I had a day off yesterday – first one in ages.  What a day we had – we left home at 6:30 am and  returned at 11 pm.  One very long and very good Thursday.

But before Thursday was Wednesday and I was pretty good.  Healthy breakfast of nectarine, melon, yogurt, sunflower seeds and almonds.

Yummy lunch of salad, orange, rice and cottage cheese with mixed sprouts.

Our lovely neighbours came over for supper.  I can’t believe these lovely girls/young women were only 4 and 7 years old when we moved in next door!  How time has flown.

Up and at ’em on Thursday.

We arrived in Slough, made famous by The Office. As a woman who works in an office, I can confirm, every office has a David Brent!

Then headed off to Eton Dorney for the canoe sprint.  We had great seats, the sun was shining and the view was lovely.

We were opposite the finishing line.  Go Aussies for gold 🙂

We love Team GB.

It was all over too quickly but the day was not over.  We had a lovely potter round Eton and then Windsor.  I have never been to either of these places before.  Thirsty work though.

We sat and treated ourselves to an afternoon tea at a traditional English hotel.

We had a table outside, in the shade, but on the street so we could watch the world go by. It was wonderful to sit and people watch.

James had a burger and chips instead.

Windsor is so old

and pretty.

It is most famous for its castle so we thought we would take a close look 🙂

Windsor Castle is the place the Queen calls home and she lives here most weekends.  It is also the place where she hosts state dinners and other special occasions, such as the Knights of the Garter events.  Most of the castle is 800 years old!  There was a beautiful garden in the middle.

We were lucky because everywhere open to the public was open (parts of the castle are often shut as it is a working castle in regular use by the Royal family) and it was not too busy.  It was also mercifully cool inside the buildings.  We had no idea there were so many different buildings that made up the castle.

We all loved it and spent hours, slowly walking round, listening to the superb audio guide and just taking time to sit and take it all in.  Our history really is phenomenal.

Attention!

Mirror, mirror, on the wall ….. this was actually 2 different soldiers.

As Harvey said, this really is “the Royal mail” (it is a post man emptying the letter box):-).  Also, check out the crown on top of the lantern – love it!

Besides the Royal family, lots of people live inside the Castle walls.  I rather fancy this little pad and cute courtyard garden.

We had a wonderful afternoon in Windsor Castle, thank you for opening your home to us, your Majesty.

Where to next?  Helen and Jeremy’s for a delicious supper.

Helen made a lovely Supersalad, which had squash, courgettes, lettuce, tomatoes,  green lentils and Feta.  Plus we had roast chicken and penne and bolognese sauce.  It was delicious.

What a long and amazing Thursday we had.  I definitely made the most of my day off.

Today was back to the grindstone.  Very much so actually as I put in an 11 hour day and then drove to Chichester to join my family.  Tonight we celebrated my nephew Harry’s birthday.

Tomorrow, my sister Holly’s.  Looking forward to this weekend.  I hope you have a good one too.