Hampton Court Palace. Shopping. Stent.

Still not too hot, but AC was needed in the van.

Jay came up with an emergency. Even though I have a sign that says "LACK OF ORGANIZATION ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN EMERGENCY ON MY PART", I took him into town to pay his power and water bills. We really had a lot to do today, and I didn't need to take the time off. Ray was stripping the several layers of paint off the drip caps, and even found a new color on these, light blue, we hadn't come across that color before!. Rhonnie was setting the pavers in place.

By the time we had gone to Jay's bank and paid his bills, it was getting too late to start any work, so we went on into the next town, got the usual weekly things, and some more foam board insulation for the Coronado and some parts for Jay's fence. Stopped at the 99c. Store which has gone up to 99.9 cents!!

Last Wednesday I said that I would tell you about Hampton Court Palace. There are several Royal Palaces around Britain: http://www.hrp.org.uk/ But I am talking about Hampton Court: http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/planyourvisit/toptenthingstoseeanddo.aspx I wasn't very old, and it was The Maze that fascinated me. The enormity of the palace and all it's trappings didn't interest me very much, at that time.

""If you’re at all interested in Tudor history or just like grand and stunning old-English palaces and estates then you must go to Hampton Court Palace. Once lived in by Henry VIII (please do start singing I’m Henry the 8th I am…) and William and Mary hosts some of the most impressive landscaped gardens and 1/2 Tudor and 1/2 Baroque architecture you will find in England. Hampton Court Palace is one of the Historic Royal Palaces you can tour (the others sponsored by HRP is the Tower of London, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace and Kew Palace).

Hampton Court Palace is fairly easy to get to from London–just take the train to Hampton Court station from Waterloo. This is probably one of the easiest heritage sites to visit outside of London.
Hampton Court Palace (back & front)
My favourite part of Hampton Court was actually the gardens. You will walk through a field of daffiodils, fondly called the Wilderness, on your way to the English Garden Maze. The gardens will lead you to the back of the Palace where you’ll start to see open fields with tree-lined walkways and then big candy-drop trees (I have no idea what they are actually called so please correct us on the proper tree name) that line the paths to the back of the Barogue part of the Palace which is called the Great Fountain Garden. Make sure you check out the 20th century garden–when I was there no one went in it because the entrance is against the side wall and it looked closed off. On the opposite side there is the Privy Garden, the Knot Garden and the Pond Garden. These are perfect to wander through when it is spring and summer.

Once you have finished the gardens, go on inside to the actual Palace. You can either enter from the back or the front. I wasn’t that impressed with the inside because it is decorated in the dark and drab Tudor style. Make sure you pick up

an audio guide if you want to hear about each room and the history. The rooms to visit are spread out over the ground and first floors where you’ll see the Tudor kitchens, and the various apartments for William III, Mary and Henry VIII. """

http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Surrey/blog-224546.html

Claudia is having a stent put in her new liver, today. It is just an Out Patient procedure.

Jay and I didn't get any work done today.