Not Just a Granny

words of wisdom from Audrey Hepburn

February 17, 2011 by notjustagranny

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

Audrey Hepburn

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged audrey hepburn | 1 Comment »

…and the travels continue….where east meets west and Canterbury here I come

February 15, 2011 by notjustagranny

….ok, so not quite yet, but certainly in the future! I had such a brilliant time on Saturday night and Sunday that despite my initial wtf am I doing……? I had a brilliant time. So my thanks to Geoffrey Chaucer for following the pilgrims route and to my employer for the London Walks cards via which I stumbled across this fact during my research for the pilgrims route for which I have to thank my Dad (this is beginning to sound like I have won an award at the BAFTA’S or something!) hahaha 🙂

So where to start……..? I saw and did so much that I could probably write a book (ok, ok family!!! I will…in time 🙂 ). Meanwhile, here is what was the penultimate experience I had on the journey! Standing on the meridian line. I cannot tell you what a thrill I get each time I get to stand on the meridian line, that I am seriously thinking how awesome it would be to live in Greenwich in a house that has the 0 degrees 0′ 0″ line running through it.

0 degrees 0' 0" the meridian line

I could wake up in the morning, get out of bed on the east side (makes sense, doesn’t it), have breakfast in the kitchen which will also be in the east and then walk to the sitting room or my office in the west! at night I would go back to bed and climb in via the west side. 🙂

standing on the meridian line...where east meets west

……..the rest will follow in due course. Am writing a number of guest blogs for other travel sites at the mo and have a tall order from my daughter who has something up her sleeve: she wants 4 x 700 word blogs and 8 x 350 word blogs on London!! and photos to go with them. I am dying to know why? But, thankfully, coz I have already produced hundreds of blogs on London I have loads of material, so am currently editing those I have chosen and will be back to my Canterbury Tales in due course.

btw, did I ever mention just how fantastically brilliant London is. I cannot even begin to tell you what a treasure trove it is. As a taster of what’s to come……..I passed the 1620 Mayflower Inn (orig. the Shippe) and the church of St Mary’s in Rotherhithe (c14 rebuilt 1715) with links to the captain of the Mayflower Capt. Christopher Jones.

Capt. Christopher Jones of the Mayflower. (this sculpture is in the churchyard)

“From a Rotherhithe quayside, near a pub called the Shippe, the Mayflower set sail for America.”

More to follow……..and now since my break is almost over and I am back to work in 1.5 hours, it’s time for me to go!

Oh! and p.s. another wee gem to whet your appetite….I also made the acquaintance of Peter the Great 🙂 and sat on this throne!

Posted in Historical, Holidays, interesting things that happen in London, It's my life, things to do in London, Travel | Tagged chaucers canterbury tales, the thames path from london to greenwich | 2 Comments »

in the footsteps of Geoffrey Chaucer and my Canterbury tales

February 10, 2011 by notjustagranny

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! 🙂

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

things I miss……

February 5, 2011 by notjustagranny

I am not sure how this came about, but in the last few days I have been thinking a lot about things I miss. I think it had a lot to do with an email I got with pictures of different cats. I adore cats and right before I left South Africa in 2001 (gosh that long ago!) I had 5 of god’s beautiful creatures living with us; me and my daughter (another of god’s beautiful creatures). And thinking about that got me to thinking about how much I miss the sound of a cat purring in my ear while it sleeps soundly and I am lying on the couch with the beauty lying stretched out along my body, fast asleep and purring loudly in my ear…and all the while I am dying to go pee but don’t want to disturb the cat!! 🙂 hahaha. that happened too many times to remember!

I miss our cats and how when they were kittens we used to laugh till we were hysterical at their antics. And then I got to thinking about other stuff I miss and coz my minds wanders as much as my ramblings on my blog, the range of things I miss are vast and across the years and miles.

I miss my Mother. I miss the sound of her laughter as she enjoyed something that had amused her. I miss her famous ham and pea soup and the cheese scones she used to make. I miss the smell of her and walking into the bathroom whilst she was in the bath and her hair was hanging loose (she had hair down to her waist). I miss how she always took so much pleasure in her grandchildren and how she used to help us (when we were little) and then the grandkids, to make christmas pudding – (she always made them in September so they could mature by Xmas). I miss watching her with her grandchildren. I miss watching her ‘put her face on’….as someone who never wears make-up I never really got that! But I enjoyed watching her do it. I miss how as an adult, when I came to visit, she used to take me round her garden to see her plants and the roses that she loved so much…..and I know now how much I did not appreciate that at the time. (Sorry Ma!) I miss how I could call her anytime I had a problem or felt sad and needed a shoulder to cry on…..she was always there. I miss that I am not able to ask her all the questions I have now that my daughter is an adult.

I miss the time before she met her 2nd husband, the person she was before. I miss walking to the shops with my sister; me 7 and her 4 years old, to buy bread and milk for my mother. I miss that we were really safe in those days and could get there and back without fear. I miss how my sister and I used to buy hot white bread at the shop and the shopkeeper put it into a brown paper bag and on the way home we would eat the crusts off the end of the loaf and along the edges….never really recognising that putting the loaf back into the packet so you could not see where we had eaten it, did not mean that my Mother would not notice that we had eaten it when we got home. 🙂 I miss the days before lost innocence. I miss walking in the rain with my mother and her letting us splash in all the puddles, not minding that we got soaked.

I miss the anticipation of the holidays with my father in Cape Town, holidays that never lived up to my expectations but were treasured anyway coz I loved my Dad desperately in those days. I miss my brother who died many, many years ago. I miss his mad ideas and his crazy, zany laughter that used to burst from his mouth. I miss the nonsense we used to get up to and the secrets we had.

I miss my grandmother and how it was before she died. I miss the great big rambling house she had where we could hide away with a book and never be found unless we wanted to. I miss visiting her on a sunday and being allowed to open the window-seat and choose a toy or a puzzle to play with. I miss her pantry and the knowledge that there were yummy cakes in there that we used to eat the icing off of! (this drove her to distraction and to us having our bottoms heated regularly). Boy she had a heavy hand did Grandma. I miss crawling into her bed in the mornings when I was little and having tea with her. I miss brushing her hair (also down to her waist) and how she smelt of lavender.

I miss having my own home. I miss the feeling of knowing that I was secure in this space and that I could just be if I wanted to. I miss that it was our home where we had cats and dogs and hamsters and fish. I miss the days when my daughter used to climb into my bed in the morning for a cuddle. I miss how we used to lie in bed together on the nights it rained and stormed and listen to the hail crashing down on the roof and the racket it made (we had a tin roof – an old mining house). I miss mowing the lawn. I miss my car…which is absurd since I love walking.

I miss the days when I could fix whatever was hurting my daughter with a cuddle and ‘a kiss to make it better’. I miss the days before she became sad from disappointment. I miss that I was able to make things better and give her hope. I miss how I could plan her birthdays and make them fun and exciting. I miss the days we used to drive from one side of the country to the other on holiday, a journey of 1,600 km’s and how we would put the radio on full-blast and sing at full volume to the songs. I miss watching her sleep as I drove and the feelings of protection I used to have. Not that I don’t have those feelings anymore, just that they are different.

I miss my sisters……they are all zany and all completely different characters and I miss their funny ways. I miss my great-niece and nephews, who are growing up fast and have no idea who I am. Ok, so they know about me, but if I walked towards them in a mall they would have no idea it was me!

I miss who I was before I got sucked into the personal development world. I miss how I was able to just live and be. Now I question everything I think and do, second guessing everything I feel and experience. I miss that I didn’t know that what you resist persists. I miss that I could just go off and be who I was. I miss what I had….total freedom. Which is quite odd since it was working through the processes at one of the PD courses that I discovered that my highest value is freedom. I miss that I didn’t know all that I know now. I have no idea if that makes any sense, but it does to me. I miss who I was before I got involved with MLM. I miss that I didn’t feel like a failure before I started and now after 8 different attempts I have to concede defeat and acknowledge that it’s not for me. “If at first you don’t succeed, before you try again, stop to figure out what you did wrong” — Leo Rosten Shame I can’t wish away the debt that came with it!! I miss how excited I was at this new discovery and how brilliant I thought the whole concept was, till I learned the secret! It’s a numbers game……..

I miss going to the drive-in (outdoor big-screen cinemas) and how we used to run wild about the grounds while my mother and her partner watched the movie. I miss how we could watch movies like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music and it wasn’t considered corny and pathetic. I miss how we used to gather together, all the family in one place to watch Dallas. Awful programme, but we were addicted to it. hahahaha. I miss when my sisters were babies and I could play with them……big dolls they were. I miss how I used to dream about having a happy marriage and a big house.

I miss the days before I knew I would get old and appendages would begin to ache. I miss the days before I knew that I was not immortal. I miss going out for ice-cream with my Dad and how we always disagreed on which flavour was the best….chocolate or strawberry. I miss being able to wear a bikini 🙂 God knows no-one else would miss that now!!! hahaha. I miss the days when I was a credit-controller and how much I loved my job. I miss the days when I ate what I enjoyed and didn’t have the word cholesterol in my life….although my figure looks better for it 🙂 HAHA! I miss the days when I could sit down and read a book right through without stopping and not fall asleep after the first 3 pages (like I do now). I miss the days before I had to start wearing glasses and the panic I have when I can’t read the bloody words on anything without them.

I miss the days I used to dance with wild abandon, and didn’t look like an old fart who should know better, how I could head-bang to my hearts content and not wonder if folks around me thought I was mad (I only do that when I am alone now) heehee. I miss LP’s (long-playing records) and the feel and smell of them. The anticipation of choosing a record, slipping it out it’s sleeve and putting it onto the turntable and the thrill of waiting for the first strains to fill the air. I miss the days when you could go shopping and fill a trolley to the brim, and it didn’t put you into debt! I miss watching the delight on my daughter’s face when she used to ride on the mechanical horses at the supermarket. I miss how I used to sit at the back of the bus on the way home from school with my best friend and laugh till I wet my knickers (gross I know), but I loved how she used to wind me up and how we got thrown off the bus for making a racket.

I miss how my daughter and I used to lie on the lawn in our garden and watch the planes come in to land at the airport that was not too far away, and how between planes we would find shapes in the clouds. I miss how when I was a teenager, my mother and her partner took us girls to the end of the runway at Jan Smuts airport for a picnic and gave us lessons on how to drive; the joy of being able to hop in the car and just drive regardless of the crashed gears and dents. You can’t do that anymore coz of security issues; either park at the end of the runway or drive without a license! I miss reading bedtime stories to my daughter when she was little, and the excitement on her face as we chose that nights reading. How she used be awake and I fell asleep while reading the book. I miss how she thought I had all the answers. I miss our little secret signal that she invented as code for during times of uncertainty; that we could use to say it was alright.

I miss being able to just have a sunday snooze if I felt like it! I miss Ireland and the fun times I had with my sister and brother-in-law while they still lived there, the excitement of planning a trip across the Irish sea. I miss the days when I could just miss things and remininesce without thinking about what Tony R said……you can’t go thought life looking in the rearview mirror. I miss the days when I could just look back and remember stuff without thinking of that and worrying if I should or should not be looking back! and if my reasons for looking back were good or bad! I miss the days when I didn’t question my every thought and wonder if they are ‘personal development’ correct or not!

I miss the days when I used to sit and knit and watch TV without worrying about other stuff I should be doing. I wonder if I can even remember how to knit 🙂 I miss the days when I used to sit with my mother and sister and play scrabble, drinking copious cups of tea, how we used to play the glassy glassy game and scare ourselves almost to death when the blasted glass used to move!!! I miss the braais (barbeques) we used to have at my sister’s house. Not that I eat meat, but I enjoyed the laughter and the jokes and the nonsense we got up to! I miss how I used to jump into a swimming pool fully clothed and not worry about it. I miss how when we were kids my sister and I used to have to ‘stamp’ the washing in the bath on a Friday afternoon. We didn’t have a washing machine so my mother used to put the washing into the bath to soak during the day and after school we would have to ‘stamp’ the washing to remove the dirt. I am not really sure how effective it was but we had the cleanest feet in the neighbourhood. 🙂

I miss how on a Saturday afternoon when I was a teenager I would head on over to my best friend’s house to listen to the ‘Top of the Pops’ and how we would lie on the grass trying to guess which song would be TOTP’s and how we would shriek with delight when our choice came first. I miss how when my daughter was a little girl a box of smarties really did cure all ills. And how she knew what I was up to, even thought I tried to do it in secret, when I wrapped 20 little boxes of smarties into her clothes before she left to go to America the first time.

There are many things I miss, and there is a heck of a lot I don’t miss but if you have managed to read this far….I commend you and won’t go into the long list of things I don’t miss 🙂 ……so in closing……..

……..at the moment I miss the sunshine……..please come back, all is forgiven.

Posted in family and relationships, It's my life, Personal Development | Tagged memories are made of this | 5 Comments »

awwww… I love this….

February 4, 2011 by notjustagranny

One stone is enough to break a glass……
One sentence enough to break a heart……
One second enough to fall in love……
One misunderstanding sufficient to break a friendship.

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, “Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don’t fall into the river.” The little girl said, “No, Dad. You hold my hand.” “What’s the difference?” Asked the puzzled father. “There’s a big difference,” replied the little girl. “If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.”

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond………
So hold the hand of the person in whom you trust rather than expecting them to hold yours…!

got this from an email my sister sent me….isn’t it lovely!! 🙂

Posted in family and relationships | Tagged relationships, trust | 2 Comments »

a weird old week it was….

February 4, 2011 by notjustagranny

Ok, so the last week and a bit has been kinda weird. I got so stressed out trying to keep up with all the nitty gritty of things that I forgot to have a life. Total overwhelm resulted in me not doing anything much at all last week beyond messing about on facebook. I also got to do some reading which I don’t often do, I spent 8 hours or more trying to access a youtube account but due to the fact that I did not record the email address and password that I opened it with….I had no success (fortunately my daughter resolved the problem with youtube and it’s back on) – whew!…..I made three videos using photos of London and I watched an inordinate amount of telly!! Shame on me.

Oh and I also did my tax return….or should I say attempted to do my tax return! Got all the figures sorted, did the calculations and finally after three days of uhming and aaing I finally plucked up the courage and logged onto the site to complete the ruddy thing!!! only to be foiled at the post! I did not have an activation code! hahaha! for goodness sake. I was so determined to get the blasted thing in on time this year and avoid the penalty and hey ho! whadda you know!

So after a panicky call to the revenue offices I am now waiting for the code! Geez. If there is one thing in life I detest….it’s paying taxes. I don’t mind paying tax per se, but what I do mind is paying a ruddy great big chunk of my annual wages into a bank account over which I essentially have no control. I don’t really get to say how the money that I have worked 7 days a week for, gets spent! so having received my activation code yesterday I did the return and guess what? it turned out to be a whole lot easier to do than I thought. I was so stressed thinking about doing it. not that I am any happier about paying tax, but there you go, I am a citizen of the country so must pay.

If I did have any say…….the first thing I would do is make all the hotshot businessmen like the owner of a well-known High Street store pay their taxes in the UK or get out! It’s ridiculous that we have to pay in such a huge amount of money into the pot and the likes of them get to avoid it and yet they still have their businesses in the UK. I know that there is the argument about having to generate business blah blah blah, however it is still not right! And it’s all very well having lawyers and accountants to use the loop-holes to avoid tax, businesses in this country get many breaks and to avoid paying what they should pay is just not on.

Then I would cut off the tap of free money that all the lazy layabouts claim as benefits, then spend their time and our money playing on pinball machines! I totally agree that benefits are a good thing for people who are disabled and people who genuinely need the money, but I simply do not agree with the system of paying girls to have babies or for familes to claim so much by way of benefits that they take home more than I do in a year and yet they live in a fancy house (paid for by the council), have a car, flat-screen tv, have 6-8 kids, and claim for every possible thing that they can. I think the word should be changed to ‘assistance funds’, it’s not a benefit at all. I don’t understand why it’s called benefits…..benefit of what? Working? And of course the worst thing is that many of the claimants have NEVER worked a day in their lives…..yet they get paid regularly. Time for some changes me thinks!!!

Then I would do away with the hot-shot politicians claiming for all sorts of ridiculous expenses…..which as we have seen in the past year or so, they abuse to their hearts content. And it would seem that despite the new government and despite the promises made, politicians are still being told to claim for this and claim for that. I never got to claim a darn thing for doing my job! Do your job, you get paid for it.

So there we go. Whinge over. Hopefully I can get my mojo back soon and get back on the horse so to speak…..

04.02.11

…..and slowly but surely my mojo is returning. I think the promise of a break coming up next weekend has something to with it. I have also found renewed vigour for getting my business off the ground and working now. It’s really difficult trying to keep an eye on the ball when I am working a full time job (24 hours live-in) as well as helping my daughter out twice a week, and keeping my various social media platforms active….takes it’s toll.

However, the last few days have seen my mojo slowly reasserting itself and I have more energy. I am so excited that I finally managed to download the video I made onto youtube and so far it has had positive results. I am also re-planning my attempt to walk the Camino. Of course the main walk is through Europe and mainly in Spain but it does start here in the UK as well, so in the steps of Geoffrey Chaucer, I am planning to start the walk next weekend from Southwark which is where he started from and will follow the route he took, for which I found a map just a day ago!! 🙂 awesome. more on that later.

Other than that I have enrolled to do a stint for Marie Curie in March. I will be selling daffodils in Hampstead on the 11th between 1-2pm. Awesome! I have also enrolled to participate in the Big Issue Sleep-over on the 18th March. So lots happening! These will have to satisfy my wander-lust for now. 🙂

and the video that took up so much of my time. what a learning curve that was.

and so moving on…………..

Posted in It's my life | Tagged losing my mojo | Leave a Comment »

…a boy named Sue

January 20, 2011 by notjustagranny

…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!

Posted in Fun Stuff, It's my life | Tagged a boy named sue, squirrels in the garden in london | 5 Comments »

stepping back in time……..

January 15, 2011 by notjustagranny

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!

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 | 4 Comments »

our intrepid little squirrel

January 12, 2011 by notjustagranny

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!

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

geez…….

January 9, 2011 by notjustagranny

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.