The Cro-nadians leave London

It is the nature of living abroad...people come and go in and out of your lives.  It is like chapters in the book of expatriate life!
One such chapter that has recently drawn to a close was for a work colleague and her husband, Ana and Goran, who headed back to wintery Canada (she's Canadian, he's Croatian...hence CRO-NADIANS) after a few years in London.  We will definitely miss them!

As such, a wonderful surprise party was held for them at a local London eatery...Fun was had by all. Thanks to Cyn for recording the event for posterity, since the Hachie Gal's camera (actually, batteries) went on the fritz!

Party chit-chat!















Goran, Ana, Blondie and Drama....



People celebrate their Canadian or Croatian names...clearly, the Croats are less than enthused with their Canadian names :-).







Budman and Marina are "masked"....

Ravenscourt Park and fireworks

What is a rainy Sunday afternoon perfect for doing? Downloading photos that have been stockpiled on my camera for weeks...so without further ado....

Check out the November 6th post for details on what Guy Fawkes Day is all about; these photos show the Budman, Hachie Gal, Cyn, Paulster, Blondie, and Drama celebrating GF day with fireworks at Ravenscourt Park. Thanks, Cyn for your photos as well!

Budman and Hachie Gal...of course, Budman finds the cotton candy.

















Blondie and Drama, Paulster and Cyn's girls enjoy the rides.

What do you get when 4 Waxahachians take London by storm?

Late this summer/early fall, we had Waxahachie friends come for a stay in the London pad...actually, they house-sat for us while we were in Croatia but we got a really good visit in while they were here.

These friends are kinda special...in more ways than one...we actually bought our Waxahachie House from them, shared a cat for a time, Annie, and generally just think they are fun folks. Wish we were closer than an ocean away.

We had a great time while they were ...taking in some sights we had actually not seen before. First stop on the Hachie tour of London and the UK: Stonehenge. Since Hachie Gal was the only person leaglly able to drive in the UK, I was the chauffeur. Did they know what they had gotten themselves into?

















...followed by a trip to the quaint town of Canterbury and its magnificient cathedral.





























Sadly, Jim took ill one day (or was it really that he was coveting our Skye Motor Sports channel and wanted to stay home and watch the races). Anyway, Becky, Budman, and I headed to Kew Gardens...indulge me...the light was great that day and so were the photos.













































Ham House, Syon House, Thames River, Marble Hill House, and Richmond