RAF Alconbury to RAF Molesworth

Thursday afternoon I drove the back roads from RAF Molesworth to RAF Alconbury.  During the scenic 11 mile drive, I passed 7 chapel/churches.  Of course, this was the day that I didn't have either of my cameras with me, so I used my phone, pictures aren't too bad for a phone!  You can be driving along in the middle of farmland and there will be a chapel/church in the middle of the farm.  Someone told me the difference chapels, churches and cathedrals, but I can't remember what it is, I will have to research that!  Anyway, I love taking pictures of churches, but there are so many churches here if I stopped to photograph all of them I would never get anywhere!  In these pictures you can get an idea of how the weather is here most of the time.  It was 2:00 p.m. when I took these pictures.  I would say that we are lucky if it is sunny one day a week and the sunshine usually doesn't last the entire day.  But, thank God the days are getting longer!  It is no longer dark when I go to and from work!

Hampton Court Palace in pictures.



This courtyard is in the center of the palace.
 The opening in the walls of the upper towers is where the ladies used to stand to watch the jousting
matches that were held in the courtyard.



The Hampton Court Palace Astronomical Clock.  The astronomical dial dates from at least 1528.  This clock is really neat, it shows the date, time, moon phases, zodiac signs and more.

This room is completely decorated with weaponry.  There are over 3,000 weapons in the room,

which is located in the King's apartment area of the palace.

The Great Vine in the Hampton Court Palace Gardens is the oldest and largest known vine in the world.  The Great Vine is more than 230 years old and 120 feet long. It is believed to have been planted by Lancelot "Capability" Brown around 1768.  This one vine crop averages of 500 to 700 bunches of grapes that weigh 507 to 705 lb.



 The kitchens at Hampton Court Palace, extended by Henry VIII in 1729, occupied more than 50 rooms and some 3,000 square feet or 279 square meters. In their heyday, they were staffed by 200 people providing two meals a day for the 800 members of the king's court who were entitled to eat there.

Each place setting had their own desset made from sugar and marzipan, and then painted with pure 24 carat gold.



No, there aren't real peacocks - they were made from marzipan and painted.

Tracy Porter and I outside Hampton Court Palace

A million miles away -

Last week I interviewed a lovely lady about VA benefits for surviving spouses.  Her husband died in August and naturally after being married for 40 years, she misses him very much.  She told me that her sister wrote a poem about him and read it at his funeral.  As she recited the poem to me she began to cry, you know me, I was crying right along with her!  She looked up and said "Oh my love, have you lost your husband also?"  Through my tears I shook my head and said "No, he's just a million miles away!"  I guess you can tell I am really missing Stephen!  On the bright side, it is less than 90 days until he gets here!

Hampton Court Palace

When I was in Reading, I went with Tracy on a tour of Hampton Court Palace.  This is where Henry VIII lived.  It was very interesting.  I keep saying it is so amazing to see all these places that are sooooo old!  In 1494 Lord Chamberlain leased Hampton Court and began "modernizing" the building.  It was 1529 Henry VIII took over the Palace.  In 1527, Queen Jane Seymour gave birth in a room just above the arched walk way, and died in the same room 12 days later.  It is said that her heart is buried in the Chapel.  Her body is buried at Westminster Abbey in London along with Henry VIII. 

We toured the Tudor kitchens, which were built in 1530.  During Henry VIII's era they fed some 1,200 of his court members per day.  Currently they have kitchen staff dressed in the Tudor era clothes, preparing Tudor meals.  At the end of each day, the Hampton Court staff share the meal that was prepared int he kitchen that day, to include magnificent sugar and marzipan desserts.

They have beautiful gardens.  I can only image how lovely they are during the spring and summer.  There is a huge grape vine, that is the oldest and largest vine in the world.  Yes, it still produces grapes.  As with many of the castles and palaces here in England, Hampton Court Palace has a maze.  After going through the maze at Leeds Castle, I decided not to attempt the maze at Hampton Court!

Off to Reading

I left Croughton Friday afternoon and went to Reading.  Ms. Britt took me on a beautiful adventure through the country.  Reading is a large town about an hour from London.  I met Tracy Porter (she lived just down the road from me on Bunch Road, when we were in elementary school) and her boyfriend for dinner.  We had been in contact through Facebook - I love reconnecting with old friends on Facebook!  Tracy has been living in Reading for about 17 years and loves it.  When Stephen asked me how long she had been here, before I actually found, I told him, "long enough to sound like an English person - no Arkansas accent left!"

Going South



I am standing at the Education Center, at RAF Croughton, the main gate it to the right.  The view is awesome!





This is a house that is near Croughton, actually it is a farm that I guess you can visit, there is a sign on the gate the says "A Day Out at the Farm"

 



More of the countryside close to Croughton.

  Thursday I went to RAF Croughton.  This is a beautiful base out in the country.  The temporary lodging at RAF Croughton is outstanding!  I had a nice big room with a living room and my own kitchenette!  Oh how I wish I could have that at Lakenheath!  When I read the directions that had been written by a former VA Rep he said that you go through 29 roundabouts.  Oh my goodness, he was not kidding!  For me this was more like 50 roundabouts because I had to go through several of them more than once.  Let's just say I got to hear Ms. Britt say re-calculating more than once on this trip!  Just outside the fence across the road from my office there were sheep grazing.  The countryside is just so beautiful with sheep, horses and cows.  The fields are so green, you would never know that it is winter!

Now that's close!

I pass this house when I am going to work in the mornings at Mildenhall.  It is like the house was there and they started building the road had to make a jut in the road to go around the house!  There are several houses like this around here.  I go to Mildenhall every Monday and Tuesday to work, for the last two weeks I have been able to get there with no GPS or map.  But, I still can't get home without going around the world.  I know it should be simple, but when I get on those roundabouts, I can't figure out which way to go.  Ms. Britt says enter roundabout, take 3rd exit, and I am lost.....The only exit I can figure out without any concern is the first exit.  Let's put it this way, anytime I go through a roundabout and take the exit, I hold my breath just waiting for her to say re-calculating!

Another interesting thing about this house, it has a thatched roof.  This type roof is made from dry vegetation, such as straw or reeds.  Many of the older homes have this type roof.