{In the} Recovery {position}

There was nothing else for it.

The PC was dying, thanks to a corrupted Windows 10 update.

After a week of trying every which way, there was only one option left.

I clicked the recovery button.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And then ... a spark of life.

Houston, we appear to have lift off.

There's life in the old girl yet.
And in the PC.

Lunch

You'll have to take my word for it.

Lunch was delicious. 

Things He Says | The Temperance Edition

"When I am older,

 I should like to go to the pub ... a lot!"

{This cracking photo was taken by The Boy Child's Godmother}

Bank of England Museum

As Windows 10 has granted me access (and who knows for how long ...),

I'm making hay while the sun shines, as it were.

We've had my GodDaughter and her family staying with us for a couple of nights,

and yesterday we went en famille to the Bank of England.

I only discovered the BoE had a museum recently, and even though The Brainy One worked there 

a number of years ago, he never saw fit to mention it.

  

The Museum is free to enter (my kind of price) and worth a visit, 

but perhaps not during half-term.  It was incredibly crowded and turned out

to be not a good fit for The Boy Child.  There's plenty of hands-on stuff

for kids and historical facts, figures and exhibits for those a little older.

You can also try lifting a solid gold bar ... 

Me on Monday {on Tuesday}

It was the first proper day of half-term,

where plans were laid and subsequently changed.

Where we hung out in the park with friends

and took part in art workshops.

And where some of us sat, chatted and drank tea.

Me on Monday is Sian's idea 

and you can see more here.

Wit or Wisdom | 2015 | #3

This is not the post I'd scheduled for today. Windows 10 is slowing killing my PC (and the will to live), so this post has been written via iPad Mini ... and the formatting is shot to pieces.

How come I'd never realised this before?

Hillman's Tearoom | Photo Heavy

After exploring E17 for a few hours with a difficult The Boy Child in tow, 

it was time to indulge in tea and cake,

and thanks to Jaime at Angloyankophile, we knew exactly where to go.

 A teeny-tiny teashop; so tiny we actually walked past it and had to retrace our steps.

 Unfortunately for us, they were full.  But on seeing my disappointed face

and on hearing The Boy Child give voice to his thoughts,

the staff suggested we sit outside. 

 Decaf loose-leaf English Breakfast tea in beautiful 1940s mismatched china 

 went perfectly with still-warm scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream.

 Although the place was full, the owner welcomed me and my camera. 

 It was though I was snooping about in my Great Granny's parlour!

 The attention to detail in such a small space was astonishing.

If only we could have drunk our tea and wolfed our scones in such a beautiful setting ...

instead, I had to make do with peering through the windows.

You can find them at:   Hillman’s Tearoom ,The Georgian Village, 

100 Wood Street, Walthamstow,  London E17 3HX 

Phone: 07742 436995 

Email: hillmanstearoom@mail.com

They take reservations, which I'll make use of before my next visit.  

Wood Street Walls

We went all the way to the Northern end of the Victoria Line, where there be dragons.

To E17 and the Wood Street Walls.

The Wood Street Walls came into being as a desire to bring art into the community

 and there are currently 17 murals around Walthamstow. 

Not all are to my cup of tea, but that's the nature of art, isn't it?

Our favourite was the chocolate Labrador with the ducks.

No surprise there.

I first heard of the murals thanks to a post by Jaime at Angloyankophile

and you can learn more about the Wood Street Walls here.

If you fancy checking out the walls for yourself, you can download a map here,

but I also strongly recommend the use of Google Maps or a current A-Z. 

After a few hours wandering the streets of E17 and coping with a difficult The Boy Child, 

we were in need of tea and cake.

And thanks to Jaime, we knew exactly where to go ...

Harvest

It's Harvest Festival at The Boy Child's school today.

The children were asked to bring in one tinned food item and a gold coin.

I may have got a little carried away.

I'm of the opinion that if you have enough to share, 

then you build a bigger table.

Grandad P. | An Update

Grandad P. may be dying, but I don't think it's going to be any time soon.

 When I visited him this morning, I found him out of bed,

 dressed and playing his harmonica. 

  He also pulled my leg over my inability to tell the difference 

between When Irish Eyes Are Smiling and How Great Thou Art. 

Can't win 'em all.

Him | The {Completed} Abridged Version

It wasn't the oldest UFO in my repertoire,

(that honour goes to the London 2012 Olympic album),

but as of 2pm today, Him | The Abridged Version

 was officially considered complete. 

"That's my good life in that album."

  

The Weather

It's a universally acknowledged fact that we Brits love to talk about the weather.

The reason of course, is not because the UK's weather is spectacularly bad (ahem),

it's more of an ice breaker and a conversation starter.

Whereas an American might say, "How 'bout them Cubs?"

(or so we are led to believe, thanks to US TV and cinema),

we choose the weather for our opening gambit.

(after we have said, "how are you?" first, obvs ..) 

London has been blessed with plenty of glorious skies throughout October

and I've been photographing them at every opportunity.

You know what I did with those photos, don't you?

Do you talk about the weather as a matter of course?

Do you photograph the weather?

Me on Monday

It's been a:

chilly enough for a coat,

 with layers required for dog-walking,

 while appreciating the arrival of Autumn,

before heading home to welcome our house guest.

And all before lunch kind of Monday,

 This post is adapted from

Me on Monday, which is the lovely Sian's idea 

and you can see more here.  

Autism and the Everyday #6

There are some things about autism that are hard to live with.

  It's all relative because, let's be honest, autism is hard to live with.

Full stop. 

Let's talk empathy.

"So, does that mean that he doesn't want you to touch him?"

"Does he hug you?"

"Can he feel things? You know, emotions and such like?"

That's my son being discussed in the above.

Questions I've been asked by people who are too stupid/ignorant to understand 

how painful it is to have to listen to them or to ask them of me when The Boy Child is present.

Perhaps the biggest misconception about autism is the belief that

 lack of empathy is inherently part of the condition.

People with autism cannot 'read' facial cues or detect vocal intonation as easily as typical people.

Often they have a hard time gauging the feelings of others. When this is the case, it may be

the result of a lack of skills rather than a lack of feeling.

Let me be honest here.  I am no expert on autism.

I don't pretend to be.

I am, however, an expert on what it is like to live full-time with The Boy Child.   

He's no Rain Man.

Nor is he Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

He's somewhere in between.

He's tactile, loving and feeling.

Just like a typical child.
Just like your child.

Autumn Glory in Photos

To the countryside and an afternoon of hanging out with

a few of our favourite people.

A Matter of Patience and Timing

My lovely friend Alexa wondered how I'd taken the {cropped} photo of our feet.

Here's how I did it:

Put embarrassment, coyness and thoughts of looking like a tourist to one side.

Put the camera on the floor of the Tube, directly in front of the seats opposite you.

Set the timer (I used the 9 second delay option), press the shutter and scurry back to your seat.

Pose your feet prettily.

Or not.

This second image shows our first attempt. 

 It would appear that The Brainy One had left a leg in the West End.

Things to note:

This kind of shot works well when your Tube carriage is fairly empty.

Obvs.  

When we use the Tube to come home from the West End, we travel to the end of the line.

I knew that I would have useable floor space eventually.

Indeed, it took the train pulling into our station before I could pull off this shot.

I still had to dodge the passengers getting on the train for the ride back into town

and a driver who had thought to leave the train through the carriage.

(We were sitting in the front carriage, directly behind the driver's compartment.)

He was a very understanding driver.

He's probably seen it all.

  And more.   

Currently Reading

I discovered C. J. Sansom in 2011, 

back when The Brainy One won a box of books. 

He (C. J. Sansom, not The Brainy One) writes historical 

whodunnits/thrillers/mysteries set in the reign of Henry VIII

and the unlikely hero is a hunchback lawyer called Matthew Shardlake.

The Tudor period of British history has always been my favourite. 

As a schoolgirl, I was enthralled by the thought of a King who could behave as he wished

and of his daughter who became one of our greatest monarchs.      

 Lamentation is the 5th book of the Matthew Shardlake series and is

set towards the end of Henry's reign.  Spoiler: the king is dying.

 The plot revolves around the 6th wife, Catherine Parr.

  (She who had the good fortune to out live him.) 

It's no exaggeration to say that I cannot stop reading this book.

I.  Cannot. Put. It. Down.

If you haven't discovered this series, I urge you to read them.

You could start with book one, Dissolution, but each story stands alone,

 albeit with some references to what has passed before in books 2-5. 

You'll thank me.

{Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted my anniversary gift in the second photo.} 

{It's a } Ten {from Len}*

To the West End for brunch with The Brainy One,

in honour of our 10th wedding anniversary.

 We've been going to The Wolseley since it opened.

Before it was popular.

An engagement, a significant birthday and anniversaries have all been celebrated there. 

And it's a fun place to celebrity spot.

Pancakes with bacon and maple syrup for me.  With a side of toast.

English Breakfast tea and a glass of Buck's Fizz.

Full English for The Brainy One.

 There may have been a spot of anniversary gift buying on Bond Street ...

 ... before catching the Tube home in time to collect The Boy Child. 

I should point out to The Brainy One that his shoes need resoling.

* Len who?