Nature & a plastic bottle man.

Recently we had Ken's youngest staying so we dragged him into London for one of our days out. It wasn't the best day weather wise, but that didn't stop us. We got the train to Marylebone and then walked to South Kensington via Hyde Park.

We passed some interesting sculptures on the way - I love this horses head, it's huge, but so accurate.

As always we passed some great architecture - I especially love the very fancy door ways we stumble across.

We were thinking of going to the Natural History museum but due to the two Wright boys staying in bed much longer than me, the queue for the museum was already around the block so we decided against that.  Outside the museum was a man dressed in plastic bottles - I like to think it's a protest against our throw away society but I'm sure it's just a money spinner. As you can see Ken got into the spirit of things, posing with sword in hand. Jamie wasn't so keen but plastic bottle man called him in and he went - great family shot.

South Kensington has several posh car dealers, so the boys quite enjoyed ogling the cars that would cost several years of my salary.

In the Park, despite it being wet and a bit miserable, there were still lots of people out and about - there were even a couple of pedalos out on the Serpentine. Lots of birds and squirrels to watch and feed as several people do.

To get out of the rain we went into a Moroccan restaurant and had a wonderful lunch - it's a lovely place with a great atmosphere.

The food was really good - scrumdillyicious!! I also loved the plates the food was served on, very authentic looking.

The two boys putting up with me taking photos of them - I think the look on their faces can only be described as grudging acceptance.

Now the next photo could signal a recurring theme in my posts, a picture of the bathroom, and again it was Ken's idea. As you can see it's very nice with a lovely brass basin.

Hope you enjoyed seeing another bit of London as much as we enjoy showing you.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and smile at strangers in the street - it may just make their day.

Pamela and Ken
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Death and raw fish!

On Tuesday evening I dragged my poor husband along to a death cafe - I can hear your reaction from here.  Death cafes are part of a world wide movement to try and get people to be more comfortable talking about this taboo topic - that said the majority of the people there were pro euthanasia and wanted to debate that.  Can I just clarify that I'm not pro, and felt a little bit ganged up on. Poor Ken, the things I get him into.

Afterwards we found a lovely little fish restaurant just off Portabello Road and had a fabulous meal with our own more philosophical discussion about the future.

For our starter we shared a plate of raw fish including swordfish and tuna - see picture below. It was surprisingly lovely. For mains Ken had salmon and I had octopus tagliatelli (not sure if I spelt that correctly).

The restaurant was quite funky with retro furniture - they even had an old record player that was in use.

The picture below was taken in the bathroom - Ken's idea! So nice to have a bathroom with a bit of character. I always tease my beloved that he should write a tourist guide to the best bathrooms as he's a bit of a fusspot.

When we got back to Ladbroke Grove station I took this picture of the wall under the railway bridge - beautiful ceramics.

So that was our unique night out - you never know what we're going to get up to next.

That's it for now - be good, enjoy life, and look after each other.

Pamela and Ken
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A visit to Highgate

On Saturday we went to Highgate cemetery which is my favourite of the big seven cemeteries that we've visited. It's divided into the east and west sides, with the west side only being accessible on a guided tour. We've done the tour before so we just went for a wander round the east cemetery.

Highgate was opened in 1839 and has lots of famous people buried there, but even more people just like you and me. Parts of it have been left to return to nature but other parts are still in use, and lots of it is very well looked after.

Arguably the most notorious resident is Karl Marx. Now I know some of you probably think I'm very weird because I like visiting graveyards but at least I don't pose with the memorials! There were people getting their pictures taken next to Karl Marx??? What's that all about? Just a teeny bit too weird for us.

Another grave I was keen to see was Malcolm McLaren (see below) of punk era fame. I really like the epitaph on his grave - better a spectacular failure, than a benign success.

Another great, yet simple epitaph was on Jeremy Beadles grave - Writer, presenter, curator of oddities - ask my friends.

I've probably said this before, but cemeteries are a great place to see beautiful carvings and unusual headstones - here's just a few for you to enjoy (yes enjoy is the right word).

Since we last visited Highgate the fabulously talented Douglas Adams has left this earth and the really lovely thing about his grave is that there is a pot that people leave pens in - just in case he runs out. For those that don't know, he wrote the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and other books.

I took a picture of the one below for all you dog lovers out their - around the dogs head is written, 'His faithful dog Emperor'.  I thought that was lovely that his dog was part of his memorial.

The next two headstones are more modern ones but both Ken and I really liked them - the epitaphs are lots of words to describe the person, and not all totally serious.  So for example a line of mine might be:  Tasmanian, cat servant, cupcake baker, crafter, etc - you get the picture.  It's a really nice way of commemorating someone and anyone reading it will get a feel for what that person was like.

The next headstone picture is for all my fellow Australians - one of our greatest painters, Sidney Nolan, who died in the UK so is buried in Highgate.  I had to go off road to get this picture, clambering over old graves and fallen trees - good thing I'm not nervous around graves.

My final picture of a grave is that of Phillip Gould's - he was a Labour peer who died from cancer.  You may wonder why I'm including this one, but it's because of how he tackled his own death.  There is a fantastic you tube clip entitled 'When I Die: Lessons from the Death Zone' in which Phillip talks about his approaching death - if you get the chance please watch it as it's very inspiring.  Anyway, in that clip he goes to Highgate and has a picture taken of himself in the spot where his grave would be - so it was really nice to see how beautiful and peaceful his final resting place is.

After our meander around the cemetery we walked up to Highgate village for lunch - and of course as soon as we left the cemetery it started to rain, and it was a bit of a trek up a very steep hill to get to the village - Ken was pushing me up the hill by the end of it.  I very much deserved my lunch and a nice glass of rose when we finally sat down.  Also we both deserved a very nice dessert at the end of our meal.

On our walk back to the nearest tube station we went past some lovely houses with nice architecture, and some really colourful graffiti.

Whilst we were walking down the hill we passed a statue of Dick Whittington's cat - the stone he is sitting on was erected in 1821 with an inscription to Dick Whittington, the cat was added in 1964.  Just another of London's very quirky things that you find when being observant.

When we got to the tube station it was so nice to see the below sign - normally these boards are reserved for disruption notices to the service but as you can see someone has a sense of humour.



At Baker Street when we were waiting for our train home it was lovely to see the train opposite has gotten into the spirit of remembrance for November.

So that's it for our weekend adventures - until next time, stay safe, keep smiling, and take care of each other.

Pamela & Ken
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Dog Days

During the week I was lucky enough to have a day off to spend some quality time with my beloved so I went with him whilst he walked the dogs. Before we started we had brunch at the lovely Harris and Hoole in Rickmansworth - we needed to make sure we had energy for the walks.

The first dog was Orinoco and he is such a gentle soul - really beautiful.

After nearly an hour we happened to walk past my friend Carol's new house so Ken kept going with Ori and I went in for the tour. As our theme today is dogs I have included a piccie of Carol's lovely dog Jenny.

After that nice interlude we went on to the next dog, Holly. Slightly mad and very cute.

The final dog for the day was Kenzie, who is a lovely girl but very strong. When I had the lead she saw a cat and it took all my body strength to stop her going over the fence after it.

After about 15 minutes we came across a lovely cafe so I let Ken and Kenzie go on and I stopped for a break - I thought I deserved it after all the walking I'd done.

So that was our lovely day with the dogs and me sharing in what my beloved spends his days doing.

Be good and enjoy life.

Pamela and Ken
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P.S: I obviously couldn't do a blog without a picture of my beautiful Bertie Boo.

ANZACS & dogs needing homes

Today we stayed close to home and did a couple of local things. Not far from where we live is a Dogs Trust rehoming centre and on their website they said that they were in need of dog treats so we took a big bag of different treats for the pooches.

Of course we had to look round the dogs who need new homes - oh to have a big house and a big backyard. There were several dogs that I could have taken home.

This one was so cute, and as you can see he's smiling at us - putting on his most handsome face to impress the potential new parents walking past.

These two likely looking lads are adorable, the one on the right is deaf and he is being taught hand commands - very clever, sign language for dogs.

The dog above, who was hiding, is called Aussie so they've put Australian road signs all over his window.

The puppies really tug at the heart strings - do you think our three furbies would welcome a new brother or sister?

After we'd enjoyed a snack in the tea room and gone around the dogs for a second time we then called into St Mary's church in Harefield where there is an Australian Military cemetery. During the First World War Harefield hospital was established to look after injured Australians and New Zealanders - it was known as No.1 Auxiliary Hospital, Australian Imperial Forces (AIF).

There are 120 First World War graves including one nursing sister. As a mark of respect I walked past every grave and read every name as I'm sure the majority have never had a family member visit their resting place, so as a fellow Australian I'm almost family. What's really sweet is that on ANZAC day they hold a service in the church and then visit the graves.

The obelisk in the middle of the graveyard was erected by Sir Francis Newdegate, former Governor of Tasmania.

Before I finish I just wanted to share with you a local character whom we met recently. This is a black cat that sits at the entrance of a local Mark's and Spencer - he's not bothered by people going past with trolleys and is happy to be patted. He came and sat on a wall with me and whilst we were chatting people going by told me his name etc. Now depending on who you listen to he is either a boy or a girl, lives in several different houses, and is called Elmo, Esme, or Enzo - I loved it, a free spirit that no-one really knows.

That's a bit of the local area for you - we hope you've enjoyed it. Until next time be good, stay safe, and be nice to animals, and if you live near an animal shelter maybe drop off some treats for the residents.

Pamela and Ken
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