Celebrating the Queen's Birthday

Each June marks the official celebration of the Queen's birthday with the traditional military ceremony called Trooping the Colour. Not one to miss a chance to see the royals when they are so close by, I lined up early along with several thousand others on the Mall in the shadow of the Palace to watch the royal family make their way to the Horse Guard Parade for the ceremony.

I made friends with the people around me, which always makes the waiting time go faster, and you meet some fascinating people that way. This little fella' was too cute not to include his photo.

He probably knows, like the rest of us, that  Queen Elizabeth's real birthday was April 21, when she turned 86 years old.

Before long, the soldiers, foot guards and the 

musicians began to parade by

in exact precision.

Prince Charles's wife, the Duchess of Cornwall; Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry were the first royals to come by.

Prince Harry is too cute, not to show the view of his face too.

The Mirror

Prince William, Prince Charles, and the Duke of Kent were horseback in their military uniforms.

They were followed by Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice along with their father, Prince Andrew.

The queen's musicians alerted us that she was the next to follow. All in all, 240 horses, 290 musicians,

and 1600 soldiers participated in the time honored ceremony.

The queen was expected to ride in an open carriage, but a Buckingham Palace spokesman said due to the  "unpredictable nature of the weather,"

the Queen and Prince Philip were to ride in a coach, the same one that they used on their wedding day on November 20, 1947.

It was Prince Philip's first outing since his Jubilee illness that hospitalized him. The Queen was radiant in the same buttercup yellow dress that she had first worn at the Royal Wedding last year. Looks like Kate isn't the only one recycling some of her dresses!

Pacific Coast News

The day ended with the family posing on the balcony once again for the traditional waves and the flypast by the Royal Air Force.

Happy Birthday, Queen Elizabeth!

And many more!

Championship Time at Wimbledon

Last week brought us a couple of tennis days at the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon.

We were entertaining guests on centre court for two days of quarter finals,

both women's and men's. The order of play was set,

and so was the roof over centre court due to the threat of rainy weather the first day we were there.

Our first match was a make-up between the Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro and the spunky Spaniard, David Ferrar, who came out on top.

Then the ladies' competition began, with Serena Williams

up against the six foot Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Serena was unbelievably strong and it was thrilling

to cheer on such a passionate American competitor. Her spirit was contagious!

The second ladies match of the day saw Angelique Kerber edge out fellow German Sabine Lisicki in a close match.

The second day, the umpires were more optimistic and left the roof open which is preferred by most players,

however, at one point, it began to sprinkle, and the precision and speed of the team who covered the court was a fascinating show in itself.

The roof reopened after awhile, and I was struck looking out over the spectators at how brightly dressed everyone was. In a city where black and beige rule as the colors of choice when picking out clothing, it was refreshing to see so much color.

And speaking of fashion, how about this fashion parade of judges all decked out in their official Ralph Lauren attire?

The first match of the day saw Federer handily beat Mikhail Youzhny in three sets.

He was in excellent form which foreshadowed his magnificent performance later at the finals.

The big match of the day for the locals, however, was the meeting between Ferrer 

and Andy Murray, the home crowd's favorite.

Hopes for the homegrown boy to make the finals were flamed with Andy's win over Ferrer.

Enhancing our experience was our own suite where we enjoyed drinks, lunch,

and later tea. Of course, we had to add a US flag to the centerpiece on July 4th in honor of America's birthday.

Watching a lot of tennis can really make you hungry, and

we were not disappointed by the offerings. How about these Wimbledon colored macarons?

And no visit to Wimbledon would be complete without the traditional strawberries and cream.

Of course, part of the sport is checking out who is sitting in the Royal Box each day. We were not disappointed on the day of Andy Murray's match when Kate and William

the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

came out to cheer Britain's own Andy Murray.

There was also some tennis royalty visiting that day, as well. Steffi Graf and André Agassi. They sure added some class to the occasion.

As the sun began to set over the London skyline, we enjoyed a final look from our suite and reminded ourselves how fortunate we were to be a part of such a time-honored event.

Wimbledon--home of lawn tennis and the oldest tennis championship in the world.

Moving On

Back home in Houston for a bit, until time to dash over to London for the Olympics in a few weeks. Have you heard, London's Calling? At least that's what a US commercial announced this morning, and it was so exciting to think about the anticipation and build-up for a July 27 kick-off!

It has been an amazing and incredibly busy 5 weeks in London which have included the Queen's Jubilee, Trooping the Colour, Beating Retreat, Royal Ascot, Ryan and Allison's visit with my sweet grandchildren, packing up a home full of "stuff" and shipping it home to Houston, moving into a new place in London, and wrapping up with two amazing days at Wimbledon this week. Go Andy Murray and Serena!

Thus with all the "busyness" and this past week without the internet, it's been hard to stay on top of blogging, but now, watch out, because I have a lot to share in the weeks to come.

First, let's kick off with our new place in London. Since my husband predicts that we won't need to be in London as much as in the past, when we moved out of our townhouse, we opted to stay with my son, Jason and his wife, Cristen, in their new cute flat in Chelsea.  Mom and Dad dropping in from time to time and spending some "together time."

Above you see our front door to the Mathison building at King's Chelsea.

Located in the shadow of the infamous Chelsea Football Stadium,

and across the street from that labyrinth of antique stores that the locals will recognize as The Furniture Cave,

we are now living down Kings Road a bit closer to Fulham, about a 10 minute bus ride from our previous locale of Flood Street.

Northacres photo

King's Chelsea is a complex of 289 apartments and homes, which was formerly the King's College facility until 7 or 8 years ago when the Grade II listed buildings were converted into a residential development.

Our place is on the fifth level of the Mathison House facing King's Road

and here you see the back windows--the top left set of 3 windows.

There's a lovely view of the grounds below,

plenty of place for a stroll

or a quiet moment.

Included in the facility are some workout rooms, an indoor swimming pool, and tennis courts on the property. Cristen and Jason have done well in their search, don't you think?

And now we have a whole new area to explore: new shops, restaurants, walking paths, all just a bit further down the road from where we were. Home sweet home.

And if you promise not to tell the whole world, Daniel Radcliffe, is a resident here. Cristen and Jason spotted him on their first visit, and although Harry Potter hasn't invited us over for tea just yet, one can always hope!

Congratulations to Cathi Nunn from Everyday Adventures of a Curious Gal who is the winner of my Hello Jubilee magazine giveaway.