Not Just a Granny

going home…..

May 8, 2011 by notjustagranny

South Africa from inside a metal box

So the tickets are booked and paid for and on 14 June 2011 we are going ‘home’. Such a weird word to use in this context coz of course South Africa is no longer my home. I left South Africa in October 2001 and have lived in the UK since July 2002 and I now call London ‘home’. The last time we visited South Africa was in 2008 for my sister’s 50th and to catch up with family and friends. How much has changed since then. The purpose of this trip is to visit my daughter’s grandparents, both of whom are in their 90’s now and both of whom have had major health issues in the last year or so. Last year her grandmother fell and broke her hip, she recovered from that but has now fractured a vertebrae. Her Grandfather is still recovering from prostrate cancer and last month fell and broke his hip. They are so fragile now. So this trip is to spend some time with them. I recall the last time we saw them back in 2008 how they and we cried when we left, thinking it would be the last time we saw them, and this time it may well be. So it is with gladness and sadness that we make this trip back coz the reality is that this may indeed be the last time we see them….personally I hope it’s not.

Alan, Dixie and Cémanthe - Natal 2008

Of course the trip is twofold coz we have not seen the rest of the family for an equal amount of time and the children are growing up fast (my sister’s grandchildren) I have not seen my younger sisters since 2008 either and my Dad….not even sure where or when last we caught up! It may well have been here in London, but so much has happened in the last few years that it feels like a blur. I have seen my brother and sister-in-law; at the beginning of this year for about 5 minutes when they were in-transit to Hungary last January.
Now you may or may not know that South Africa is rather a large country and the UK could probably fit into it 6 times over if not more. So going home is always a challenge! Why? Well mostly because the family are dispersed over such a vast area and we spend a lot of our time travelling from one place to the other. For e.g. the grandparents and one Aunt live in Natal; my Dad, 3 younger sisters and 2 brothers-in-law live in the Cape – none of which is anywhere near one to the other; and my other sister and family all live in the Transvaal, as well as my daughter’s father, her brother and sister and their families. Besides which there are friends to visit and catch up with as well. So it’s a matter of a few days here and a few days there and a couple of days somewhere else, and before we even have time to breathe…..it’s back on the plane to the UK. So the result is that you only get to spend about an hour or two with the people you care about.
On the emotional side of things, I always find it a real challenge to go ‘home’ – one because it is no longer my home and I have no emotional attachment to the country at all, which I know folks always find strange, and two because the person I was back then is so completely different to the person I am now that I feel like a fish out of water, it’s like landing in a foreign country. When I am back in South Africa, it feels like a blanket has been thrown over me; I feel stifled.
London is now so home to me and I find it really difficult to go ‘back’. It feels ‘back’ in every sense of the word and I spend the next few months after I return to London trying to shake off the emotional turmoil of the trip. It’s always wonderful to see the family and to catch up with friends, but saying goodbye again is dreadful. That’s besides the feelings of claustrophobia I feel when I step off the plane.
I hate the vastness of the country, I hate that I cannot just walk out the front door and go to the store, I hate that I cannot take a train into the city centre and go walkabout, I hate that when I am driving in a car I have the fear of carjackings and have to make sure that the car doors and windows are securely locked. There are many other things that I loathe about going ‘home’ besides the above, but the biggest is the feeling that I suddenly lose my identity.
I lose my sense of self, my sense of freedom.
I recall the last time we went home, my daughter’s father was driving us from the airport to his house where we would be staying for a few days and the area we were driving through was wide open and spacious and yet the overwhelming feeling I had was one of claustrophobia. (see pic above) That came as such a shock to me! I was sat in a metal box, doors securely locked, with wide open country in front of me and I felt so closed in and trapped. A feeling that usually catches me as I step off the plane. I hate driving around in a metal box, doors and windows securely locked, fearful of carjackings, locking doors and windows at night; burglar bars and barbed-wire fences the norm. I hate that I can’t just walk to the bus-stop and get on a bus to the station, wait for the next train and whizz off into London. Total freedom! I can walk where I like, sit on the banks of the river, meander here and there without restriction and really enjoy my surroundings without fear!
I dread the flight; it’s 1.5 days of airports and planes, I dread the country (?), I dread saying goodbye, I dread going back!
And all of that aside, it will be wonderful to see the family; the hugs, the laughter, the catching up on news we don’t always get, re-establishing realtionships, playing with the grandchildren, creating new memories, loads of photos of shared moments in time and filling up the coffers of family love till the next time we……………go home!

Posted in family and relationships, Holidays, It's my life, Travel | Tagged family and relationships, travelling to south africa | Leave a Comment »

just one last post…..

May 6, 2011 by notjustagranny

…..and then I will try my best not to post any more articles about the Royal Wedding. I am sure by now you must be thinking I am a ‘royal pain in the ass’ 🙂 But bear with me on this one! I love statistics and many moons ago, back in South Africa I decided to do a course on Sales Management. One of the modules was statistics and if the course hadn’t been so boring (?) I would have eventually achieved a certificate of achievement! ‘Whatever’!!! 🙂

But it was incredibly boring and I chucked it in after about 2 months. However, my love of numbers never went away and I especially love statistical numbers. So in view of this, one of the first articles I read after the Royal Wedding was the statistics. This is what I found:

The Royal Wedding in numbers:
9 million page views for the BBC’s royal wedding live page
24.5million people watched TV coverage on BBC and ITV
400million people watched online
2,400MW power surge immediately after the wedding service = 1million kettles being boiled

5,000 Police officers on duty
35 sniffer dogs on duty
11,000 barriers were used
55 arrests were made
60 known demonstrators excluded from the area
130 street cleaners cleared up
140tonnes of rubbish
£10m = estimated cost of policing, preparation and clearing up – horse manure was the biggest issue

1,900 invited to the service at Westminster Abbey
1,000 of the guests were family and friends
50 were members of the Royal family
40 were members of foreign Royal families
200 members of Government, Parliament and Diplomatic Corps
80 guests from Prince William’s charities
60 Governors-General and Realm Prime Ministers
30 members of the Armed Forces

5 hours and 15 minutes between the first guests arriving at the Abbey and the RAF fly-past
4 minutes for Kate to walk down the aisle
2.7 metres length of the train
2-3mm spacing of stitches on each lace motif
30mins – to keep the lace pristine workers washed their hands every 30 minutes
3 hours – to keep the needles sharp they were renewed every 3 hours

5,500 road closure requests for street parties
2million sausage rolls sold by Marks & Spencer
120,000 royal wedding cupcakes sold by Morrisons
200,000 Union Jack napkins, plates and cups sold by Tesco
120 miles of bunting sold by Tesco
700 miles of bunting sold by all UK supermarkets – enough to wrap around Westminster Abbey 100 times

1 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI (1977)
1 State Landau (1902)
1 State Bentley
9 horses made up the Grey Escort
911 officers lined the route of the royal procession

650 guests at wedding luncheon
300 people attended the dinner at Buckingham Palace given by Prince Charles
10,000 canapes served at lunch reception
2 cakes – 1 fruit, 1 chocolate
1,700 biscuits used to make Prince William’s chocolate biscuit cake and 17 kilos of chocolate
17 different kinds of flower decoration on the traditional cake
900 sugar paste flowers on the traditional cake
21 chefs helped prepare the food

RAF fly-past was made up of
1 Lancaster
1 Hurricane
1 Spitfire
2 Typhoon’s
2 Tornado GR4’s
and:
2 crazy ex- South Africans amongst 1million spectators that lined the route.

royal wedding 2011, the royal wedding in numbers

having fun at a Royal Wedding

ooooops, nearly forgot the credits:
statistics via The Times 30th April 2011 and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13248642 various sources

Posted in Fun Stuff, Historical, It's my life | Tagged royal wedding 2011, the royal wedding in numbers | Leave a Comment »

things I learned last weekend….

May 4, 2011 by notjustagranny

royal wedding 2011, william and catherine

all the Queen's Horses and all the Queen's Men...photo courtesy of Stop and Think Photography http://stopandthinkphotography.wordpress.com

I had the great fortune last weekend to be a part of what was one of the most well-publicised and delightful weddings in many a year.

If I live to be 100+ I will never forget the fun, the excitement, the joy and the sheer exhuberance of the day and the people who shared it.

I learned a lot over those 2 days and this is a light-hearted look at some of the things I learned:

1) People still believe in fairytales – we love a good romance and the romance between a Prince and a Commoner still has the power to spellbind most of us!

2) Princess Diana is still dearly loved by millions of people – I heard hundreds of people speaking about her over the 2 days and many, many bloggers mention her in conjunction with their reporting of the day.

3) You don’t have to be British to be a Royalist – thousands of people travelled from all over the world to share in the day and wish this lovely couple a bright and happy future.

4) The British know how to throw a good party – all over the country people put out the tables and the bunting, blew up the balloons, cooked up a storm, put on a good bash and put the beer industry into profit for the next decade!!!!

5) The British are Top of the Pops when it comes to Pomp and Pageantry – the sight of those horsemen coming down The Mall, the sound of the horses hooves on the ground was overwhelming! The sheer power!

6) There are thousands of people who truly love the young Princes – despite their priviledged upbringing and the illusion of freedom, many people are aware that they live in a gilded cage and still have their wellbeing at heart.

7) We love that Kate is such a down-to-earth lass with no airs and graces – I loved the moment she stepped out her car at the Abbey and waved to the crowd, and then when she said ‘Wow’ as she stepped onto the Palace balcony and saw the crowds.

8) I learned that people are prepared to endure the most uncomfortable of nights for a good place to view the proceedings.

9) That people are essentially honest – we left our bags outside the tent all night and no-one touched them.

10) The Mall is very gritty and with thousands of people walking by the amount of dust generated could put the Sahara to shame!

11) That it is easier to sleep on the ground when you are 16 years old than when you are 56!!! 🙂

12) That people who are complete strangers are more than happy to share their worldly belongings and engage in conversation, even thought they don’t know you.

13) That even in this world of me, me, me……there are many generous people still around.

14) That the sun comes up real early at this time of the year and Buckingham Palace looks fabulous in the early morning light.

15) That I can survive without eating for longer than I thought 🙂

16) That I can hang on without going to the loo for 14 hours!!

17) That some people are very enterprising – the number of memento vendors I saw on The Mall the day before was entertaining!

18) That people are not afraid to dress up in ridiculous outfits and make a spectacle of themselves – bravo to all of you!

19) The words of ‘God Save the Queen’!

20) That the British on the whole are MAD…. mad/ly patriotic that is – there are many, many people in Britian who sang this lustily and with pride.

21) That they sang the National Anthem with equal pride!

22) That the Policemen on duty carry lunchpacks in little brown paper bags.

23) That my camera doesn’t work too well when its clogged with dust!

24) That pop-up tents don’t pop-down as easily as they pop-up!

25) That after only 3 hours of sleep a cup of tea tastes like nectar.

26) That despite only 3 hours of sleep from the night before, I was wide awake when the fun began.

27) I learned that I am truly grateful for my bed.

28) That my daughter is a real gem; prepared to give up her home comforts to accommodate her Mother’s mad impulses and sleep on The Mall.

29) That London is the best city in the world………but that I already knew! 🙂

Posted in It's my life | Tagged gratitude, London, princess diana, royal wedding 2011 | 3 Comments »

the day before…………

May 2, 2011 by notjustagranny

What a fabulous event! Kate; or Catherine as she is now to be known, the Duchess of Cambridge looked absolutely radiant, just as every bride should!
I feel as if I have truly fallen through the rabbit hole, it was surreal! The Pomp! The Pagentry! The Ceremony! The Horses! The Traditions! The Colours! The Music! The Troops! The Flags! – only the British can do Pomp and Ceremony like the British! 🙂

Pomp and Pagentry on The Mall

Who would have thought when I sat in front of my TV that day back in South Africa in 1981, and watched the wedding of Prince Charles and the soon to be Princess Diana, that in just under 30 years time I would be in London and at the wedding of her eldest son; Prince William!
To say that I am thrilled and exhuberant to have been part of the fantastic event would be a total understatement. I could probably use every descriptive word in the dictionary and it still wouldn’t describe the fun, the excitement and the sheer unadulterated amazement I felt at being there.

royal wedding on the mall processional route

two very excited people, on The Mall waiting for the fun to begin

Earlier in the month, in a moment of what can clearly be described as madness, I had decided to join the hundreds of other people who would be camping out on the Mall for the Royal Wedding.

my place for the Royal Wedding

You may recall, (or not), that I went along to mark this ‘spot’ a few days before which was great fun. Of course when I did arrive at The Mall on Thursday evening, the whole area was already filled with people camping out – note to self: take leave from duty when these events occur! In other words, there are other people just as mad who get there early too!!

royal wedding, crowds camping on the mall

you gotta get there early

So, there I was, rucksack strapped on, the pop-up 2woman tent that I had purchased the day before in another ‘moment of madness’, (I am not safe with a credit card when I get excited about something!!) in one hand, a bag of food in my other hand and my stomach churning with excitement, wandering about looking for a spot to camp out! I was delighted that my daughter had decided to join me for the night and she was to arrive a wee bit later.

our 2-woman pop-up tent prior to being popped-up

The Mall was a sea of tents, and camping chairs, plastic ground sheets, and thousands of people either already set up or just milling about. And dust!!! Without further ado, I set off to find a reasonable spot and chanced upon a row of ladies who had already set up their chairs right against the barrier. There was a space behind them with a clear view of The Mall in front, a good view of Buckingham Palace and most importantly a good view of the balcony where the couple would appear after the ceremony! And hopefully for a kiss!! In the event we got two, and in the event I missed both coz by the time it happened we had crowds of people in front and many were up on shoulders and that was that.

The Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace - a sea of heads below

The souvenir vendors were out n force and we had people selling flags, badges, buttons, hats, scarves and two enterprisng young ladies on Barclays Bikes selling t-shirts

: enterprising vendors selling t-shirts; getting around on Barclays bikes

One thing is for sure, the Barclays Cycle Hire were making a roaring trade, I saw dozens of bikes being used that afternoon and night! I set myself up behind the ladies who were from Somerset, got to chatting to folks around me and leaving my bags with the ladies in front I went walkabout for a bit. Not too far mind, I had a spot to keep! If you moved away for more than a few minutes, your spot was gone! My question about where to go to the loo was answered as soon as I arrived.

portaloos for a party

There were people from all over the world, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, America, Japan, Germany, Poland and UK citizens from all corners of the country. I saw Piers Morgan being interviewed, I watched reporters reporting, I got to see David Cameron go walkabout,

David Cameron on The Mall, being interviewed by Tim Wilcox

but I missed William and Harry’s walkabout near Clarence House. In terms of distance it is a 5 minute walk, in terms of the night I could just as well have been on the moon….it was impossible to get anywhere near the place.
Soon my daughter arrived and we put the tent up! Now here is the thing, there is something I learned over this episode; a pop-up tent ‘pops’ up a lot easier than it ‘pops’ down again! After numerous fruitless attempts on Friday morning to get it back in the bag, we gave up, strapped it together and that was that!

a fruitless attempt to pop-down the pop-up...........

I was almost happy to see the back of it, however, since it did cost £60, I didn’t just toss it! But it was a great little to tent to sleep in (probably what saved it’s skin), and in due course, at about 10pm we snuggled in, sleeping mats rolled out, sleeping bags spread out and hallelujah my daughter brough a couple of pillows along! All the comforts of a 5-star hotel and we had a view like none! 🙂

settling in for the night.

By this stage we were covered in dust, The Mall sidewalks are after all sand and grit, and despite repeated washing of my hair when I got home the next day, I can still feel grit in my hair. My pores, despite a real scrubbing under the shower still feel clogged. The sand got in everywhere, and by the time I got home Friday night my clothes, the tent, the sleeping bags, my rucksack and my trainers collectively contained at least 90% of the Mall’s gritty sidewalk!

dusty tents on The Mall

The excitement on the night was palpable. It never ceases to amaze me how at these events people who are total strangers get chatting and laughing together, the normal British reserve is no-where to be seen. Reporters from different countries and TV Stations were roving around, looking for interesting people to interview. And by interesting I mean the people that were dressed for the occassion. There were Brides, a Queen Victoria, ladies in hats fit for a Queen, Union Jacks disguised in all manner of items; painted on faces, hats and t-shirts. We had scattered sing-songs, hundreds of flags waving about and the atmosphere was electric.

royal wedding, on the mall for the royal wedding

do not press my button.........

I managed to sleep for about 3 hours between the hours of 1am and 4am through the noise, the shouting, the tramping feet that constantly kicked and knocked our tent, the lights, the shouting, the singing and the occassional Porta-Potty truck! We had Police milling about keeping an eye on the crowds and may I say that I was totally impressed; no aggression, no fighting, no bad behaviour and everyone was in a very jolly mood.
We woke really early the next day, and my very clever daughter went off to find us some tea and breakfast. Lesson #1 dont bother to bring food next time….just buy when you are there! Never has a cup of tea tasted so good! And the croissants even better. We also had red-velvet cupcakes for elevenses!!

very early the next morning

By 7am the crowds had swelled to enormous proportions, we had unsuccessfully packed up our tent, packed away our accoutrements and got ready for a party. The air was electric and in no time at all the party got under way. Wills and Kate went walkabout, The Queen walked by and waved

the 'Queen' goes walkabout

and The Mall looked like something out of Glastonbury.

the crowds at 7am the next day

We had Pomp and Pageantry like you cannot believe. The Police were out in force, armed Police, yer man Plod and the Metropolitan Mounted Police, in regiments and groups all there to Protect and Serve!

royal wedding, metropolitan mounted police

The Metropolitan Mounted Police

They also took no truck with disturbances and if you didn’t obey instantly when they told not to climb into the trees……… !!!!!
As the hours went by, the excitement rose, cheering and clapping, flag waving and music, helicopters, marching soldiers, mounted police, armed police, people pushing and shoving allwanting the best vantage point they could get…. and then the Procession began…….

Posted in Fun Stuff, Historical, Holidays, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life | Tagged camping on the mall, royal wedding | 1 Comment »

Katie, Katie give me your answer true……

May 2, 2011 by notjustagranny

Katie, Katie give me your answer true, I’m half crazy just for the love of you.
It was a stylish marriage, We used my granny’s carriage,
and you looked sweet, good enought to eat,
so glad you said I do!

william and catherine royal wedding 29 april 2011

the newly married couple; Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - William and Catherine

The big day had finally arrived, one of the most anticipated events in the last 30 years!!! At first light the campers started to wake, spectators began to arrive and the dust rose into the air in swathes!!! and we kept an anxious eye on the weather!!
As the morning progressed the excitement mounted and the crowds swelled. They had been expecting an estimated crowd of 600,000 on the Processional route, in the event it swelled to over 1million!
I do believe that the reality of the importance of the occassion had started to sink in as the day wore on and as the excitement set in……this was our future King who was getting married! Diana’s eldest son and 2nd in line to the throne! How could you not be there!!!
The Mall was closed off, the Metropolitan Police, lunch packs in hand, started spreading out into their marked positions. Armed-Police marched by, some heading for the roof of Buckingham Palace, snipers and marksmen all positioned on the corners of the Palace roof. Suddenly we noticed that the Royal Standardwas aloft!

royal wedding william and catherine royal standard

The Royal Standard

Reporters reported; interviewing anyone they thought looked suitably attired or somewhat crazily quirky- and there were many to choose from!! Street sweepers went by to roudy applause, the crowd cheering anyone who walked by. We had Mexican waves, we had cheering, we had more and more people trying to squeeze into tiny spaces, the flag waving increased in intensity and the volume of sound swelled to deafening proportions. And you did not dare to leave your place to go to the loo!!!
Suddenly the music from the Abbey burst forth from the speakers lining route and we cheered! And then the procession began………
When the first of the Mounted Police rode by the sound swelled, when the Marching bands went by, the cheers escalated, and when the first of the Royal Family; Princes William and Harry left Clarence House the crowd roared!
With frequent glances at watches or phones, we impatiently awaited the girl whose day this was! Our Kate! Our Queen in waiting!! The excitement built by the second and we watched anxiously for the flags at the top end of the circle to start waving and for the crowds to start cheering. The Mall was filled with Marching Bands, Mounted Police, Regiments of the Crown, cars and coaches; Ambassadors, Minor Royals, and then Tah Dah!!! the Queen and Prince Philip went by and the crowd cheered,

royal wedding, queen elizabeth II, processional route to westminster abbey

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their way to Westminster Abbey

flags waving energetically. Suddenly time had marched on and there was the car with the Maid of Honour; Pippa Middleton and the bridesmaids, and now we knew for sure that within seconds the girl we had been waiting to see with bated breath and rising anticipation was on her way. The excitement rippled like electricity through the crowd!!
And suddenly the level of sound rose with an enormous roar!!!! Kate was on her way! And finally there she was, looking radiant and exquisite, every inch a Royal Regal lady; born for this position.. smiling beautifully behind her veil she elegantly waved with evident happiness! Her father beaming proudly at her side. The crowd cheered and cheered, tears flowed and we all had one thought on our minds; her future. There she was, one of us, and within the next hour she would be one of them! Our future Queen-in-waiting, and she looked it!

the bride; radiant and beautiful - Kate Middleton

Within seconds the car was gone, enroute to Westminster Abbey and the moment her life would change irrevocably! She would soon become one of the most photographed and talked about women in the world, on a par with our Diana and we all loved her! Loved her because she had brought a sparkle to William’s eyes, a lovely girl who loved him, and it showed!
As the music flowed from the speakers the crowd fell silent and you could almost hear a pin drop as the crowds waited for the ceremony to begin.
Next we heard the voice of the Archbishop of Canterbury; and as William said ‘I will’ the crowds cheered, but that was nothing compared to the roar of the crowd as the soft trembling of Kate’s response came through the loudspeakers. Deafening! She said ‘I will’ and the country roared! What a brilliant moment; a historical moment, a moment that set the seal on a future that we can only imagine, and never truly comprehend! And I was there!! I will never in all my life forget the feelings and the emotions I felt in that moment, and as she said ‘I will’ the sun shone out from behind the clouds, just a short burst and I knew that Diana was there!!!

The rest of the service passed in a flash as we sang the National Anthem and then the words of ‘God Save the Queen’ rang out, voices raised in lusty jubilation, patriosim at it’s very best. Soon the formalities were over and as they left the Abbey, once again the sun shone out, the rays no match for the smiles on the faces of these two young people, happily in love and happy together!! William proud, and Catherine, as he had said at the altar; “beautiful”.
The exhuberation as the carriage procession made it’s way along the Mall to Buckingham Palace, along the Processional Route was electrifying, powerful and emotional. I got so excited by the magnificence of the horses, barely controlled at galloping-trot or whatever style of motion it is called; overwhelming! You could feel the energy of the moment, the sheer power as the carriage swept by, preceded by these magnificent creatures that looked as if they would break loose at any second!

royal wedding, the queens guards, the mall

all the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men...........

The smiles, the radiance of the bride, regal and royal, the elegant wave of a dainty hand and the pride on William’s face!
All too soon they were gone, followed closely by the rest of the wedding party; Pippa and the bridesmaids, Prince Harry and the page-boys, the Queen and Prince Philip in their glass coach, then Charles and Camilla with Mr & Mrs Middleton, and then the coaches with other members of the Royal Family.
Once they were all safely tucked up inside, a wave of humanity surged along The Mall, controlled, yet eager, thousands of people preceded by Her Majesty’s forces heading for the Palace. It’s is a sight so surreal, it’s hard to imagine. The crowds moved inexorably forward and the crush became almost too much to bear as people surged forward in their desire to stand below the balcony where the newly-married couple would soon appear.

a mass of humanity along The Mall; heading for the Palace for the balcony scene

I so remember the moment Diana and Charles stepped out onto that balcony almost 30 years ago and the feeling that came with it, and now here I was just metres away about to watch her son step onto that same spot his parents had stood all those years ago.
And of course the main reason for the excitement………..the kiss!!!!! Would they? Or would they not? But they did, and the crowd went wild, kiss her again they cried and he did, to a roar of approval and jubilation like no other!

royal wedding, catherine and william, duke and duchess of cambridge

the newly weds - William and Catherine; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The heavy drone of the fly-past competing with the roar from the crowds; and then it was all over. The Royal Family, preceded by the Queen left the balcony to continue their celebrations in private. I loved the moment, as seen on TV, when Catherine walked out onto the balcony; her gasp of surprise was delightful.

And I cannot begin to tell you how fantastic it was to be standing there, part of this celebration of such momentous importance and joy. It is something I will never, ever forget! A day to be remembered and celebrated, I hope, for decades to come!

all photos in this blog are the copyright of Cémanthe Harries of Stop and Think Photography

Posted in family and relationships, Historical, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life, Travel | Tagged catherine and william, duke and duchess of cambridge, prince william and kate middleton, Queen Elizabeth II, royal wedding, rw2011 | 9 Comments »

making the news!!!!

April 27, 2011 by notjustagranny

OK, so next time I say that I won’t be blogging for X number of days or till after whatever…..don’t believe me!!! 🙂

If I had thought my day could get any better since my daughter told me she had uploaded my 3 Days in London itinerary yesterday morning….I had no idea just how!!!

I went into hootsuite last night to do some #TravelTuesday tweets and saw this: from @abcnews – We’ve featured you in our #royalwedding #storify. Have a look here – http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/storify.htm?id=uk-gears-up-for-royal-wedding

I nearly fell right off my chair with excitement when I saw one of my photos on their page!!!! 5th photo down! how exciting is that!

and then just while I was jumping up and down with sheer excitement my phone rang!! and it was my brother and sister-in-law to tell me that I am an Aunty 2 times over since mid-March; they’ve adopted 2 little kiddies, and on top of that they are expecting a new arrival at the end of August!!!

Then later on my daughter suddenly decides we should buy a tent for our camp out on Thursday night to secure our place for the wedding on Friday…..so I guess I will be collecting that Wednesday afternoon!

And then to finish off a marvellous day…. at exactly 23:48 and with 11 minutes to spare I placed my order for my 2012 Olympic ticket selection!!!! hooray!!!!!!!!!!!

How absolutely fabulous, Tuesday 26th April 2011 will go down in history as one of my best days!!!

Posted in Fun Stuff, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life | Tagged 2012 Olympics, hootsuite, royal wedding | 4 Comments »

an auspicious day……

April 26, 2011 by notjustagranny

: not just a granny……

thank goodness I am a woman!!!! I can change my mind 🙂

Ok, so yesterday I said I wouldn’t be blogging again till after the Royal Wedding…..but hey!!! guess what? heehee, here I am again!

And the reason for this is coz two very exciting things happened today that I simply have to share:

1) My first London Itinerary went live!!! whoo hoo! Thanks to the herculean efforts of my wonderful daughter, who is a genius, the 6 Hours in London Itinerary was uploaded and went live this morning. A special edition for the wedding.

2) I received my ‘Prince William and Catherine Wedding Coin’ – Royal Wedding Crown in the mail this morning!! A commemorative coin to mark the occassion of their 29 April 2011 wedding!!!

Royal Mint edition of the Royal Wedding coin

The itineraries have taken a year to get up and online. Firstly coz I was paralysed by fear; fear of it not being perfect, fear of it not being good enough and the fear that no-one would like it or find it useful!!! But, thankfully my daughter gave me a good metaphorical kick in the ‘you know what’ and hurry scurry I edited the itinerary that had been waiting for the last 12 months to get completed and downloaded! Nothing like the excitement of a British occassion to get me going. 🙂

and the thrill of receiving my coin was the cherry on top!!! I applied for one a few weeks ago never expecting to actually get it, since they are only printing 50,000 and I though for sure that they would already be sold out. Also you had to apply with no guarantee of getting one, so when I open the bulky envelope this morning and realised what it was…..I nearly went ballistic.

So that’s my tale for today………..see you maybe before the wedding, maybe not!!! depends on what other exciting things happen in my life. In the meantime – Bye for now.

Bearing in mind that I had said when the wedding was announced that I was NOT going to buy any paraphenalia or memorabilia, I now have the coin and the hat!!! what’s next I wonder? Thankfully the wedding is only 3 days away now and there is not much time left for me to go mad and break the bank!!!

Posted in Fun Stuff, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life | Tagged london itineraries, london mint office, royal wedding | 1 Comment »

with only 4 sleeps to go…….

April 25, 2011 by notjustagranny

: this spot has been reserved for Cindy Eve who is @notjustagranny 🙂

whoo hoo!!!!! 🙂 with only 4 sleeps to go I am way beyond excited now!! I keep jolting out of sleep in the middling hours of the night, when it is still dark outside – my heart racing with excitement and the Royal Wedding on my mind!!!

I have finally persuaded my chica to join me at Buckingham Palace for the Royal Wedding celebrations, and against her better judgement….. to sleep over on The Mall with me the night before. 🙂

Today I went walkabout along the Royal Wedding route to revisit favourite places and to reserve my place on The Mall. A large part of The Mall has been pedestrianised and the barriers are already lining the sidewalks. There is a real sense of anticipation in the air and one of my favourite celebrities was seen at the Palace interviewing a Royal Correspondent! And finally I know for sure….he is a real person!!!

Piers Morgan at Buckingham Palace

London is bustling with excitement, the bunting is up, the sun was shining and love is in the air. In preparation for the Royal Wedding, London has donned her finery with Regent Street lined with marvellous flags,

Regent Street all dressed in finery

Admiralty Arch is dressed in her finery, and high above the west tower of Westminster Abbey can be seen the Sovereign’s flag.

the Queen's flag above the West Tower of Westminster Abbey

the ‘Boris’ bikes aka Barclays Cycle Hire bikes are everywhere to be seen as visitors to London make the most of the fabulous weather and cycle about town. The fountains at Trafalgar Square have been emptied…. ? and the 2012 Olympic Clock ticks on!

the 2012 Olympic Clock ticks on

I bought a hat for the occassion….do you think it is suitable?

my hat for the Royal Wedding....

and now with only 4 sleeps to go to till wedding of the century; the much anticipated wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011……this is your London correspondent signing out till after the 29th. 🙂

I will be tweeting on the 28th and 29th (or for as long as my battery lasts). Look out for the updates on @3days_in_london and the hashtag #RoyalWedding and #3dil – hope to see you there!!!

Posted in Fun Stuff, Historical, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life | Tagged barclays cycle hire, london gets ready for the royal wedding, royal wedding of prince william and kate middleton | 4 Comments »

Woodland Trust

April 25, 2011 by notjustagranny

A couple of months ago I accidently attended the ‘Wicked’ Halloween event at St Pancras, where I got to see Lee Mead. The Woodland Trust had their table and banners up and as I do, I picked up the brochures to have a look at. I, like many other folk in this country are keen to ensure that we don’t lose the marvellous ancient forests that still exist, albeit in small little pockets. The Woodland Trust are doing what they can to protect and replant.
So I read the brochures, and as 2011 year is my ‘increase my contribution to the world’ year I decided to include them on my list and submitted the form to become a monthly contributor.

I had no other expectations beyond that. So imagine my surprise and subsequent delight when I received a package in the mail the other day with a wee certificate that tells me I now have a tree dedicated to me!!! 🙂 How cool is that!!!

woodland trsut, the forest of marston vale, reclaiming enlands forests

Woodland Trust Certificate

The tree is situated at Water End, Cople, Bedfordshire. The village of Cople is to the east of Bedford and the woodland is part of the area known as ‘The Forest of Marston Vale’ – a project to plant up to 30% of the vale with trees as part of the reclamation of the extensive former workings of the brick making industry. In December 1999, 5,200 trees were planted; including oak, ash, field maple and cherry.

So of course I had to investigate and find out more about Cople…….my first port of call without question: google!! 🙂
This is what I found: (via this website)
The Great River Ouse is 1.5 miles away.
The village has a population of around 800 people, there is one pub, one church, one primary school (ages 4 to 9) and one garage which no longer sells petrol. The only village shop closed in 1995, but there is a shop in the nearby village of Willington and a major supermarket 3 miles away.
Cople has traditionally been a farming community but farming no longer offers work to many people. Most inhabitants work in offices and factories in nearby towns including Bedford, Sandy, Luton and Milton Keynes.
The name COPLE derived from the phrase “Cock Pool” which was a place where chickens were kept and that Cople was mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
The centre of Cople is dominated by the splendid All Saints Church. One of the most beautiful churches in Bedfordshire.
The Church was originally built soon after 1087 by the De Beauchamp family and later became part of Chicksands Priory. The list of Vicars dates back to 1237.

Guess I am going to have to visit Cople and find my tree!!! 🙂

Posted in around the UK, It's my life | Tagged forest of marston vale, the woodland trust, village of cople, villages of the United Kingdom | Leave a Comment »

a walk with Shakespeare…….

April 24, 2011 by notjustagranny

…….and my daughter!!! As mentioned in a previous post, yesterday was my birthday and I had the joy of spending this special day with my daughter and enjoying a couple of adventures in London.

: one of my favourite views of the City of London; just a glimpse

I slept over at my daughter’s house the night before and our day started with a lie-in (unusual for me with the type of job I have), then tea and cake (chocolate of course) in the garden. The weather was perfect , already warm and the heat a precursor of the temperatures ahead. After a lazy morning we set out on our adventure: first into Twickenham to Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery for tea and cupcakes. Along the way we stopped to smell the roses

if only I could have captured the heavenly perfume.......

and admire the wisteria, now in full bloom just about everywhere you look! Of course this is the easter weekend too so naturally we had easter cupcakes!! 🙂 We sat out in the courtyard, in the shade and enjoyed our tea, chatting away enjoying the slight breeze that wafted by.

: tea and easter cupcakes at Sweetie Pies

From there we headed off to Richmond and onto the first train out, into London Central for the next leg of our adventures – first a guided tour of The Guildhall in the City of London, then a guided Shakespeare Trail. Exciting!!! We alighted from the tube at Temple thinking to get a bus from The Royal Courts of Justice to St Paul’s Cathedral to meet our guide. We were ever so slightly behind schedule, so when we got to Strand and discovered massive roadworks going on in the area had pretty much wrecked any chance of getting a bus, our hearts sank. However, not all was lost and quick as wink we hopped into a London Cab and within 5 minutes we arrived at our destination. Love that you can just hop in a cab in this city!!

: getting about the City in a London Cab

We met up with the lovely Zoe who is a City of London tour guide and set off for the Guildhall. I have been to the Guildhall a couple of times before but never on a guided tour! So cool! I wish I could have recorded all the interesting little snippets she told us! Suffice to say it was brilliantly interesting and I loved all the little details she pointed out. The Guildhall is so worth a visit, it is fabulous inside: the memorials are fabulous works of art and the stained glass windows; breathtaking

stained glass windows at The Guildhall

After the tour, we parted company briefly with our delightful tour guide and headed over to the Guildhall Art Gallery for a look at the Roman Amphitheatre and it was fun for me to play tour guide for a wee bit and show my daughter around. We had a quick look at some of the beautiful paintings on display and marvelled at the talent and work put into these paintings, some of which look like photographs the detail is so perfect. In fact in many ways they are better than photos coz they have texture and depth. Then it was a quick look at the massive painting in the foyer of gallery, stunning!! Exiting the Gallery we saw a wedding party; the outfits were a glorious spectrum of rich colours, and what a perfect day for a wedding!

We then strolled across the city back to St Paul’s to meet up with Zoe again who would be conducting the Shakespeare Trail. Along the way we discovered all sorts of interesting things and items of historical note. I love just walking about this city, you just never know what you will find!

a world of discovery; historical sites

This time we were joined by a young man and the four of us set off on a jaunt around London and through the portals of history, to discover more about Shakespeare and the places in London he frequented. There was however, one piece of information that gave me quite a jolt……Shakespeare pre-dated the current St Paul’s Cathedral!!!! I just never really even thought about it and just kind of assumed that this was the building that he saw on his daily walks.!!!! And…..in order to cross the river to the Globe Theatre he would have had to use a ferry!! How about that!

don't pay the ferryman till he gets you to the other side... Globe Theatre is just to the left of the bridge on the other side of the river

The weather was perfect, hot and sunny and the city was quiet/ish with not many people about. Wonderful.

We learned so much that I can’t even begin to tell you everything, so instead I will give you a brief run down and suggest you book yourself on one of the tours for a more comprehensive view of Shakespeare and the London of his time.

London in Shakespeare’s time was miniscule in comparison to the size it is today, and the great urban sprawl we know wasn’t even a figment of his imagination I am sure, and the Great Fire of 1666 would have destroyed much of what he did know. Our first stop was the remains of Roman walls discovered during excavations for new buildings, I constantly marvel at how these places are largely preserved and not ripped out…..thank goodness. Zoe gave us a glimpse into what London would have been like in Shakespeare’s day; pretty grubby and smelly by all accounts!!! Not at all the romantic images we tend to carry around.

Next stop was the remains of the historical site of a wee church where Shakespeare was likely to have worshipped: the Parish Church of St Olave’s. We learned some delectable tidbits about his connections to this church and one of the families he was closely associated with. We also got to see the site of the lodgings where Shakespeare made his home in later life, just over the road from St Olave’s. On our way to the next stop of the tour we walked past the remains of St Alban’s Church and I finally discovered a) the name of it and b) that it is now privately occupied!!! How amazing is that! To live in the remains of an ancient church, albeit only a very small part of it. This area of the city is closely associated with The Museum of London (in my opinion the best museum in London and totally underrated) and the road we briefly walked along; London Wall marks the boundaries of the Roman City. Of course the area is now filled with towering skyscrapers and busy roads, but you can still catch glimpses of Roman, Mediaeval and Tudor London in hidden corners.

Our next stop was the ancient site of St Mary Aldermanbury Church, now a tiny little park, where you can find relics of the original walls, and Love Lane where you will find a decorative memorial with a bust of Shakespeare looking towards the River (a good 5-10 minutes walk away), as well as a carved marble book depicting his first folio; published according to the ‘True Originall Copies London 1623’. Compiled by John Heminge and Henry Condell, close friends of Shakespeare’s, these two gentlemen are in fact buried at this site. The memorial commemorates John Heminge and Henry Condell – fellow actors and personal friends of Shakespeare.

memorial on Love Lane

Next it was back to the Guildhall where once again I was surprised and delighted to discover the links that Shakespeare had with the Guildhall, albeit not very pleasant links.

Also to be found at the Gallery are the busts of four famous citizens of the city: William Shakespeare, Christopher Wren, Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys.

Heading back towards St Paul’s Cathedral we next discovered his associations with Carter Lane, The Cockpit Tavern, St Andrews-by-the-Wardrobe Church and many other interesting snippets and fascinating sites. These are places that we tend to walk past without even the tiniest clue of what went before. At the King’s Wardrobe we parted company with Zoe and meandered once again along ancient lanes to take ‘sup at one of the oldest pubs in London; with links to Charles Dickens!!! Guess who is next on my list! 🙂

the centre page, dickens pickwick papers

The Centre Page, near St Paul's - for the best darn chips and onion rings in town!

We enjoyed a delicious meal of Burger and chips with onion rings for CJ and baked spud with bacon and cheese, chips and onion rings for me. A draught of apple cider (juice) slaked our thirst!!! Replete, we strolled down to the riverbank passing a headless man along the way,

a headless man......

then we meandered along the Thames Path. I love these views of the river!! By now the horizon was black with rain, and the wind whipped the rushing incoming tide into a frenzy of choppy peaks and troughs! As we hurried along (not too fast mind), we felt spots of rain, but not enough to discourage a number of stops along the way to take photos!

rain on the horizon

By then we had come full circle and reached Temple station where I said goodbye to CJ, she heading into the underground and me on my way to Charing Cross. I discovered a memorial to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the entrance to Inland Revenue, And then the rain came down and I got soaked along the Strand! 🙂

Charing Cross - the story

A marvellous day and what an adventure! I have created a short video with more views of our wonderful city that you might enjoy.

p.s. you will notice some of the photos have a wide border….it seems I am having some HTML issues. I have no idea why it’s doing this!! So, if you do….please let me know 🙂

Posted in Fun Stuff, Historical, It's my life, things to do in London | Tagged shakespeare trail, shakespeares life in london, sweetie pies bakery twickeham, the city of london, the guildhall | Leave a Comment »

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