Pamper day

Have I told you lately how wonderful my husband is??  Well he is fantabulous!!  A few days ago he told me I had to keep Saturday afternoon free as he had booked me a personal M.O.T (for the non-British amongst you that is the yearly car check that happens in this country).

So Saturday afternoon I went to the spa at Presence in Watford and had a wonderful facial which included a foot massage, shoulder massage, and arm massage, and then I had a pedicure and got my toe nails painted a lovely red colour befitting of Autumn.

The waiting/relaxing room in the spa



Scary makeup free face after my facial



My newly painted nails



My gorgeous husband (note the beard)

It was a really lovely treat and I felt thouroughly pampered.

That's it for now - just a quick one today, but longer tomorrow as we went to the Mind, Body, & Soul experience today and there's lots to tell there.

Be good, and keep smiling.

Pamela & Ken
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Scrapbooking Show

So today was the day that I got my own back for the car show of a few weeks ago - The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking show was on at Alexandra Palace!  I love it - they hold it twice a year but to keep my budget under control I only go once and keep myself to a strict monetary limit which is very difficult.

Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) was built in 1873 as a place for recreation for the public - it now hosts concerts, sports events, exhibitions, has an ice rink, and has an amazing view over London.  I would have taken a picture to show you the view but it was pouring with rain - not nice at all.

My beloved drove us there so that I didn't have to go on public transport and spent the day sat reading his book and listening to his music whilst I was in scrapbooking heaven.

He had a nice little corner of the hall all to himself.  The architecture is amazing around the different areas, and I've taken a few photos to show you along with the craft stalls.

I bought lots of lovely papers for my projects, along with lots of bits and bobs to add to the pages.  The best thing was that one of the stalls had past copies of the Australian scrap magazine which I love and always buy when I'm home in Tassie, so of course I had to get a few copies - the lady on the stall said that she thinks it's one of the best magazines out there.

I also took pictures of some of the projects on display for inspiration in the future - I really liked this one.  It was a lovely day (shame about the weather) and my beloved was very patient and wonderful to navigate the traffic to find the way there.

Hope all good in your world, stay safe and keep smiling.

Pamela & Ken
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Pimlico to Chelsea

On Saturday we decided to go to the Farmers Market in Pimlico - just for something different to do.  It was a beautiful day, bright sunshine and we wanted to make the most of it.  The Farmers Market is a small local market with all organic products - it was very busy with all the people that live nearby buying their meat, veggies, fruit, cheese, eggs, and flowers.  There were also stalls with cooked food so we took advantage and bought something for lunch.  Ken was talking to one of the stall owners and she said that the market organisers are very strict about everything being organic, so they make sure even the cooked goods apply to this as well.

The area of Pimlico is really beautiful with lots of Georgian buildings that look very grand - if it wasn't for the cars you could almost imagine what it was like in this area a hundred years ago.



This is my arty photo that Ken wanted me to take - looking down through all the entry ways



Now I don't want anyone to get the impression that we spend our lives in tea rooms, but we did find a couple of really nice ones.  The first one, morning tea time, was a gorgeous patisserie and we both partook of some of the loveliness on display - Ken a strawberry cream cake and me a coconut macaroon.

We then wandered down to the Thames via the Royal Hospital where the Chelsea Pensioners live, and as you can see, Ken found a friend.

When we got down to the river we discovered that the great river boat race was on - it is a 21 mile course that attracts over 300 boats from all over the world.  It was a great sight, with serious crews, and others that were dressed up to enjoy the day.  There were lots of dragon boats with drummers on board to keep the rowers in time - though some of the drummers weren't showing much enthusiasm. 



Note the top hats

 



Vikings - someone in the crowd near us said 'what are they meant to be - refugees?'

 The bridge we stood on to take the photos was the Alfred bridge, which is one of the prettier bridges in London.

After the excitement of the race we went to Battersea park which is just over the bridge on the south side of the river to eat our lunch from the market.  The park covers 200 acres and includes a petting zoo, sports fields, fountains, cafes, and a beautiful peace pagoda.  There were logs of people out with their dogs in the park, and we met a gorgeous 12 week old French Bulldog who I had to pat - it was only the second time he'd been out and his owner was struggling to get him to walk.  He was so small our cats could beat him up - but oh so cute - I would love one.

We sat in the sun for ages and just enjoyed some lovely food in beautiful surroundings.

Next was a walk down the Thames path to Wandsworth bridge and along the way we always see things that make us not notice how far we're walking - also because of the weather there were lots of crazy people out exercising but we also saw people about to get married and lots of lovely house boats along the river side.



Cows on top of a pub




I took this photo because the lovely old houses in the front look very dwarfed by the modern flats next to them



Someone has tied lots of old pairs of shoes to a chain along one part of the river

 By now our feet were very sore - we'd walked slightly further than we intended, so up the Kings Road until we found a lovely tea shop that we'd been to before called the Chelsea Teapot and I finally got my red velvet cupcake.  The teashop is really lovely with mismatched furniture, old fashioned china, and lovely decorations.



 Great day out with my beloved.

Distance walked:  8.5 miles

Blisters:  Three

Love to all, stay safe and keep smiling

Pamela & Ken

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Small dogs & Afternoon Tea

For those that don't know, Ken is no longer a Policeman and is now walking dogs - though not what Ken would call a dog, being used to German Shepherds and Spaniels.  When he first walked the two below he sent me a text stating: 'I used to walk proper dogs'.



Harley & Bailey



Sybil

After we'd walked the dogs we decided to go into London for the afternoon as we'd seen a really nice tea room that we wanted to try - it's called BB and is near Covent Garden.  It's a really quaint little place with amazing cakes and gorgeous old fashioned china - once we viewed the menu we couldn't resist splashing out on High Tea - very decadent I know but life's too short not to enjoy. 



Ken showing his posh side





Window display of meringues



It was so lovely and we will definitely be going back, especially as they do red velvet cupcakes - watch this space for when that happens.

We then went for a meander around London, via the shop I worship at (though not too often as I would be the size of a house) - the Australia shop.

Mint slices, Vegemite, and lots of other loveliness

Covent Garden is great to wander around as there are always street performers and stalls selling such a wide variety of things - I couldn't leave without buying myself a new bag, green and with a big wooden button on it.  While I was perusing the stalls Ken was listening to the group pictured below - they were really good, dancing whilst they played their instruments.  The other pic is for any other fans of Big Bang that are reading this.

Now unbelievably (especially considering the afternoon tea we had eaten) we decided to stop in this frozen yogurt cafe and partake of their lovely guilt free yogurt - fat free and sugar free (they use agave syrup to sweeten the yogurt).  As you can see from the pictures it is very brightly decorated and even has a galah on the wall.



Galah

Ken's cherry yogurt with white chocolate stars & my green tea yogurt with shaved coconut



A friend we picked up during the day

Now totally stuffed we wandered down to Trafalgar Square - saw a couple posing in their wedding finery with a red London bus - and then went down to the crypt in St Martins in the Field, the church opposite the square.  On display was an exhibition of embroidered pictures made by all the different guilds in the UK to celebrate the Olympics - embroidered pieces of every country that took part - spot the Australian strip.

From Trafalgar Square we walked down to the Thames and across on one of the foot bridges - there was a man with a snake rapped around his arm!!  Poor snake!

Lots of people trying to get money out of the tourist with various sidewalk tricks, but we just enjoyed the view as we crossed.

On the south bank of the Thames there is a lovely area that has been set up for the summer with garden seats, fairy lights in the trees, and beautiful coloured lanterns - we were lucky to get one of the garden swing seats and sat there for ages just enjoying the early evening in London - people watching which is always fun.



Slightly fuzzy as Ken hasn't quite mastered his new phone

It was a really lovely day, and I won two pounds off Ken because I spotted famous people before him (it's a game we play, a pound per famous person).

Hope everything is good in your world, stay safe and keep smiling.

Pamela & Ken (and Koala)

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