From London to Birmingham and beyond...

Finished up our Friday with a walk through Russia Dock Woodlands. This is a pretty cool place. It used to be the docks….you may have guessed that….and now it is re-claimed land, covered in trees, grass and shrubs. Not like a botanical garden but like, er, a woodland. I guess in summary the name really does say it all. The cool thing is seeing squirrels running around, and storks on rocks and ducks and their ducklings, cruising around on impossibly picturesque ponds, all whilst surrounded by the unseen suburbia of London. If I had to live in London, I would definitely like to be in an area like this. I met a dear old couple who were sitting on a bench watching ducks near the above mentioned post-card like pond, and ironically they have a grandson who has recently married a girl from the South East of South Australia. Unfortunately they couldn’t remember the name of her home town….either way it reminds us that we are members of a small world! (Like when we were lined up with a hundred or more people awaiting entrance to the Natural History Museum, and the family right behind us were from Adelaide. Freaky!)
On Saturday morning we left London, and headed to Birmingham. It takes almost as long getting out of the city, as it does traveling the hundred miles to get there. You certainly grow in your appreciation of Colonel Light and the concept of ‘planned’ cities. London is of course a bunch of country villages that over hundreds of years, all burst at their seams, and were smooshed together to make the city that we now know. Interesting yes, streamlined, no.
We arrived at Birmingham in time for a lunch with our dear Katie and the gorgeous Jesse. We went for a stroll and play through the Botanical Gardens in the arvo. Sam declared in his most boyish indignation (on arrival to the gardens), “Why have we come to see flowers? You do know that I don’t like flowers, don’t you?” He was very quick to change his opinion almost immediately as we walked past the tropical pond full of huge gold fish, and stopped to gaze at the carnivorous plant display. The gardens are lovely and one can easily imagine passing happy afternoons there, with smooth green hills to roll down, a playground and interactive garden for the kids. A coffee shop, interesting plants and of course a fountain or two around the place. Then it was home for Roast Beef…..need I say more…..God Bless Katie!! (yes, we are talking the full deal, roast sweet potato, rich gravy AND Yorkshire puds – I am drooling thinking of it!!)
Yesterday Katie had to work, and as Jesse’s babysitter had something come up last minute, we were lucky enough to have a fourth child for the day. (We had offered already but Katie had been worried about hampering our touristy plans) Thing is, we really didn’t have any touristy plans, and having Jesse helped us to figure out what to do, and the end result was a lovely, enjoyable and most productive day.
We began by attending the church on the high street which had a ten am service, aimed at kids. It is somewhere that Jesse attends a playgroup regularly, so hopefully felt familiar to him – helpful, given that he was only just getting familiar with us. The church was packed and super kid-friendly. It was a bit squishy in the family ‘corner’ of the church, which was already full when we arrived and added our two strollers to the mix. It also involved a walk of shame, as we were about five minutes late, and the family corner was at the very front. A lovely lady came and spoke to us after. She is a school teacher and was a little horrified to hear that we had our kids out of school for a whole term – Niki, (Lilli’s teacher at home, who is British) had already explained that things were different here in that regard)
The lady who had led the service recognised Jesse and also made us feel welcome.
After a quick lunch, Jesse had his nap, and Eliza had her I-will-lie-here-and-call-out-every-five-minutes-until-you-let-me-get-up. Shane vacuumed the car, which has needed done for - well, since we bought it. This also involved a good clean out of all of the stuff that has found its way into the nooks and crannies of the car. Sam and Lilli had a good catch up on some school work, as did I.
Before tea we went for a walk to a nearby park where we fed the ducks and enjoyed the playground. Home for spaghetti Bolognese, bathing kids etc, and a great day was had by all.
It is always sad saying good-bye to loved ones, but we have had a fond farewell this morning before Katie headed off to work, and it is made easier by the hope of seeing each other again before we leave the country.
We are now ab 20 miles out of Chester, where we are going to surprise our dear friend Catriona. She lives in Scotland, but her and her hubby (who is in on the plan) are bringing their two kids down here for their family holiday. I have wanted to do this to her for many years – surprise her that is…I used to imagine doing it on her doorstep, but then one year when they went camping at Cornwall, I thought then how cool it would be to just be in the campsite next door to hers, and see how long it would take for her to recognise us. Therefore, when we knew that we were definitely coming over, I got in touch with Stu to find out where they were going for their summer holidays. So we are booked into an apartment over the next four days, in the same building as they have an apartment booked.
Stu has given us the codes to their room, and we plan to let ourselves in, to surprise Cat on their arrival. On the door, we will put a note, saying
Welcome to Chester. We hope you have a pleasant stay. We have left a surprise in your room, to help you enjoy your stay. With our compliments, The Wharf.
On the bench in the kitchen we will leave some afternoon tea, and Lilli’s Kitty. Kitty came with us to Scotland seven years ago and was with Lilli when she was a flower girl in Cat and Stu’s wedding. Kitty still is wearing the burgundy ribbon around her neck that we ut on her to match the bridesmaid dresses. If we can find any, I will also put a black (burgundy) calla lily with Kitty. This was the flower in the bridesmaids bouquets, at the wedding. These a just to see if Cat will guess what is going on. She will know for sure when she opens the door to one of the rooms and we will all be there.
As for how it really goes..…I will let you know in my next entry. We are nearly there, and in an hour and a half, we will be face to face with precious friends that we could never be sure we were going to get to see again. No wonder I am so excited!