Sunday in the Park

Yesterday we had planned to go on a picnic in Wimbledon Common with our friends Bethie & Jason, but the day started out rainy and then moved on to windy, so we had a slight change of plans.

But first, we went back to the O2 store AGAIN to try to get my mobile phone plan sorted out.  I was certain we were going to hit another roadblock, but by some miracle, my Citibank account worked, so I was able to sign up for a plan without having to use Josh's bank account.  Yay!!!

Jason, Bethie, and Charlotte met us at our house around 1:30.  We gave them a quick tour and then walked through the Wimbledon town center and up the hill to Wimbledon Village, where we had lunch and a pitcher of Pimm's at the historic Dog & Fox pub.  Josh held Charlotte for a while so Bethie and Jason could finish their meals, and I tried to get a photo, but she wouldn't take her hands out of her mouth.

Then Bethie (sitting next to Josh) tried to get her to smile.  She might have overdone it a little... :-)

After lunch we continued on to Cannizaro Park, which we had first discovered the afternoon of the Royal Wedding (coincidentally, after having a drink at the Dog & Fox).  The wind blew the rain clouds away and it turned into a lovely (if blustery) afternoon.  We had fun discovering little formal gardens among the trees and overgrown rhododendrons.  In this one, Jason was inspired to re-enact Charlotte's baptism (or something).

We walked back towards our house and parted ways with Bethie, Jason, and Charlotte around 5:30, as they headed home to spend some time putting away their things that had arrived from the US the week before.  We still have a few boxes left to unpack, and we had a week's head start, so we know exactly what they're going through.  That's probably one of the reasons we get along so well -- we are all going through the same things together.

Josh had to get ready for his next trip -- a 2-night retreat/conference for his legal dept -- so he did a couple loads of laundry.  While it's quite an adjustment switching from an American washer and dryer to a teeny European washer that takes 2 hours per load and a clothesline outside, they work pretty well on dry, windy days.  By the time your second load of laundry is done, the first load is already dry, so you can take it down to make room on the clothesline for the second load.  While Josh was out hanging clothes on the line, a feral parakeet landed in our tree and squawked at him for about 5 minutes before moving on to a neighbor's tree.

Rose-ringed parakeet seen from our back yard

It's strange to think that these are the same species of parakeet that we saw in India 7 years ago.

Rose-ringed parakeets in Ahmadabad, India (2004)

It's kind of cool to have tropical birds flying around London -- especially when you can spot them from your house -- but I am sure there are concerns about them becoming an invasive species.

We cooked dinner at home and settled in on the sofa to watch the Russell Crowe/Cate Blanchett version of Robin Hood on TV.  We didn't see many movies last year, so now we'll be able to catch up as they show up on cable.   Robin Hood was entertaining, but I'm glad I didn't pay $10 to see it in the theater.  Most American movies are released later here than they are in the States, so we'll have to try to make it to the movies while we're in DC next week so we can see a new release and ruin it for everyone we know here.  All 7 of them will be so envious!