Rain, rain go away

So we're in Smithers and it's raining again. What a surprise. The current tally for nine consecutive years of visiting is sunny: 2 days, rainy: ALL other days. It's really statistically unbelievable. I'd like to post a nice picture of one of the mountians for you all, but we haven't seen much of them. In fact, if I didn't know they were there, I would be hard pressed to believe it.

But enough complaining, it hasn't been all bad. The temperatue is not too cold (and definitely not too hot) and we've had a chance to visit with many friends and relatives over the past two weeks (last week we were in the lower mainland). The trek home starts tomorrow morning. We've booked a B&B in Valemont for the night to break up the drive into two days, and I am really looking forward to sleeping in my own very comfortable bed on Saturday. All the sitting around has not made my lower back very happy so I'm also looking forward to getting a few things done around the house as well as going for some walks. Well, my time is running out so I better log off. We'll be home most of next week if anyone wants to visit!

I read this quote on a friend's blog, and thought it described my husband well (especially this week). For lack of a better place to post it, I place it here:

"The Long Winded Man"

Neither in public nor in private life, indeed, is it at all true that the man who talks a great deal is necessarily an offensive person. It is an entire mistake, for instance, to imagine that the man who monopolises conversation is a conceited fellow. The man who monopolises conversation is almost always modest. The man who talks too much generally has a great deal of humility. Nay, even the man who talks other people down, who argues them down, who shouts them down, does not in the least necessarily think himself better than they are.

It may seem a contradiction, yet the truth and reason of it are really very obvious. The man who talks too much, talks too much because he is interested in his subject. He is not interested in himself: if he were he would behave better. If he were really an egoist he would think of what effect his ego was producing; and a very mild degree of mental perception would enable him to realise that the chief effect his ego was producing was a unanimous human aspiration to hurl him out of the window.

A man who fills a drawing-room for two or three hours (say) with a monologue on bulbs, is the very reverse of a selfish man. He is an unselfish hero, courting the scorn and contumely of men in the great cause of bulbs, objects which are hardly likely to offer him in return any active assistance or even any animated friendship. He is a Martyr, like Stephen or Joan of Arc: and we know that the blood of the martyrs is the seed (or bulb) of the Church.

No; the really selfish men are the silent men, those wicked and sinister fellows. They care more for their own manners (a base individualistic asset) than for conversation, which is social, which is impersonal, which is divine. The loud talker is humble. The very phrase you use about him proves this. If a man is rude, and bawls and blunders, the snub given to him would be “You forget yourself.” It is the very ecstasy of altruism — an impersonal apotheosis. You say to the cad, “You forget yourself.” What better, what higher, could you say to the saint than that “You forget yourself”? — G. K. Chesterton, “On Long Speeches and Truth,” Collected Works 27: The Illustrated London News 1905-1907, pp. 132-133 (paragraph breaks added).

A few more photos...

Monday, March 31st

Well, there's not much to tell for our last day at Windsor. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast at our B&B, then walked though town to the castle. It was another quiet day. We got in on our passes from the day before (still couldn't believe it!) and went straight to St. George's Chapel for a look around with our audio guides. It was a bit noisy in there as a tv crew from New Zealand was setting up lights and cameras for the special memorial service for Sir Edmund Hillary which was to be in the next day or two.
Since we had time, we re-looked though the State Rooms and came out just in time to watch the changing of the guard. I actually got a better look at it through these photos than I did in person. Tall people certainly had the advantage here.
Birds of prey are kept at the castle to scare off the pigeons. I'm sure they do more than just frighten them when the tourists aren't around!
It sure was nice to experience spring for a couple of days. There's a duck near the middle of this photo enjoying himself as well.

We left Windsor Castle with just enough time for me to go pick up that teapot which I was certain would fit in my carry-on (it did), buy a few snacks at the Mark & Spencer's, and speed walk back to the B&B to grab our bags and catch our cab. In hindsight we wished we had alotted more time for Windsor, but were happy to have seen what we did anyway.

Our drive to Heathrow Airport was the calmest car service ride I have ever taken. In New York & Venice I had really feared pedestrian lives would be lost, but there were no such concerns this morning. We had a pleasant chat with our driver and enjoyed the rolling green scenery for the 15 or so minutes it took to get to the airport. Thankfully we had nothing to do with the nightmare-ish new Terminal 5, and passed the rest of our very long day of travel un-eventfully.

There is a new post below!

I began the "Sunday" post awhile ago, but hadn't had time to finish it until now. It came up not at the top of the blog, but down on the date when I first began it so you'll have to scroll down!

More random pics for now...

Here we are enjoying tea & tasties at the Bramah Tea Museum on London's South Bank.
Couldn't believe we found a Tim Horton's in London! No, we didn't buy anything.
The Duke of Wellington Pub between Sloane Square and Victoria Station was enjoyed by all.
I enhoyed this quote chiselled into the floor of the British Museum's Great Hall.

Now, I am going out to enjoy the warmer weather! Yay- spring is finally coming back!

I haven't forgotten you...

I haven't forgotten to finish blogging about our London trip, I have just been really busy. Here are a few random pics from my recently acquired "London- Bex's Camera" file. Thanks for taking such great pictures Becky!

Above and below are pictures from Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. Do you see how many people are crammed in there? It was insane. I would NOT recommend going there on a cold weekend afternoon. There a were a few fun parts like straightening Sir Winston Churchill's bow tie, but I stand by my decision to never, ever go there again.
You may recall I whined about how cold it was at Hampton Court? Here is a picture of me trying to warm my nose near the one heating register we found in the entire place. You will notice that I am wearing a toque and scarf indoors. Yes, it was that cold.
Running though the maze at Hampton Court was fun- and it helped get the blood flowing again.
Yay! Someone remembered to take a picture of the front of the castle!
Thanks for reading- hopefully you'll get the "Sunday Update" soon. If not, I at least promise to put on more random photos!