Sunday 28 September 2014

Sunday Social (121)

Social Sunday

Linking up with Ashley and Neely

1. What is your favorite magazine to read?
You'd think with my attention span that magazines would be my ideal read, but I really don't read them much. I'm too old for Cosmopolitan, not interested enough in celebrities for Hello! or OK... I don't mind Good Housekeeping (but it's odd to read the same magazine as my Mother and Mother-in-Law). There doesn't seem to be a woman's magazine for the demographic I'm in and the country I live in!

2. What is the best thing you’ve seen online lately?
I spend a lot of my time online on Twitter (and to a lesser extent Facebook). I have so many articles in Pocket and my email waiting to be read it is shameful (really shameful). It is probably a video with cats in I should think!

3. What is your favorite celebrity to follow on Instagram or Twitter?
I don't. I am not a celebrity person. I'd rather see things from people I know or have met online. People who might actually have a conversation with me. I am not in the least interested in the doings of somebody who is famous for fifteen minutes for whatever TV show I didn't watch or single I never heard. The closest I come is the author Tom Cox (brilliant trilogy of books about his life with his cats). He has two excellent Twitter accounts @MYSADCAT and @MYSMUGCAT two of the stars of his books - The Bear and Ralph respectively. 

4. Is there one article of clothing no matter what the season you can’t help but love?
Not really. I wear the same clothes to work or at home - it just depends on the weather. I stopped really buying clothes for any reason other than I needed the when I was in my mid-twenties. Having said all that I am excessively fond of quite a lot of my scarves and jackets - but that can't count as whatever the season as they can't be worn in summer!

5. Do you prefer email or snail mail?
Snail Mail all the way. I love to receive letters and cards (especially from the small children I know!) - and a dialogue is much more likely that way! I spend all my day at work with computers... and as I only work three days at week it is really intense. Whilst I spend a lot of time with Twitter and Facebook I really get email overload. I take time to reply to emails unless they seem massively urgent - and that is assuming I have actually read them.



Sunday 21 September 2014

Sunday Social (120)

Social Sunday

Linking up with Ashley and Neely


1. What is your favorite part of fall?
The last few years in England it has been pretty hard to tell when Summer finishes and Autumn starts, and indeed if we don't miss out Autumn altogether and go straight to Winter!

2. Do you have anything special planned for fall?
We are excited this year to be going to not one, not two but three NFL games at Wembley! NFL is the bottom line in Autumn as it finishes (apart from the Superbowl) before Christmas and the dark days of winter, so it is very much an Autumn thing for us. I also have my other big chunk of leave for the year to enjoy the "Fall Classic" (i.e. the World Series); at the same time of this Husband and I have some sightseeing left over from the too hot days of summer to finish up - another trip to the National History Museum, maybe the zoo (again) and to see the sea of poppies at the Tower of London.

These are photos from the second game last year where the Jaguars were playing...

NFL13Oct

An album by nat_grove
SAM_2877SAM_2879SAM_2882
SAM_2873SAM_2874
SAM_2875SAM_2876
SAM_2883SAM_2885

3. What is fall like in your area?
Leaves everywhere (really everywhere) and a conker massacre at the end of the street. Kids don't play conkers anymore and they sit on the street, get kicked to the road and crushed by traffic. The squirrels take full advantage of the bounty and are seen burying them all over any lawn in range. Both Husband and I have been subject to direct hits on the head from the Horse Chestnut tree and its conkers!


4. What is your favorite football team to cheer for (college or professional)?
Big Blue! New York Giants. College football it's the Gators (I saw them on TV, I liked the Gator on their helmets!). I also have a soft spot for the Jets and the Jaguars (who are referred to in this house as the Gators Big Brothers). The Jaguars are the official home team at Wembley again this year... get to enjoy lots of Jaguar publicity.



5. Do you decorate for fall? Show us pics!
No, only for Hallow'een. I'm a huge pumpkin carving fan! (See below last year's pair)

IMG_6684



Tuesday 16 September 2014

#IChallengeMS (Tour 2)

JustGiving - Sponsor me now!
September is the MS Society’s month of fund-raising, carrying the hashtag #IChallengeMS to improve social media visibility. One month to give something up, take something up, or just do something to raise money.

My challenge is to visit the 41 churches in the City of London (bonus points for ruins and gardens that occupy former sites and non-Anglican churches!). Today was my first batch, and I visited thirteen churches… I'm now back on target.

St Mary Abchurch had a beautiful domed ceiling; and some gorgeous wood furnishing. My favourite were the lion and the unicorn facing off near the sanctuary - waiting to chase each other all around the town?!

Church 8

An album by nat_grove
St Mary Abchurch
St Mary AbchurchSt Mary AbchurchSt Mary Abchurch
St Mary AbchurchSt Mary Abchurch
St Mary AbchurchSt Mary Abchurch
St Mary AbchurchSt Mary Abchurch

St Clement Eastcheap is a solid looking church. The most startling feature of the church is undoubtedly the sky-blue ceiling.

Church 9

An album by nat_grove
St Clement Eastcheap
St ClementSt ClementSt Clement
St ClementSt Clement
St ClementSt Clement
St ClementSt Clement

St Peter-upon-Cornhill is tucked away off the main street. No access to the inside the day that I was there as it is now a private study centre. The churchyard/garden is a peaceful area.

Church 10

An album by nat_grove
St Peter Upon Cornhill
St Peter Upon CornhillSt Peter Upon Cornhill
St Peter Upon CornhillSt Peter Upon Cornhill

St Michael Cornhill is on the main street, but the church has been subsumed by the city surrounding it leaving a small but impressive entrance as the only real indication to the church behind

Church 11

An album by nat_grove
St Michael Cornhill
St Michael CornhillSt Michael CornhillSt Michael Cornhill
St Michael CornhillSt Michael Cornhill
St Michael CornhillSt Michael Cornhill
St Michael CornhillSt Michael Cornhill
St Lawrence Jewry (after St Paul's Cathedral) is probably one of the churches I have passed most in my travels around the City... I'd never been inside before though. One of the more visited churches thanks to the location adjacent to Guildhall.

Church 12

An album by nat_grove
St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence JewrySt Lawrence JewrySt Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence JewrySt Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence JewrySt Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence JewrySt Lawrence Jewry
St Anne and St Agnes is a very Dutch looking church. No longer in use regularly as a church but now a concert venue, so another one not open when I came to visit.

Church 13

An album by nat_grove
St Anne and St Agnes
St Anne and St AgnesSt Anne and St Agnes
St Anne and St AgnesSt Anne and St Agnes
It is easy to imagine in this corner of London what the concentration of churches must have been like before the Great Fire of London decimated the area and so many weren't rebuilt. A stones throw from St Lawrence and St Anne is St Botolph. There are (and/or were) a few St Botolphs so the "without-Aldersgate" giving its location differentiates from the others. This method is often used, either indicating a physical location or the Ward in which the church is sited. St Botolph had the builders in when I was there so I didn't go inside. Again I've been to a service there, so I have seen the beautiful interior.

Church 14

An album by nat_grove
St Botolph-without-Aldersgate
St Botolph-without-Aldersgate
St Botolph-without-AldersgateSt Botolph-without-Aldersgate
St Botolph-without-AldersgateSt Botolph-without-Aldersgate

St Vedast alias Foster (excellent name) was holding a service when I got there, so I didn't disturb them by going inside. I have actually been inside before as it is very near where my Mum used to work, and on the way from Cheapside to London Wall.

Church 15

An album by nat_grove
St Vedast alias Foster
St Vedast Alias FosterSt Vedast Alias Foster
St Vedast Alias FosterSt Vedast Alias Foster
St Vedast Alias FosterSt Vedast Alias Foster
Heading back up to Cheapside and walking back along towards the Bank of England brings us to St Mary-le-Bow - the bells of which are credited with turning Dick Whittington back to London; are the bells which, if born within the sound of, makes a true cockney and are the end of the children's rhyme "Oranges and Lemons" - 'I do not know says the great bell of Bow'.

Church 16

An album by nat_grove
St Mary-le-Bow
St Mary-le-BowSt Mary-le-BowSt Mary-le-Bow
St Mary-le-BowSt Mary-le-Bow
St Mary-le-BowSt Mary-le-Bow
St Mary-le-BowSt Mary-le-Bow
St Mary Aldermary is another church passed often and never visited. Recently refurbished it has a very modern interior (try and pop by at Christmas and see the lights of the nearby lanes light it up at night). Now home not only to a church but also a cafe (the lemon -poppy seed cake is my personal recommendation).

Church 17

An album by nat_grove
St Mary Aldermary
St Mary AldermarySt Mary AldermarySt Mary Aldermary
Host @ St Mary AldermaryHost @ St Mary Aldermary
Host @ St Mary AldermarySt Mary Aldermary
St Mary AldermarySt Mary Aldermary
Across the road and down the hill is St James Garlickhythe. Another church closed for the day. I have been inside there a very long time ago. Back when I was a choirister for reasons that have been lost in the mists of time our church choir boarded a minibus and sang at a wedding there! I particularly like the statue of the bargemaster and the swan.

Church 18

An album by nat_grove
St James Garlickhythe
St James GarlickhytheSt James GarlickhytheSt James Garlickhythe
St James GarlickhytheSt James Garlickhythe
St James GarlickhytheSt James Garlickhythe
St James Garlickhythe


Heading back up the hill and along Queen Victoria Street brings you to St Nicholas Cole Abbey. Another church that is very modern on the inside. Home again to a coffee shop; The Wren won best new coffee shop in London's Coffee Shop Awards 2014. They have the same sofa supplier as Host at St Mary Aldermary!

Church 19

An album by nat_grove
St Nicholas Cole Abbey
The Wren @ St Nicholas Cole AbbeyThe Wren @ St Nicholas Cole AbbeyThe Wren @ St Nicholas Cole Abbey
The Wren @ St Nicholas Cole AbbeyThe Wren @ St Nicholas Cole Abbey
The Wren @ St Nicholas Cole AbbeyThe Wren @ St Nicholas Cole Abbey
St Nicholas Cole AbbeySt Nicholas Cole Abbey

Last stop of the day; and really because of the location and difficulties more than anything was St Benet. On the wrong side of Queen Victoria Street it is accessible from where I was only by a steep set of steps down to a subway system. With nobody else about Walt-the-Walker and I made the trip down, only to find the church closed. So we went back up the steps - and made a rude observation to the church on our return to Queen Victoria Street!

Church 20

An album by nat_grove
St Benet
St BenetSt BenetSt Benet
St BenetSt Benet
St BenetSt Benet
St BenetSt Benet
To keep up the pace I'll be off again on Friday so watch this space!