Mini-Flora Names Game

I have a few minutes of quiet time, so I wanted to write to let you know how things were going with the group and our tour. It looks like spring a coming' with so many flowers starting to show some color.

You will remember that the original plan was for us to visit several palaces before returning stateside. Well, that just didn't happen when we arrived at a checkmate mostly through a jolly good comedy of errors.

We started our travel by taking the Camden road trolley to Chatsworth and Harewood where Hampton Palace is located. This was called the Queen's Palace at one time. It is really a very grand palace, one with plenty of pzazz and could easily be featured in House Beautiful. I still have some wonderfully sweet dreams and sweet memories of our tour guide, Lady E-Owyn. She insisted that we call her Alexa and further charmed us by providing a tea that included a buttercream and creampuff treat followed by a refreshing raspberry ice. It was a sweet wonder that she was even able to be with us after battling a hedgefire the night before but she was a true glamour girl despite being something of a will-o-the-wisp.

Scott Chait, that old renegade and Ray Sill who were with us on this tour, kept remarking how life begins at 40 and murmuring under their breath, "Bellisma" as she took them hand in hand through the huge galleries hung with Indian silk called fuchsia sunblaze. Through some kind of gentleman's agreement, they decided that she would even have been granny's favorite.

Dolores Marie thought the beautiful soft, muted shadings in the wall hanging reminded her of a Tennessee sun rise, but Emily Louise said it was more like a Tennessee sun set. Outside there was a wind rhythm in the tall trees that reminded us of romantic encounters in the gardens. A Robin Redbreast reminded us of birds we have back home.

Probably the highlight of the tour was seeing the golden fox clasped by golden hands exhibited near the front door. It reminded me of one I had seen at the Topkapi Palace or maybe it was the Versailles Palace. Sometimes it is hard to keep them all straight. Wendy reminded me that it was either a tiger cub or cougar that we had seen on the golden patio during the tour last year. I guess she is right, but I seemed to remember one of them being called Joey's Palace as he kept reminding us it was his favorite.

With a sunny smile and a wave of a hand bedecked with a golden jewel that was a real dazzler, our guide left us with a limerick and a thank-you for spending the afternoon with her. The city lights had begun illuminating the festival of the Roche Centenary Summer Fayre that was about to being on the scarlet patio as we made our way to our hotel. Tomorrow would be a long busy day as we flew on to our next palace destination, the Imperial Palace or Summer Palace in Yantai, China.

Two days later our little band of intrepid vagabonds was joined by that old gentle clown, Betty's baby, Brian. I was so glad to see his baby face as I always thought of him as my dream lover after our prom nite. It was staged at the Roxie/Bijou Theater and they called it the Starlight Parade. We shared such happy times dancing until the purple dawn. I wore my long violet Dolly Dot formal and it was pure magic as he is such a fancy dancer. The Jefferson Starship was the band that night. It was an especially memorable occasion when he sang Happy Birthday to me on the way home that night from our special stardance.

He had been spending the summer with his cousin Joyce at the beach near the Tidewater and was quite the bronze baby by the time he arrived. Dyllan's Mom, that sweet Georgia belle who was celebrating her golden anniversary with a trip to the gold country had sent along a Chinese puzzle with Laura for us to solve, but it seemed to keep us in a conundrum instead. She had planned to stay at a guest house near Graceland or Grand Padre Island, but ended up at Laguna Place instead. She also brought an autographed copy of "The Humanity of Jane Asher", but I wondered when she would have time to read as our next tour started in the morning.

We entered the great hall to meet our tour guide, Laurel Louise on the beautiful coral carpet. She had us sign the guest register with a yellow quill and showed us the official cachet attached to the document. The beauty of all the decorations gave us a royal flush of excitement. There was colour magic in the autumn splendor that was hard to explain, but it left us with sweet wonder, that kept tantalizing Mary for the rest of the day. The flower power of the carpets and wall hangings that were a salmon dream in this romantic palace so filled with suncharm that it reminded us that we had promised to bring something for Judy before we left China and a snow ruby that sweet Arlene suggested was completely out of the question. Sara Anne and Rita Applegate got into quite a discussion with Gail about whether or not the palace had ever been referred to as the Sundance Palace, but we couldn't find anyone who could either confirm or deny the reference.

Toward the end of the tour we did find something quite astonishing. It appeared to be an entombed raven with the words, ‘Rest in Peace' written above the niche. A violet mist had begun to envelope this ancient city as we wound our way back to our hotel.

Guess that's about all for now...See you soon!

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