Another movie Sunday

I've just finished watching North by Northwest with Cary Grant. It's another fine Alfred Hitchcock production. But why must he always have people hanging at great heights on the outside of buildings??? I guess that was how movie-goers in the 50s/60s got their thrills. They they grew out of it and progressed to high-speed chases, or what?

Lately I've been noticing how much they could get away with. Tell you what, some of that dialogue between Mr Grant and Miss Saint was not at all...saintly. They left little to our imaginations. And there was some serious snogging going on too.
In a reaction to today's clothes-ripping bare-skinned action, I think watching the sensual balance maintained by the older movies is quite enjoyable.
The other thing is, when you're young and naive, you just don't get the innuendo and it all goes safely over your head. But by the time you come of age, it all becomes clear, and during the movie this afternoon, you might have heard me exclaiming things like, "Oh my!" "Well I never!" "He said that back then???"

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I went into Richmond yesterday afternoon with my grandmother for the best fish and chips I've had so far. It's our new tradition. Can never remember the name of the place, but it's ever so modest, been there for decades with the cutest little booths, on tiny King Street near Dickens & Jones. The chips are just as chips should be. The fish pleasant throughout, crispy on the outside with a light batter, moist and fresh inside. All washes down well with a glass of cool bitter lemon in the summertime.

On a gorgeous day like yesterday, the scene at the end of King Street was a distilled moment of English perfection: The private residences created from the Gatehouse and Queen Elizabeth I's Wardrobe face the green where there was a game of cricket in progress, with people sitting on the grass round the edges. Add to that the sunshine and the breeze blowing through the green leaves. If I could capture that moment in a bottle, I would have. All that was missing was the watercress sandwiches.
That area was once the courtyard of Richmond Palace.
From there we turned down Friars Lane into absolutely the cutest, dinkiest little street. A modest little tower at the end by the river, and the street lined with darling little raised Georgian houses with twee little gardens.

And I forgot my bally camera!!!

Well, next time then....

We lived in Surrey when I was little, and sometimes I wish I could live there again, but it's just far enough outside of London to be inconvenient, in my opinion. At least in SJW I can hop on the Tube and be anywhere in the centre of London within 15 minutes.

(I would like to add that I never want to sound like a tourist. The only reason I am now so aware of Englishness is that I lived away from it for so long in Texas. Had I never left, I would probably not get as excited about it as I do now; I used to look back and think, "Wow, is that how we lived?". But to return here and then have my soul fed with such lovely moments in time - well, I just have to share it - and I will never take it for granted again.)