Today may not have been full of shellfish and calamari, but it was full of queesh (whoops--I was just informed that the word is "quiche"), focaccia bread, fudge samples, Starbucks' smoothies, and pork ribs.  Why was the day so food-based?  :-)  Well, and since this is Nicole's last day in London before flying back to BYU, her family decided to take her to a food market in downtown London.  And guess what?  As an adopted member of the family, I was invited, too!

Before we could actually drive into London, though, Nicole and her dad had to spend the morning digging up a stump in their backyard--roots 'n all!  Richard and Jeanette were originally going to pay for someone to wrench it out at the beginning of the summer, but Nicole said, "Ha!  I'll dig it up myself if you'll pay me that much money."   The poor girl didn't realize what she was promising!  Even with some heavy-duty help from her dad, she didn't finish the job until 5 PM today (after we'd returned from our London outing).  I was napping, but even through the hazy fog of sleep, I distinctively heard a gleeful Nicole yell, "Timber!" when the thing came out at last.  :-)

Let me rewind now to our London excursion.  Richard, Jeanette, Nicole, Michelle, and I jumped in the car around 11:00 and parked near Blackfriar's Bridge.  Then we walked over the bridge and past the Globe Theatre, the Anchor Pub, Sir Francis Drake's ship, The Clink, and Southwark Cathedral until we reached our final destination.  I've been there twice before.  Can't you guess where we were going?  Borough Market, of course!  I really wish it had been open the time I tried taking Dylan; the place has such a fun, bustling atmosphere.  We explored every nook of the market this time and ended up buying some homemade toffee pudding from "Aunt Jenny" to heat up for Sunday night dessert.  (Hurrah!  I'll get to try some real sticky toffee pudding--not Pizza Hut's sad version of the stuff.)  I also got some grand pictures of pig heads and dead sharks, ate a piece of zucchini/mushroom quiche, and bought a fresh focaccia bread roll for 50 pence.  I love open-air markets!

After that, Nicole informed us that she needed to buy a bag before going back to school, so we walked over the bridge to the Covent Garden shops.  Along the way, we stopped to be entertained by the statue-people on the streets and to soak in Coven Garden's fun atmosphere.  After Nicole had selected her bag, we ended up at Starbuck's where everybody got a fruit smoothie (mine was strawberry--mm!).  At that point, Nicole and Richard decided that we should take a creative route back to the car, so we ended up wandering through all sorts of interesting, deserted alleyways.  We ran into some truly gorgeous buildings, though, including a Freemason's temple and a grand courthouse.  I still can't get over how beautiful and varied London's architecture is!  After winding through streets and across bridges, we eventually made it back to the car and listened to Disney princess songs all the way home.

When we arrived back in Woodford, I took a bit of a nap (during which the "Timber!" incident took place) and then sat down to compose.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that my muse (who had been patiently waiting for me in Arizona) finally decided to pack her bags and visit me here in London!  We had a grand old party together, creating the opening bit for a Neo-Renaissance (is that a term?) vocal trio which promises to be quite lovely.  I had to take leave of my muse when Jeanette called my downstairs for dinner, but I didn't mind a bit.  Dinner was (as always!) delicious.  This time, Jeanette had barbequed pork ribs which we ate with rice, carrots, and some of the delectable salad left over from yesterday's feast.

After washing the dinner dishes and wishing Nicole good luck with her packing, I chatted online with Kati, hopped in the shower, and then wrote this entry (after hopping out of the shower, of course).  The end!