Dec 31, 2009

Elijah stared at the court jester, suspicion in every line of his body. But when the man bent down and lit a torch, sudden understanding flared in Elijah's eyes. He raised a tentative finger, shifted his weight expectantly.

The jester tossed the burning torch into the air and caught it. The small knot of onlookers applauded politely.

"HOT!" bellowed Elijah, pointing in earnest.

A small tittering swept the crowd. The jester turned to us and bowed. "This young gentleman is correct, good ladies and gentlemen. It is, verily, hot."

"HOT!" bellowed Elijah, still pointing.

The jester nodded again, then turned to the bulk of the crowd and began to juggle again.

"HOOOOOTTTT!!" The tiny finger waggled, whether in excitement or disapproval I could not say. Still, we beat a retreat from the courtyard, up the steps to the Great Hall....


...where Henry the 8th danced centuries ago, in Hampton Court Palace. Since we'd come early, there wasn't much going on yet, but it was far less crowded. And we did get to see some of the costumed folk and check out some other activities.

Besides, the scenery was pretty great:

And we were able to wear out a certain young fellow by letting him roam around. After this, he slept for 2 hours!


Anyhow, happy 2010 to everyone. I will catch up on some emails tomorrow, but for tonight I think I'm going to head to bed. B and I are just sitting here waiting for the clock to tick over to midnight, having watched a DVD. I've been doing a lot of cooking lately - pesto pizza, banana cake (modified from Dad's recipe), homemade bread, and, to challenge myself, a vegan meal of sweet potato and carrot soup. Which actually turned out pretty good.

This is making me sound... really... old. Well, I had a glass of wine tonight, so ha. Um, yeah. Maybe I'd better stop now. Mmhm. Good night, and happy New Year to all!