Spice Bag

We've just seen Dave's nephew and his fiancee off to the airport. (Is there a word for a nephew's fiancee? Niece-in-law-to-be?) I've already deflated and put away the air mattress and as soon as Dave gets out of the shower and helps me put the dining room table back in place, I'll take down those awful drapes. And then we'll be more or less back to normal around here.

We had a busy day yesterday. Antavius (Dave's nephew) and Arjeta (his fiancee) left in the morning for the Tower of London. Yesterday was their last day and they asked for advice on what to see, and we both suggested the Tower -- I mean, Henry VIII's armor! The crown jewels! Graffiti from imprisoned noblemen! It's all there!

We met them afterwards on Tower Bridge and walked across the bridge and along South Bank.

It was a beautiful day. We couldn't have asked for better.

Our plan was to eat at Borough Market, a large outdoor market teeming with vendors, food trucks and people. We knew something was off when we arrived and found guys with hi-viz vests pressure-washing the paved areas. Turns out Borough Market is closed on Mondays! Who knew?!

We found a nearby pub and had a beer and a fairly middling lunch -- Dave had something called a "spice bag" that consisted of soggy fries and lumps of unidentifiable breaded meat in something akin to curry spices, literally served in a paper bag. He probably won't do that again.

From there we walked along the river to the Millennium Bridge and over to St. Paul's, where we caught the tube. Antavius and Arjeta went on to the British Museum for a quick look around, and Dave and I headed home.

This was the view looking downriver from the Millennium Bridge. The tide was out (obviously). Look at the dead shrubbery and trees in the planters along the river. This summer's drought was really brutal to a lot of plantings.

Now Dave is off to work and I have 24 hours to do some laundry, get things squared away here and get my own bag packed for Florida.

One of our neighbors threw this bouquet in their garden waste. It still looks pretty fresh to me -- I considered taking it, but decided a picture would suffice!

Oh, and I mailed my ballot off to the USA yesterday, so I have officially voted. I'll watch the Supervisor of Elections web site to make sure it's received and counted.