The Birthday party

This was the first of the two 90th birthday parties on our trip.
The birthday girl was Elsie Fletcher who is John's first cousin, once removed, however, she is still here! There were 14 guests only 3 of whom we had met before, and all the others were relatives we hadn't met. This family tree needs no fertilizing, it just keeps growing! The oldest member was 90 and the youngest 7 weeks. Quite a cross section and we had a really nice time.
Even though Elsie is nearly blind with Macular Degeneration and her neck muscles have deteriorated so much she can't hold her head up, she has a wicked sense of humour. She had insisted on paying for the lunch, commenting that she would normally have to pay for a wake, but she'd much rather pay today and get the enjoyment from it herself!

Dinner

I told you about Phil the Sausage Man. It's all a matter of how they are cooked. This is one of the more interesting dinners we've had lately. Great if you like Venison Sausages and Baked Potatoes, even better if you like anchovies. I've spoilt it now, haven't I?

Outdone

We went out for a meal with our friends Andy and Jeanette last night. Met at the Clarence, of course, then on to The Jolly Roger for food. It was Jeanette's shout, so she suggested we get a glass to start, then get a bottle with dinner. I agreed. When we ordered food, she ordered a bottle of Rosé. I mentioned that I didn't really want to share a bottle of Rosé, to which she replied I didn't have to. That was her bottle and I would naturally order my own. The boys were drinking beer. I think I've been well and truly outdone!

My wish list

After a long walk in the sun, yes, we had one sunny day, we came across these houses in Warsash. I have no idea how much they would sell for, and I know I couldn't possibly afford one, but I wish......

Spring

It's late coming, but it is pretty. Wild daffodils spring up everywhere and in the most unlikely places. One forgets just how green England is! But they do have a lot of rain....

Little Dogs

I do it every time I come back to the Land of Dogs. I fall in love with furry four legged people. They are everywhere and so loved. This little guy was just basking in the sun, while the other day a fellow was sitting in the pub, up at the bar with his little dog on his lap!

Searching the Past

Well what a day we've had. We have, like many others, been researching the family history on both John's side and mine. Today we visited 4 houses in which his Great Grandfather John lived. The first, he lived with his mother in 1871, but unfortunately this one has been knocked down, but the Common Green area is still there where no doubt he ran around playing as a boy.
The second house he lived with his new bride Emily Mary in 1891 in the north of Gosport. We couldn't identify the exact house, but found the probable group, one of which would have been theirs.
The third was a direct hit, where he lived with Emily and 5 of their 8 children in 1901. This was in the nicer area of Alverstoke just around the corner from the Common. We cheekily took a couple of photos, then a woman stuck her head out of the window and asked why we were taking photos of her house. We apologized and she said it was quite ok, she was just being nosey. Funny.
The fourth was back on the north side where they added another 2 children. Small houses, lots of kids, that's how they did it back then.
It has been fascinating, and certainly the third house, John and I had walked past many many times, not knowing it was there and the association it held.

Dolphins

Just love the ever changing view.....

Fog

This is the view that greeted us this morning. Fog to the left of us, fog to the right of us. Now I know why we were woken up by many fog horns at 6am. It is a very busy harbour at Portsmouth, there's always something coming or going, but this morning it sounded extra busy

Cost of living

A night at the pub.
 A shout, that is, one pint of reasonable beer and one glass of white wine, in Melbourne, can range from to $18-$20. A whole night at The Clarence, that is, 3 shouts, that is, 3 pints of good beer and 3 glasses of white wine - $30.
Who's having who on.
It's also interesting to compare price of petrol.....$1.37 a unit in Melbourne, and 1.37 pounds a unit here! Have they simply worked out what the market will bear?

Churches in Porstmouth

Porstmouth is steeped in both Army and Naval history. The oldest building Wymering Manor dates back to 1042 and that's really old. 

The Cathedral known as the Church of St Thomas of Canterbury began construction in 1185. It's a very bitty building because its been built, bit by bit over time. The chapel, as it was then, survived a bombing by the French in 1337 and then in 1683-1693 a new nave, aisles and a west tower were added. In 1927 the church was declared a Cathedral. 
The setting is very attractive with wild daffodils all around the grave stones.

The Garrison Church was built in 1212 originally as a hospice for pilgrims, the sick and the elderly with a chapel attached. In the 16th century it was used as an armoury. In 1866 restoration began and a lot of improvements were made to stained glass windows and pavings. Sadly a lot of this fine work was lost in a 1941 bombing.
In 1662 King Charles II was married here and funnily enough it is still used for weddings today.

The Clarence

It's nice to be back. This pub hasn't changed since it was probably built. For those of you who know 'Filthy's' in Kingston Canberra, it is very similar, however, before the renovation. Old wooden chairs and tables, and  patrons that have been going there for years.  It's a real little community with the best beer in the world, according to himself. 
This is the place 'The Animal' is likely to reappear! That would be the drinking animal, not the eating animal, and it's certainly not the place for a Princess ( you may or may not remember these characters from the previous blogs), one must be a soldier to survive this pub. We have a fun time and when Don Maclean's 'American Pie' comes on the music machine, they turn the volume up very loud and all sing along.
We're going back again tonight to catch up with Big Andy and Jeanette, our regular drinking mates at The Clarence. Looking forward........

Sausages

Another thing we like to have in UK is your traditional sausage and mash. We always go the same shop and visit Phil the sausage man. We remind him that we are regular customers, every two years we come back to see him!

Technology

I just want to put it out there that people who keep changing formats and supposedly making things better and easier for us.....give me the shits!!!

View from a pub

Another day, another pub. The Still and West is one of our favourite pubs in Porstmouth. We've been coming here for 10 years now and have always enjoyed the drinks, food and scenery. There is a nice outdoor seating area where you can watch the passing ferries, tugs and yachts as they come and go on a sunny day, that wouldn't be today though, it's cold!

The drinks are still acceptable but the Fish n Chips very disappointing. The fish was ok, but the chips were crap, dry, oven cooked bits of potato, surely they hadn't seen the inside of a deep fyer! Good thing Scotland is on a later agenda!

The scenery didn't let us down, as busy as ever......

Shoes

When you think of John and myself, with whom do you  associate shoes?
Well it used to be me, however, John has now assumed that position. Whilst transiting Heathrow he was pulled over by an official and asked what make his shoes were, cause this chap had been looking for a pair of boots just like them for ages. John was feeling pretty flattered by this stage and proudly declared they were Doc Marten's. 'Terrific...' said the chap 'I really like them. They take me back to Simon and Garfunkel times.
Squelch!!!!
So, today we are off to Portsmouth where I saw a super pair of boots, could perhaps update him to the 90's. Ha ha ha.

PUBS

This is our 4th day in Gosport and we've frequented The Village Pub, Alverbank Hotel, The Clarence Pub (with the best beer in the world), and The Castle Tavern. These are all milestones and necessary events for John to feel at home. I no complain.......

Arrival in UK

Get off the plane feeling pretty good. Off to pick up our little car,  a shiny white Ford Focus, should serve us well. I had ordered a shiny black Chrysler, but they seemed to be out of them.
It's raining, what's new? But it's bloody cold. We cruised down the M25 and arrived in Gosport in 2 hours, a great run.
Our little flat 'Dolphins' is waiting to greet us as usual, this is our 4th  or maybe 5th time here, our home away from home. You may remember this is the area John grew up in from 5 - 14 years, so for him it's all about reliving his childhood.
It's lovely to share, but in saying that....there's not a lot here!

Virgin Atlantic

Ok, Virgin greeting was fine, but then the wheels fell off! As we checked in, we were told our seats had't been confirmed. We had booked two seats on the side of the plane so we didn't have to worry about any other passengers in any way, shape or form. But no. We ended up ok sharing with a young man who wanted to keep himself to himself  and I only had to climb over John to get out. So no real problems from Sydney to Hong Kong. However, the next leg, they couldn't even seat us together! We both had aisle seats across from each other so that every time we wanted to chat we risked losing our heads to traffic rushing past! Not to mention, I got to sit next to a lady with a 4 month old baby!
Needless to say the Travel Agent will be receiving an email from me.....

Day 1

Bubbles last night o get us in the celebratory mood, didn't take much! Rode to the airport in a fancy black Chrysler. Yay. So far so good with Virgin, lets hope it stays that way.
Raining here, raining there too, God just setting the scene. UK here we come.