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Marie Curie’s ‘Great Daffodil Appeal’ and London goes yellow

Posted in Fun Stuff, idiot category, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life, things to do in London, Travel, tagged HMS Belfast National Theatre London Eye Trafalgar Square Piccadilly Circus go yellow, London goes yellow in support of Marie Curie Cancer Care, Marie Curie UK Great Daffodil Appeal on March 3, 2011| 4 Comments »

...And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to participate in the Marie Curie UK ‘Great Daffodil Appeal’ that was due to launch on March 1st. I love daffodils and they are my 2nd favourite flower after yellow roses, which is brilliant, coz here in the UK they are prolific at the start of spring. A fabulous burst of bright sunny yellow to brighten even the darkest days at the tail-end of winter.
I usually buy a daffodil pin from Marie Curie each year (now have quite a few 🙂 ) and this year I decided that as part of my increased ‘contribution’ drive I would register to do a stint as a ‘Daffodil’ lady and be a ‘collector’. My chosen patch is in Hampstead Village and I will be there on March 11th for an hour between 1-2pm 🙂 So cool, it’s gonna be great fun and I am so looking forward to the day. I get to wear a yellow apron and a great big yellow hat too, so should look fabulous at fifty!! hahahaha. (Okay, okay dissenters in the troops, I know I am not 50 anymore……)

fab at fifty+

Anyhow, as usual I digress. So back to the daffodils. I connected with Marie Curie on facebook and twitter and a few days later noticed a status update to say that in support of ‘The Great Daffodil Appeal’, London would #goyellow for one night only on March 1st!!!! whoo hoo. Get ya boots on girl!! However, since it is not easy for me to get time off, especially at night, I thought I would most likely have to miss it….again!!! I have missed so many of this type of event the last few years, but lucky me…..as things turned out that night, I could take off and go #walkabout to get photos for my collection….awesome if I may say!

I had a fab time whizzing about and covered a large area within the two hours I had available to me.

I started my journey at London Bridge (quickly becoming another of my favourite places in London). I arrived there at 6.31pm and spent a bit of time taking photos of the bridge and buildings in the area. I am totally loving Number 1 London Bridge, such a fantastic building. From there I made my way along Queen’s Walk past amongst others, the London Bridge Hospital and Cotton’s Centre which looks totally gorgeous at night.

the Cotton's Centre, Southwark

It’s such a great area to walk along and if you continued straight along you would reach Tower Bridge.

The night was by now quite dark and the lights glittered brightly on the water. I kinda took my time at this stage and felt as if I had the whole evening ahead of me! There were lots of people about, striding along, strolling, meandering, standing tight in corners kissing and ahugging! 🙂

London is such a people city.

I strolled along the promenade and then voila! There she was…. HMS Belfast at her moorings, looking ghostly and surreal; bathed in a yellow glow.

HMS Belfast moored on the River Thames, London

I faffed around taking photos, sending a twitpic and a tweet to say where I was when suddenly I heard the chimes of the hour!!! 7pm already!!! What? I only just got here! This also meant that I was now 15 minutes behind schedule and it was time to get a move on!
Making my way back from whence I had come, I strode along with purpose towards Southwark Cathedral which was looking ethereal in the night light, albeit not bathed in yellow.

Southwark Cathedral, London

I am so loving this part of London, the cobbled lanes and alleys of Southwark – lined with buildings that crouch brooding in the dark, lamp-posts cast pools of flickering light that dance and chase the shadows, dark corners, ancient ruins, riverside pubs, historical and modern side-by-side creating a tapestry of mystery and excitement. This ancient area is a mix of very old and very new, neighbours that span centuries, comfortable together in their present incarnation.

modern buildings like phoenix rise.....

The scenery along this part of the Thames Path is wonderful and along the way I passed some of our iconic bridges and buildings, enjoying the night lights dancing on the Thames. The Thames tide was out and the air icy cold. By now my fingers had begun to curl with the cold and standing in one spot to type up my tweets was an exercise in restraint……the temptation to pop into the warm welcoming doorways of the riverside pubs and cafes was huge.

St Paul's Cathedral - ethereal in the night light

As I strode along I kept my eye on the profile of St Paul’s looming larger the closer I got. It is such a beautiful building and looked quite ethereal and mysterious from afar. The Millenium Bridge now faintly visible in the night light, a beautiful structure and the latest of the Thames bridges crossing from north to south, a gateway to St Paul’s Cathedral from Bankside.

the Millenium Bridge gateway to St Paul's Cathedral from Bankside

I finally passed Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, then Tate Modern after a brief diversion onto Millenium Bridge to take a couple of photos of St Paul’s and the river.

St Paul's Cathedral viewed from the Millenium Bridge

Took a few minutes to send a tweet….despite the cold. By now I was way behind schedule! I do wish I could just walk and not get diverted by all the gorgeous things I see along the way. Under normal circumstance the Thames Path runs pretty much right alongside the river through London central, with the occassional flight of stairs to ascend, a road to traverse, then a descent back onto the path, that mostly runs beneath bridges and in the open along promenades both narrow and wide.

along the Thames Path

So the idea last night was to do just that. I made good progress till……..disaster! Blackfrair’s Railway Bridge; currently under refurbishment; and unbeknownst to me, the stairs were sealed off! Urgh!!

Blackfriar's New Bridge November 6th, 1869

With no other choice but to make a long diversion at a very fast pace, my toes protesting mightily, I finally got back onto the path, now seriously behind time, but I knew that just around the corner was my next goal The National Theatre and then EDF London Eye.

Whizzing along now at great speed my eye on the clock ticking merrily away, I finally reached The National Theatre. I could see the great granite block all lit up but sadly could not find a suitable position to make a decent photo. However, I did what I could, sent off a pic and a tweet, and then without further ado I scooted off round the corner to the London Eye, my next stop 🙂

the London Eye....yes it is a bit blurry...I was shivering with cold!!

What a sight; it looked fabulous. The photos I took at the venue were sadly quite blurred, but in my defense it was really chilly and despite the fast pace, I was shivering. Nevertheless as I made my way across Westminster Bridge, Big Ben enticing me on, I stopped briefly for a view that is truly one of my absolute favourites…..and looking back……there it was looking brilliant, bathed in yellow; the London Eye in all her glory, stealing the limelight from the London County Hall crouched just beside.

London Eye and London County Hall bathed in yellow

By now it was 7.52pm

7.52PM - Big Ben

and I was seriously running out of time….I had to be on the train home by 8.30 and I still had Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus to get to. Thankfully the route along Whitehall is a relatively quick walk between Big Ben and my next stop……Trafalgar Square! Wow! The fountains were uplit with yellow and looked absolutely splendid.

fountain at Trafalgar Square - the photo doesn't do it justice

I quick-stepped up the stairs, sent a pic and a tweet, then at an increased pace made my way past the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery and into Leicester Square, thence to Piccadilly Circus!

Hooray! At just after 8pm I finally reached my final destination…. Piccadilly Circus. 🙂

There on the board was the bright yellow of Marie Curie’s logo and details.

Piccadilly Circus and the Marie Curie 'Great Daffodil Appeal' 🙂

Sadly I missed the 7pm switch-on when the whole of the board was lit up with yellow, but I would never have made all of the stops if I hadn’t started at the other end of town at 6.30.

I had just enough time for a few photos and then back to Leicester Square for the train home. Piccadilly Circus was vibrant with energy, a kaleidoscope of colour, the endless flow of traffic, a mix of locals and visitors either milling about, rushing along or lingering, taking photos, sitting on the steps chatting, a swirling pool of noise and laughter filled the air. A fine end to a fun evening.

Then a quick walk back along Leicester past the Trocadero, the Prince of Wales Theatre, through Leicester Square, the garden area now boarded up and ‘Getting Ready for 2012’ (and the London Olympics) and so to the tube and home! (p.s. and it took me longer to prepare this blog than the whole #walkabout!! 🙂 )

Leicester Square - Getting Ready for 2012

So there you have it, and in my defense…..my mother did drop me on my head when I was a baby. 🙂
You know of course that you are either born mad or get dropped on the head…..mine was the latter! (Seriously!)

What a great life!! And just to finish it off, I have included the wonderful poem by William Wordsworth:

“Daffodils” (1804)
I WANDER’D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

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Grandma’s house………..

Posted in family and relationships, Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged memories are made of this, porcelain potties and grandma's house on February 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

ok, so the idea for this post came about this morning whilst I was lying in bed, busting for the loo but determined not to get up even 1 minute before the alarm went off!!! daft! As I lay there chastising myself for being so daft, I thought to myself…..”What I really need is a potty”! hahahahaha. and no I don’t mean potty as in daft, I mean a good old fashioned porcelain potty,

a potty - pic via antiques-now.co.uk

the kind that in the ‘olden days’ we put under our beds at night and used if we needed the loo……saved a long trip out in the dark of night to the ‘outhouse‘.

Blimey! can you even begin to imagine that in my lifetime (and despite the obvious, I am not actually that old) hahahaha, we didn’t have inside toilets. Truly. I remember when I was in boarding school back in 1964, when I was 9 years old, and I went home for the weekend with a chum from school to her farm. Their toilet was outside; a corrugated iron shack,

outside loo - pic via fotolibra.com

just like you see in the movies of that period, across the outside pathway that led past the kitchen and up 4 steps. So at night if you wanted to use the loo you had to get up out of bed (horrors), light a candle, put on your boots (in case of snakes – seriously…think Africa!!), walk down a long passage through the kitchen which was filled with all manner of spooky looking objects that came alive in the dark, a fridge that always chose to shudder and groan as you came through the door, open the backdoor that creaked on it’s hinges and with every ounce of your courage step out into the inky black night, with only a tiny candle to light the way.

a tiny candle to light the way - pic via flickr.com

So my first night there I, to my utmost dismay, needed the loo. I waited for as long as I could before actually wetting my panties, then I endured all of the above and ventured outside to the loo. I can tell you that never in my life (up until that stage) had I been so terrified. All manner of evil creatures with bad intent on their minds followed me down that passage, waiting at every corner to pounce and carry me off!!! And the worst of it was that you could’nt even run there and back, coz if you even walked too fast….the candle would go out!!!!!!! Anyhow, since I am still here…….

ooopsss and I have gone completely off ‘piste’ (duh! bad pun 🙂 ) so back to Grandma’s house. My grandparents lived in a massive, rambling house that had little passages and rooms going off in all directions. It was marvellous for small children and made an awesome place for hide-and-seek. My grandmother had a tiny room on one side of the house and next to that was a huge room (well it seemed huge to a 6year old), with 3 beds where I, my sister, my brother and my 2 cousins used to sleep when we visited. Oh! the tales I could tell you about those times……brilliant! Anyways, since the grandparents did not have a loo in the house at that stage we used to have potties that lived under the beds. They had lids that fit snug into the rim and when you lifted the lid to ‘go’, you almost passed out from the sulphuric fumes!!! Which in retrospect was probably a good thing since it took your mind off the spiders that used to lurk in the bowl. 🙂 hahahahahaha, just thinking about that is making me LOL!!!

Now bearing in mind, we were just littlies at that stage and getting out of bed in the dark for any reason was a nerve-wracking ordeal….you just never knew what had taken up residence beneath the bedsprings! To get out of bed to use the potty at night………mind-boggling! So you hung on for as long as you could, tossing and turning from the discomfort and just when you could bear it no more, you sprang out from under the sheets, grabbed the potty, lifted the lid…..had a squizz, slammed the lid back on and scuttled back onto and into and under the covers as fast as you could….shivers running up and down your spine, hairs standing up on the back of your neck and all the nights horrors escaped by a whisker!!! and in the morning, said potty had to bed emptied!!!! geez!

Thank heavens for indoor toilets. Not that it’s made much difference to my urge to get out of bed any sooner than I absolutely have to!!!

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in the footsteps of Geoffrey Chaucer and my Canterbury tales

Posted in around the UK, Fun Stuff, Historical, It's my life, Travel, tagged Camino de Santiago, Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer on February 10, 2011| 10 Comments »

so what does the heading actually mean? Well here’s the thing. I do a lot of research for my new business 3 Days In London, which as the name says, is about London. It has been a great journey so far and during my endeavours and my London #walkabouts I have uncovered and discovered some amazing facts and places. I am learning stuff I never knew and it is all fascinating. London is like an onion, as you peel each layer away, so another becomes exposed. My head is full of facts, and figures and photos and places. It is the best fun I have had and I am delighting in all that I find.

I also have a two day break coming up this weekend.

One of the things I discovered whilst doing one of the London Walks (the cards I got for Xmas), is the ancient George Inn in Southwark. Chaucer is mentioned as having frequented an Inn similar to this one during his lifetime in the 14th Century and certainly at the beginning of his what I have now discovered was his spiritual journey on the Pilgrims Route of the Camino to Canterbury. The Camino is a world-famous pilgrimage and Geoffrey Chaucer travelled from London to Canterbury via this ancient route, and subsequently wrote: The Canterbury Tales. This has intrigued me no end and I will now have to investigate further :). My education continues.

So, getting back to the subject at hand (sorry you know my mind goes all over), I wanted to do the Camino last year with my Dad and my daughter, but circumstances did not allow. (self created?) The Camino de Santiago pilgrims route/s of which there are many start from many places in the world and all end at Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Whilst doing research for the trip last year I discovered that there is a route that starts in…………….yes!!!! London!!!! hooray! I only just recently discovered that in fact Geoffrey Chaucer also, as mentioned before, followed a pilgrims route to Canterbury. I am not sure if his intention was to go to Spain but he certainly wanted to get to Canterbury Cathedral (see the details on the wiki link). Because of Chaucer, the road from London to Canterbury is by far the most famous pilgrimage route in Britain.

So, here’s the thing…..I still want to do the ‘Camino’ for all sorts of reasons, and my daughter also wants to do it. However, since this is my London/UK year I have no real plans (yet) to go overseas till 2012. But, I do want to start the journey, so it is my plan to start this on……..Saturday 12th February! ah ha! you might say and what will you be doing? Well on Saturday 12th I will be venturing into Southwark to start my journey by eating a late meal at the George Inn,

The George Inn Southwark - National Trust

much as I am sure Chaucer would have done before he set out. I will be walking the streets of Southwark and taking photos of places in the area that may well have been there during his lifetime (like the Inn), having a meal at the Inn and then very early the next day (Sunday) I will venture into Southwark once again and follow the route he followed for the first part of his journey to Canterbury, the details of which I discovered on the web 🙂 I will also visit St James Garlickythe a unique 17th century City Church, and a sacred place since 1100 AD.

Chaucer’s second stop on the route was Greenwich, so I will make my way to Greenwich and assuming I actually get that far…..explore the area for the day, perhaps sleep over at an ‘Inn’ aka a B&B 🙂 and then make my way back home on Monday morning. I have been wanting to explore Greenwich again anyway to gather material for my blogs, so this will be a golden opportunity to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ or not! Perhaps instead of killing birds I will just take photos!

Then it is my plan to take a couple of days each month and pick up where I left off the last time and walk the whole route till I eventually reach Canterbury. This may take a while! But, I reckon that once I have reached Canterbury it should be almost the end of the year and I will be well ready to plan the next stage of the journey and venture overseas to Portugal or Spain to follow one of the many routes there. And I will of course document my journeys on my blog! 🙂

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…a boy named Sue

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged a boy named sue, squirrels in the garden in london on January 20, 2011| 5 Comments »

…or in this instance a squirrel 🙂 We have a number of squirrels that visit our verandah every morning for breakfast. It’s amazing coz when I put the food out, there is nary a squirrel in sight, but within seconds of me closing the door they descend in their droves

breakfast is served........

….ok only 4 in this instance!!! 🙂 …..but still you know what I mean!

Over the last week or so I have noticed one little cutie in particular. And what drew my notice was that this little creature only has half a tail!!! I kid you not! It looks really peculiar.

little squirrel half-tail

What I also noticed about this wee little creature is that it’s quite brave, albeit a bit bolshie. It seldom runs far when I do my ‘squirrel scaring tactics’ aka clapping my hands to make them run! 🙂 It just scoots off a few feet and then waits for me to go away! Like two days ago the weather was gorgeous, so after I put their food out I left the door open, and carried on with preparing my breakfast, next thing I look around and squirrel half-tail is in the kitchen….right behind me!!! hahahaha. cheeky little bugger.

Anways, it dashed out the door at my exclamation and then sat on the verandah looking at me as if to say….Ok then, what’s up?

a squirrel named Sue

So how did this wee creature get its name…..well here’s the thing….I have no idea if it is a boy or a girl, and I guess unless it turned up preggers or with a tinier replica in tow…I am unlikely to. But a squirrel this cute has to have a name.

Quandry!

So I got to thinking about names that could suit both a boy and a girl…there are quite a few. And as I was thinking about it I suddenly remembered a song from aeons ago ‘A boy named Sue’ (as sung by Johnny Cash)…..and so now we have a wee squirrel who visits every day and is as cute as pie………..named Sue!

This also happens to be my sister’s name, and since she is quite bolshie too…. I am well satisfied!

btw, the food is meant for the birds….but since the squirrels get there first…….., not to worry though, we have plenty of birdfeeders hanging up that I have now managed to position that the squirrels cannot get to them!! hooray!

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stepping back in time……..

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, things to do in London, Travel, tagged exploring London by foot, George Inn National Trust, Golden Hinde London, ice sculpting festival London, London Bridge on January 15, 2011| 4 Comments »

I had such a fab time yesterday. Got to do one of my favourite things…..walkabout through London.

welcome to the City of London

I received a fab xmas present from my employer, a set of ‘London City Walks’ cards….50 in all. These cards direct you on walks through different areas of London….right up my alley (excuse the pun)…. 🙂

City Walks of London - 50 in all 🙂

So for the next year I will have at least one adventure a week….awesome!!

But first… it was to Canary Wharf to see the London Ice Sculpting Festival.

london ice sculpting festival january 2011

a polar bear

brilliant. I am so glad I went. I haven’t been to Canary Wharf in such a long time, preferring to walk about through the old city and Westminster, of which is there is much to explore. But I can see the modern skyline from where I live and it always looks tempting, so the ice-sculpting was a great excuse to get back out that way.

I headed off to Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee line and was reminded once again how brilliant our underground train service really is. Canary Wharf station is awesome, modern, wide open spaces and very bright and clean. I love the older underground tube stations with their history and grubbiness, but I have to say that some of the more modern tube stations like Westminster and Cnary Wharf are lovely.

the escalators at Canary Wharf tube station

The plaza at the station is brilliant; with a fab view across the docks and a display of clocks on the plaza, with the skyscrapers towering above; all steel and glass reflecting each other and the weather, it is a great place to meander. Lots of walkways, sidewalk cafes, pubs and food carts and a delightful Japanese style feng-sui garden…tinkling waterfalls and gushing fountains in a tranquil setting of trees and grass…lovely.

gardens at Canary Wharf

I can just imagine sitting out there on a bright sunny summers day.

Canary Wharf is a hive of activity, the financial district; a new kid on the block the area has a history that goes back hundreds of years, albeit newly regenerated with huge towering buildings that could overwhelm you but don’t,

canary wharf london ice sculpting festival

towering blocks of glass and steel; a modern architectural dream

an enormous underground shopping precinct – a rabbits warren of high street shops, cafes, restaurants, banks and designer stores. You could quite easily live there and never go without.

Lunchtime sees the hurry scurry of the folks who work in the tall buildings that surround the area. And the last 3 days in London, have seen the Ice Sculpting festival, both indoors and out. Great fun they are, the carving a treat to watch, using different tools to chop, chisel, buff, drill or saw the sculptors coax their creations out of the ice.

After that I made my way back down the massive escalators, stopped off to chat to the old gent who was busking in the great hall,

London Underground Buskers - Canary Wharf

then onto the tube and off to London Bridge

London Bridge....still standing after all these years 🙂

…which I am pleased to say is not yet ‘fallen down’ 🙂 Taking a walk across to the centre for a view of Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast,

: HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge

I was reminded of the very first day I walked into London…another story! 🙂 Friday was a bleak and blustery day and I tried to make use of my new toy – aka as the vidcam that I got from ‘Sam’ta…but it records sound only too well and although the views are great the noise is not! Will now have to learn how to edit videos.

From there I made my way into Borough Market,

Borough Market, Southwark, London

a bustling thriving community of family owned stalls offering a selection of produce that ranges from cheese, vegetables, home-made pies,

Pieminster's homemade pies at Borough Market

meats, wines, to bread and flowers amongst others. All family owned stalls, the market has been around virtually since the days of Dickens and Chaucer and the current Victorian market stands on a medieval site that acted as a gateway to the City. The aroma wafting through the air is mouth-wateringly tempting and I had to bury my head and get out fast…before I emptied my purse! Then I stepped back through the ages into Southwark Cathedral, the oldest gothic church building in London.

a gothic church - Southwark Cathedral; a place of worship since 606AD

If you have never been to Southwark Cathedral….make a plan and go. It is exquisite. It has been a place of worship since 606AD when it was a convent, and a cathedral since 1905AD. The likes of Gower, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jonson, Harvard and Dickens are among those associated with the church.

Then it was round the corner to see the Golden Hinde; a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s famed galleon, whence he sailed the 7 seas.

replica of Sir Francis Drake's famous galleon; the Golden Hinde

It’s funny actually, I have walked this route ahhh probably 4 times already and each time the weather is overcast and moody!! Then a short walk along a Dickensian cobbled alleyway past the remains/ruins of the Winchester Palace to the Clink Prison.

The prison, known as ‘The Clink’ from the 15th Century was owned by the successive Bishops of Winchester, and from the 12th century until it’s destruction in 1780, its inmates have ranged from priest to prostitute.

The Clink Prison Museum, Southwark London

A grisly yet fun place to visit, it takes you back to the days when whole families were jailed coz the man of the house had gotten into debt and when unable to pay, the whole family, kids and all were tossed into the goal….sometimes to die there.

not a good place to die........

I did say it was grisly. The name derives from the sound of the chains with which the prisoners were detained…..the ‘clink’ of heavy chains.

Next I walked beneath along ancient cobbled streets, through a dank dark tunnel to The Anchor Pub, past a wee shop named ‘Little Dorrit’ as in Dickens, and in my opinion not nearly old enough looking to warrant the name!

Little Dorrit.....a Dickensian name

then from there to Neal’s Yard Dairy where I stopped to partake of the cheese and sourdough bread on offer. I love sourdough bread and recall it with delightful clarity from my days in Ireland.

neals yard dairy borough market southwark london

Neal's Yard Dairy, 6 Park Street, Southwark est. 1979 Covent Garden and opened in Borough market 1992

Then I made my way back to Borough Market, along another ancient road to the 1677 George Inn. The last of it’s kind, and still a lively pub – it is delightfully ancient.

george inn southwark london national trust

16th Century George Inn

Low ceilings with heavy wooden beams that have a smokey look, dark corners and narrow stairways onto ancient landings that just so take you back in time.

dark narrow staircases and low oak-beamed ceilings

When I arrived I got chatting to the bloke behind the bar and he offered to take a photo of me behind the bar…so I zipped in and stood with my hand on the ale pump just a two chaps stepped up to the bar. So just for fun I said ‘Serving gentleman’….and they took me for real!! The one chap started to ask for something …… hahahaha. I had such a laugh. Told them I was just a spectator and the real barman would be with them as soon as he had finished taking my photo. 🙂 great fun!

...now serving Gentlemen!!

While I was exploring the Inn, probably going into places I wasn’t meant to be by the looks on people faces, the heavens opened and the rain came down in bucket loads. Ok so no further traipsing for me then. So instead I ordered a Baileys on ice and a packet of crisps and sat at the window sipping my drink and watching the rain….musing on how lucky I am to live in this fantastically fascinating city, where you can sit and have a drink in a pub that dates from the 16th century; and in their day, frequented by the likes of Dickens, Shakespeare and Chaucer!

What a life!

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our intrepid little squirrel

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, Personal Development, tagged squirrels in the garden in london, urban critters, wildlife in london on January 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I recently learned how to up/down load videos to YouTube ……..uh oh! you might say……and well you might!!! Hahahaha. It’s great fun getting a handle on technology and it’s amazing how once you have learned a few basics then the next set of hurdles are not quite so challenging. The last year has been an especially huge learning curve in this respect, as I mentioned in a previous blog. So just recently my brilliant daughter who is the brains behind the Momma, converted my videos from one something or other (I am not sure what it’s called) to LAN. So now I can not only view my videos (of which I have many) but I can now share them! Ok, so don’t groan so loud ok….I can hear you 🙂

Anyhow here is the video of our intrepid little squirrel, who very gingerly slides down the awning, hanging on for dear life to get at the birdfeeders!

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geez…….

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, tagged a walk through Highgate Village, a walk through Waterlow Park, sunset over London on January 9, 2011| 4 Comments »

Yesterday I went for a walk to the village to do a bit of shopping. As I walked up the hill, to my surprise and delight I met the guy behind the door…..the one that featured along with the milk bottle in my blog. He was most amused when I told him that his door was now famous and featured on my blog! duhh.

From there I made my way, with a silly smile on my face, to the greengrocer. Imagine my surprise when I got there and found these very early, albeit gorgeous tulips

first blooms of spring....just a shame they are probably 'forced'

The greengrocer’s outside display of vibrant colours, orange, purple, green and yellow fruit and flowers made a very pretty picture

vibrant colours of a pending spring

and made me realise that indeed, although still a ways off….spring is on the way!!!

colours of the rainbow

oh! and by the way….did I mention that the guy behind the door was rather yummy! 🙂 very english deah! tweed jacket, striped scarf and very lah dee dah! Oh, and I managed to get a peek behind the door before he went in…..I had been dying to see what was behind that door. Looked very interesting!

After I had made my purchases I decided to walk back via Waterlow Park. It is quite one of my favourite places in London (of which ther are many). The view of the London skyline on a clear day is just wonderful.

a distant view of the London skyline from Waterlow Park

The park is looking lovely, everything is so green. I always find the contract between winter in the UK and winter in South Africa to be so amazing. Here everything stays green right thru winter and back in SA, almost everything turns brown and grey.

There were plenty of people out and about walking through the park and I am pleased to say that the upper duck pond is now free of ice and the birds look at lot happier.

the upper duck pond in Waterlow Park - now free of ice

The day had so far been rather glum and overcast and suddenly at about 2pm the sun burst forth and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset

a vibrant sunset and clear skies on a wintery day in January

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…..on becoming a techno genius!

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life, Personal Development, tagged being technologically disadvantaged, how to make a movie, Kodak Brownie 127, Olympus D-580 zoom camera on January 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

hahahaha!!! 🙂 I am so thrilled with myself today I even wrote about it in my diary!!!

I am a child of the 50’s (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone) and technology as a word hadn’t even been invented (well, ok maybe it had), but for me technology meant being able to watch TV! True!!! We only got our first TV set in the 70’s and became ‘DALLAS’ addicts with it too!

Growing up we never had things like mobile phones….what??? can’t imagine that now! My mother used to find my sister by ‘foot-telegraph’ = sending me to run around the neighbourhood looking for her! No such thing as sending a text “get your sorry ass back home girl!”

what our home phone looked like!

We never had computers! Believe it or not….. Computers in those days weighed 50 tons…the EINAC…(ref google) and in fact, the first computer with RAM; “MIT introduces the Whirlwind machine March 8, 1955, a revolutionary computer that was the first digital computer with magnetic core RAM and real-time graphics” was introduced just over a month before I was born!

My first camera was a ‘Kodak Brownie 127’

what my very first camera looked like... I got one from my Dad in 1963 as a birthday present (I still have it)

We didn’t have digital cameras, video cameras, and a host of other technological gadgets that today we take for granted. In fact for years I used to be labelled ‘technologically dis-advantaged’……. I still receive councelling for that! 🙂

I eventually caved in and bought a TV in 1997, and only so that I could watch Princess Diana’s funeral, from all the way down south in Cape Town. I had the odd camera and a stereo set but if anything went wrong…it went into the trash if no-one could come fix it for me (yeah, I know….not very ecologically friendly in those days).

My real technological learning curve began in 2002 when I was forced to buy my first mobile phone. Up till then I had vociforously resisted getting one and the only reason I did then was coz my daughter was living and working in America and I wanted her to be able to contact me anytime. It took me about 3 months to figure out how it worked and since then I have gone on in leaps and bounds and now I have a Nokia E5!!! (ok, so if I tell you that I haven’t yet figured out how it works….please don’t tell my daughter!) 🙂 (I stilll have that first phone)

I got my first laptop in 2004 and spent the first few months keeping Vodaphone in business by my frequent phonecalls to Ireland asking for help from my brother-in-law and sister! (I still have that too)

Then I was introduced to the concept of a digital camera (2004), and have never looked back! (obviously I can’t show you what it looks like, since I can’t take a photo of it…but it’s an OLYMPUS D-580 Zoom)

So where am I today….well I have learned how to work a computer (yes, I even know where the ‘on’ button is), I have learned how to download videos on youtube and photos onto the internet, how to make photo albums on flickr and facebook, how to start a blog, post articles to that blog and even how to upload photos to that blog, I have learned how to edit my photos and how to save them to my computer, and just recently how to save them to an external hard-drive!!! (I think that’s the right terminology). And this Christmas I got my first video-cam from ‘Sam’ta (aka my daughter) and I am slowly figuring out how to use it…I have gotten as far as being able to switch it on and press record! But not yet how to stop said recording….I just shut the lens and press off!

However, I know how to connect my twitter account to my facebook account, my wordpress blog to my twitter account and my twitter account to youtube!!! 🙂 and I have skype…… BUT>>>>>>>>

today I outdid myself….

today I figured out how to make a video photo album!!!!! Yes!!! I made a video photo album all by myself! I made a movie!!! 🙂

I am so bloody impressed that I have splattered the thing all over the internet…facebook, twitter, youtube and now wordpress!!!! heeheehee! I am a technological genius! So, look out techno-world she who is ‘NotJustaGranny’ is in town!!!!

my first video photo album 🙂

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milk bottle at my door…

Posted in around the UK, Fun Stuff, It's my life, lifestyle, tagged having milk delivered to your door, memories are made of this, milk deliveries, my life in London on January 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

……ok, well not actually at MY door but….. I still love the idea.

I remember when I was a little girl of about 7 maybe, we used to have a milk-cart drive round the neighbourhood each morning delivering milk. They also used to deliver orange juice, cream, butter and eggs. But my over-riding memory is of a blue and white milk-cart clanging away along the street, ‘Milkie’ in his white trousers, white shirt, blue & white checked apron and blue cap, ringing the bell to alert the ‘housewives’ he was in the area.

You had the option of meeting him in the street/road to place your order or just leave your empties at the door with money in and a note to say how many bottles you wanted. It’s quite weird to recall that in those days you could quite safely leave money out overnight in the empty milk bottle and it would still be there the next day. I know it all changed at some point, but I can’t really remember when it was that we realised this was no longer an option……the money ususally got stolen.

Eventually in time the milk-carts also went by the wayside and the early morning bell-clanging was no more to be heard.

Imagine my delight when I arrived in London/UK to discover that in some areas they still deliver milk to your door. Now, granted, no-one leaves money in the empty bottle from what I have seen, but nevertheless there are places where the empty milk bottle is left out on the verandah at night and in the morning you open your door and voila…..there are 3 or 4 bottles of fresh milk, icy cold, water running down the sides with early morning condensation.

To me there is something delightfully old-fashioned and quaint about having milk delivered to your door.

milk delivered to your door

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my new slippers………….

Posted in family and relationships, Fun Stuff, Holidays, It's my life, tagged socks on January 6, 2011| 2 Comments »

I am a collector of socks! I love them! I have socks from Italy and USA, SA and Ireland, socks with sheep, socks with cows, socks with zoo animals, socks with ladybirds, socks with jungle bells and many others besides.

I am one of those people who hates to wear shoes indoors so always walk about in my socks. As you can imagine this is quite hard on the poor socks and they usually wear out within a few months so I get through quite a few! as you can well imagine.

I bemoaned this fact to my daughter just before Xmas and look what I got