#hambleden

[captainfantasticalright]

Visiting Lower Tadfield in Good Omens.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

I will do a big post about the ineffable con when at home and spoons but we had a trip to Hambleden yesterday - where tadfield was filmed and just politely toured the village and where we were leaving, just queued to the buses a few locals came out to shout at us. Us being dressed weird was mentioned and apparently they thought we are a school tour? o.O (the village has proudly displayed in the town hall how many filmings took place there and another one is in progress)

The tic server is now busting with memes and dont be suprised if you see some fics on ao3 about the tylers :D.

[floveslondon]

One year of Good Omens Season 2, and you'll never guess what I found in Tadfield on Friday. This is my tribute to the best love story I've ever read/watched 😈🤍🖤😇

[mwlphoto]

Hambleden village, Bucks, Nov 2024.

[pastlivesandpurplepuppets]

One big social event was the Saturday night dances at the Memorial Hall. Audrey Barnett later recalled, “There was no shortage of partners at the dances in the village. . . . For the paratroopers, it was a welcome relief from the rigorous training and practice jumps. Most of the men had never left home before enlisting and were naturally homesick. They would readily talk about their homes, parents, siblings, and quite often about their girlfriends or young wives whom they had married before embarking overseas. I found them to be extremely well behaved, very friendly, generous and outgoing, and full of life and good fun.” Of course, there were also some problems between villagers and GIs. Nancy Barrett, a young mother whose husband was stationed at Gibraltar, told Neil Stevens, “The trouble with the Americans was that they were just so forward. I recall one spring morning opening the front door to shake the hearthrug out, and being almost bowled over by the number of young soldiers wanting to chat. The problem was, of course, that deep down they were very lonely, very far from home, and just weren’t familiar with the English ways of reserve. On another morning, there was a knock at the door and when I opened it, the first words this GI spoke were, ‘Can you wash my pants, please, ma’am?’ . . . I agreed to take this man’s trousers and wash them for him, but made it clear that this wasn’t to be his regular laundry house. It wasn’t a case of being rude, but you had to be firm from the outset, otherwise things would easily spiral out of control.” Still, she noted, “The Americans stationed in Aldbourne were far from all bad, and when they left the village, it seemed like a huge void then appeared.”

~ Larry Alexander

[theineffablecon]

🔔We are delighted to announce that The Ineffable Con 5 is live for booking!🔔

For the first time, The Ineffable Con will be fully hybrid, with the in person convention being held in a picturesque English village close to Tadfield (more commonly known as Hambleden!), for an optional Sunday night outing!

You can find out more about both in person and virtual attendance in our FAQs and you can book for both options here: https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/event-directory/

[mea-gloria-fides]

Badge of a Lady of the Bedchamber to HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother worn by The Rt Hon Patricia, Dowager Viscountess Hambleden, G.C.V.O.

[too-antigonish]

Cool B&W for a hot summer day...

Found this recently...

[Shaun filming in Hambleden by lagerini_fablon; originally from @ShaunEvansInfo on X/Twitter]

[aceofsnacks]

I did a tour of GO filming locations

It was around London, so I didn't get all of them, but the trip has been such a blast I just have to share the pics!

1. St James park: so many birds! And tourists. Which is good because the secret government agents wouldn't be able to feed so many ducks. I saw pelicans too—they were huge and pink and funny!!

2. Berkley Square (they actually didn't film anything here, but still): it's a giant construction site now. The only birds I spotted were parrots, so many of them, at least 5 nests, and loud too. No sane nightingale would ever come there, this much is true. But the song is referenced on one of the bench plaques <3

3. The Ritz / The Criterion: they both look nothing like the restaurant in the show (maybe the Criterion changed since 2019?) But both are fancy! When my rich uncle leaves me a giant inheritance and I find my 6000 year soulmate, I am so taking them out there, just you wait.

4. The Globe: this is my favourite theatre now!!!Macbeth was magnificent! And the standing tickets were so worth it: actors were down in the crowd and interacted with everyone! I got some of Macduff's blood on me! (Can't get this anywhere else :D) The Globe is closed in winter, so I'm already planning to buy tickets for next year.

5. The Bandstand and the-place-where-Gabriel-was-running: after marinating on Tumblr for so long I felt shocked seeing the word "bandstand" on a physical sign in the park. Like, put up a warning at least, my heart needs to be prepared?? The actual bandstand was at the same time smaller and bigger than I expected. Also those red bits—apparently they were there the whole time; I was imagining it black and white for some reason.

Also I met another crazy fan taking pictures of the bandstand in the rain, and I remember thinking, they have to be just as crazy as me xD

6. Tavistock square (where they switched bodies): the filming crew must have moved the benches around, because the square itself is so tiny and you can only match the scene background if you stand all the way back in the bushes. Surely there must have been a better way.

7. Crystal palace: just as I suspected, you can't see the dinosaurs from the bench because of all the trees in the way. The dinos are hilarious though, they look more like🗿and not like 🦖. In the show Warlock seems to have written a rude word on the teleosaurus info card, how dare he!

8. Tadfield (Hambleden, really): I thought, it's just two hours from London, easy day trip, in and out, what could go wrong. Cue to me stumbling over muddy fields in the dark surrounded by menacing sheep and regretting everything. The village is cute and English and has literally three streets and a post office and nothing else. And sheep.

9. Bonus round, my take on Aziraphale's bookshop xD "Seducing women? I think you've got the wrong shop!"

10. Bonus bonus round, food! (am I or am I not the ace of snacks after all?) An oyster recipe from Marcus Gavius Apicius' cookbook (Rome, 1c CE, stumbled upon it in the museum of Reading), and Eccles cakes (soooo sweet they don't calm people down but give them instant diabetes)

And that's it!! Thank you for reading all the way <3 Here is a secret snack 🍎

[tokyoterri2]

I don’t know how I’m going to afford it. But somehow, I’m going to Ineffablecon:

The Ineffable Con is a series of not-for-profit events run by and for fans of the Good Omens book and series.

July 26-28 2024

For those attending in person, we will be heading to the quintessentially English village of Cookham in Berkshire. From here, it’s only a short hop to Hambleden, the filming location for Tadfield, so we will have an optional outing after the convention to explore Adam’s haunts.

https://www.theineffablecon.org.uk/tic5/tic5-faqs/

Am I into cosplay or quizzes? Nope. Is it time to do something out of my comfort zone? Yes. Will I use some time on the trip to work on my book? Yes.

Are you planning to attend, too?😊

🙌🏾

update: unfortunately, it’s just too expensive to travel from Japan😔

so Ii won’t make this one in person,

but I will attend virtually, this time

[humbledragon669]

S1E4 – Saturday Morning Funtime Write Up P4 - Saturday (The last day of the World) from "You bad angels!

It’s no good, I’ve had to resort to making my own banners. I don’t think we see another one for a little while. And it just looks so much more inviting to start a post with a nice pretty picture, don’t you think? Cool, let’s see if we can’t finish up this episode.

This scene in the woods provides an interesting subtextual commentary about people being capable of becoming very rational and emotionally intelligent when faced with dangerous situations, whilst the instigators of those same dangerous situations being capable of regression to more childlike behaviours and attitudes. And we finish the scene with the first undeniable display of something that’s not of this world about Adam as he levitates off the ground, clearly terrifying Pepper:

Some questions about the upcoming scene:

Anathema’s research boards. I’m sure there’s a good reason that she has to have two walls full of scribbling, but why does she need two maps that are exactly the same?

Anathema knew when Newt was going to show up, almost to the minute. Why didn’t she know the same details about the timing for the arrival of the tornado? And even if she didn’t know the timing, I’m fairly sure they would have been able to hear the wind outside the house before opening the door.

Why, when they go back into the house, do they go straight from the front door to Anathema’s bedroom? I know she has knowledge of the events to come from Agnes, but the entry back into the house doesn’t seem particularly well thought through. It just seems like strange behaviour to do that when they could just as easily have gone into the kitchen from the front door.

Why has someone written “sherbet lemons” on the prophecy about the upcoming coupling of Anathema and Newt (which apparently is “opaque, even for Agnes”)? I know they were used as a linking device with the missing nuclear reactor, but this prophecy has nothing to do with that.

Why has the pin in Shadwell’s map been shoved exactly in the map icon for Jasmine Cottage?

I know Shadwell pushed it in to mark Tadfield, but how did he manage to single out the exact building where Newt would end up? Newt hadn’t meet Anathema before he left London, so there’s no way either of them could have know that’s where he was destined for. Side note: how beautiful is that zoom-out shot to get from underneath Anathema’s bed, out through the roof, transitioning into the map in Shadwell’s apartment? What an incredibly stunning and beautiful way to get the audience from one location to another without feeling disjointed.

What insult exactly is Shadwell trying to throw at Madame Tracy? The line in the Script Book backs up what’s on film, and reads “murrain plashed berrizene”. Apparently “murrain” is an epidemic in sheep and/or cattle, and to “plash” is to cause a splashing effect. The word “berrizene” appears to be made up. Even without knowing what the last of these three words is supposed to mean, the idea that Madame Tracy has been spattered with a bovine disease is pretty repugnant to say the least. I’d wager that she has no idea what any of those words mean, because even the most smitten (smited? smote?) of kittens couldn’t interpret that as a compliment, though it’s also possible she’s well aware that she’s the only person he throws offences that heinous at, revealing his true feelings for her.

Why is the bed spinning? If the shot through the springs is anything to go by, it would appear that it’s not just the bed but also the rug that it stands on, complete with Anathema and Pulsifer on it. And it’s not exactly spinning slowly. It’s a wonder they didn’t get physically sick from dizziness.

Absolute kudos to the prop guys here by the way: the map we see in Shadwell’s apartment is an OS map of Hambleden – the village used as the stand-in for Tadfield. The map appears to be an exact replica of the map for the area, but with an additional building inserted for Jasmine cottage.

I have to say I feel a little sorry for Adam in this next woods scene. He’s just a child, who has grown up with no knowledge of the power he wields or its consequences, and deep down he just wants to please the people in this life that he loves. He’s offering the rest of The Them what he thinks should make them happy – the opportunity to never have to do anything they don’t want to do. His fury is triggered by the frustration that his gestures aren’t being received in the way that they were intended. It must be very confusing for a young boy to be faced with all of that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not endorsing the removal of somebody’s mouth as a way to combat this tumult of emotions, just saying I feel that he’s as much a victim in this storyline as anyone.

Note for future reference: Aziraphale’s angel rank is disclosed to us in the book shop as being at the principality level. There is also a whole paragraph about his official title in the book. There are quite a lot of things to be said about his title and how it fits with the rest of the Heavenly organisational structure, so I’m going to look at it in a future post just about that. So, for now all I’ll say is Aziraphale = principality. Noted.

Another note for future reference: Aziraphale doesn’t recognise the voice or face (or indeed purpose) of the Metatron. This is something that comes up much later in season 2, and on a much wider and more obvious way, so I’m going to address that elephant in the room when I get to that point (and hey, it’ll help delay the inevitable write up of the Final 15, which I am already dreading, despite it being more than an entire season away from where I am now).

I also find it interesting that Aziraphale has to ask if he’s speaking to God. We know that he refers to God as a female entity, yet the voice that speaks sounds definitively male. You’d also think that Aziraphale would know the voice of God when he hears it. Ultimately, he’s clearly pretty uncomfortable that he’s not getting to speak to the only being that he thinks is able to fix the situation, but he realises he has little choice in the matter.

I absolutely love the strength of Aziraphale’s characterisation in this conversation with the Metatron. The fact that, whilst staring Armageddon in the face, the first concern he raises has to do with little scrap he had with some other angels, and despite the fact that he knows his time is short, his sense of righteousness in seeing those bullies are dealt with in an appropriate way still trumps his need to save the world. Well done, Angel, way to show how non-selfish you are. He makes up for it with his dogged determination that this has all just been a big mistake, his surety that this has all been caused by the loss of the Antichrist child and that Heaven can’t possibly really want the war that they are careening solidly towards. He’s so sure in fact that he completely misses the sarcasm in The Metatron’s “praise”.

It’s actually quite heartbreaking when the realisation that Heaven fully intends to have this war, regardless of any external circumstances, finally filters into Aziraphale’s brain. We can see from his reaction that he was genuinely convinced that Armageddon could just be called off if he could get the message through to the right being, the one his moral code dictates is the best being.

Watching the hope slide off of Aziraphale’s face really does feel pretty devastating. Perhaps not quite as devastating as the look of grief we see from him as he looks around his book shop.

What I find interesting about this part of the conversation is that the Metatron offers Aziraphale the opportunity to join their armies. There’s no compulsion, no threatening – there’s even a compromise that the gateway will be left open for him to use when he’s ready. Granted there is an assumption that Aziraphale will do nothing else but take his place amongst the Heavenly hoards, but the offer itself is of a very different tone to that we saw from the archangels on the street outside.

And here’s where all the pieces finally do all come together – we now have all of the timeline to be able to put them together. We’re back at step 6 of the timeline:

It’s almost a relief at this point to see that the first thing Aziraphale does after he’s left alone in the book shop is pick up the phone to call Crowley. It’s immediate too – no hesitations, doubts or second thoughts. And we get an extra line of dialogue from that telephone conversation that we didn’t hear before as a reward for finally solving the riddle of the timeline:

Remember what I said about him not knowing he was talking to an answerphone? Well in that case, it’s quite sweet hearing this line really – he’s settled right back into the comfortable patois of their usual conversations. No hurt, angry, or uncomfortable feelings about both of the break-ups they’ve been through in the 24 hours previous, just an absolute certainty that they can pick things up where they left off and work together as a team again. Because isn’t that what they’ve been doing for millennia? Regardless of whether you think they’re actually in a romantic relationship or not at this point, or how long that might have been going on if you do, you can’t deny that their working relationship has been in place since “the beginning”, even if it was only formalised less than a thousand years before.

 I need to take a moment to appreciate the soundtrack to this scene in the bookshop. It first caught my ear because I felt like there was an something about it that reminded me of the Witches of Eastwick soundtrack, with its heavy emphasis on the violin part (which might be a duet, rather than a solo instrument with double stopping), which in and of itself would be a lovely little reference to have, now that our Witchfinder Sargeant is about to perform an “exorcism”. There are some cute little parallels in that idea – after all, Daryl van Horne being dismissed by women who had previously welcomed him into their lives using the very thing that frightens them about him isn’t so dissimilar to what’s about to happen. I got a bit distracted from this idea when I listened to the piece of music in isolation on the soundtrack. After “End Titles”, I think it immediately took second place for my favourite piece on this soundtrack. The treatment of the melody from the main theme in the violin is inspired and it builds, not exactly from quiet beginnings, but from a place of tension that grows and grows as it becomes more epic when the choir comes in, and that tension is really polished off when the guitar re-enforces the driving bass line towards the end of the piece. The use of a harpsichord to provide the answering phrases to the violin(s) provides a connection to a lot of the other orchestration settings we’ve already heard throughout the season, and the arrangement makes use of percussion and some techniques with string instruments to really set the scene (I think the odd “whiny” noise might be glissando strings played with the wooden part of the bow, rather than the horse hair). Honestly, outstanding work (in my opinion anyway).

Right, a quick note to move me away from that music, because I feel like I could talk about it all day. I find it interesting that Shadwell refers to Aziraphale as “foul fiend” here. It’s the same phrase Aziraphale used to refer to Crowley way back in episode 1 when they entered the book shop. We’re coming back around to the idea from Anathema that the meaning of words and the judgements that are made with them being entirely dependent on one’s own preconceptions and contextual setting. Aziraphale is too surprised by Shadwell’s appearance to notice that particular slur, but he’s very quick to point out that he doesn’t have anything to do with getting women to do anything for him.

I love this little scene between Aziraphale and Shadwell, I feel like there are so many things to appreciate about it, not least the angel’s initial response to being told he’s about to be exorcised:

Yes, fine, but please, keep away from the circle.

There’s Shadwell’s incredibly ironic choice of book, in a building full of tomes, to serve as an exorcism tool (I mean really, a Witchfinder using a book written by the last true witch in England to exorcise a demon from somebody, it’s too ridiculous). There’s Aziraphale processing that somebody has accused him of being a demon and realising how ridiculous that really is. There’s the use of one the angel’s most hated words, by him himself, to try and get his message across. There’s Shadwell telling Aziraphale to go to whence he came from (which he’s about to do, albeit rather unwillingly). There’s the little noise of a firework exploding as Aziraphale is discorporated. There’s the confirmation that there is a compass in the middle of the shop, with the portal to Heaven lying at its centre. There’s Shadwell’s pitiful and confused “Hello?” to an empty space after he’s just witnessed the only being that was inhabiting it burst in white sparks. And there’s the music. Did I mention the music? Oh, and there’s this, which I feel needs no explanation or subtitling:

Largely though I just spend most of this exchange wondering why Aziraphale doesn’t just give Shadwell a hearty shove backwards – that really would have avoided a whole lot of trouble.

As a final side note for this episode, it’s nice to see that the first thing to catch fire is the programme for the musical that we know Aziraphale has little regard for, even if it’s his boss’s favourite.

And there we have it. High drama to lead us into the penultimate episode of the season. As always, questions, comments, discussion, always welcome! See you next time 😊

[elliebyrrdwrites]

Number 12.2

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Harry muttered as he sat, slumped at his desk. “It’s like the Guant’s were put on this planet to make my life a living hell.” He began to massage his temples, pushing his glasses up to his eyebrows.

“You’re making this about you.” Draco eyed him from his own desk. “There could be two suspects.”

Harry rolled his eyes, dropping his hands to his sides. “There is no record of any Gaunt being born after Tom Riddle.” He sniffed. “Why do you think that is?”

“Well, most likely it’s because of a terrible family reputation.” Draco leaned back in his chair and tapped the tip of his wand to his lower lip. “It chases you wherever you go. Maybe he’s using an alias.”

Harry frowned over at Draco, not oblivious to the dig at his own family name. “This other suspect. Are we set on the idea that it is indeed a suspect?”

“You mean a victim?”

Harry shrugged. He just hadn’t been able to fathom the fact that there are two wizards out there, working together to kidnap, torture and murder witches...without something going amuck.

Draco nodded, though, slowly and thoughtfully. “It could be.” He sighed. “Look, I need you to go see Fiadh without me.”

Harry smirked. “Still plan on chaperoning Hermione and Terry Boot on their date?” He might have emphasized the T of that last word.

Draco shifted, uncomfortably. “I intend to keep an eye on Granger. Don’t you think it’s rather curious, these frozen sheep who still try to communicate?”

Harry shrugged. “There’s always idiot kids fucking up spells. They probably think it’s fun.” Harry would know. He had his fun practicing spells with Ron in their youth once upon a time.

“Yes, if it were just one sheep. But an entire herd?” Draco shook his head, grimacing. “It’s suspect.”

“Are you not accompanying them to dinner, then?” Harry kicked his feet up onto his desk. “I hear East Cumbria is known for their Onion and cheese pies.”

Draco’s face slackened, his eyes staring blankly at Harry for a moment. “Those three things should never be mentioned together.”

Harry snorted.

“Do you think she fancies Boot? Or is she just trying to piss me off?”

“Is it working?”

“She's infuriating, of course it’s working.”

“I don’t know.” Harry hummed. “Terry Boot is rather dreamy. Bethany was definitely talking about him.”

Draco scowled and opened his mouth, no doubt to lob another insult at Harry when their office door opened.

Theo and Hermione walked in. Draco stiffened, his features suddenly impassive.

“Hello, boss.” Theo saluted Draco.

Hermione was shifting back and forth on her heeled feet. Harry hadn’t missed the sudden attention to her clothing. She typically wore pants to work and comfortable shoes. She was most likely suffering from aching feet at this point.

“How was lunch with Ginny?” Harry asked her.

She shrugged. “Productive. You’re having vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and a raspberry filling.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Harry nodded, approvingly.

“Tomorrow, we pick out floral arrangements.” Theo added as he positioned himself against their office door. “Ready for a trip to East Cumbria, boss?”

Draco blinked twice, pulling his eyes away from Hermione. “Stop calling me that.”

“My apologies. Master, are you ready for a trip to East Cumbria?”

Hermione snorted and Draco’s eyes snapped back up to her, softening.

“Theo, I need you to join Potter today.”

Harry hadn’t seen that coming. “Why?”

“Because it isn’t safe for you to go alone.” Just the simple fact that Draco had considered Harry’s safety at all was enough to startle him into silence.

“Why doesn’t Theo just accompany me then?” Hermione asked, lifting her chin and crossing her arms.

“No, no.” Theo shook his head, with a pointed glare at Hermione. “I would love to accompany you, Potter. Where are we off to? Somewhere grand?”

Harry chuckled. “Yes, quite. A lovely field just outside of Hambleden.”

Theo grimaced but he put on a good show as he nodded to Draco. “Right, well, you had better hurry before Hermione misses her portkey. She doesn’t want to be late for her date, would she?” Theo reached into his coat pocket and produced an old wire spatula.

Draco’s nostrils flared as he pushed himself up to his feet. Hermione tensed and uncrossed her arms, dropping them instead to her sides. Theo jerked his hand out toward Draco, offering it directly to him.

Sliding his wand into his holster, Draco took the wired spatula, frowning at it. He held it and then looked at Theo.

Theo flicked his fingers at his friend. “Take her hand, mate.”

Hermione’s eyes widened but she didn’t wince or step away. Harry did nothing to hide the smile that grew on his face as he watched Draco look down at her hand, as if horror stricken, before finally he wrapped his hand around her fingers.

Theo’s grin was deviant. “Have fun, you two.” Hermione glared at him.

“Do try the onion pie for me, will you?” Harry winked and Draco glared at him.

With the spatula in one hand, Draco tightened his other around Hermione’s before they were sucked away to East Cumbria.

“That was fun.” Harry nodded as he pushed himself to his feet.

“It was, wasn’t it?” Theo pushed away from the door. “So, what’s in Hambleden?”

“Gypsies.” Harry said as he grabbed his coat. “You might want to charm your shoes.” Harry looked down to notice that Theo wore the same expensive sort of dragon hide leather shoes that Draco did. “Or, you know, wrap some trash bags around them?”

Theo’s joy over torturing Draco and Hermione seeped out of him. Harry watched him deflate, just like a balloon. “I should have gone to Cumbria.”

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda.” Harry shrugged, and opened the door to his office, ready to drag Theo through the mud.

[asitsparkle]

Part 12 Good Omens Locations Tour

Hambleden, Buckinghamshire

The real Tadfield Village (bonus 'Angel' pub I saw on leaving)

[mwlphoto]

Red kite, Hambleden village, Nov 2024.

[professionallydeadinside]

Thinking more about human good omens and. I think i figured a bit out. So like yknow the whole plot where Beelzebub was dating Gabriel but then he vanished and then they meet Jim, his brother he never told them about and then kinda accidentally dates Jim because they think it’s just a really weird Gabriel (jim goes along with it because he thinks Beelzebub is being nice and has absolutely no understanding of social anything and thinks the hand holding and romantic gestures are just them being such a good friend!!) and anyway i think i figured the family dynamic and might write something of it.

Gabriel and Jim are brothers who are not related to Aziraphale or Crowley at all but when they were teens Jim got a job at the bookshop and just kinda. Got adopted. Crowleys a bit mean to him sometimes but in a way where he doesn’t know how to show affection very well and they do have nice moments. Jim lives in one of the rooms above the shop because Aziraphale unfortunately grew fond of the constant company and they’re a little nervous he’s too naïve and might be taken advantage of. They hate Gabriel and he hates them.

Muriel is of course a little fellow they also adopted because look at them Aziraphale. Look at them. We have to keep them. Muriel gets adopted pretty young and Crowley adores them.

Warlock meets Crowley when he’s his nanny and when mr and mrs dowling mysteriously disappear and croak, Crowley takes in Warlock after receiving a very distressed phone call.

Adam is still raised by the Youngs and he loves his parents so much and they love him but he’s basically got a second home at the bookshop for how often he’s there. (Tadfield isn’t really a town in England, and was filmed in Hambleden, and from Soho to Hambleden is a three hour bike ride so he could stay the weekend. It’s even shorter if he drives or uses public transportation). I might have a reason for him and the Them being there a lot but i also might follow sitcom rules where he’s just. There.

Anyway Aziraphale still leaves Crowley but this time they have kids and he abandons them too (gross oversimplification of what happened in the show but you saw it you get what i mean) and they all stay with Crowley in the divorce and the story would largely be Crowley learning to live without Aziraphale and run the shop himself and realising that he’s still loved and has more love to give. That this sucks but by someone he’s strong enough to keep going, even if just to see his kids smile.

Sandman characters show up too as little cameos, and there’ll be some discworld allusions because that was so fun to read.

Then Aziraphale shows up with a baby named Jesús who’s a bit too sweet and kind to be fully human, if you ask Crowley.

Okay Silas I love this so much and I love Aziraphale just adopting people but you killing off the Dowlings is very funny wkakkdmdms

[chrysaliseuro2024]

Day 1,2,3 Stoke Poges

Arrived in London after an uneventful if long flight of 25+ hours. 3 hour stop in Singapore didn’t help. Good friend Peter Box kindly picked us up at airport and back to catch up with him and Sue in Stoke Poges for the next couple of days.

Much to catch up on and a few beers and wines were enjoyed that evening before we tumbled into bed.

Next day was pretty full on. After a late breakfast we headed off late morning for a walk around the Chilterns about a 30 minute drive away. Some delightful scenery en route - quaint villages with leafy laneways, lovely little cottages and the inevitable pub or two. All amidst green pastures and blooming trees. Very much England.

Lunched at the Stag and Huntsman pub in Hambleden in the garden on a mild day which of course was very laid back.

A most pleasant and amusing day with Peter navigating via a guidebook on walks and every now and then Sue calling a halt to verify that we were following the correct route. Occasionally the directions were a bit oblique with paths to follow and styles to climb and streams to walk beside. Anyway we made it back to the car having done about 15kms which was a tad more than Liz and I expected (the original plan was 4/5 kms) though a good tone up for the holiday.

Back home around 5.00 so a big day as we left at 11.00. Things were about to liven up with Peter and Sue’s son Nicholas, wife Lesley and daughters Leonora (7)and Alma (5) arriving for dinner and to stay the night. The little girls were in fine robust form and very sweet.

Great to see them all and pretty soon a few beers and wines were flowing and the catch ups and stories doing the same. Caitlyn (daughter) also arrived and dinner was very loud and very good fun.

Next day was petty chilled, a few sore heads but we were off to Tunisia at 6.30pm that evening so a relaxing day getting ready and generally pottering about.