London

We've been away for a couple of nights.

S had another hospital appointment in Cambridge, G had a ticket to see Rush at the 02 and with school inset days and half term looming we thought we would combine the whole lot and stay in London.

We booked two nights in the Travelodge at Bethnal Green.

Very easy access for G coming back from the 02, it was five minutes walk from the Tube station, the staff were really friendly and the family room was a good size.

There are lots of photos but I want to record as much as possible.

Our first stop was the Museum of Childhood. It's part of the V&A and is free. There was something in there for everyone. G and I walked round saying 'Oh I remember that' and there are more modern day items that S and T also recognise.

I really like this chandelier hanging in the entrance made from various kitchen utensils, genius!

Everyone liked the sensory section which had panels containing lots of different textures to run your hands over and lots of lights constantly changing colour.

The dolls house collection is worth the visit on it's own. There aren't a huge number but what they have is stunning. These huge houses made for the children of wealthy families must have cost a fortune. The oldest one is from 1673. The detail in them is staggering.

The red cracker is from the 1920's and still has it's original contents intact as it has never been used. Great for the museum to have but such a shame it was never used and enjoyed.

This little girl's dress was made during the war. The information card states how the mother of the little girl sat up all night making this patchwork dress for her so she would have something 'new' to wear to a birthday party she had been invited to.

The highlight of our visit was a game of draughts between me and T. We have loads of different board games here at home but we've never played draughts. It was really good fun seeing him planning his moves and with a bit of help from G he beat me! I think we need to buy a draught set now for the re-match. It's a game I used to play with my sisters for hours.

The building the museum is housed in is lovely. There is a cafe on the ground floor which we didn't use as we had not long eaten our breakfast. Well worth a visit all round.

From Bethnal we hopped on a bus which dropped us by the Gherkin

and from there we took another to Trafalgar Square. By now it was heading towards lunchtime and so we thought we would try the cafe just down the round from where G used to work when he travelled to London each day, only to find it wasn't there anymore! Plan B was another little sandwich shop he used to go to which thankfully was still there as by then we were pretty wet from the rain.

Our destination after lunch was the London Museum of Film. Using vouchers we had downloaded from the internet combined with showing our train tickets we were able to make use of a buy one get one free admission cost for an adult and a child ticket.
Now if I'm being totally honest although it was enjoyable and interesting in parts and it worked in well with the rest of our plans because we needed to be in this part of the City for later on in the afternoon, it's not somewhere I would recommend as a must-see. The way the exhibits are on show does not flow well, some things are tucked away in dark and dusty rooms and others are in long corridors as though someone has left them there to collect later.

Highlights included the original gong from the Rank movies, which is made out of wood and so never made 'that' noise.

Whilst G was pressing his nose up against the wall of this display cabinet I read out the card stating that this was Kenneth Williams' costume from Carry On Don't Lose Your Head. T asked 'Didn't he have any legs then?' Made me laugh!

There is an exhibition to the works of Ray Harryhausen. My dad love the film Jason and the Argonauts and would have loved to have seen this.

An old TARDIS and a couple of daleks

an original Wonka bar from the newest Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie

and part of a Sherlock Holmes TV set from when Jeremy Brett played the Baker Streer detective.

The reason we needed to be in this part of London was G had booked us onto a Thames Clipper for a speedy ride up the river to the 02. After we had finished in the museum we had about 30 minutes to wait and wandered down the South Bank where there was a bar and eating area set up.

I wouldn't mind one of these Pimms summerhouses in the back garden

I liked this idea of recycling, old drums used as tables fitted with wooden tops.

I love the carousel and squealed excitedly to T when I spotted one of the horses had his name painted on it, he wasn't too impressed it was against a pink background though!

The boat ride was really good, S said it was her favourite bit of the weekend, maybe we'll do another at a slower pace to take it all in again properly another time. Great view of the cable car when we arrived at the 02.

Well done if you are still with this, not many more to go now.

The following day we dropped our case at Waterloo and then with the help of a Treasure Hunt we wandered down the South Bank towards Southwark Cathedral where we were going to meet up with G's sister. 

I am a bit annoyed as I thought I had memorised the name of the website explaining what is happening here but I now can't find it. There are lots of wooden raised beds being built and there were loads of tomato plants and other edibles waiting to be planted and I really liked the mismatched window frames they are using too.

Beautiful ice cream van

and who doesn't love an Airstream trailer? I liked the style of the advertising boards too, they had a retro look about them.

In the end we met up with G's sister at the Golden Hind and here the walking treasure hunt stopped. We were due to follow it into Borough market but instead we headed over London Bridge

and ate our lunch with many other tourists sat on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
One final bus trip took us back to Waterloo so we could catch the train home after a busy and very enjoyable couple of days.

Mum's the word

We had a visitor this weekend.

 G invited his mum to come and stay. 

She arrived Saturday morning just after I came back home from a jumble sale which I had gone to with my mum.

I didn't buy much but I was pleased with the things I did get, my favourite buy being this BHS single floral duvet cover in pale shades of pink for all of 30p. It looks like it's hardly been used and will be perfect or using when we have people to stay.

Mum had the best buy by far though.

A pair of floral patterned and fully lined bedroom curtains from Marks and Spencer for 50p.

 Already she has washed and hung them in place and text to say they look gorgeous.

Once we were all revived with teas, coffees and shortbread biscuits we all wandered down to the local wildlife study centre for their Spring fair. We try and go to Summer one as there is always lots going on. Although the Spring event is on a smaller scale one of the main reasons for going is the plant sale. We were very restrained this year though. Both mum's bought a lavatera and my purchase amounted to one trailing geranium and this alchemilla.
By mid afternoon the sun had really started to shine so once we were home again we went out in the garden.
Whilst G and I stood chatting over the fence to our neighbours our mum's sat chatting to each other. They don't meet often but when they do they find they are never short of something to talk about.

G's mum enjoys a wander around a car boot as much as we do so that's where we headed Sunday morning for an hour. I already have a couple of pieces of this Polish tableware which I have bought at the Country Living fair and was thrilled to find this little teapot for £1.00. I've been using it lots today, it's the perfect size for one.

G's mum is having a tough time at the moment grieving for the loss of her husband and although she tries to keep busy it's very hard at times. Time spent with family talking over memories, seeing her grandchildren and having a good old chinwag with my mum all helped and she said the night away had done her good which for G was good to hear as he worries about her.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

What better way to cheer up a miserable rainy day than a splash of colour.

A couple of Saturdays ago I took myself off to the park for an hour with my camera and the instruction booklet and had a fiddle with the settings. One of my favourite pictures was this daffodil, the yellow trumpet so zingy against all the green.

The train station which G and I use each work day has a newly formed group of volunteers who have started to bring some tidiness and colour to the platforms, I love the red of these anemones.

These evening I walked home wearing a jacket and carrying an umbrella, very different to the Tuesday a few weeks back when the sun was shining and we went for a walk along the shore. This was the view I was trying to catch

but this was the result on my first attempt! Cheeky!

And to end, another photo of S pulling possibly the most bizarre smile ever, stood next to her photo on display at school a week ago when she was named as the Superstar of the week because

'S has really raised her effort this week. This has meant she has learnt to do thinhgs much better than she did before. She worked brilliantly on word problems, wrote an effectivel Free Write and showed passion in answering questions about what she had been reading. Great work S!

Water Vole Way

We were organised yesterday and checked ahead for the weather forecast for today. Finding that it was going to be dry first thing we decided a walk in the morning was the way to go and so then it was deciding which walk to do.

In the end we chose the Water Vole Way which is part of the Itchen Navigation Trail where it is possible to walk from Southampton to Winchester.

This part of the trail starts just down the road from Eastleigh train station.

For ease I took the little point and shoot camera with me but I wish I had taken my other camera and tried to take some better pictures with it, though I'm not sure how much of a better photo of these ducklings I could have managed. They were practically running across the water they were moving so quickly!

There were a couple of places along the 3.5 miles which provided good photo opportunities for G and S. T was otherwise engaged with friends and didn't join us.

The river backs right on to many gardens and this was a particularly sweet one with all the bluebells blazing away in the sun and a bench ideally placed for enjoying all that the countryside scene had to offer.

We saw a few butterflies, heard lots of birdsong and as well as the ducks we saw a lone swan. Whilst admiring another back garden G called out to me 'quick look over here there are two cranes.' Very funny.

At one point I had to stop and tie my shoelace and when I looked up this was the view. I love the faded green of the gate and the smattering of bluebells.

The last part of the walk was along Church Road in Bishopstoke and on the front of one of the houses is a plaque. It's in memorial of a local family who had once lived there and had been passengers on the Titanic.

50p Car Boot Buys

I was really pleased with my purchases last Sunday at the car boot, each item cost me 50p except the last which was a whole pound.

First off is a brand new and very beautiful crocheted shawl.

A Crew Clothing tank top

A Ladybird book, quite apt given our mid week trip to A&E

This linen jacket is actually a darker navy than the photo shows and I saw one very similar to it in town yesterday for £80!

As well as clothes for me I also bought a shirt for T, he was with me and was happy with my choice.

And this was the most expensive item at a pound. Quite an unusual design, the character bottom right looks like one of the Teletubbies!

Maritime Festival

My plan on coming home from work yesterday was to sit down and write this post about our day out on bank holiday Monday. Instead I had to take G to the A&E department as he had whacked his head so hard he had double vision and was diagnosed as having mild concussion.

He has been off work today with a very thick head but looks much less dazed than he did!

So now to Monday. Our chosen venue was the docks for the Southampton maritime festival. 

I'm starting with a photo of this double decker bus, not quite in with the maritime theme I know, but what a fantastic idea to convert an old bus into a pub. G says he has seen this at a couple of festivals being used as a Pimms bus. 

Each time we see a soft top car T says how would love to own a car like that one day. I quite like the colour of this one. It was just one of many Rolls Royce cars made on display and all were in an immaculate condition, each one obviously a well loved vehicle.

There was also a small display of different vehicles used by the AA through the years too, I'd rather have a Rolls given the choice.

This was a first for me. I have never seen a tram, seen them in photos and seen them on the TV but never actually seen one in the flesh as it were. You were able to go and sit in this one but it was so busy I made do with just taking photos and listening into a conversation where one of the volunteers was explaining that sometime after this tram was taken out of service it was bought by a gentleman who had it situated in his garden for his children to play in as a grand Wendy house.

There were a few people dressed in vintage fashions and WW2 uniforms.

Girls love a man in uniform, but I'm not so sure about this model, his 'skin' was kind of velour-y, very strange.

Whilst we were sat eating our picnic we were given plastic flags to wave at the King and Queen as they were due on a royal walkabout. The regal pair in this instance was King George VI and Queen Elizabeth complete with corgis!

I really liked the display outside this medical tent, striped deckchairs and a wooden airer hung with a selection of clothing and undergarments to one side

and a stretcher, medical bag and bicycle on the other.

Inside the tent was a huge and interesting display of medicinal aids and also a few pieces of enamelware.

I had a chat with a really lovely chap about the kit which was provided to soldiers. He joined up in 1952 and said that the best present his mum gave him was a darning mushroom and teaching him how to darn his socks properly. The item at bottom right could be worn as a scarf and also rolled up and worn as hat.

Throughout the day there were different art and craft activities for the children and S was pleased to see face painting was on offer.

During the summer there are going to be a number of rhinos around the City celebrating the 40th anniversary of Marwell Zoo and there was one here on display to showcase the event.

Unfortunately this is the only photo I took of the boats and it's not that great, but it has to be included because these boats played their part at Dunkirk and so are very special indeed.

Mrs Tiggywinkle

Late yesterday afternoon we were busy out in the garden having a tidy up. We are due to have a tree chopped down today and things needed to moved.

One of those things was a big blue plastic tarpaulin which when G gave it a bit of a shake so we could fold it up and get it put away it revealed this little bundle of prickles.

It's the second time we have found hedgehogs living in our garden, well three times if you take into consideration the time G called out to me from the garden 'to come quickly there's a hedgehog hiding in the grass' only to find he had taken out the furry hedgehog doorstop we use in the house.

We quickly made a make shift hide for it using some straw left over from when I made the scarecrow with S last year and then covered that over with a drawer from an old chest of drawers in the shed propped up on an angle against the fence, then we added some more straw and then draped a smaller tarpaulin over the top of it all. We hoped we hadn't traumatised it too much and that maybe it would be ok with it's new home but G went out this morning for a quick look and it's gone which is making us feel a little guilty for disturbing it.