After a very peaceful night it was time again to move.
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| Lovely and calm in the morning - anyone for a cruise? |
Our only problems were that we wanted to see
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| One for Dot - read the sign on the barrel |
We did cruise the short distance to Kingston; we used the advice from Andy and Sue (nb Festina Lente) to moor up on the right, where there were several moorings available; we did explore around Kingston during the rest of the day; Diane did manage to catch up with the tennis; and we took a short leisurely walk down to HCP and back to the White Hart Hotel - the walk was just 7km; and we did encounter the flower people as they were all leaving.
The moorings outside HCP were all full but we suspect that many boats will disappear by Monday.
On Saturday we took the bus out to see Ham House - it was built around 1610 and although there were a couple of owners during its first 20 years, it essentially remained in one family until it was acquired by the government in 1948 as payment for death duties.
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| Ham House - this faces the river and the front of the house... |
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| ...and this is the back - not bad at all |
That in itself is not remarkable, it is recognised for it's 17th century garden layout but importantly it has retained the original decoration and it has a magnificent art collection.
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| The entry hall - originally the floor above did not have the central void |
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| ...from above it provided more light, but was originally the formal dining room |
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| Entry hall fireplace |
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| The staircase was simply exquisite |
Situated right on the river, it also gave relatively good and fast access to London for it's owner William Murray - the "whipping boy" of Charles I - and an important part of the king's inner circle.
We managed to engross ourselves in the house and enjoy the delights of the house and grounds.
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| The Chapel |
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| The toilet - the bowl was elaborately decorated - bit of a waste as it would be partially hidden. |
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| Looking out onto part of the garden - original design |
The day was kind of warm to hot and with so many looking through the house it was remarkably pleasant inside.
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| The kitchen - the table is 450 years old |
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| the dining table for the servants. |
Back on the boat we just relaxed - after the heat and walking around it was quite nice to just sit down - our ulterior motive was to catch up with le Tour de
It was pleasing to see an Australian - Rohan Dennis - become the 7th Australian to wear the yellow jersey when he took out the individual time trial.
Andy Murray won again and then we watched the end of the Monfils-Simon match.
Sunday was a planned rest day - we had entertained the idea of seeing HCP today but felt that we needed to just take it easy and not do a lot.
We did get word from Linda and Richard (nb Mary H) that they were returning to their boat at
Arrangements were made to incorporate a BBQ later - they needed to get the boat in order and would cruise up to see us.
We furtively watched the comings and goings of the boats around us, knowing that a lack of spaces was not a problem as they could always breast up, but fortunately the lovely couple behind us, whom we had helped into the spot very early on, pulled back to help save a spot - not that anyone else came along to moor anyway - it was a helpful and nice touch.
We will see more of Grey and Lin (nb Grayling) as they are travelling in much the same way as we are for the next month.
Around 6pm we got the text from Linda that they were approaching; we could see them; got them moored up and then just sat down to catch up with everything.
Their dog, Muffin, had a bit of energy and was taking wider and wider circles around us to discover as much as he could; Richard got the BBQ going and it really wasn't until after 8pm that we finally got around to eating.
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| Linda and Richard |
It then wasn't until after 10pm that we finally decided it was time for us to call it a day.
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| The bridge at Kingston - beautifully illuminated at night. |
All-in-all the weekend has been lovely weekend and tomorrow we will be off to see the palace.
So by now you might have asked "What's with the heading for this blog?"
It's seems that through no fault of my own I have done the wrong thing by Diane.
I just don't know how it happened but Diane was very upset with me; I did a lot of things wrong, things that she did not approve of; even as far as being with someone else.
I did however remind her that despite all of my trangressions, that I loved her very very much; that she was my favourite curent wife; and....
....above all else, these things all happened in her dreams and she only told me how naughty I had been after she woke up!
2 Miles
YTD: 520 Miles, 310 Locks, 12 Tunnels, 2 Lift Bridges , 13 Swing Bridges
Totals: 3414 Miles, 2431
Locks, 110 Tunnels, 36 
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