Just playing.....

         Because I can.....

Home again....

    ....after a week in London.

     Darsh came to fetch us on Wednesday night, and when we came to go home on Thursday morning the car was broken.  So Darsh quickly joined the AA, then we had to wait 24hours before we could use them, so, sorry Sara and John, we stayed another night.  Friday morning, and the car had got better overnight, so we drove it home.   Hmmmm.  

    Still at least we have got AA cover ready and waiting for the next time, and of course there will always be a "next time" for our scruffy old cars.

     While we were waiting for the car to get better Joe and I went for a walk to look at the Thames flood barrier.  It is only a very short walk from Sara's flat and by a beautiful park...

     With a great little cafe I didn't expect to see, and I had no money with me, just a dog, a lead and a pocket full of poop bags!

     The river was so wide, and big heavy clouds hanging over, the grass was sodden with dew and the air was still and warm.  Considering we were close to a main road it was so peaceful.  Joe found a canine friend, a young golden Cocker Spaniel called "Boris"

       Stayed out for more than an hour, not realising Darsh was packed, fixed and raring to go.  I expected to be hanging around all day.  Joe was shattered after his play in the park, he didn't move all the way home, first time he behaved himself in the whole week!  Little rat.

      Got home to find the lamp snapped completely in half.  Can't blame the dog, he was away and Darsh swears he has no idea how that happened.......

Just bought a new....

......gadget to link camera to iPad to download photos directly...

So, am practising.....if Pete and Selina can do it, so can I.

But at the moment it's not looking too promising.

We are in London for my birthday treat, afternoon tea at the Berkeley. My pictures are awful, but the experience great!

What a luxurious afternoon.

Not another camera.....please...

 

......the look he gave me when he saw me creeping up behind him to practise using Charlotte's camera.

 

           Whatever the dog may think this camera is pretty good at close-ups of things around the house....

 

         .....And with finding pretty things in the garden......

 

               ....but, it's absolutely useless at making grumpy looking husbands into happy ones.....

        Whatever.
               If I am going to do this Secret London Walk with John, and our cameras, I have to fathom out back to front or inside out on Charlotte's camera.
(that's if she lets me borrow that is)

Theres a strange smell lurking round the house......

    Just noticed my last post hadn't posted, been sitting quietly in" drafts" for a whole week and I hadn't noticed.
       ......guess who the culprit is. Walked in the park this morning and both came back wet and muddy, he was bad enough for a wash in the sink, never mind a quick rub down in the garden with a wet cloth.    Now he has dried he still smells just as bad, but with that full coat he takes ages to dry.  The cows are roaming in the park and he cannot not resist a good roll.  I even had to clean and vacuum the car to try a get rid of the farmyard aroma.
       Enjoying a few days of still, warm glorious autumn weather.  Have been outside for most of the time, making the most of it.

                Selina and Pete are back, but not for long, they are heading off to Australia on Sunday.  Charlotte and Nev are going to Luxembourg for the weekend and Sara and John are coming to Birmingham for my birthday.  Darsh is in Malaysia now, I think, and he is heading home next Tuesday.
      Charlotte has got loads of holiday to use before Christmas so she is hoping Dad will take her and his phones to India, she has never been, but they have talked about it for a few years now, so maybe this time.

A quiet time at home....

 

.....Darsh has taken himself off to Australia for 3 weeks, his phone has gone too so the calm around here is just lovely.

We have had some nice weather so I have just enjoyed it, walked in Sutton Park, enjoyed the garden, mooched round the farmers market and visited, (or tried to) the new Birmingham library.

 

Irene and Robert celebrated their Golden wedding, and it was a lovely evening.  A bit nippy, but they had tents full of photographs, Irene's wedding dress, food and a bonfire-of course!

 

      2 wedding cakes, one sponge and one plain.  No Sara.... I haven't given away your cake topper couple.....they are still in your bedroom awaiting you big day.
         See the bees, they were carried through as a theme on plates, napkins and cakes....get it?
Buzz bees...Busby(s)....Irene and Robs surname.
    Same with the wine....it was from the Busby family vineyard in Australia....all the way from ASDA...... just a typical Irene touch.
.   Notice the Oscar?  It looked fine with all the stickers on, and there was a large "50" on the top star.... that got missed in the photo. 
My photos weren't very good, but I know there were plenty of other cameras there!!!!!
    Charlotte brought Nev with her, I don't know quite what he was expecting....but he joined in with fine, even if they both went home stinking of bonfire smoke.



              Charlotte and I attempted to see the new library, but we were side tracked by lunch in "Bodega" as well as all the entertainment in the city.

        Not quite sure I got the point of eggs, nests books and binoculars,  but they got a lot of attention anyway...

     The Rep is reopened and we had a quick look in.  The costumes are all hung from the ceiling.... in frames, along with the hats and shoes. Tthey have a lovely new coffee bar but we were still full after lunch...another days treat.

    From the outside the building is huge....10 storeys....as well as a deep Atrium at the front.

     There was a whole army of Red people wandering about, dressed in various costumes and characters.

     Even a troupe of gymnasts jumping from side of their caravans to the other...all reading their books.

    After much outside wandering we tried to get inside the actual library....SHUT....it closed at 4 .   We forgot it was Sunday.
        Apparently they have had 100,000 visitors in the first week....it would have been 100,002 if we had thought about it!

         Suddenly it is wet and cold here.
 Charlotte is ill and suffering, not particularly in silence.  She has come home to recover.
  Nev brought her here this morning and then went to work.  She slept soundly, and didn't hear him come back at lunchtime to see how she was.
 I had gone to the Optician and Joe doesn't really bark if someone he knows comes to the door, he just stands on the window-sill wagging his tail and grinning.
  So poor Nev couldn't get in.  He had to turn round and go back to work.  I bet he felt like killing the lot of us....especially that dog.
      Thing was....the back door was open...he could have come through that way and scared her to death.
   Sara....do you remember when Lydia sneaked in and you scared each other stupid....still makes me smile....as I lock the door so no one does that to me. 
    Selina and Pete are back from Honduras, hoping to see them soon.

Right sat here long enough, better go and see if she is up to any supper.

Still playing catch up....

     ......with my summer pictures......

.

Took a trip to The Public" in West Brom while Paul and Ben were here.

 

 

It's a weird mix of gallery, museum and science museum, that is threatened with closure as it costs so much to run.  It is also a place so near to home, that we have never really looked at before.

It is a strange place, all bathed in pink!  but we spent a pleasant couple of hours in there.

 

          I think it could be one of those places which once seen, there's not really a lot to draw you back, which is probably why it is running out of money.

     One space was totally full of orange balloons, good for a one of photo, but oh, the smell, I hate the smell of old balloons!

        Sunday was a grand day to eat you way around the Birmingham food festival, so we did.
 There were people to watch and sunshine to enjoy.  Charlotte bought sausages....squirrel, giraffe and zebra.  Me, I had chocolate Churros and cider.  Paul and Ben, a box of Chinese starters.  Darsh, he had a go at every free sample going.

 

 

Monday....

                  It's been a couple of years since we went to the Black Country Museum so we went to see if much has changed.  It was a very busy and warm day that meant so many photographs....

                ...just a little few favourites from the day.

Tuesday...
           While we were seeing the local sights we visited the National Arboretum at Alrewas, somewhere else we hadn't been to before.

....all those names etched on all those walls, I thought it was so sad, but so important to see and remember the history.

 

 

On a much lighter note, we drove to London on the Wednesday of Paul and Ben's holiday and took a walk to the dock side to see the beach Sara has been telling us about....

 

 

     ....not the best of pics, but you can make out the man on the water, elevating himself up into the air with his power pack.

             That just about brings us up to date with my summer happenings, but I really must try and keep my posts and photos in order.
       Summer is switching into Autumn mode, but so saying, it is very hot again this week.  Darsh is off to Australia tomorrow, a sudden decision, a very sudden decision for him actually.
      And Selina and Pete should be heading home from Honduras next week.
    Both Charlotte and Sara start their new jobs on Monday.
      I am going to Irene and Robs golden wedding on Saturday.  But apart from that I am going to enjoy the peace and quiet at home, enjoy the garden, spend time mooching around locally and just winding down after a busy few weeks.

Download day.....

    ......I am going to try and make a habit of downloading my pics and writing a proper update every week, instead of just doing a quick update the lazy way....on the Ipad.  I have just looked at my camera and realised just how long it is since I updated my photographs, most of the summer, so I might have to do this in 2 parts!   

   So, here goes....
Today is one of those beautiful warm silent days that you only seem to get in September.....so we hot-footed it to the park..(just me an Doey, Darsh was far too busy on the phone).

                   As usual it was deserted, we only saw one runner.  The heather is just coming into flower and the air was full of perfume, bees and little tiny brown and orange butterflies.  Oh.... and the silence....how I love that heavy September silence that just hangs in the air.

    The trees are heavy with berries, the sign of a good summer, soon to be eaten by the hungry birds.

     Joe was in his element sniffing in the damp soil, taking his time to explore every scent.
        Now he is so tired he is under my chair....SNORING...louder than you would ever think a little dog could snore.

    A huge bird flipped lazily out of a tree and circled over our heads higher and higher, barely bothering to move its wings as it floated on the air currants.  I presume it was a buzzard but need to get the bird book out just to be sure.


    Spoke to June on Friday and she mentioned the Eccleshall show was on the next day, so...

             ....off we went.  A typical country show....novelty classes, handicrafts, cakes and flowers...

                           ....tents, dogs, chickens, horses,  cars,......

      ...and even a bunch of SCENTED home grown roses to take home afterwards.

         And lets not forget the WI tent June recommended, where we ate the best salmon sandwiches and coffee and walnut cake ever.

      Going back a little further in my camera......

            Paul and Ben came to stay the previous week and they fancied a trip to London, to see the sights and stay with Sara and John.

   So, doggy to his doggy sitters and off we went...

           A trip to the Natural History museum, to see the dinosaurs, our day coincided with a rainy day, and so every child and their parents had the same idea.  We got into the museum after a long queue in the rain, but it was so hot and busy we gave the dinosaurs up as a bad job....

       ......and went to explore the centre of the earth instead. 

          Paul remembers seeing the blue whale when he was a child, so we went to see if it really was as big as he remembers it being.....yes it was!

       we wandered through the streets, took in the sights and went briefly into Harrods.

                   The next day....

 

        Sara took us across on the cable car to the O2 arena, where we wandered, explored, played in the various attractions there and picnicked in the sun.

               Loads of children were playing in the water, and they were soon joined by another one.  We remembered Bristol a couple of weeks before, and simply kept out of her way!

      John joined us after work and we caught the bus to Greenwich.  Paul and I were the only 2 to climb up the hill , the others just stayed at the bottom and moaned.

      Saturday....rain again, but we went to the borough market.
        Yippeee...I got some of my favourite ginger Granola, a big bag, and we looked at Southwark cathedral.  Cameras were banned inside, but it is just one of the prettiest of churches and the choir were practising and the organ playing.  It was so atmospheric.  We had afternoon tea in the little café inside and watched the raindrops fall.

          In the evening for a last day treat, Uncle Paul took us to supper at Jamie's in Canary Wharf.
The food was delicious, but for Ben the highlight was obviously the pudding....
                                                              .Did he hear that right?
                             Did that waiter really just offer him TEN scoops of ice-cream?

     Check the menu quick and accept before dad can change his mind....

    You are really sat in the wrong place there Ben, we all know she is going to make you share...

     Look at the pile of spoons the waiter brought out, then the chef came out to inspect the hero who was eating all that lot, and he presented Ben with a huge serving spoon to eat from.

   They shared a bit, but Ben didn't really need that much help surprisingly.
                        (but just look at those diamonds...)

     One clean dish, one high-five with the chef, and Ben bounced all the way back to the car.

       Whatever trouble Jamie Oliver got himself into criticising the British workers this week, the waiter, the staff and the chef that looked after us that night were absolutely brilliant and made our evening with their good humour.
And No, they were not British.

      I see there is still plenty of holiday pics left, its doggy din time, and we are going to Simon's this evening with Charlotte and Nev.  I need to get myself sorted and smartened.
                                 So I will try and sort part 2 tomorrow....all being well...