![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/boyntons_punting.jpg\")
<\/a>We did run them pretty much ragged, I\u2019m afraid \u2013 they\u2019ll need the rest of their holiday to recover from the hectic schedule of activities we subjected them to. We dragged them first of all to Kenilworth Castle and then to Radway and Edgehill (forced march down and then, of course, back up the hill again). The following day it was off for a punt down the river and a picnic in Oxford followed by a whirlwind tour of some of the colleges and landmarks. And then, on Wednesday afternoon we all went off to Stratford for the evening\u2019s performance of As You Like It<\/a>, which was excellent.<\/p>\nBefore the show we ate dinner in the Rooftop Restaurant<\/a> at the theatre and very good it was too. The food was very tasty, the service was outstanding and the view over the river, which was bathed in sunlight, was delightful. I was so impressed with how they dealt so efficiently with a significant number of tables, the occupants of which all needed to finish at about the same time to get to their respective shows. We finished with about ten minutes to spare and made our way calmly and serenely to our seats.<\/p>\n All the world’s a stage, \u201cMewling and puking . . .\u201d has always been one of my favourite expressions and one which I try to work into the conversation whenever the opportunity arises.<\/p>\n Alas, the Boyntons had other fish to fry and on Thursday I drove them to Banbury Station where they caught the train headed for the Eurostar and a few days in Paris. As we made our way towards Banbury we passed Ms Playchute on her return from Heathrow having collected our next set of visitors, Penny\u2019s sister Rebecca and her daughter Hannah from Australia. Hardly time to clean the linen in this hotel!<\/p>\n Becca and Hannah have come for a few weeks to spend some time with Pen\u2019s mother, Beryl who has been quite poorly. She\u2019s been in hospital for the past two weeks getting some intravenous antibiotics but they freed her on Friday afternoon so she\u2019s back upstairs in her suite and entertaining the visitors.<\/p>\n And, that\u2019s not the end of our visitor-generated excitement! Although they\u2019re not able to visit beautiful downtown Byfield, we are looking forward to meeting up with my cousin Wendy and her husband John who are on a European jaunt from California and have a bit of free time while in London. We\u2019re going up to town to spend the afternoon with them on Wednesday. I can\u2019t think how many years it\u2019s been since Wendy and I saw each other but it\u2019s a long time ago. Perhaps not quite as long ago as these photos were taken but these were the only ones I could find with me and she in the same place at the same time.<\/p>\n![\"Jaques\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jaques-200x300.jpg?resize=200%2C300\")
<\/a>The play itself was terrific fun<\/a> which is what we have come to expect from the RSC and we had a great evening. It\u2019s sad to confess, but I had forgotten that this play includes the \u201cAll the world\u2019s a stage\u201d monologue which was delivered exquisitely by Jaques, the melancholy fool.<\/p>\n
\nAnd all the men and women merely players:
\nThey have their exits and their entrances;
\nAnd one man in his time plays many parts,
\nHis acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
\nMewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
\nAnd then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
\nAnd shining morning face, creeping like snail
\nUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,
\nSighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
\nMade to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
\nFull of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
\nJealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
\nSeeking the bubble reputation
\nEven in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
\nIn fair round belly with good capon lined,
\nWith eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
\nFull of wise saws and modern instances;
\nAnd so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
\nInto the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
\nWith spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
\nHis youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
\nFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
\nTurning again toward childish treble, pipes
\nAnd whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
\nThat ends this strange eventful history,
\nIs second childishness and mere oblivion,
\nSans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
![\"Wendy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/wendy_and_sandy.jpg?resize=275%2C330\")
<\/a>![\"Sallie,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stragnell.com\/befoulednews\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/sallie_barbara_and_greg_with_dolly.jpg?resize=275%2C330\")
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