliest people. the bride's dress was stunning on her.

       In the afternoon Steph and I were a PIMM's team when the guests were arriving.  Making PIMM's, pouring, getting new glasses, getting rid of used glasses. It was a blast! As the evening carried on, after our PIMM's service, Rick took me around the estate on a tour.

This is Rick and Shelley. They work on the estate and handle the bars and work festivals.

         The estate is like nothing I've ever seen before. The house itself is over 500 years old. There are so many concepts to the estate, not just the big house. The gardens are magnificent, its not your stereotypical garden though. It is acres of trees and plants, there is a hexagonal maze and a beautiful view of the river.  

       Rick is very good friends with Lord Eliot, so I had the honor of meeting him. He was a lovely guy, really down to earth and normal. After my little tour, Rick and I headed back to the wedding. I was a Barmaid (bartender) working with Steph and Julie. We worked from 2 in the afternoon until 2 the following morning. For at least an hour I was left to man the bar by myself, and even if I say so, I did a pretty good job. One of my favorite things about this wedding was the Silent Disco. It is literally everyone has headphones on that are synced with the DJ and everyone dance like normal, but when you take them off all you hear is the soft singing of the chorus.  Everyone who knew the words were singing even with headphones, it was a riot. The happiest man at that wedding was Drummer Man. He sat in one chair for almost 2 hours playing the drums on his knees with 2 glowsticks. He was smiling the whole time and you could tell he was having a blast. 

Total Drink Count: Charlotte

2x Pimm's

1x Champagne and Orange

1x Pint Cider

All in All a wonderful, eventful day/night/morning.

A link to the many photos I took of the wedding and Cornwall.

http://s1284.photobucket.com/user/char3797/library/7-6-13%20Wedstock%20Wedding 

Taaaaaaa..... xoxoxox

Round Robin

Day 5

      Today was a very long day. Steph and I traveled all around southern Devon. We walked down to the harbor and caught the ferry going across Torbay to Brixham. In Brixham we were trying to find a way to either Kingswear or to the steam train.  A man offered to row us in a boat no bigger than a kitchen table.  He said it would only take 3 hours:/ We politely turned down his offer and decided to take a bus to Churston.  It was a double-decker bus and we sat on the top right at the front. Steph didn't like that too much, she kept thinking we were going to run into trees or traffic lights. In Churston we walked to the steam train station, we had half an hour to kill so we went down the pub. 

       So now I will start the story of Mr. Locomotive.  Okay so Mr. Locomotive was the steam train driver on our train to Kingswear. He was very cute and flirty as you will soon learn.  

     The train ride to Kingswear was just breath taking, the river Dart was gorgeous and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  I smiled and waved at Mr. Locomotive as we got off the train and he smiled and waved back!

     Once at the other end we hopped on another ferry to Dartmouth, where we met Mr. Scabby Knees.  Mr. Scabby Knees was the deck boy on the ferry. Steph said he would be no good because he looked a bit thick. We gave him some benefit because he was helping the elderly and disabled onto and off of the boat. When in Dartmouth you have to have ice cream, and we did! It was one of the best ice creams I have ever had. After a few hours in Dartmouth we got back on the ferry to Kingswear.  Mr. Locomotive was still driving the train when we got back on the platform. I smiled again ;) and he gave an acknowledging finger point/smile. Once we were on one of the carriages, waiting to leave, the engine drove by and there he was smiling and waving again. Another 5 minutes went by and we hadn't left. The engine came back down the track, except this time he was purposely hiding in his jacket. By now the entire carriage was laughing at the way we were passing each other. When we finally got off the train I managed to get a picture with him.

       About 3 seconds before turning the corner off the platform to the bus station, the train "tooted" one last time. I joked to Steph saying, "oh he's probably tooting at me". In reality he was. We turned around and he was hanging out of the train waving like a maniac at us!!! That is all for now sorry for the dekay! xoxoxox

Don't Shop 'Til You Get Enough

Day 4

     I'm sorry for not posting yesterday too much effort too late into the night.  Today was very exciting! We made a quick stop to the Torbay Hospital: Women's Health Unit. Steph pointed out the general area of where my room was. It was so bizarre, I don't know how to explain the feeling. It was kind of a feeling of finally knowing more about that part of me that I flaunt regularly. Steph took me into Paignton to see my old house. Paignton is beautiful and the views are spectacular.

8 Hilton Drive

      We had lunch in Totnes, the last Hippie community in England. It was right on the river Dart and it was called the Steam Packet.

 
   Stevie and I then went and got a train from Newton Abbott to Exceter.  We weren't sure which train to connect so I used my "tongue" and asked at every connection! Which platform is the train for blah on?  ;) The shopping was so different; the styles and colors and currency.  We went to Topshop and Jane Norman; Hollister, Urban Outfitters, Boots and River Island. I saw a unicorn onsie in Topshop!!!!! It was a blast, even though I only bought one thing all day and Stevie bought five bag-fulls. When we got home we had "Wayne's" (Steph's) bolognese. We just chilled for the rest of the night and didn't do much else. Ta Taoxoxox

Sleep All Day, Rest All Night + Training Hard

Day 2

Not much happened yesterday which is why I am adding day 2 and 3 together.  So starting my morning off around 2:00 a.m my wonderful, amazing father butt dialed me.  Cheers ;).  Most people need beauty sleep, I need hibernation.  I caught up on my sleep at noon and wow this is so boring to listen to I apologize. I managed to get out of the house!!! Julia picked me up around 5:00 and I spent a few hours at her house.  I re-met/met Holly and Millie! I’m a bit disappointed now; they won’t be in England while I’m at Julia’s.  They were so funny and outgoing compared to Mr. Grumpypants aka: Sam. He wasn’t that bad actually. I had a load of fun and quite enjoyed getting out of Grandma’s for a few hours.

Day 3

I have been on a train for about 4 and a bit hours. Steph just called to ask where I was and I’m still on the train which makes me think. Have I missed my station? Am I on the right train? I wonder where the bathroom is? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions and I kind of have to pee.  On a happier note, the scenery is breathtaking. It’s so green and colorful. I can honestly say that I have never seen more cows in my life!!! Every few miles there are more cows and more cows. The train ride overall was quite nice seen as though I kept to myself.  I was sitting next to a couple, just married, who managed to finish almost 2 whole bottles of wine. (oh dear).  I have just been through Taunton and I think there are only two more stops until…never mind maybe three.  These announcements are so hard to hear and understand. I really wish I had a train track map at the moment. About 20 minutes ago I was sitting across from a very cute man. He smiled at me (EEEEEEEEEK). Ooh Ello… there is a very nice looking gentleman behind me, unfortunately there is no easy way of getting a picture. Just trust me on this one!

 Another Sleeping Person

The Man in front of me. (his socks)

 A glimpse of what my trip looked like on the train.

        Stevie and I went down into Torquay this afternoon.  She showed me around downtown and got me caught up with what's what and who's who.  We met her friends at the green (park) and talked for a while before wanting food and going to subway. Torquay is one of the most beautiiul places I've ever seen! Pictures to come! TA LOVE! xoxo