Knowing We Were Arriving Steve Very Kindly arranged His Calls So We Could Pop Into See Windsor Castle,

so we drove over in the general area,

stopping at The Kingfisher to buy a late breakfast/early lunch,

it was totally random, but how strange that the pub has the same name as my business,

the pub looked like it had been here for some time, it had a well stocked bar,

with the exposed brickwork it looked to be quite an age,

'Cheers!' from me with an ale and steak pie,

but the gentleman in charge after we asked him said it was made by a company that specializes in making pubs that look old, this one was brand new just 8 years ago,

the three of us full to bursting carried on towards Windsor Castle,

and there it was in the distance,

the clock tower with a decorated panel on the side,

quick must get Diana past the jewelers, no really I make out that I buy lots of jewelry for Diana but in truth she asks for nothing - except chocolate and ice cream,

the walk up the hill to the entrance,

Queen Victoria at the base of the hill,

we are both looking forward to seeing inside, especially as Diana has been going on about seeing a soldier wearing a wig,

not too much walking now,

then the entrance,

the sign says it all,

and we are in,

the castle is huge,

the main courtyard,

one of the towers, the Union Jack was at the mast head so the Queen was not in residence, we later found out she was at Balmoral,

what I guess was the moat has now been made into a flower garden,

another tower in the back ground,

part of the church,

with a 1723 sundial on it,

the church to Diana's left as we are looking at her then the path leads down to the workers private apartments,

then at last Diana saw a solider wearing a wig, she meant of course a bearskin!

the front of the private apartments,

looking back from the courtyard to the chapel,

going through the arch there is a courtyard and garden for the apartments, the bar-b-q will not be undercover for the rest of today!

entrance to the chapel,

the arch way leading from the garden to the courtyard,

above the windows are many building ornaments the cross of St. George and the white rose of Yorkshire,

from the courtyard looking up the hill to the tower,

for the workers that stay at the castle a post box is provided,

there is a collection of cannons at one side of the castle,

the plate on the side of this one,

we are now making our way to see Queen Mary's Dolls House, a masterpiece in miniature,

another view of the inner courtyard,

guarded by soldiers,

I could hear Diana behind me in her flip-flops, but much quicker sound hit my ears, the changing of the guard,

they marched past Diana on their way to relive their comrades for the evening watch,

we phoned Steve as we were on our way out, but first an ice cream,

then past the crocked house in the square, just then I saw Steve, the car was in a limited time parking bay, so Diana threw her ice cream in the bin in case she made a mess in the car, but it was me, it was not Steve, have you noticed how similar some cars are? well that is my excuse!

so as Diana had thrown her ice cream away on the way back we stopped at Keston Ponds,

there is always an ice cream van parked there,

we then went to the lower pond,

the ducks were very friendly, must remember to bring some bread next time,

I can almost see some blue sky in the reflection on the water,

after work Kai called in to see a couple of friends of Steve and Kai's, and their baby Charlie, Steve much to his embarrassment was given a birthday present,

Selina and Tony with baby Charlie,

they have two dogs that scared the life out of Diana,

but they would not hurt a fly, it is just that Diana is frighten of dogs,

when we returned home Steve opened up his presents,

two shirts,

tonight we were in for a special treat, sauces and strips of meat were prepared, along with a soup,

the whole thing is cooked on a hot plate, a special place for the soup and a grill for the meat,

fresh vegetables waiting to be put into the soup saucepan,

so as the soup is cooking everyone fries what meat they like for how long they like,

just have to wait for a few minuets as the grill gets up to heat,

it is all coming along nicely now,

after eating way to much, it was out on the balcony for a couple of V & S's after we had finished the red wine, Diana retired for the night but Steve and myself continued chatting,

then a fox came to call so I grabbed my camera, I have been thinking about this all week, did my reach exceed my grasp, or did my grasp exceed my reach? in any event although the flash went off it was not bright/strong enough as you can see from the above picture, then off to bed.