Meeting Glen's Cousin Mary!

August 2

We left Bath today and headed to the town of Twyford, about 30 miles west of London, where we’ll stay the next two nights.  On the way, the heavens opened and dropped every ounce of water possible onto the highway - the wipers were going full-bore, and we slowed to a crawl of about 5 mph in the 70 mph zone.  That lasted about 10 minutes, and then stopped.  It was a bit scary for awhile.  

We had the postal code of our AirBnB, but when we arrived, it was difficult to figure out which house it was as the site didn’t give us the actual address!  I called our hostess - no answer, and a text didn't get a response either.  Fortunately, airBnB hosts usually put up several pictures of their homes, and we finally pinpointed the correct place!  Turns out our hostess was at work, and her phone was in the shop for repairs; however, her husband was home with their young baby Alfie - a little smiler with big cheeks!  

Alfie - playing with two of our discarded water bottles.
He loved them - who needs fancy toys?

We put our bags away, and then headed out on the road again to a little town called Bordon to meet Glen’s cousin Mary and her husband Tony.  They emigrated to England about 4 years ago from Zimbabwe, and are gradually getting used to life here.  Mary and I have been corresponding for several years by e-mail and facebook, so it seems like we’re old friends who have never met!  They and their fellow ex-Zimbo, next-door neighbours (Norm and Gill) had a traditional “Braii” (read BBQ) for us in the most spectacular garden setting. 

 

Mary, Norman, Gill, Glen in the beautiful garden.  

Anne, Glen, Tony, Mary.  Cousins finally meeting after 60+ years!

One thing (amongst many) about England is the bathrooms almost universally have a pull cord for the light switch, but there have been others where it’s been hard to figure out the lighting.  As well, the showers all have a very mysterious operating system that is unlike anything in Canada.  And they are all different, so it usually takes 5 - 10 minutes to figure out how to operate them.  I wish I had a picture of the one from Inverness - it looked like the cockpit of an airliner.  ANYHOW, I went to use the washroom at Gill’s place, and in trying to figure out how to turn on the light, (there was no pull cord), I pushed a button on the wall and turned on the shower.  I want to be clear that the button was nowhere near the shower - it was on the opposite wall!  It was a funny moment for me - and quite entertaining for our hosts when I admitted what I had done.

We had a great time meeting them and spending the afternoon and early evening in easygoing conversation.  Our new favourite sausage is Boerewurs - yummy!  And our new favourite dessert is strawberries, ice cream and Amarula cream - a delicious liqueur made from the Marula fruit from Africa - first time I've heard of that!

This stuff is delicious!  The people are really nice too :-)
Mary and Tony

All too soon, it was time to say good bye to our new friends.  I’ve looked forward to meeting them for so long, and now it’s over and we’re on our way again.  Mary and Tony both work very hard - leaving Zimbabwe was very difficult, as the financial and political situation there is horrendous.  I admire them tremendously as they are starting all over again in a new country at an age when they should be able to slow down and take life a little easier.  They both have big smiles on their faces, and the most positive attitude you can imagine.  I can learn a lot from them. 

Tony and Mary - great to finally meet you!  A splendid day in a
beautiful setting with fun people.  Until next time . . .

Dessert.  Yum!