Having Fun...

and saying goodbye.

Yes, the time has come to bid farewell to friends.  From the very first day of our time here in the UK the Martins have made us feel at home and welcome. They have been our closest friends while here and we are so grateful for them.  Tomorrow, they leave early to go on "holiday".  That meant that today was the last day Mom and I would see them since we are leaving England on Tuesday.  Tuesday! It's hard to believe our "dream summer" has nearly come to an end...

Well, the Martin's continued their habit of hospitality by picking us up this morning for a day out.  First, we went to Badbury Rings and had a lovely walk...well, some of us did.  Poor Lizzy didn't know we would be walking so much and she wore her stiletto heels.   

Badbury Rings is the site of an ancient settlement that has evidence of people living there 6,000 years ago.  They built these huge mounds that are so awesome...I can see where they would come in real handy in the case of an attack.

The scenery is absolutely stunning...we couldn't capture it.

There we are minus Dad who was taking the picture (and Daniel - I don't think you've ever seen that Martin son).

After our walk we sat down to a delightful picnic that Miss Sue had prepared for us...so yummy.  The only problem was that the sun was shining right down into our eyes from where Mom was standing.  The resulting picture appeared and I realized that I look like a complete dork (to say it mildly) and Dad looks really....cute. 

After our picnic we went to a magnificent house called Kingston Lacy.  Of all the houses and castles we have visited, this one felt the most "Pride and Prejudice" to me.  I just knew Mr. Darcy was going to walk around the corner at any minute.  I wish he had...

Of course, no pictures were allowed in the house, although we did get some good outside pics afterward.  But, first we had to stop for a cuppa tea. 

We sat outside to have our beverages and found that Kingston Lacy has a real problem with wasps.  Yuck!  At first, just one was flying around.  It finally flew into Tim's cup and died from coffee drowning.  We relaxed, only to be greatly shaken when two more came around, then three, four, five...tea time was officially over.

Miss Sue and the kids left to do some packing for their trip and we said goodbye and gave hugs.  Mr. Jonathan graciously stayed and followed us around the lovely grounds.

Ah, the joy of being barefoot on gushy grass...foot heaven.  There's Kingston Lacy house behind me.

The English just know how to do flowers...there's no way around it.

Look in the upper left window.  Do you see Mr. Darcy?!!

I couldn't either.

The English really know how to do flowers (but I already mentioned that didn't I?).

So, the countdown continues...just three more days, thirteen hours, 4 minutes, etc....until we leave England.  Let the fun continue.