Thursday 20 February 2014

Time away

Ahh, half term and some time for me! Last year, my friend Mrs. H. and I met up in London to see Les Mis. We had such a good time so we instantly decided that in 2014 we would do the same but also stay the night. Half term is here and I've just spent 2 days with my dear friend in the capital. 

We had decided to meet up outside The National Gallery in the morning. I decided to walk there from Victoria and  managed to arrive at Buckingham Palace just in time for the changing of the guards. It was packed with people! I didn't stay to watch as I was already a bit late but I saw these handsome horses while I was walking down The Mall. 



There's something about the sound of hooves that make you stop and watch.



We went straight for one of the cafes in the gallery before seeing the Van Gogh exhibition of 2(!) paintings. We wandered around the impressionist galleries and enjoyed all the paintings before heading out, only to realise that it had been raining while we were inside. As Mrs. H. lives at the other end of the country we don't see each other very often. This means that a lot of coffee stops and chatting is a frequent occurrence when we do meet up. 

We had found a nice hotel near Victoria and headed back there to drop off our bags before heading out again.


A very decent hotel though as it was on a main road it was very noisy throughout the night and neither of us slept much.
The musical this year was  Billy Elliot and we were not disappointed.



The show was better than I had expected, having seen the film several times. The acting was very good and I was impressed by the accents, especially after reading in the programme that the boy who played Billy was American. His singing might not have been brilliant but overall I think he was fab. The boy who played Michael was excellent! The feeling of the whole mining situation came across as extremely angry - very powerful!

After a bad night's sleep we got ready to wander through London. It was a glorious morning so we decided to walk up to Marble Arch and then stroll down Oxford Street. It took us an hour to walk there, fairly briskly. Time for another coffee... This time in Selfridge's. After some more window shopping and drooling we ended up in the cafe at Liberty's and had some cream tea. 



The haberdashery at Liberty's made me itch to get my hands on practically everything. I bought some wrapping paper for £4.95 instead, hoping to find a frame for it. 

Hours later and strolls down Carnaby Street, around Covent Garden and Leicester Square, we said goodbye and headed to our respective train stations. My legs and feet were aching and it was heaven to sit down on the train once it arrived (late). Having had a lovely two days away it was nice to come home to a happy family. I should go away on my own more often...

From one day in 2013 to two days in 2014. What should we do next year? A week? In New York? Well, one can always dream.

Mrs. M.

Sunday 2 February 2014

It's too wet!

Will this rain ever stop? Well it did for most of today actually so Mr. M and I went to the allotment with a bucket full of chicken you know what. It was muddy and soaking wet up there. We cut off the remaining brussels sprouts and also took some tiny red cabbage for the chickens. They're not fussy with what they eat. They love picking away at the brussels sprouts stalks. There were some sprouts of decent size so they ended up on the dinner table later on. 


I'm glad the parsnip is growing leaves as it would be difficult to find where they are otherwise. We really ought to harvest them soon but it's been so wet and horrible that I don't fancy digging much. 


Some of the leek is looking nice and thick whereas others look rather thin.


I'm so glad that my favourite is showing signs of re-emerging. I can't wait to make more rhubarb and vanilla jam. 

On the way home it started to rain. It was a bit weird as the sun was shining and they sky was fairly blue. All of a sudden we saw this:

 
 The rainbow was really clear and bright, which is not very obvious from this photo. It was stunning. 

Apart from this little trip out, I've spent most of the day making a music bag for Little Miss M. Her flute teacher has asked her to keep all her score sheets and books in one bag so I offered to make her one. I used some fabric I bought in IKEA a while ago. It was really fun to make and the owner is very proud and can't wait for her next lesson. 



A pocket for pencils, keys or similar.

From the back.
It's now time to meet Mr. and Mrs. G. for a pub quiz gathering. We've yet to get anywhere near the winning team!

Mrs. M.