Enjoying Cardiff with my two favourite men.

Have I told you lately what a wonderful man I'm married to? Well he is and I'm a very lucky girl. This week my beloved treated me to two nights in a lovely hotel in Cardiff (in Wales), our first visit to the city. It's nice to get away even if it's just for a couple of days - I should add that it's not just the two of us as Bertie Boo is here as well.

Gorgeous man!!

It's lovely getting the chance to explore a new place and I always enjoy looking at the different statues around an area. I've included a selection for you along with a picture of the Welsh Assembly building.

These were just two of many elephants that have invaded the city - they turn up in various locations. Several months ago they were in Watford which is not far from us.

I love this time of the year when all the Christmas decorations are adorning the streets. Despite it getting dark early, the Christmas lights make everything look magical. There was a small Christmas market and the smells coming from the food stalls was fab - mulled wine and toasted chestnuts.

Santa's grotto was all set up ready, but as he doesn't arrive until December I had to content myself with talking to one of the toy soldiers - I'm hoping he remembers to tell Santa what I'd like for Christmas.

I really liked the sign below and was all ready to try Dragon roasted coffee but as they had no cakes we had to move on.

Now if you look closely at the next picture you'll see something that's slightly out of place on a castle wall - the Tardis!! Cardiff is the home of Dr Who - unfortunately David Tennant's Dr didn't pop out to say hello.

Hooray, we found cake - or at least mini muffins in a BB's with lovely comfy chairs. Can I just add that my beloved put the whole mini muffin in his mouth at once!!

I can't believe I've nearly finished without a picture of Lord Bertie - he spent his time relaxing and taking over the sofa - luckily we had a nice blanket with us to cover it with.

Look at that face - so gorgeous.

So that is our whistle stop visit to Cardiff - hope you've enjoyed having a bit of a look around.

Until our paths cross again, be good, stay safe, and look out for those less fortunate than you.

Pamela and Ken
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P.S: In the street that runs parallel to the millennium stadium (home of rugby) they had lots of international flags up - Wales and Australia next to each other.

The Horniman Museum

Yesterday we went to the Horniman museum in south east London. It's another of those places that was started originally by an eccentric Victorian gentleman collecting things from around the world.

There is a stuffed merman - unfortunately it was a bit dark so couldn't get a picture of it. It's a bit of a hoax from the 1800's where a taxidermist has put together a monkey and a fish - very realistic looking.

The collection is amazing with so many different things it's hard to know what to look at first. Below are a couple of pictures taken in the centenary gallery which had a great life size paper mache creation of Kali standing on Shiva which was brought back from India in the 1800's - again it was a bit dark so you'll have to go and see that one yourself. 

There is a small aquarium in the museum which is designed very much with children in mind, as lots of things are at their eye level. 

The frogs in the picture below are the ones used to add poison to blow darts by some south American tribes - very small but apparently very deadly (Ken says it's a game of spot the frog)'

The music gallery has instruments from all over the world - some we recognised but a lot were very weird looking and very old. There are interactive tables where you can choose an instrument on a screen and then hear what it sounds like.

I had to take a picture of all the flutes (above) having learnt to play myself, and a picture of the bagpipes (below) being married to a gorgeous Scotsman.

The next picture is a reminder that in the past experts had to often imagine what animals looked like with nothing to guide them. A walrus skin was sent to the museum and not knowing that a walrus has wrinkles they stuffed it to the limit - it's like a balloon walrus.

Other exhibits include an African gallery - fascinating artefact's including voodoo alters. The couple below are formed out of cement.

Outside there is also a lot to see. A beautiful conservatory that can be hired for events.

An animal walk with small animals such as pygmy goats.

A fabulous area with instruments made out of everyday objects - it was great fun, except for how cold it was.

I would really recommend a visit to the museum if you're ever in the area. On the walk back to the train we passed some beautiful buildings and couldn't resist taking a picture of this one.

Now before you start panicking about the lack of cakes in this post, our next stop was a lovely tea shop.

It was really sweet with lots of pictures depicting tea - I loved the frame with the tea cosies and the letter T made out of buttons.

Hope you've enjoyed this visit to the Horniman museum - if you're going make sure you allow a few hours.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and make sure you enjoy the life you've been given.

Pamela and Ken
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A spot of golf anyone??

The last few days we've had Ken's oldest son Craig staying with us which is lovely. Today we went to Top Golf in Watford to see who would win at the driving range - Craig was harassing his dad by saying we were going to play OAP golf.

As you can see the two of them were showing off their master's golf style.

Ken

 Craig

We decided to play two games and spurred on by the old age pensioner comment guess who won the first game - yes, my beloved. He was very happy at beating the two of us.

The scoreboards showing Ken's triumph

Now the next scoreboard is my favourite - I was only there to make up the numbers but in the next game Ken crashed and burned and I came second!! And can I just point out that in the second game I had the least non scoring shots of the three of us.

The two champions - one win each

After the games we went to Rickmansworth for a lovely lunch at Maurizio's, and then headed home for a night of Strictly and Dr Who.

Until next time, be good, enjoy life and be kind to everyone you meet.

Pamela and Ken

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P.S: Final picture of the window display in one of our local cafes - really in the Christmas mood.