Three days in West Wickham - family gatherings, Mark's 76th

 We had three days of family gatherings. Meals were out in the garden.

  One morning, we took Katrina out to breakfast in West Wickham at the Kitchen, where we took her two years ago when we were here.

 One day we went to Streatham Common with a picnic for most of the afternoon.

Mark and Katrina shopped in the morning. We had an array of foods, including scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. Mmmm. Adam and Connor played cricket and frisbee. We walked around the little swimming lake. 

   One night we had pizzas.

    Another night we had ham, potatoes, cole slaw, salads etc.

 May 31 - Mark's 76th

    The West Wickham family pulled out all the stops to ensure that Mark had a special birthday.

     

The four in our generation went to Coombe Garden for lunch in the courtyard. Mark had traditional fish and chips which he had been wanting. Afterwards, we walked around the beautiful gardens which are arranged by "rooms" based on the plants.

     Later in the day, the whole family came over. Annie made a chocolate cake; Katrina made cookies and we also had sandwiches. Katrina gave Mark a "biscuit bouquet." 

   

Adam is finishing A levels and is in the midst of exams. He has an offer to Nottingham University, based on his results. Lewis is also in the midst of GCSEs. He also has a place at a nearby technical college, again based on his results.

May 27 & 28 - Wimbledon to West Wickham

May 27 -

A Day with Maura in New Malden

The heat wave broke slightly today which was a relief. We started with a generous continental breakfast at the hotel and then took a bus (131) to New Malden where we spent a lovely day with Maura.

Together, we built a garden bench which resulted in a few laughs as three brains tackled the directions which were not always entirely clear. However, we succeeded and will think of Maura sitting on her new garden bench. 

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Photo sent by Barbara B. with Hank

We had two nice meals together, one a take-away Chinese, the other a delicious ploughman's lunch with lots of choices. We opted to Uber back to Wimbledon.

 May 28 - Off to West Wickham

 

  Shirley picked us up around 11 and drove us to West Wickham. Most of the family came over for dinner. We are still in a heat wave and we sat outside in the lovely garden; the kids played games in the garden.

   

May 25 & 26 - From Streatham to Wimbledon

 May 25 - A hot day in Streatham

   We had another lovely day doing virtually nothing - reading, sitting in shaded deck. 

     For Pete and Shirley's anniversary (41), we went to The Wood House, a lovely, large pub. All the meals were excellent and we had a very nice time.

May 26 - From Streatham to Wimbledon

    

May 25, Streatham continued

May 25

Celebration of Pete and Shirley's 41st anniversary

We had a similar start to an even warmer day - 93 degrees. Pete went off on his bike ride and Shirley went to the gym. Barbara did yoga and Mark iced his knee.

Escaping the heat

At "The Garden"

May 23 & 24 - Helsinki to London

May 23

We cleaned and neatened our very nice accommodations.

Fran met us and we walked to the train station and got the train to the airport. A reality show, The Great Race, Finland, was being filmed on the train for the first day of their fourth season.

  FinnAir was great. Mark was given a wheelchair that Barbara could push which made it easier to have food en route to the gate. We breezed through two security checks and then we had our last Finnish meal - Mark had salmon soup and Barbara a salmon salad.

    Fran had to separate with us shortly after we arrived because she could not check her bag with Icelandic Air until later.

     The flight was just over 3 hours and smooth.

      We left Helsinki with blue skies and nice cool weather in the 60s. We landed in London in a heat wave.

       Unusually, we opted to take an Uber ride to Streatham to stay with Pete and Shirley. Taking the Elizabeth Line, then a subway and then a bus was just too daunting with Mark's knee. We thought about an Uber from Tottenham Court Road, but costed it out and taking the ride right from Heathrow was just about the same price and WAY less hassle.

       We arrived in late afternoon and relaxed with Pete and Shirley on their shady deck.

        Then, we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant where we've met up with Sue before.

It was a lovely evening.

May 24 - A day of relaxing on the deck.

      We had a fantastic day of doing NOTHING, something we both need as we are tired and Mark iced and rested his knee most of the day. Barbara did a good session of yoga in their conservatory/gym. Pete and Shirley had an obligation in downtown London for the afternoon, so we read the afternoon away on their deck in the shade.

      Later, we had a pizza delivery.

      This day was just what we needed.

      

   

May 22 - Last Day at Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference

 Today was another day full of thought-provoking seminars.

 We took the morning off to pack and to organize for tomorrow when we leave.

 

We met Fran for our last salmon soup at the Central Market place. Mark and Fran also split a reindeer hotdog, which they both relished - with relish.

Fran and Barbara went back to a seminar. The first topic was about the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa by ___. He has been working on a book about Hoffa. His main thesis was that Hoffa was, first and foremost, a labor leader, but, in death he has been linked more to organized crime. He talked about the public and the media's enduring fascination with a disappearance story and that the real man gets lost in the story.

    The second topic in that seminar was about the mistreatment of Therese Bonney, an American photojournalist who was in Finland during WWII taking photos of the Winter War. She was hired by the precursor of the CIA, but was left out to dry with accusations of being a Nazi agent- all unfounded. There was a lot to learn about the Finns during WWII which Barbara did not know. It was fascinating.

 

 Mark rejoined Fran and Barbara for the final seminar. The first section was about the AI images coming out of the White House and the major themes that D.T. promotes. So depressing. The presenter was someone we chatted with the evening before.

   Fran and Barbara popped in to see the University Library - another great reading room.

   The second lecture was by an economist predicting the possible economic ramifications for the mid-terms in November. He tried to be optimistic, but..... And, many in the audience found it hard to buy optimism. 

    It was an interesting last seminar to end the conference.

    The Canadians then hosted a wine reception (with Canadian wines, of course) and a keynote speaker who talked about the way Canadians and Americans view their separate "exceptionalisms."

    And, finally, there was an ending reception back in the main building of the University.

Mark came to that with herbs that we had bought and the cane that he borrowed. Barbara walked Fran home with them.

   Thus ends our Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference which we all enjoyed.

   

May 21, Day 2 - Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference

 Today was a day of "brain candy." With our film presentation behind us, the three of us could go to seminars that interested us.

  Barbara went to one that had 3 different speakers. The first woman, a poet, discussed the impact of the poems that Abraham Lincoln memorized and what they revealed. It was interesting. That session also included an interesting paper about "radical" farming. He drew links between the writing of Wendell Berry and bell hooks. One of the lines that will stick  was about the difference between the politics of "tending" vs "intending," the latter implying wielding power and the former implying nurture and growth. She also heard a New Mexican folksinger who has a project of bringing food and ten disparate people for a meal in "Together at the Table." 

  Mark, Barbara and Fran went to a workshop about Southern Culture. The best one was about the rivers of the south and how they have changed. The rivers used to be full of a variety of fish and wildlife. Over the last centuries they have been subject to much erosion (some of it due to cotton plantations), being dammed etc. His paper was written by a historian and an expert on aquatic plants. It was very interesting. Another one at that session involved literature and Southern stereotypes. His thesis was that the South has a pessimistic attitude toward life, but that is a gross simplification! And, the final one at that session was a doctoral candidate whose paper focused on Black abolitionists and their resistance to colonization. He mentioned Absalom Boston and gave a nod to Nantucket and to us.

    Mark and Barbara also went to a presentation by Stephen Rabe, who has written extensively about political relationships between the United States and South America. But, in his retirement, he decided to write a book based on his father's experience parachuting into Normandy in 1944 and how the village that these men accidentally landed in came together to protect them - at a cost. The book sounds great and we plan to read it.

     We took a segment of the day "off" and went to Stockmann Dept. Store. Mark bought a new "Fat Moose" jacket and Barbara bought a very small backpack to help with packing and lessening the weight in her rolling bag.

    In late afternoon Barbara went to a performance/talk by a man who has written a book about Pete Seeger and who knew him well. It was a sing along. He talked about the evolution of Seeger's work and his focus on the labor movement, women's rights, Civil Rights and the environment. He discussed Seeger at the McCarthy hearings and the price he paid for that. Interesting.

 

  Finally, we all went to a reception hosted by the City of Helsinki. We were greeted by a man elected by the Green Party and who is a deputy minister.

There were "heavy nibbles." 

    A very good day.

    

May 20- The World Premiere of film on Nantucket's Historic Coloured Cemetery

 A busy day at the Maple Leaf and Eagle Conference.

 Today was jam packed.

Chancellor, U of Helsinki

  We arrived at the conference around 9 a.m. to register. That was followed by a two-hour opening ceremony. Speakers included ___, who chairs the conference, Mikko Saikku, and the former chair, ____, both friends of Fran and Al's. In fact, Mikko was a student of Al's.

  The Canadian ambassador and the American chargé d'Affairs also gave brief remarks. The Canadian's was excellent, talking about the challenges facing the world with subtle references to the present American administration. The American's was brief and weak; of course, he is a political appointee. Sales of jets was prominent.

 

Mikko Saikku introducing Charles Postel

The keynote was given by Charles Postel who is teaching in Finland this year. It was excellent, comparing the Age of McKinley to the MAGA era. He talked about the difference between the McKinley tariffs and those of Trump, the latter being more "destablizing."  He traced the resiliency of the far-right from the Klan to John Birch to the Tea Party to MAGA. It was pertinent to the project Barbara has been working on. Overall, it was quite pessimistic noting the inadequacies of the Constitution with its archaic electoral college and rural hold on the Senate and the House due to their oversized role, making a state like Wyoming having their people's vote counting a great deal more than the  people's vote in California.

    Seminars and workshops followed for the rest of the day all on North American Culture with the theme of Crises, past and present

    The three of us met up for lunch at the cafeteria.

Question and Answer Period

    Our film was the last session of the day and was well attended. We had a positive Q and A at the end. We were all very, very pleased.

   

At Allus Restaurant dinner

Sea bass, main dish - mmmm

 The day culminated at Allas Restaurant on the waterfront. The three of us took an Uber there, but walked home. We sat with Nina Ohman, a professor at the University whose Ph.D. is in American music - Jazz, plus American blues specifically women such as Mahalia Jackson. She had played basketball at the U of Maryland and participated in March Madness.