Penny's Awesome Post of Awesome (aka Birmingham, where the nuts come from!)
The Birmingham Weekend! It started off, if you recall, with very little sleep and yes, i wound up in Edinburgh an hour and a half early, but shut up. Boots has meal deals.
This was the view i was met with on the train:
My face: OoO *clickclickclick* Because honestly, what EES this fields-of-bright-yellow-THING? It's like...aliens, idk, this was all very new to me. Penny did explain that it's called "rapeseed" which is just...an awkward thing to name a plant.
Penny collected me at the trainstation and whisked me off, past a sign at the train station that said Acocks Green (NO. REALLY.) where she fed me heaven in a pot pie, for serious, even after i made fast friends with the cat she told me would not be friendly because I'm a girl. Not even joking, she left me in her living room with the remote, and two seconds later i had a) broke the TV and b) got a cat drooling on my lap looking for cuddles. *hands*
(Penny's face was priceless, though. ;3)
She completely indulged me by letting me watch old Leverage epis even when i shouted at her television every time Eliot and Nate looked like they were bonding. And i got to sleep in a REAL BED, one with like, SPRAWLING ROOM. It was ~lovely~
In the morning she made PANCAKES (how is this girl REAL?) and we watched more Leverage before heading to the Edwardian Fete.
They had actors who played the lord and lady and severants of the house, explaining stuff and basically SUFFERING in layers of hardcore period clothing. It was so so lucky that Penny let me borrow her suntan lotion because it was scorching, and i burn so easily it's absolutely ridiculous.
It was so prety in the gardens, though! Look, this is where we had tea!
Or rather, Penny had tea and I had some sort of ginger ale thing that actually made my ears burn, and i'm no lightweight when it comes to ginger. (Being one myself, har har...)
It always weirds me out seeing fruit growing on trees--we don't have fruit trees in Alaska because it's too cold, so it always looks to me like someone glued them on a bush.
Like honestly, pineapples? Honestly. You are the WEIRDEST FREAKING THING.
Probably my favorite part of the gardens, and not just because I could recognize some of the flowers. It's like, ten degrees cooler in this house than outside it, for no reason i can see. (But then again, I'm fairly dumb. It's probably not a cold spot left by the ghosts of gardeners past.)
Alright, the Australia Boat is pretty cool too--or it was until Penny started telling stories of Aussie orphans invited to a tea party and then SHIPPED OFF TO LIVE WITH KANGAROOS. Then it was still cool, only faintly depressing. And it made one crave tea.
Punch and Judy officially equals The Most Fucked Up Thing Ever. If this is what entertains British kids...well, it kind of explains things. (Kidding! ...sort of)
This cracks me up. See those pink flowers? Those are wild northern roses. They are a WEED. And they wound up in your botanical garden, LOLLL
You know what's awesome about Morris Dancers? Besides the grown men wearing sashes and flowery hats and twirling their hankies?
They freak. Penny. Out. XD
Then we hightailed it back home for more Leverage, the Capt Jack Harkness epis of Doctor Who (which I am attempting to watch, really), and some fabulous risotto. FOOOOOOOOD. REAL FOOD.
In the morning we traipsed off to Boxtrees Farm Craft Center, which was only a bust because the shop keepers kept glaring daggers at us for no reason at all. And i know your eyebrow is arching, but we weren't even TALKING ABOUT SLASH. *hands*
Then back to Penny's for ice cream sundays, more Leverage, and finally FINALLY getting to see the Bradley and Colin Are In Love ROADTRIP, which was just a) so cool, b) so slashy, c) so pathetic, and d) Bradley should get a freaking medal for being polite to the bat shit crazy dude with sounding sticks. Also, Colin's ears accent is SO OH GOD ADORABLE, i have NO IDEA why some people get bitchy and want subtitles, than boy can talk to me ALL THE DAMN TIME YES PLEASE.
It was especially crucial to the Wales tour that i see that special, and i'll explain why in a later post. ;PPP
In any case, any last minute mentions in the Facial Hair Post? Nominate them now.