London In January

 I had been looking forward to our post Christmas trip to London so much and      the weekend did not disappoint.

We had a plan, which we stuck to, and it all worked out rather well.

We took the tube to Notting Hill and walked in the direction of Portabello Road as we wanted to wander the market.

As I'm sure you can imagine the housing in this area is all extremely desirable.

The previous residence of one George Orwell was up for sale in 2012, you can view the details here.

 I can't imagine how busy this stretch of road is in the summer as even on a cold Saturday in January it was absolutely heaving. Everywhere you look there is something which catches your eye.

We weren't really there for shopping but the riot of colour which is Alice's couldn't be ignored and

had money been no object then the soda syphons and this sign would have come home with us.

Even the door was a work of art.

As well as spending some time in a part of London we haven't visited before the other reason we were here is because we were going to visit the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Design. Using our rail tickets were we able to make use of the 2 for 1 deal on the entrance fee.

No photography is allowed inside otherwise this post would be chock full of photos.

We spent ages in here. 

It was so interesting. 

We spent ages pointing at things we recognised from when we were children. Packets of sweets, yogurts, breakfast cereal, tins of soup, household cleaning products, shampoo, toys and games,  I could go on and on.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit, not just for a stroll down memory lane to remind you of things you had forgotten but also for the informative displays on items from other decades such as the children's board games from World War I.

Fascinating.

From here we took the DLR to Greenwich where we had booked into a Travelodge.

We managed to get a seat in the very end of the train and as we came up from being underground the skyline of London opened up in front of us and we the most perfect clear view of it.

An unexpected and very welcome treat.

The reason we stayed in Greenwich was so on Sunday morning we would be right on hand for making our way to the Maritime museum for soon after opening. 

We had tickets for the Emma Hamilton exhibition.

Actually before I continue with that, I must give a mention to the cafe where we had breakfast. Should you ever be in the area and in need of refreshment then try The Plumtree Cafe.

We didn't really have time to explore Greenwich which is a shame if there are other parts which are just as elegant as the Queen Elizabeth College Almhouses.

Although we did make a little stop at the vintage market in case there were any gems of the vinyl kind for G.

 He left empty handed but I found a birthday gift for a friend which was an unexpected bonus.

 So then it was on to the museum I must admit I was feeling very excited by the time we got there. I mean just look at this place.

I got a bit giddy with it all which I think probably explains my rather jaunty stance by the huge anchor at the entrance!

The exhibition was wonderful.

Whilst travelling home from Salisbury on the train last year we had seen a poster advertising the exhibition which said 

Emma Hamilton was one of the most famous international celebrities of her time and her life is the ultimate costume drama. Now largely remembered as the woman who captured the heart of the nation’s hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson, Emma was an extraordinary woman in her own right. Find out all in our dazzling new exhibition and events season.

So what did we find out about Emma?

Emma was born in Cheshire andwent to London when she 12.

She was became the muse of George Romney who painted her dozens of times.

She was the mistress of Charles Greville who then persuaded his uncle Sir William Hamilton to have her live with him in Naples once he needed to settle down to married life.

Emma and William eventually married, there was an age difference of 35 years.

Emma became fluent in Italian and French and developed a series of dances inspired by classical art which were known as The Attitudes.

Emma became a close friend of Queen Maria Carolina, the sister of Marie Antoinette.

Emma met Nelson in 1793 but their affair did not start until a few years later.

Emma gave birth to their daughter Horatia in 1801.

Sir William died in 1803 and Nelson in 1805.

Emma spent time in a debtors prison due to financial difficulties before fleeing to France  where she died in 1815 aged 49.

We had spent quite a while in the exhibition and there really wasn't any time left for further exploration of Greenwich museum. My mum was staying with T and S and we were mindful of having to be back home.

So it was back through the main hall where we just had to spend a few minutes looking at all the colourful figureheads

before heading back on the DLR to Canary Wharf and then on to Waterloo and home.

Open House London 2016

Each time the Open House London weekend rolls around I think 'that would be an interesting event to take part in'. Well, when I read about it recently I thought let's stop thinking about it and actually do it.

So a cheap Travelodge was booked for our over night stay and I spent a little time on the website looking at places to visit.

As S was coming with us I couldn't try and cram too much in so I roughed out the shape of a plan and off we went early Saturday morning.

On route to our first planned stop we walked past what was the Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women and admired the beautiful carved faces which adorned the old walls.

As we walked on over the bridge we had a great view of the Starflyer ride. I bet it's a real adrenaline rush being on that.

Who doesn't enjoy spotting some of London's tall landmarks.

Once over Waterloo bridge we nipped through Somerset House and found an interesting stainless steel art installation. Walking through it was like being in a hall of mirrors as they distorted your body shape and you saw yourself reflected at unexpected angles

and when you stood up from being sat on it the metal rebounded and made a noise like a clap of thunder.

Love this of G and S.

We had seen quite a bit before we had reached our intended first stop but not long after we arrived at our destination. The Royal Courts of Justice.

Having seen the outside of this building umpteen times on the news I found it quite exciting to actually be going inside it. Once inside and past the security checks you are greeted by it's architect, George Edmund Street.

The lady I approached at the enquiry desk was very helpful and gave us an information sheet and a quiz for S to do.

Just look at the view of the main hall from the first floor balcony, it is just as grand as a building built for it's important role should be

and the floor is given special treatment too, covered in hand laid mosaic tiles.

We got to go inside some of the courtrooms where photography isn't allowed and into the Painted room where it is allowed. Such a stunning room, decked out in rich Victorian reds and greens.

In stark contrast to this we also got to see the cells, we were shown examples of meals those in custody are offered, we could try on handcuffs and see inside the vans which bring those being bought to court would arrive in.

There is also a display of robes and wigs and a chance to try some on. This is the kind of thing I love but unfortunately there was a small queue and certain people were getting hungry and so we gave it a miss.

And this is where we ate our lunch, at the back of the building with not one but four red phone boxes in a row

As a bonus we were treated to the sight of two mounted policemen clip clopping past us.

Before I share our next stop here are a few highlights from our walk to reach it.
An incredibly narrow home called The Wee House

a striking look chap covering a water pipe, a pretty art nouveau lady pub sign, Jessica Ennis-Hill and a multitude of bird boxes in a small neighbourhood garden.

Our next venue was Hoxton Hall. My two grainy photos do not do the interior justice so please check out the link to the website to see it in it's true splendour. The little tour we were given was by Boris the Participation Manager and his love and enthusiasm for the music hall shone through. He told us how the building had been through a period of restoration due to a 2 million pound grant by the lottery fund and how the hall is still very much being used for the community.
Laurel and Hardy once graced the stage here and it was wonderful to be in a place where they had entertained the crowds and try to imagine the atmosphere of those evenings when a night out to see the latest variety acts was the thing to do.

And so ended Day 1.

Day 2 was to be spent in Hampstead. We had a couple of options lined up as you never know how busy a place will be until you get there.

But thankfully when we got to Fenton House we were able to go straight in. This 17th century merchant's house is definitely the kind of home you could imagine people living in. This is the view from the main entrance gates.

Having said I could imagine people living in it, the one thing I was disappointed with is that it wasn't overly furnished. These were my favourite pieces. The house is home to a collection of early keyboard instruments but I would have much preferred to see the attic rooms and other bedrooms filled with furniture that would have made it more of a lived in home.

The real gem of Fenton House is it's garden.

Walking through a hedge you emerge to topiary lollypop trees of holly and huge terracotta tubs planted with fig trees.

The green house is picture perfect although it must be well used as the garden provides an abundance of produce.

Around every corner there is a little bench, just right to sit quietly and enjoy the view or strike daft poses for photos.

All to soon it was time to think about returning home, passing on the way to the tube station this sweet little house

and a row of shops including a florist which had the prettiest pale hydrangeas on display.

It really was a fabulous weekend.

Nothing To Report

Last Tuesday morning I woke up with a sore throat. 

By the end of the morning I felt so cold that when I went to work I was wearing three layers of clothing.

As the afternoon progressed a cough developed and my head was pounding by the time I left at 6.45pm.

Once home I went straight to bed.

And that is where I stayed, more or less, until Saturday morning.

On arriving home from school on Wednesday T came into my bedroom to ask how I was feeling.

He shone the light from his tablet towards me and declared ' you look infected' and left me in peace.

Nice.

So I don't have much to report really and certainly there aren't any photos of me looking 'infected' from last week to share either.
Hurrah I hear you say!
Instead here is one from February of me and my Mr A next to the Gainsborough painting of the (slightly!) more famous Mr and Mrs Andrews. Although you can possibly see the attractive swelling on my right eye lid from some kind of allergic reaction I had for 4 weeks.
Picture of health me aren't I?! 
Here's hoping to catch up with Blogland over the coming week and hoping all is well with everyone else.

Holiday A-Z

Thank you for the recommendations of places to visit whilst we were away and for the happy holiday wishes.

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon from our week in Sheringham and although in the end we didn't venture much further than the beach we had lots of fun over the week.

I have decided to do an A-Z of our week, although it has to be said some examples are more tenuous than others, to record as many things as possible, so this is going to be a photo heavy post.

A is for Artwork. Both G and I like the art work of the old railway advertising posters and so a print of Sheringham was the ideal holiday momento for us to bring home.

Along the prom at Sheringham is an Art Trail recording aspects of living by the sea, animals living in the sea and seaside activities like eating ice cream! I wish I had taken more photos of it, but I managed one of the seals.

One of my favourite photos because of the different textures, I love the sun Bleached colour of the wood.

On our way to the beach each day we had to pass a row of the prettiest houses and this one on the corner had a Conservatory on the back. I really like the duck egg blue it's been painted and then the seaside sign and bunting just make it look so jolly. Shame about the buddleia, a rambling rose would have been nicer but now I'm just being picky!

With my blogging head on, now D is for Doors. I know there are many who, like me, like an attractively painted door so here are two for your delectation.

When the tide goes out at Sheringham there is such an Expanse of sandy beach and the water was warm enough for some paddling too. 

Fish and chips, eaten for tea on the sea front on our first night. Just had to be done, it's the law on holiday!

As well as being a good blogger and snapping away at random doors, there was also plenty of attractive stained Glass. These windows were on a building in Ipswich.

On our many strolls along the prom I tried to have a good (but hopefully not to obvious) nosy inside some of the beach Huts. Some were really pretty kitted out in CK accessories and other such goodies.

T's eldest brother is going to uni in September and so is now living in Ipswich so we went and visited him on Monday. It was our first visit to the city and although it has it's fair share of grand buildings, such as the old Post Office below, we didn't think it's as attractive as Norwich. 

We also went out for the day on Tuesday. Hopping just two stops on the train down to Cromer where I busied myself on the beach.

This is the Keyhole to the cottage we stayed in. Random I know but it had to be included as when we arrived T opened the door and commented to me he knew I would like it, he knows me so well!

This sign on the Launderette just down the road from our cottage really made G chuckle when he first saw it. Never mind all the local attractions, this is THE reason to visit North Norfolk.

A beautiful Mosaic spotted as we walked past the entrance to one of the hotels in Cromer.

Something else I could have possibly used under 'A' for advertising but I decided to use as N for Nippy.

The Oddest thing to have been spotted this week was Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in someone's garden.

Cromer Pier. We didn't wander down it, I did suggest it but others had pressing needs such as finding somewhere to buy an ice cream.

Quite a lot of the houses had pebbles over the front of them, excellent natural protection against the elements so close to the sea and it looks so good too. This is the house with the lovely conservatory and bunting.

Red poppies were everywhere, down by the sea, in the churchyard at Cromer, on the war memorial in Sheringham and the local steam railway is named the Poppy Line.

S is for our beautiful S, looking suitable happy in full holiday mode with one of the many ice creams she consumed over the week. 

And T is for a very handsome and very happy T who as we were leaving Sheringham and made a dash to the supermarket to make sure we had lunch to eat for our journey home, finally found a bottle of cola with his name on it! 

As I have mentioned before finding things with the children's names on is extremely difficult. So imagine how surprised and thrilled we were when coming up from the Underground at Victoria we saw this shop. S's birth parents chose her name and the spelling without the H on the end makes it even more unusual.

A View of Sheringham beach one morning, with the tide in, as we took a stroll looking for a place to spend our the day.

We started our holiday with a one night stop off in London as on the Friday night G had booked for us to go and see Wicked. It's something we have all wanted to see for a while and what a fantastic way it was to kick off our time away. A fabulous show with some great songs. 

This was an eXtremely strange find. I bought this very same bangle in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago for 99p and nearly fell over when I spotted it in the window of a vintage shop for £22. The shop was closed but I went back a day or two later and asked the owner about it. He said it was made from lucite which is why he had priced so high. I just thought it was something cheap and cheerful from somewhere like Primark.

Y is for Yummy milkshake but it's really just a good way of getting in one of my favourite photos of T from the week. He doesn't really do smiling and posing for the camera but I managed to snap this whilst he was talking to his brother and he didn't realise I was taking it.

There were a lot of people in Sheringham with dogs. I don't know whether there are a lot of dog owners locally or whether it's a particularly dog friendly holiday destination but there were lots of them. We didn't meet many cats, probably they are wise to the dog situation and stay well out of the way, like this one enjoying a few zzzzzzz's.

As well as the places above we did also manage a trip to Norwich on Friday to see T's nan. Given the reason for our last visit there it felt a little strange this time round but it was important we went.
There were so many more places we could have gone but as the children were happy to go down to the beach we just kept things simple. Although one afternoon when G's mum had a hospital appointment and he needed a signal on his mobile to check in with her, he and T took a walk high up along the coastal path.
It was a lovely week with lots of sunshine and a fab start to the summer holidays.