Puttering around Poole

London, as I will explain if I EVER catch up on a) work and b) sleep, was phenomenal. After a fantastic breakfast at a little Turkish café near my friend's house, where we had wonderful pastries and good coffee, I took the tube to Waterloo for my train. It turned out to be quite simple, and I got to Poole with no trouble. THe train even had wifi! Still, I did not catch up on work. I'm trying!

My cousin met me at the train station and drove me to their house, where my other cousin, a bit sick and not able to go around much, was waiting. We had tea and conversation, and then went out to Bournemouth to visit the coast (since I have seen the coast by Poole, but not that far east). We went to Hengistbury Head which was a really beautiful park on the sea side with a hill that overlooked the Isle of Wight. It was lovely, and incredibly windy. I thought I would blow off the top of the hill for sure!

Just as we got to the car, it started raining, and it escalated to a torrential downpour, then hail, as we wound our way along the coast back home. We had tea time with lemon drizzle cake and then hung around conversing and cooking. Dinner was a delicious roast lamb with gravy and mint jelly, roast potatoes and parsnips, and asparagus and green beans, all followed by a freshly baked apple crumble. My cousin is one of the best chefs I know, and, needless to say, it was fantastic. With a great bottle of Grenache-Mourvedre to accompany the meal, it really was lovely.

We played a game called BrainBox after dinner, which essentially a memorization/observation game. You have a card with information and pictures, and 20 seconds (10 for me) to observe it before rolling a die and answering whichever question the number corresponds to on the back. If you answer correct, you hold on to the card; otherwise, you put it back. Whoever has the oat cards at the end is the winner.

We had more tea afterwards, and conversation. Then, it has been time to work. I have pages to go before I sleep, so I think I will gt on that. Good night! Pictures to follow!