WOW!
I got off the computer
after writing to you all last Sunday, and as I had said, the weather
was getting darker and cooler. Well, shortly after that, I was in
the living room straightening things, when there was this enormous
clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning! My friend, Karen Whiteley,
called to ask if my building had been struck. I told her I didn't
think so. She said she was leaning out her window when it struck,
and it looked as though it hit mine. Well, it didn't, but it did hit
the penthouse of a group of new flats not far from us. It knocked
out reception for some friends, and it caused my channels to go to
new numbers for the rest of the evening. I kept seeing the lightning
in the distance, and the rain was falling, but I didn't think anything
of it. It was not until the next morning that I discovered that it
had caused flash flooding not far away in Helmsley
and the villages around Thirsk,
washing away cars, etc. Who knew? The flooding waters receded shortly
thereafter, but it took a couple of days to clean up the mud, etc.
Fortunately, no one died in the flooding, and it was said that North
Yorkshire received the equivalent of it's total rainfall for the month
of June in less than 4 hours!
Monday I was so excited, as I would be heading to Wimbledon
the following day. I went to acupuncture that day, since I would not
be here for it on Tuesday. I went to sleep, or at least to bed, dreaming
and thinking of what it would be like.
Tuesday I got a taxi and collected my friend, Sue Stewart, at the
Red Lion.
Off we set for the train station and GNER
to King's
Cross Station. We arrived with no problems en route, then took
the Picadilly
underground line to Earl's
Court, where we changed to the District
Line for Southfields,
the station for Wimbledon. We alighted and joined the throngs headed
to the All
England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club grounds for
the match. We caught one of the chartered buses to the grounds, and
soon we were on that hallowed site!!! How beautiful! The green ivy
growing on the buildings and on the ground, the deep purple pansies
and petunias, as well as rows of a lighter shade of purple, set off
against the green! The colors of Wimbledon all around us. Everyone
was very nice and polite to us, directing us to our court. We had
tickets for Court
2, and off we went. Only Centre
Court, Courts
1 and 2 tickets are sold in advance, and we were among the lucky
ones!! We were right on the net, and high enough to see over the umpire.
We first saw Andy
Murray, the new British hope, beat his opponent, then saw Venus
Williams gracefully dismiss her opponent. Then Gasquet
defeated a German. During this match, we decided to have a wander,
and off we went for strawberries and cream, a Wimbledon tradition.
The berries are from a field in Kent
that Wimbledon buys every year.....the entire field! They were delicious,
and I had two bowls, at £2/bowl. Certainly cheaper than the
Pimms
that was £5.75/glass and the Lanson
champagne champagne at £10/glass with a straw! Who ever
heard of drinking champagne with a straw? We wondered if there was
a discount if you didn't want the straw! Anyway, we headed back, pausing
to see Conchita
Martinez win her first round match, and ditto for Arnaud
Clement and Fabrice
Santoro. We returned to our seats for the finish of Gasquet's
match, and then came Serena
Williams. She looked lethargic, and quickly the crowd was on the
side of the challenger, Angela
Haynes. As one woman said, “I didn't know her name 30
minutes ago!” We cheered for Angela, and she won the first
set! Serena won the second, and then we had to leave to catch our
conveyances back to York. Our step was certainly not as sharp as it
had been 12 hours earlier, but we made it back to King's Cross, dragging
ourselves, and onto the 9pm train we hopped for the return journey.
We arrived in York about 11:10, got a cab, and I deposited Sue back
at the Red Lion, and I headed home for a
shower and bed!
Up on Wednesday and into work, telling all about my fabulous trip
and a dream come true. At noon I left to pick up Carl Collins at the
station. He was visiting in the country, and he was coming to see
me for the day/night. We walked all over York: saw the Shambles,
Newgate Market, had
lunch at the Golden
Lion, the Minster,
Coney
Street, stopped at City
Screens Bar and sat outside by the river and had
a pint, wandered down Parliament
Street, over to the Jorvik
Viking Centre in Coppergate
and then onto Fossgate to the Red Lion and
had a couple, where we ran into Karen Whiteley, Mike Kendall, Paul
Cain and Rachel Addison. Told them all about my experience at Wimbledon,
and Sue came out and joined in the tale. We then bid them adieu, and
off we trudged to ASK
restaurant in the Assembly
Rooms. Now, we had been having "boiling" weather (that's
a British term for weather over 80°!), and it was quite humid.
Anyway, we had a delicious Italian meal, then headed back home. I
left Carl watching telly as I headed to bed.
Up at 6:30 the next morning to prepare breakfast and for him to get
ready for his return trip to London to meet friends and go on to Paris.
He wished he had allowed more time for York. I told him so!:)!! Anyway,
I was back at work that morning, and I was tired by the end of the
day. Nikki Laube and I went for lunch with Nick Northrup in Heslington,
and then back to work. At the end of the day, I headed home, watched
Wimbledon and got to sleep!
Still tired on Friday, I made it through the day and then it was home
for me. Did a washing, etc., watched MORE Wimbledon and the bed.
On Saturday I walked into town and did a bit of shopping, and then
I was back home. My friends, Pam Powell and Dana Dennis, came in for
lunch, and we went to the Royal
Dragon for Chinese. We had wanted to go for Mexican,
but the best Mexican restaurant isn't open on Saturday for lunch!
However, we did have a nice meal. Then, we headed to a shop where
they had "pick your own" beans, gooseberries
and strawberries. Blackberries and raspberries will be in in a couple
of weeks. Well, they also had them ready; so we just bought some already
packaged, along with several other things. We came back to my place,
and I had prepared strawberries. We sat and visited and watched Wimbledon
eating our own strawberries and cream. They left late in the afternoon,
and I straightened things up and continued to watch Andy Murray go
down in defeat to Nalbandian.
Today I was up and at church, and we had a rather full congregation
area! It was the 61st Annual York
Cycle Rally, and this year they were raising money
for the MAKE FAMINE HISTORY campaign sponsored by the Lions Club and
started by Bob Geldof. We
also had a visiting choir from Norway, and what a special treat that
was! We were all out to bid the cyclists farewell, and oh it was grand!
I walked back home, changed my clothes, and then headed to see Batman
Begins. I can sum it up in 4 letters: S........L.......O........W!!!!!
I definitely had to fight to stay awake in that one!
So that's my week. Hope yours went well.
Love,
