built in the sixteenth century, this house held us in its stone palms for a week

(interior shot for dave)

we arrived late at night to lighted windows, a waiting tea tray, and fresh flowers on the deep sill over the kitchen sink.

thank you landmark trust, thank you mrs. coombs.

and thank you wearitsatvintage, petescadas, the old geezer, emile couture, kirsten, ade kecil, calladamente, genie, hedonghui,

new followers all.

perhaps the residents of blenheim palace will be attending the royal wedding today

though i suspect the duck did not make the guest list

best wishes to william and catherine

(thanks, ciel)

when the world calls our children away from home,

sometimes we discover them in such charming places.

(the first part of our holiday--oxford, england)

i'll try to start visiting your blogs again very soon.

best wishes to you all.

may you be dazzled by the turn of the season

mr. brattcat and i are soaring over the mighty atlantic,

spending time in oxford and devon with baby brattcat,

nibbling at nice with malyss,

meandering through menton with jilly.

when i return i'll be aglow with memories.

you all be well and please pardon my absence for a few weeks.

now why do you suppose the melting snow

left this shape?

eager young scouts

hiking with tender packets of spring on their backs

snow slips furtively under the jaundiced folds of grass

soon visitors from away will stop at this little information booth on putney road

and ask the same questions of the volunteers that have been asked for decades

and those volunteers will respond as if they are thrilled to be answering the same questions

for the thousandth time

(a genuinely enthusiastic welcome to new followers: tengku mialissa, rosiejo, and tess)

looking for something to do on a rainy afternoon in april?

you can always stop to lick your lips at a neighborhood sugarhouse

each morning begins with a little shudder of snow

may your spring be more becoming than ours has so far been.

re-entering

the trusty cat,

with the help of several techies,

has banished all gremlins from the computer,

time has banished most of the gremlins from me.

i've missed you all.

thank you for your kind words.