good vibes

One of the things I loved about the train trip was how much fun everyone was having. Aided by alcohol of course, but everyone came with linens, flowers, hampers, bottles of wine and had a fantastic time. Most of the women were dressed as flappers. And men in boaters and suspenders. And nothing beats dancing to swing music. It was a hoot.
Today we went to a private garden west of Belfast opened as a fundraiser for the National Trust. There were tea and buns in one of the gardens and dozens of people were having a grand old time, chatting, laughing, enjoying all the sweet treats.
Anyway, here’s the cottage at the centre of the gardens.

Mom and I in the garden:

One of the windows:

The rose garden uphill from the cottage.


We went out to dinner with David in Ballyhackamore--and ice cream! Then we watched two Graham Norton shows--BBC’s i-player offers six shows right now. Getting mom up to speed on British culture. Low culture actually. One show was the stars of Oceans 8. The other show was Cher (one of Graham’s idols), Christine Baranski, Rupert Everett, and a woman from Game of Thrones whom I don’t know. My favourite moment was when Helena Bonham Carter said that high heels should be outlawed. It was so refreshing to hear a public figure be outspoken on one of the feminine sex’s many foibles (Kardashian make up, holes cut out of shoulders, fake nails, Botox, etc).
I started this post talking about good vibes and ended by going into crank mode. My bad.
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