A tiny sweet treat

When I walk out of our condo neighborhood in the mornings, I've noticed small cherry tomato plants growing in a flower bed that edges the driveway. It always makes me smile, because I figure that most of the people are driving in and out every day and don't even realize that there are tomatoes growing there.

One morning some of the maintenance guys were weeding that bed when I came back from my run, so I stopped to ask them about the tomatoes. They said that someone planted a few tomato plants a while back, and they just keep coming up. Then one of the men asked me if I liked tomatoes, and I assured him that, yes, we love tomatoes. He told me, "We'll bring you some."

When he appeared at our door a few minutes later, I was expecting maybe a dozen tomatoes. Instead, he brought a plastic grocery sack over half filled with tiny cherry tomatoes:

And I do mean tiny:

Yes, they were just as sweet as we hoped they would! We shared some with a neighbor, and just ate lots of tomatoes for a couple of days.

Then, several weeks later, another one of the guys showed up at our front door with another bag full. As I've noted before, the produce in the stores on St. Thomas is shipped in, so it's never really fresh. Needless to say, these just-picked tomatoes have been a wonderful treat!

Off the Island - and Across the Pond

The company Bob is working for needs to renew their hurricane insurance. According to the insurance broker, a face-to-face meeting with the underwriters can mean savings - or at least not so much of a premium increase. And, the underwriters just happen to be located in London, a place neither of us had ever been. Oh, darn!

Bob was already flying on Friday (to Saturday), so he added a day to the end of his trip and added me to his reservation - after all, it was almost our anniversary :)

After an overnight flight, a train ride from Heathrow to Paddington Station, and a taxi ride through Hyde Park, we arrived at our Knightsbridge area hotel early Saturday afternoon. We explored the neighborhood that afternoon and were stunned by the cars: multiple Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Maybachs ... the Mercedes' were the poor relations!

Sunday, we took a bus tour. We saw a lot, but the routes didn't go to all the normal stops, because it was the day of the London Marathon. We got off the bus to walk over to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and found ourselves at the marathon course as the elite runners were nearing the end.

On Monday, Bob headed to The City, and I did more sightseeing. I saw Buckingham Palace - and the infamous balcony - without all the crowds that were there on the wedding day. I also explored Harrod's, which is a very confusing place, tho I did manage to buy some gifts there.

Bob was back in The City on Tuesday, so I walked to Hyde Park to see the very impressive Prince Albert Memorial:

A couple of blocks more, and I was at the Victoria and Albert Museum. There was absolutely no way to see everything in that place! And it was even more confusing than Harrods :) There are 12 miles of corridors in the 5 story building, and most of the staircases go to only some of the floors. I wandered for several hours and saw nearly all of the displays that I was most interested in. I especially enjoyed the room devoted to religious sculpture:

Bob and I went to the Tower of London on Wednesday and enjoyed our Beefeater-guided tour:

Afterwards we saw the Crown Jewels - where, of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures.

That afternoon, we went to Westminster Abbey, and I was terribly disappointed to find out that they had closed early that day. For that, I believe that Bob will have to take me back another time.

The trip was less than a week, definitely too short for a place with so much to see, but we had a great time - and even warm, sunny weather! The travel was fairly ease, plus we (generally) understood the language, so both of us foresee another trip there in the future - hopefully soon!

A little personal entry

For those who might not yet know, Parker's boyfriend proposed on Friday, April 8, and she, of course, said "Yes!"

So, my newest adventure is trying to help plan a wedding in Wheaton, Illinois, for October 1 of this year!