Winchester Cathedral et al..

Photo's of Winchester (the streets were a little Harry Potterish in places)

So, we popped over the English channel (or should I say "under"), by way of the Eurostar train.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I think part of me was dreading going under the channel, but, with Isabel and Caelin to keep me distracted, we saw light at the end of the Chunnel in no time, and quite suddenly we were no longer in France, and we were in England.. It was such a comfortable experience.. I would happily do it again.

From my brother's house in Surrey we drove roughly 45 minutes to the delightful town of Winchester...,,, does anyone remember the 60's classic "Winchester Cathedral" sung by the New Vaudeville Band??? I remember it clearly, I was 5 years old when it came out, it made #1 in the pop charts here in America... It seems like just last year!

It was lovely to walk around this very old English town with its Tudor buildings and cobbled streets. The famous cathedral looked brilliant in the afternoon sun, sadly we didn't have time to go inside, as we had other journeys to make. However, I did find a few minutes to pop into the store I've heard so much about from other bloggers... "Cath Kidston." She's an English designer, who's become as well known as Laura Ashley it seems... With a speciality of vintage, Kitchy, 50's style, household, clothing, haberdashery (don't you just love that word?) She also designs fabrics, wallpaper and jewelry.... I must confess, when I walked into the store the first time, I had was so overwhelmed by the cheery-ness of the whole place, I had to leave.. it was an overload to the senses... But, I thought I'd give it another chance as we were walking back to the car park... Instead of being overwhelmed by everything, I focused my eyes on just the kitchen stuff, and found some lovely tea mugs with bright and cheery patterns... The shop keeper wrapped them so thoughtfully and well in bubble wrap (so well they made it back to the US without any breakages.) I brought back a catalog from the store, and my daughter Isabel sat at the kitchen table tonight circling all of the Cath Kidston stuff she'd like us to order!

It was so lovely to spend time with my 2 brother and their families...

Nobody makes my laugh like my 2 youngest brothers..

I think I'll have to go visit them again soon, I miss the laughter... and the love.