Scenes from my journey

Shadow of a lamp-post in Parliament Square

Evening Trees

Last rays of sun at St James's Park

Ready for the Royal Wedding

It's Channel 4!

Crossing Vauxhall Bridge

Wisteria

More Wisteria

Artistic tin sheeting

The Shard still growing

Deptford

Sofa has landed!

This morning there was a big hole where our old sofa used to be. The amazing Better-half had managed (all by himself) to manhandle the old one out of the living room all by himself.

There was a big space in the hall as well... all the furniture out there had to be moved to allow passage for the old and new sofas. The cats were quite interested for about five minutes but then they got bored and found better things to do.

But here is the new sofa. Amazingly a little smaller than the old one but it seats three instead of two! And the best bit of all... it does this! I'd forgotten what it looked like - it has been months coming. But it is so comfortable. There is lumbar support and a headrests, and somewhere to rest aching limbs... I love our new sofa!

Tinker, however, is bored already!

Kitten moments

Being an outside cat is very tiring!

Disguised as a stuffed toy!

My boys!

Such very different little characters.

Tinker likes to be with people all the time - he complains if he's shut out, and he likes to sleep on me whenever possible.
 
Casper on the other hand is a free spirit. He'll take you or leave you (although he's a man's cat as he'll spend more time with my better-half). Hard to believe sometimes that they're my little twins!

More kitten walking

There's birds on that roof! They're taunting me! "Squeak" said Tinker.

Dead fuchsia's are very good for scratching faces!

 I like playing in the dirt. This is like scratching in the litter tray. You can do things here the same thing as in the litter tray. My little boy takes his first outside toilet trip - all grown up!

There are still birds on that roof though! I'm trying to teach him birds we like (blackbirds, thrushes, tits) and birds we don't like (magpies and herons). He did sit on the blanket box the other morning and tell me the heron was on the netting, so he is learning!

There is one of those annoying birds. I'd like to play with those I think! Their feathers sure are fun to chase around... so are bugs, and spiders, and bees, and leaves...

Casper still won't come out of the house. Although he was very interested in the strange smells of his brother when his brother came back inside - and gave him a good going over from tip of nose to tip of tail.

Occasional Tourist - Jubilee Line

The Occasional Tourist takes a trip on the Jubilee Line extension.

Another weekend of sport on the horizon

We start on Saturday with two FA Cup Semi-finals. All the four teams making their way down from up North to Wembley - Manchesters United and City on Saturday to be followed by Stoke and Bolton on Sunday. Arsenal and Liverpool are also playing on Sunday - and don't forget of course Charlton are at home to Huddersfield.

Then on Sunday there is also the Chinese Grand-Prix (the last that we'll have to watch 'as live' for a good while). We'll have to wait even longer in my house as Celtic are playing a cup-semi final against Aberdeen which Rich won't miss for an early run of the Grand-Prix!

There is also, of course, the London Marathon on Sunday too. I doubt (on the basis of recent weekends) I'll make it out of bed in time to see any of the runners go past the end of our street - we're not far from the mile and a half marker so they come by quite early. I support them all in spirit though - especially all the fund-raisers running to raise money for the various MS charities.

Pagaentry

Unless you've been living under a rock you can't have failed to notice that there is a Royal Wedding coming up in just under a fortnight. You certainly can't fail to notice in the Mayfair/St James's/Westminster area of London which is ready getting all the finery ready.

Night out in Mayfair

Something I always wanted to do was to be invited to dine at one of the West End's Private Members' Dining Clubs. I was lucky enough to get such an invite for tonight. Looking just like any other building in the street these buildings are carefully understated.

Inside they are amazing. Not changed probably since Victorian times. Black and white checker floor tiles; heavy wood panelling; landscape paintings in ornate gilt frames and heavy drapes.

The food wasn't the whole story (although it was very good) - meeting new acquaintances at dinner, interesting chats - and a talk after the meal finished. It was a wonderful evening out!

Favourite spot

Very clean kitten!

Tinker's favourite spot when he isn't cuddling on the sofa; "his" chair.

Kitten walking

Exploring my kingdom

Summer is on the way... well this Spring feels like Summer. The kittens are nearly one year old. It's time to go outside. As we have a large garden and are quite near the main road we're starting gently. Taking walks on leads. We - well me or the Better-half and Tinker. Casper is a scaredy-cat (literally) jumps a mile if anyone opens a door and resolutely refuses to set foot outside. He was very interested in the strange smell of Tinker on his return though - Tinker had a good roll in the dirt!

Posing for the camera!

Eating grass comes naturally

Water fascination continues

Moments before we discovered the table can't take cats

Casper the cowardly cat keeps an eye on his brother

The ones who didn't make it

Another year, another Grand National. Two horses dead during the race. I torture myself each year watching the race, heart in my mouth, holding my breath every time there are fallers at a jump.

A moment's silence for Ornais fell at the fourth and Dooney's Gate who fell at Beecher's Brook; both fences were skipped on the second lap of the race as tragically both horses were fatally injured.

Occasional Tourist

The Occasional Tourist visits One New Change

They're back!

Welcome back!

Hello there!

I love spring! My amphibian friends who spend the winter hiding away under rocks and in the bottom of ponds have all reappeared. They have already started repopulating the pond with tadpoles, and are once again to be found wandering (toads really do wander) around the garden again at night.

What do you think, shall we get in?

Just taking a break!

Spring sunrise

Time to turn down the heat

Spring has arrived with unseasonably warm weather, it could almost be summer - so of course the central boiler in our building is still on and the radiators (most of which you can't adjust because the knobs are stuck) are pumping out heat. Perfect start to Spring.

Favourite Books (2)

The revenge of MS meant that I spent most of today asleep, so I haven't seen much of the world.

Another dose of my favourite books then. Last time I was listing my favourites from when I was very young - the books that your parents read to you from.

Next are the books when I was still quite young.

Enid Blyton was a big favourite, whether the Famous Five solving their mysteries or the at school with the girls at Malory Towers or St Clare's.

Little Women and the sequels, What Katy Did and the sequels; all inherited from my mother also big favourites.



My reading fare at this point was very traditional. Were people writing children's books then? If they were I wasn't reading them!

School libraries introduced me to Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie and the Chalet School Stories. Noel Streatfield was another favourite, also inherited from my mother whose family had lived 'down the road' (in countryside terms) from the Streatfields. Frances Hodgson Burnett, Peter Pan and the Water Babies. Good solid books with good solid values. I still have copies of many of them and still read them on occasion like 'comfort food' when I'm not feeling well.

I did sometimes read totally age inappropriate books found on the shelves in my parents spare room. I remember using a paragraph from "Gone with the Wind" for a handwriting exercise at Primary School when asked to use a book that we were currently reading (it was the lovely bit at the beginning when Scarlett is on the porch with the two boys talking about the upcoming party). James Bond also found his way into my appetite at this point; as did Agatha Christie. Lucky they weren't very big bookshelves.

Favourite Books (3) coming soon will move into the teenage years!

Mother's Day

To my Mum, to my Gran, to my nearly-mother-in-law and to all my friends who are themselves now mothers - Happy Mother's Day.

You are all amazing!

A different view

This is what my blog usually looks like if you type in the URL.

Blogger has gone all dynamic and now there are a number of new ways to view a blog!

But maybe you'd rather have the 'Timeslide' which is rather like reading a newspaper.

Or perhaps the 'snapshot' view which represents all the photos from the posts.

Or maybe 'sidebar' is more to your taste - which is a nice clean layout showing one post at a time with a list of others down the side.

My favourite is 'mosaic' which makes a collage of photos from all the posts.

United Guilds Service

Looking up the nave

The dome of St Paul's

Every year the Livery Companies of the City of London hold a service at St Paul's Cathedral. My mother, who used to work for one of the Companies, got us tickets for the service. I'd only once been to a service at St Paul's before (much smaller), and this occasion was amazing. The procession at the start of the service included the Dean and Chapter, the Choir, the Bishop of London, assorted Masters and Clerks of the Companies (all in their best gowns), and the Princess Royal who is Master of the Butcher's Company this year. Before this was some fine organ playing and the procession was heralded by a fanfare from members of the Household Cavalry. 

The experience of being part of this was amazing, I especially enjoyed listening to the choir who beautifully chanted a psalm and sung an anthem - but also enjoyed singing the hymns... one of which was one of my favourites "My song is love unknown".

The aftermath of lunch

One of the chandeliers at the hall

Afterwards we had lunch at the Plaisterers' Livery Hall. This is not just a few sandwiches but a formal sit down meal - three courses, each accompanied by a different wine... and there is a champagne reception before you sit down. The food was great, the wine fine, and even the speeches just the right balance for the audience. A tiring day, I don't have any smart flat shoes so I had to wear heels... and the walk to and from the Cathedral and all the standing a sitting certainly wore me out!