As I mentioned, Andy and I spent this past weekend on the Isle of Wight with my Grandpa and his lovely accomplice, Dawn. First let me say that we had a wonderful time. Grandpa and Dawn drove us all over the island to show us some of its most breathtaking views. They found us a beach to lay on and a few more to look at, cooked us many wonderful meals, and generally provided kind, friendly companionship for the duration of the visit.

I’d like to share a few highlights. Keep in mind with any quotations that these folks are English and speak accordingly.

When we arrived at Grandpa’s “Chateau,” as he affectionately calls it, we were greeted quite vocally by a pretty (if a smidge mangy) black cat. Dawn said, “That’s me cat. She’s gone all Rastafarian - don’t mind her. I could groom her all day and her fur’d still ‘ave all mattes like that.” I said, “What’s her name?” “Cat.”. . .HA! . . . “Oh, good name for a cat!” We found out later that Cat is about 25 years old and has grown new teeth in the last few years, much to everyone’s surprise. She is a very vocal creature, which is also a reasonably new development, as she apparently used to keep to herself. Well, one day we came back a bit later than Cat expected, and goodness me were we in trouble. Cat got fed while Dawn cooked up another lovely meal, but she was still a little upset and she came in to complain to Dawn about the change of schedule. Dawn was in mid-sentence about something unrelated when she said, “AOHW Go on, Cat - You’ve ‘AD yours - Shut up.” heehee. We thought that was funny. Cat, of course, listened and left Dawn alone. I guess 25 cat-years will teach a cat when to leave well enough alone!

One thing we learned about living on the Isle of Wight, or at least living with Dawn, is that the tea is FREE-FLOWIN’! We were, quite literally, offered tea at least 6 or 7 times a day, and in most cases we gladly accepted. By the way, tea comes with an assortment of tea biscuits for your dunking pleasure. Ginger bics, shortbreads, rich teas, digestives, hobnobs, . . . . we liked the ginger ones the best. Dawn might be out of them by now . . . nah, probably not.

Perhaps the greatest highlight of the weekend was our boat trip out to see the Needles. We took some pictures of it, which I think Andy is planning to post, so you can check them out. The Needles are these amazing rock formations that stick out from the end of one of the pointy bits of the island. They are exquisitely beautiful. By the way, they are called “Needles,” because there was a fourth one at one point which is now below sea level - it had a whole in it which reminded the sailors of an old-fashioned needle. So there we are. Anyway, Grandpa took all of us out on a boat trip (I think he was probably the most keen of all of us!) to see them, because he had been told that it’s really the best way. The trip took 2 hours roundtrip, and the entire journey was perfect. Perfect weather, nice people, lovely old yellow lab who lives on the boat and lays lazily in front of the steps just because she can. . .

Ahhh. . . . when can I retire again?

Pictures of our trip to the Isle of Wight.