London Calling

Sunday, 26 July 2015

My week on Instagram

First week back at work after my summer holidays - we are now into full on office move panic mode (!)

MY purrson!

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 18, 2015 at 9:45am PDT

The pure joy of a fabulous new book!

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 19, 2015 at 1:09pm PDT

Good morning London

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 20, 2015 at 11:55pm PDT

Sunshine on Blackheath

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 21, 2015 at 11:06pm PDT

Wedding Belle #maybeldner

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 23, 2015 at 12:04am PDT

Happy Friday!

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 24, 2015 at 2:16am PDT

346 pieces! #Lego

A photo posted by Nat (@themrsnatg) on Jul 25, 2015 at 3:59am PDT

Do come and follow me on Instagram or come back for next week's highlights.

#MySundayPhoto

The weather has been all over the place this week. There have been sunny blue skies to dismal overcast grey skies to persistent and even torrential rain.

On Friday I had to go to surgical appliances to get my shoe orthotics looked at. The problem, it turned out, was that I had the on not only upside down but also back to front. Getting this sorted out was such a relief, not least because of the walking that Friday seemed to accrue. The bus stop down the road was shut (a sink hole apparently) and there was no replacement so I had to shuffle all the way to the next stop (down and back up the hill).

After the hospital I stopped at the Co-Op in the Village, didn't find what I was looking for so walked off to the bus stop to go down to the Riverside Sainsbury's. Warren Walk (like a lot of the bus stops you hear announced as you go by) seems an odd name, When you walk to it you discover that like many it is named after an actual street (or in this case a passageway). Warren Walk disappears of down a hill and endless steps between walls and fences and under trees. Quite charming in its own urban way.

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

7/7 - Remembered

The morning of July 7th 2005 for Londoners is a seminal moment for those living and working in London. Like the moon landings or the assassination of JFK everyone remembers where they were, whether out in London or hearing the news at home or at work.

It was around nine o'clock on a Thursday morning. I was out of the office over in the Brick Lane area for a breakfast meeting, accompanying my boss. The meeting had started about 8am and we were heading back to our office just before 9am. As we left the offices we were visiting the receptionist wished us luck with our journey, she'd heard that there was a power outage or similar affecting the tube service.

You have to remember for a moment what the world was like back a decade ago. We didn't have smart phones, barely used the internet on cell phones. Mobile communications were very much about calls and text messages.

We left the offices and started walking back to Aldgate station, where we'd arrived an hour earlier, to take the Circle line back to Westminster. It became apparent almost immediately that what had happened was more than a power outage, it was abnormally quiet out on the streets. I think we must have managed to get through on the phone to our office to find out what had happened that morning.

My most overriding memory of the morning is that I was terrified. Terrorist events had always been in the background of my consciousness, my Mum worked in the City and there was an awareness of disruption through my childhood of IRA bombs and security alerts. I had never been so directly affected before. I remember standing on the street trying to get through on cell phones to let family know we were OK, and my legs were shaking. We gave up our travel efforts and went for a cup of coffee.

In the end our plan of action was to walk back to my boss's flat in Docklands from where he could give me a lift by car back to South East London. I measured the route later, it was a four mile walk (I was a lot more mobile a decade ago).

It was a surreal experience, walking through the streets (with occasional rain showers). It was quiet apart from other people similarly undertaking treks back homewards. Stoicism was the overriding mood that prevailed - a huge juxtaposition to the celebration of the previous day and the announcement of London being awarded the 2012 Olympics.

Sitting back at my boss's flat we were finally able to find out what had taken place that morning, with news cycles constantly evolving as more information came to light. It was, in the end, a short hop through the Tunnel home. We didn't open the office again until the following week, although it was over a year until I ventured back on the Tube.

7/7 Memorial in Hyde Park

Monday, 6 July 2015

I'm Back!

It has been rather a long time since I last posted. There is no good reason for this other than the pace of life. I had a bit of a health wobble back at Easter, but that only lasted about a week.

The problem has been the pressures of work. We're moving offices in the Autumn, we're also short staffed. This means that I've been working four days a week so the work/rest balance is a bit skewed. Then there has been the whole sulky laptop issue which means my home computer time has been minimised.

Now it is holiday time (yay!) so I have more leisure time, and I'm going to sort out my IT issues too.

Casper is pleased to be back too!

Thursday, 23 April 2015

National Pride

Flag of St George

There was a time when one of the most defining identities people had was their nationality. For king, for country. Under the flag.

This island, Great Britain, has been a melting pot of identities as far back as history is recorded.

Angles, Saxons, Romans, Vikings, French and many more besides.

After the Battle of Hastings in 1066 national identities began to coalesce and merge. Wales became part of the United Kingdom first in 1536, then Scotland in 1707, and finally Northern Ireland in 1922 (although previously the Kingdom of Ireland had been part of the Union since 1800).

Union Flag

We fly the Union Flag; which combines the flags of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland; at the time of the design Wales had been unified with England for long enough that St David didn't get a look in.

The Sovereign nation (which issues our passports) is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Dragon

Nationality seems to undergo waves of expansion and contraction. There are distinct trends of coming together (Nineteenth/Twentieth Centuries) and pulling apart (Twentieth/Twenty-first Centuries).

St George

The bigger the world gets with fast, efficient transportation and free flow of information the less national identity seems to matter to most people.

Once a year we still celebrate our national identity. For sovereign nations that is often the Country's saints day and for Republics it is the anniversary of the independence (either from Monarch or Empire) of that Country.

So in England we celebrate St George; installed as the Patron Saint of the Nation by Edward III St George isn't English (born in Palestine) and he never killed a dragon (he was a Roman soldier who was martyred).

Sunday, 15 March 2015

Gin Festival

Yesterday I took a trip to Milton Keynes to go to a Gin Festival. Anyone who is fond of particular tipples may have been to one of these festivals.

Having bought your ticket you arrive at the venue and buy tokens which enable you to try different brands at various bars around the room. There were also some sponsors/exhibitors giving talks (and free samples) and an off licence selling gin and souvenirs ("Life's too short for single gins").

I went with a similarly gin inclined friend and we had huge fun trying different gins and planning our future excursion to Sipsmiths London distillery!

Tone of the day for public transport

Street art caught my eye

Start the day with great coffee

Gin #1 (Rock Rose)

Gin #2 (Batch Premium)

@GinFestival

Sipsmith's Swan (Graham?)

Unusual hygiene notice!

Time to shop?

Fever-tree tonic (lots of it - Elderflower & Mediterranean are great)

So much gin, so little time

Gin #3 (Steam Punk)

Gin #4 (Elderflower Warner Edwards)

Gin #5 (Sipsmith V.J.O.P)

Lecture Theatre (really!)

Shopping time!

Walt behaving himself on the train

My gin collection (middle bottle bought yesterday)

Attendance badge

Tote to bring home swag

Gin literature

I had a fantastic day out, tried some really great gin (and one that I didn't like so much) and even learned a few things about both gin and tonic.

I'd go again, although possibly be more organised and not go all the way to Milton Keynes!

Friday, 27 February 2015

Photo fun

I own a lot of cameras. There is one on my cell phone (which as it is made by Samsung is a pretty good camera), there is my Samsung compact and there is my Sony DSLR.

Original photo

Edited photo

It's not just making my cat's eyes greener and glow brighter; there is making a good photo better and more compelling.

Original photo

Edited photo

I had a lot of great photography tips today from a chap I met whilst buying a photography magazine in WHSmiths. Hints and tips on what to buy, how to compose photos and apps for my phone. One of the better monthly shop experiences.