Lunch In Chelsea

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to be invited to lunch at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.  As previously mentioned on this blog, Chelsea is the home to the Chelsea Pensioners and is where a good friend of ours lives.  He also just happens to be the current head tour guide.

 ~ Lunch in the Great Hall ~

 ~ DS with a mini Chelsea Pensioner ~

 ~ Our friend in his beautiful allotment ~

 ~ Chapel in the new Infirmary ~

~ Sir Christopher Wren's original Chapel ~

Our friend always says that he gets a lot out of knowing us, including honorary Grandad status, but we reckon we benefit enormously from knowing such an amazing man.

Shimelle's Sketch Of The Week

Note to self: do not rush journaling; you will think faster than you can write.

SAG Challenge #7

The latest challenge on the SAG blog has been set by by my pal Amy.  She wants to know if you record current affairs/happenings in your albums.  I admit that this isn't something I do much of, but I did record the Royal Wedding earlier this year and also when Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States.

Unusually, I've left the name of my suburb visible ~ Ealing.  The journaling is a rehash of this blog post.  The building that is on fire was a convenience store with flats above.  We know the lady who owns the store ~ she is very lovely and always so kind to DS.  It makes me so angry that this has happened, both to her and our community.
But just like Londoners did in the Blitz, we've picked ourselves up and carried on. A metaphorical two fingers up to those who committed these hideous acts of violence.

Do your worst.

The wonderful, multi-cultural, beautiful city that is London is still here.
We are still here.
We are Londoners.

One From That List Of Five

Back at the end of May, Amy asked what five things wouldn't be in or around your house in five years.  In at #4 on my list was our bedroom wallpaper ...

Last week, the decorator finished our bedroom (and the en-suite and family bathroom as an added bonus) and this is what our bedroom looks like now ...

I took about a dozen shots in an attempt to get the colour of the walls to show up, but failed miserably.  You'll just have to accept that my word when I say that the walls are now covered in an embossed leaf-and-vine pattern paper, which was then painted blossom white.  I added new lamps, curtains, cushions and photo frames to complete the overhaul. 

And in actuality, this post should be titled two from that list of five because #1 was sorted out by DH in early June.

Fun At The {Fun}Fair

 ~ Hooray for height restrictions ~

 ~ Dodgem delight ~

 ~ something of a squeeze to get the safety rail closed ~

52 In Black & White: Week 34

~ Shopping for big-school shoes: gulp ~

Project Life: Week 20

The week where we came home from Scotland to find a leak under the kitchen sink, where we took advantage of the reasonable weather to be outside, where DS added a sense of scale to the pre-decorated shot of our bedroom (there'll be a post about that very soon).  Loved that I found a clothing tag that had a Project Life feel to it.

The week where DS sent postcards to DH (he has a very good PA!), where we saw historic palaces, old buses and dinosaurs, where DS and I were actually photographed together and where DS was caught weeing up a tree!

It was a fantastic week.

Shimelle's Scrapbook Starting Points

Shimelle has decided to host a weekly (Saturdays) just-for-fun scrapbook challenge, using her offering as the starting point.  You may recall that she ran this challenge during her online crop recently and I offered this in response.

I think this might actually be the final layout for my Royal Ballet School album; all that is needed now is to sort them into chronological order and add all the ephemera I collected.

An Adventure Just For Mummy

Early this morning (well, reasonably early: 09.15) DH left with DS to visit the Didcot Railway Centre for a steam day.  They were collecting Grandad on the way.  A true boys-own-adventure!  I can only hope that DH remembers to take a photo or two ...
So that left me here, wondering what to do.  Walk the pooch - tick, make the beds - tick, put the washing machine on - tick ...
What next?  Ta-dah!  Something of a light bulb moment - take yourself off to have lunch out.  So I did.
I had a Mozzarella and Tomato pannini, a strawberry yoghurt with granola and a skinny gingerbread latte.  And the best thing was that it didn't cost me a penny, because I used my loyalty card points to 'pay' for it.  Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?

See my reading material?  World War II Re-Enactors magazine is not something that crops up on my reading radar.  However, on page 59 of the current issue (#13) you will find a whole page profile about my brother and his Retro Air photography work.  Pretty amazing.  (Bruv, I think you need to update your blog!)  And I think Sian might enjoy the short article about wartime knitting on page 9 (from a craft perspective obviously, not because Sian is old enough to have been knitting during the war ...).  I was also going to make a start on the crossword, but then I realised I didn't have a pen.  Ah, well.
Back to the chores - washing to hang out while the sun is trying to make an appearance and an enjoyable hour or two sorting through DH's wardrobe and drawers.  I think the charity shops (good will) are in for a treat! 

The Big Screen

DS had his first ever cinematic experience this lunch time and I had my first as a parent.

~ there's no way to make a cinema in the rain look photogenic ~

We took a picnic lunch ...

... but still spent a fortune. 

What we spent:

Bus fare: £2.60 return.

Tickets: £17.35 ~ that's £9.15 for me, £6.70 for DS and £1.50 booking fee.

Chocolate buttons: £2.90!!!  Absolutely daylight robbery!  When the guy behind the till asked if that was all, I told him I couldn't afford anything else!

Total: £22.85

In case you were wondering, we saw The Smurfs. 

52 In Black & White: Week 33

~ the dreaded self-portrait ~

Hamming It Up

Today's adventure saw us visit Ham House, a National Trust property on the southern banks of the Thames near Richmond.
But first we had to box off the supermarket shopping ...

Ham House is about a 40 minute bus ride from where we live, but then we had to trog three quarters of a mile up this drive ...

Just look at what we found at the top of the drive ...

What we spent:
Bus fare ~ £2.60 return
Entrance (gardens only) ~ £3.65, DS free of charge
Pot of tea and Ribena (blackcurrant juice) ~ £2.80
Total: £9.05

Shimelle's Sketch Of The Week

Shimelle's Half Page Challenge

During last weekend's online crop at Shimelle's place, another challenge set by Shimelle was to do a half page LO.

Another LO using the lovely photo of my nephew.  I added a small amount of journaling after I'd taken the photo ~ I know my nephew would be embarrassed if I blogged anything too personal about him.  This page is destined for his album, which I may or may not give to him when he is 21.

Shimelle's Go Retro Challenge

During last weekend's online crop at Shimelle's place, she set a challenge to scrap an old photo ~ I used a snap of me, my sister and brother from April 1973.  The original photo isn't in that great a condition these days, which is why the scan looks blurry in places.

A Simple Adventure

Today's adventure was simple.

The bus to our local shopping centre and a visit to the bookshop, followed by the coffee shop.

What we spent:

Return bus fare ~ £2.60

Book ~ 62p, as I used my loyalty card points to 'pay' the difference.

Coffee shop ~ £4.15. 

Total spent: £7.37

And now we are waiting for friends to arrive to round off our day. 

4x6 Photo Love: Seven

Shimelle's challenges for the number of photos on a sheet of 12x12 is becoming more challenging, without doubt.  This month we are looking at seven.  At first glance, it seems that there are only two photos ...

 ... but lift the concertina flap and you'll find another five, with a blank side for journaling.  Clever!

I've used photos from around my sister's village and the journaling, written after I'd taken the photos, tries to explain my love for NE Scotland.
Apologies for the rubbish photos, but what do you expect on a hideously wet and dark evening in London in August?  Anyone would think it was the height of summer ...

Natural History Museum

Today's trip was a revisit to the NHM in Central London.

 ~ Creepy Crawlies still a favourite ~

 ~ as was anything DS could touch/press/interact with ~

 ~ checking out the Caribou ~

 ~ and the awesome blue whale ~

 ~ visit to the butterfly exhibition: note slightly steamed up camera lens ~ 

~ caught short ~

What we spent:

Tube fare from home to museum ~ £2.50 each way.

Entrance fee: free to enter the museum, but £7.00 for the 2 of us to see the butterflies.

Tea & cake mid-morning: £7.40 (the most expensive yet!)  That's a pot of tea for me (no single cup or mug option available), slice of {mediocre} Bakewell tart and a cranberry cookie {very nice}. 

Postcards: £2.00

What I learnt:

Three days of activities in a row is too much for a 4-year-old.  Because he was tired, his behaviour fell short of the expected standard a few times this morning and no-one wants to be in a packed museum with a small person having a tantrum, do they? 

Tomorrow's adventures will be much closer to home.

Big Idea Festival: Day 3

Inspiration on day 2 at BPC was the word less ... I added the word worry in front of it and made a page for my rather neglected Book of Me.

This page also fits the criteria for SAG's latest challenge ~ a page about yourself.

London Transport Museum

Today's excursion was into the heart of the West End ~ the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.A small boy's dream and the rare sight of mother and son caught together on camera.

 ~ Routemasters, much missed by Londoners ~

 ~ learning that a bus can tilt considerably before toppling over ~

What we spent:

Travel costs: home to Covent Garden by tube ~ £2.50, bus from Covent Garden to Hammersmith ~ £1.30, tube from Hammersmith to home ~ £1.30.
Entrance to museum: £13.50, but ticket valid for 12 months and DS free of charge.
Guide book: £5.
Mid-morning cuppa: £3.25.
Postcards: £2.00
'Bertie' bus for DS: £7.99.
Total spent: £36.84