Saying Goodbye to February

Well, I thought January was quick, but I haven't a clue where February went!  Have you found that?  All of a sudden the days are longer and you can just feel and hear the life coming back into the vegetation.  Spring flowers are now filling my house, their cheery smiles in red and yellow really have lifted my spirits.

Outside, the sun is reflecting through the skeletons of last year's colourful show.

And some regular visitors are singing their sweet songs while sitting down posing for my new camera (more on that in my next post).  We are seeing quite a few more chaffinches in our little plot.

More gerberas have been bought and are sitting on window sills giving that blast of colour that I have needed over the last week.

But, tomorrow March comes bouncing into the calendar with so many other colours to grace our eyes and I will be enjoying playing with my new camera to capture those little moments for you.  For now though, I give you yellow, my first daffodil in the garden that is about to unfurl into life...(and Coco in the background photo bombing!)...

Thank you so much for your comments last week, they were gratefully received and I feel a lot better but a bit behind with reading (I will get there!).  

Oh, and Mr Teen - latest news is that he passed his driving theory test yesterday!!  Just the practical to go!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Take care.

      

The Smoky and Icy London Docklands

Last Friday evening I was itching to put together a post for you all on our trip to London again but tiredness overcame me and the photocard was put to the side to rest until Saturday.  Then... 

MIGRAINE!

I suffer with hemiplegic migraines which are painful, draining and crippling, so here I am three days later and still feeling completely empty.  I don't know what triggered this one so I apologise that I haven't kept up to date with blog reading and commenting but my head now feels like I have stuffed toy crammed in and it's just fluff!

Right, enough of the self pity!

So, this trip was a visit to the London Docklands to take Miss Teen and Miss B ice skating.  I didn't take my usual camera with me but instead took little Pixie.  I have to say that I missed my usual camera and felt as though I had lost my right arm.

I had promised Miss Teen that I would take her ice skating before Christmas but we just didn't get the time.  So, I heard about the ice rink at London Docklands... and they were still open!  With this being where I spent a lot of my childhood and only a hop, skip and a quick swim from my favourite Greenwich, it was time to relive some of my happier times.  However, long gone are the decaying warehouses and holes in the ground where new buildings were going to be built for the regeneration.  In their place, buildings of steel instead of ships of steel.

My childhood was this place.  Way back then it was full of abandoned warehouses and wharves along with old housing and the remnants of damaged buildings from the War.  Now it is full of high rise modern architecture, people in suits and property that is beyond most people's reach.  In my Grandad's words 'do they realise they are living in what was a slum!'.  Well, those slums have gone and just one cramped property would buy my lovely house four times over - are they mad?!!   Skyscrapers have risen up making the area seem claustrophobic.

The grey and glass architecture, individual in their own way but still grey and glass.

Each window with a light behind and no doubt huge amounts of work being exchanged from desktop to desktop.

And huge clouds on the entrances to each building.  Huge clouds of cigarette smoke (I'm sorry to those of you who smoke but... My word!  There must have been about 50 - 100 people by each entrance to these towers, and the air was uncomfortably thick and choking.  I have never experienced this before.

Sorry again to those of you who smoke, but you would also have been shocked too.

Getting away from this area, we went up to the fountain on Cabot Square to get our bearings.

And then at the foot of the towers, the Ice Rink!

Miss Teen and Miss B went straight to the ice skates and were ready!

The rink itself consisted of the main ice rink area and a sculpture in the middle where I enjoyed watching the reflections of the skaters going past onto the pathways that off shoot from the main area.

Such a place to skate!

Perfect for the old, young, and polar bear!

With the girls enjoying their skating for an hour, they were perfectly happy afterwards to join me to cross over to visit The Museum of London Docklands.  You cross over to West India Quay,where the new buildings still surround you, but then some older structures come into play.

You turn around and then... the old warehouses!

At the end of these wonderful historical structures, the Museum of London Docklands...

A place that my Grandad spent many, many, many hours researching, archiving, writing, along with so many others to ensure that the Museum could be created.  I took little Pixie camera in with me and then wished I hadn't as the shots I took were terrible.  So, Miss Teen suggested to go and visit the Museum of London instead.  A VERY good idea!  Off we went to the DLR station nearby to set off on a short journey to St Pauls Tube Station.

No matter how many times I see this building I can never be tired of it!

A short walk and we were at the entrance to the Museum of London.  Now, if you are ever here, please please come to this Museum!  It is on many floors, and packed with amazing artefacts.  I will be going back very soon with my other camera so that I can share this place properly with you, but if you go to the 'People's City' part and ask one of the guides where the war room is with the suspended bomb, sit in the room and listen to the actual accounts of Londoners during the Blitz.  Then, towards the end you will hear a calming man speak about St Pauls during the Blitz and then silence... silence as photos of St Pauls in the burning flames of the City are shown.  The man speaking... my Grandad.

Are you still with me?!  This post is a bit up and down, and I do apologise but I am not quite myself this week.  Hopefully all will be back to normal next time.

Until then, welcome to some lovely new followers and thank you all for your wonderful comments from last week.

Enjoy your week and keep upbeat and healthy!!

Take care.

      

Five on Friday - Half Term Moments

There are times when you notice you are doing too much clock watching, especially when you stop and have a break from work and the kids are on half term.  This week let's stay up late, let's have a lay in, let's eat when we feel hungry, let's just do what we want when we want.  Yes, this week has been one of those very happy weeks where there have been no pressures and my two teens are clearly happy for me not to be around!  A quick tidy up in the morning and the day is mine!  So, as I am joining the lovely Amy at Love Made My Home's new link up 'Five on Friday', here's five of my openly selfish and decadent happy moments that I have enjoyed enormously this week. 

1. With more time at home this week I needed to bring some new colour into my home so that I can enjoy some planning time on my laptop and notebooks with a bit of cheery colour too.  Roses, gerberas, sunflowers etc but the best thing... my new pen and notebook from Paperchase.  Very me don't you think?!

2.  Choosing paint colours!  I get so excited when I start to let my creativity go wild - but then hubby will reign it back in!!  One thing I know is that the colours will be paired up with some white bar stools.  Yes, goodbye to my shabby chic white painted table and chairs, time to update a little (but still be pretty neutral for the new colour scheme).

3.  Lovely long walks with Coco on the Fens while the sun shone.  It was incredibly uplifting to take her on extended walks that were not lined by street lamps and cold dark paving after work but instead, soft grass and pathways.  The smell of freshly turned earth filled our nostrils and we happily stopped quite regularly to sniff the air and admire the flat landscape.  Coco was very happy and walked perfectly on her extended lead with no pain showing (for those who don't know, Coco has Syringomyelia and her walks depend on how much pain she has from her head and spine on the day).

4.  "Do you fancy a coffee?" hubby asked when we escaped from the house for a little shopping.  The pleasure in enjoying a flat white Costa Coffee with no interruption, no clock watching and no take out.  Just sitting and enjoying the moment!

5.  Of course there has to be a train journey too, so we are now off to Canary Wharf in London Docklands.  A very happy place for me to relive time that I used to have with my Grandad before and during the Docklands regeneration.  A perfect way to round off the week (blog post on that later!).

So, these are my five happy moments for this week.  Planning, colourful, relaxing, company and travelling.  A wonderful half term week!


Don't be shy, go along and visit Amy's link up to visit others with their five... and maybe join in!

Take care.