Today's Surrey Adventure...

Today's adventure was slightly epic ... on a very tiny epic-measuring scale but still, I was catching the Chatterbus all the way to Weybridge.  Off the map of my known world ... many stops down the road.

I was heading for M & S in Brooklands.  I needed socks.  But perfect-in-every-way socks. I was also curious to see precisely what an M&S store was like.   What did they sell?

I found my socks, almost immediately and then curious, I took the escalator and ended up in the lingerie section where I had this most divine realisation that, after surviving so many months with just one bra (washing it in the evenings), I could maybe buy another. 

The prices seemed good in M&S.  Back in Belgium, I had required 60 euros per item, or so I was told.  However as I looked around I understood I had not a clue where to start.  Lingerie sections have long been places of mystery for me.   I never remember the numbers involved and go there as rarely as is possible.  It was the Belgian bloke who had organised me into visiting them ... once a year for those 10 years.

I looked around for help after wandering through their really large selection, and was so fortunate to find the lingerie specialist, Tracey Jones.  She made time for me, took me under her wing, and talked me through it.

She only needed to hand me maybe 3 bras before she found the one I wanted to keep.  The one I wanted 6 more of:-)  For just 18 pounds!!!  I splashed out,  I bought two.  I'm thinking about buying a couple more.  Surviving so long with just one was silly. 

Honestly, if you live in the area and need a bra, you cannot go wrong with Tracey, at Marks & Spencer, helping you :-)  I was so veryvery grateful to her. 

Do know that normally you would need to make an appointment for a fitting.  I was incredibly fortunate today.

Since then Roscoe and I have walked in the woods and that chocolate brown Labrador is now asleep at my feet here.  I've found a hairdresser, I meet her on Saturday, recommended by the most marvelous Becky.  Here's to Vikki tidying me up a bit.  It's been more than a year, I think, since my hair was last done by a professional.  I feel like one of those Merino sheep that escape and head for the hills, back in New Zealand.  They become all wild and woolly.  

So yes, I'm tidying up ... after some time spent out in the wilderness.

And now, for a complete change of subject.  I photographed these guys ... playing, the other day.  I hope to take the camera back for more.  They were superb and honestly, no one was hurt.  It was just like the wrestling shows on tv ...

That Purple Swagger Coat ...

Swagger Coat - noun   1. - a woman's pyramid-shaped coat with a full flared back and usually raglan sleeves, first popularized in the 1930s.

I had never heard of a Swagger Coat but I can see how it got its name.  You do, kind of, swagger along when you're wearing one.  Especially if you're carrying your huge leather bag, and another two cloth bags full of groceries.

Mmhmm but still, how I smiled as I swaggered ... perhaps staggered, back home.  Just call me Sherpa Di.  I can often be spotted carrying huge loads back home from London, from Cobham.

The coat was there in the secondhand shop.  I was looking for a sugar bowl with a lid but I tried the coat on for fun.  I had so much fun, simply wearing it, that I couldn't resist. It was a massive bargain. Then it got cold outside, and then I realised it would be easier to wear it because it's quite heavy and voila, that's how my afternoon unfurled. 

That was me, swaggering home, loaded down but smiling ...   Smiling hugely.

However, before all of this ... my bus route has changed because the road that it uses is closed for repairs.  It became clear that I'd either missed the bus, or it's stopping elsewhere, in a place I didn't yet know about.

I asked a young woman and her mother, who lived near the bus stop, if they knew anything about this temporary stop but they didn't.

Do you know what they did?!!  They asked me where I was going and when I said Cobham, they said they'd take me there.  And they did.

The English ...!  I find them so very very kind.

So very.

Joy is just shimmering up and out of me of me as I write this.  And Richard, the bus driver ... he had the most excellent news but more on that later because really, this is already so much.

Merci Marcie's Cafe ...

I never manage to photograph the mille feuille before I accidentally eat them, whenever I pop into Merci Marcie's lovely cafe, even when I take one home ... to photograph it. 

I keep trying ... really.  Once a week probably:-)  And so, I turned my camera elsewhere on today's visit.

And now that I have a Nespresso machine.  Finally. 

Now, for the first time in 6 months, I am enjoying the breakfast I best love ... an espresso, toast, butter and jam. 

Well ... now I can no longer have coffee while out and wandering because my mornings are all about 2 espresso before and with breakfast.

My new drink, for out there, is ginger and lemon tea, with honey.  I have it in the evenings too.  I had a wicked coughing cold for two weeks.  I was fairly sure my lungs were going pop out one night.  That night I didn't sleep one single wink ... but they didn't, and I am left with this big love for the tea that got me through.

I'm okay here in Surrey.  Meeting marvelous people, making a tiny new home beautiful, setting up to teach photography workshops again, to photograph pets, to photograph family homes, and portraits.   Maybe an event or two.

It's unfolding, and I have espresso in my mornings again.  Life is quite beautiful.

The Most Perfect Tree-Seat, Surrey ...

It is perfect, isn't it?  I've been eyeing it since beginning with my 20 minute walks into the village.

It's quite high, and I'm not sure I could reach it without an undignified struggle.  But once there, especially in summer, there's moss that surely makes for a most comfortable seat. 

The only option is to recline, legs stretched out in front, back supported in a most divine way ... maybe that's even a book-reading arm-support branch.

Sadly though, it's on the edge of a busy little country road here in Surrey.  I suspect the police would be called to check up on my reasons for being there or ... the fire brigade would be called, to rescue that mad Kiwi woman stuck up a tree. 

But still, I don't think I have ever seen a more perfect tree-seat in my life.

On My Way To That Village in Surrey ...

A few minutes into my walk to the village, I pass this ... and today, for some unknown reason, I decided to photograph it.  Maybe the notion of 40 appeals to me. 

Miles per hour is taking some getting used to.  As are pounds and pence.  And kind people ... everywhere.

6 months into this English life and I still cannot say enough good things about the kindness of strangers.

One Of Those Surrey Days ... (and a selfie).

Going out in England ... there's always the possibility of meeting some delightful folk, finding delicious food in the supermarket, and picking up something slightly divine in the charity shops... veryvery cheaply.

I have been losing weight, getting strong, and spending huge amounts, like 6 pounds, on new shirts.  I had almost no shirts when I arrived here.  This is me last night, in a colour, in a style, I couldn't imagine wearing ... before yesterday.

I feel like a child, delighting in new things ... new places, new people.

Today, for example, I was in one of the 3 charity shops I frequent, and Pam started talking to me.  I had never met Pam before but she had just found the 2 books that she buys whenever she sees them ... to gift to friends.  She convinced me that I should buy one of them.   And as 1 pound 50 was entirely doable, I did.  We talked a while.  I bought the book.  She bought the other one.  

The charity shops ... I keep meeting lovely women in them, who make me smile, and who chat to this stranger in a strange land.

I discovered Majestic Wine Warehouse and talked with Sian ... who told me I could do a wine course with them, or simply have a free tasting.  I'll go back, I'm so excited.  She recommended the Italian restaurant next door and I wandered in, after grocery shopping for the week.  Yes, they did espresso con panna.

Fego's was as good as she said.  And I filled in time there, waiting for the last bus back to my village, one of just 3 on a Saturday ... reading a book found while out wandering.

It's been a lovely day.  We're wind-storming here in Surrey.  And there was a bit of rain as I walked home but I loved the way the rain released the scent of the woods on either side of the road.

It's like that.  Excuse the selfie but yes ... everything is changing in my world.  I thought I'd share.