The birthday continues...

Arrived in the UK I trained down south from Manchester to Wales and spent some green days near Bangor, but in the countryside... wonderfully avoiding the downpours and rejoicing in the little hills...
Went to Aber Falls and beheld autumn apporoaching...

 Catching a sunny afternoon we visited Bodnant, glorying in the gardens...

some of the flowers in Bodnant gardens

We drove home from Bodnant over a pass and then down to the Menai Strait where in a sheltered spot we ate our delicious picnic (cooked salmon in sourcream and cold pasta with courgette, followed by berries...)

The sun sank slowly on the other side of the water, and in the last lingering light we drove home to the cottage in Penmon.

The beach at The Spinnies, Menai Strait.
The following day I took the train to Bedford, and after a fine visit there with family went on  Godalming. Dear friends there had prepared yet another birthday treat for me: a succulent sponge cake which we ate elegantly with silver forks, to the accompaniment of Prosecco (rose...).

Thence to Winchester.

the fly on the rose...

The skies grow grey, we do need an electric blanket to warm the bed, and thank goodness I brought our fold-up plastic capes that cover coat and rucksack...
Boots also much appreciated.
This is autumn in England, how could I forget the clammy beds before the sheets have warmed, and in the grey morning light the unwelcome alarm clock summoning us from the warm cocoon we'd made -- into the bathroom with its cold taps and shivering toilet seat (kind of transferred epithet there...).
Am really beginning to look forward to being back on the boat in Turkish waters...

We went to the Boat Show in Southampton. Cold wind, wet, need for strong tea...

On attaining Seventy years...

Yes. Pause a little here... but age is not important, not the numbers on the forms (date of birth, occupation, that sort of thing...).
But the places one has been (things seen, people met, changing skies, that sort of thing...).
Back in Amsterdam at the end of August and invited seventy friends to share an afternoon and evening;
some of them unfortuantely sick, or in far lands,
but the house was cleaned, the garden weeded, and a magnificent feast prepared by Alexander, the Vegan chef
Here a few pix.

the back garden before weeding...

the back garden after weeding, with Helene...

some of Alexander's delicous dishes...

Louise and the Qashqai rug (balcony scene)

There was much scrubbing and carpet-beating and washing of windows and pulling-up of plants... and happily, after a brief shower, the day turned sunny and warm.
So about fifty friends mingled in the back garden and congregated in the kitchen to consume Alexander's feast (better than Balshazzar's...)


And the following day we ate up the leftovers.

Wendie dusts down the cobwebs

cleenin' de vindas...

I think now it's time to compose some reflective poems.
David and I will go to England (and Wales) at the end of this week, and then to Poland and back to Turkey later in Septmeber.
A pause in the blog-writing now...

birthday meal in Oman

David, Wendie and Isaak in Oman

Maybe just a few brief comments before we leave the Netherlands on Friday.
The world has certainly widened for me over the past couple of years.
My head is almost too full and now I need to sit quietly and let the kaleidoscopic pictures settle into shapes, and the many words shape into songs...