photos – My London+

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We are still within the Christmas season, so I thought I’d start with a rousing rendition of Carol of the Bells by a favourite boys’ choir of mine, Libera.

So, Happy New Year to you. I hope Christmas Day was a good one for you. We all had colds hanging on, though mine was improved by then. My son spent Boxing Day in bed and hubby wasn’t great either. But the New Year is here now. The days are gradually lengthening, and as my dad used to say, “spring is just round the corner.”

We’ve had some pretty wet days, so I had to choose carefully a day to go out. With the trains on overtime bans there are less of them and then they are crowded. So, I took the bus, well two in fact, to Vauxhall where my youngest son lives to drop off a letter and have a cuppa. It made for an interesting journey which took me on a route I didn’t know. I grabbed myself a front seat on the top deck like a tourist (the buses were less busy, thankfully) and enjoyed the views.

Wandsworth

US Embassy from the top deck of the bus

Coming into Vauxhall (still so much building work going on there)

St Ann and All Saints, Vauxhall tucked away in the middle of new apartments

Once in Vauxhall, I had a little wander before setting off to see my son, who lives close to Lambeth Bridge.

Atlas? Outside some fine apartments overlooking the River Thames. Lots of reflection.

Looking towards Vauxhall Bridge

Across the water is Tate Britain (with the columns)

Looking towards Lambeth Bridge and Westminster

If you would like to know more about London’s Bridges, here is a nice little article with a map. I have walked both sides of the Thames over the years and seen all these bridges, and crossed a fair few of them.

Just after Christmas, I took a walk around a local park on a bright sunny day and took a few photos.

You can see that I like the way light plays through the trees. And talking of trees, I was sad to learn that the Hardy Tree (near St Pancras) fell a few days ago. I was lucky enough to see it earlier last year. It certainly took me long enough to visit it, so I’m thankful I finally made the effort. You can read about it here. Somewhere in my blog posts you can also read about my visit to the Hardy Tree.

It’s a lovely day out there today, so maybe I should venture forth and discover! See you next time.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Well, with everyone suffering from colds, it has been difficult to get everything done this Christmas. I was the first to go down with it, and it wiped out a whole week of plans, including two concerts I was to sing in. Thankfully, I’m now coming out the other end of it, but my hubby now has it and coughing well, and my eldest son who still lives with us is at the beginning of it.

Somehow in the last couple of days I’ve caught up with myself and baked a quick fruit cake yesterday (see above) and made my family favourite treat, marzipan sweets. This morning I’ve baked a batch of mince pies and made the stuffing ready for tomorrow. Presents are wrapped, but not under the tree as our puppy will just tear everything to shreds! Basically, I’m done and can relax a little until tomorrow when the juggling of various dishes takes place in the oven!

Home made marzipan sweets

Mince pies

Before the snow we had, which lasted about a week, we had some very heavy frosts, which were photogenic. Here is a selection of photos I took, as well as those I took of the snow. I can’t remember another time when we had snow before Christmas. It’s rare in the south of England. Usually it arrives in January or February, though I do once remember having a snow shower in June. Now that is rare!

Pattern in the shed window

A misty and frost morning

And then came the snow

Back garden

Introducing Rue, my son’s 5 month old King Charles Cavalier, who snuggled up with me on the sofa when I wasn’t well.

Patterns on the porch door

Hope you enjoyed that little selection of photos. Have a lovely Christmas and see you soon. Thank you for reading my blog this year and I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in 2023.

I’ll finish with this haunting song. Not exactly happy, but I love it and it makes me cry, like watching The Railway Children.

Frosty photos

The weather put pay to my Boxing Day walk. It’s rained three days in a row and I am desperate to get out and walk, especially after all the food I’ve consumed over Christmas. I hope everyone had a good day.

A few days before Christmas, I woke to a frosty morning, so it was now or never to get out there and take some photos. I didn’t go far, just around where I live, but I braved the cold in order to capture the frost before the sun burnt it off. I think it was worth it.

When lockdown ends (places I want to revisit)

King Alfred, Winchester – September 2020

On the 29th March the ‘stay at home’ restriction is due to be lifted. We are still advised to stay local, but local to me covers London/Surrey borders. It may be a little longer before I can visit Winchester in Hampshire, but it’s not far off.

Here I thought I would post some photos of places I wish to visit when the country opens up again. The photos are a selection from last year.

Tate Britain – galleries in general open on 17th May, all being well.

I am planning gallery visits. The first one I have my eye on is the new David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Possibly my first visit to London will be along the Southbank where this iconic tourist attraction can be seen. I have been on it twice!

Thames Path – Kingston to Hampton Court stretch – June 2020 (first outing after first lockdown!)

I do like to be beside the seaside – Eastbourne – July 2020

Watermeadows, Winchester – September 2020

Chasing the sunrise

There is no place near me where I can take decent photos of the sunrise. There is always something in the way – a razor wire fence, a building, trees. A few mornings ago this became obvious as I chased the sunrise. I thought a nearby bridge would elevate me enough to get a good shot, but no, there was a school building slap bang in front of it! The view I wanted was always just around the next corner, but always around that corner there was something in the way.

By the time I got to an open space, all the brilliant orange and pink colours had disappeared. However, I did take some photos, and it was lovely to be out early in the morning before most of the joggers descended.

Over the weekend, with my son away, I was able to take a few photos from his bedroom window, and being higher, I could zoom in and miss the razor wire of the building opposite. But, just to show you, there are a couple of ‘razor wire shots’ – the best colours, but not the best foreground!

(All photos taken with my Lumix Panasonic bridge camera unless otherwise stated)

View from my front room (taken with my mobile)

Relax and breathe

I thought you might like to listen to something relaxing while viewing these photos. Do you like it? All these photos have been taken in the last two months.

The Cut

Before the snow came (see previous post) I took a short frosty walk along the local railway cut. I wondered if I would find anything colourful to take photos of in January. I didn’t walk the whole length of the cut. I doubled back and went off at a different exit and then walked through Beverley Park before going home. Here are a few photos from that walk.

Music (NaBloPoMo – Day 16)

This is my recording studio! Basic, yes. Actually I was trying to record a voice part for a virtual choir, and here you see my laptop (ear pieces plugged in to listen to the track) and my Tablet hanging from the top of the laptop to record the video and voice. On the left is the scribbled words to the song.

This was all done in my bedroom, the only room I could record in. I had to wait for the downpour of rain to stop as it was very loud on the window and would have interferred with the recording. It took several goes, but I got there in the end.

I don’t get to much live music, but I do love it. I’m not keen on musicals, but I do enjoy a concert, including classical. I’m not keen on huge venues, I prefer smaller ones that are more intimate. I can remember seeing The Eagles at Wembley back in the day. More hearing and seeing. Then we had to leave before the end to make sure we could catch a tube home.

You might wonder what this has to do with London, but all the venues I visited have been in London – Wembley, Fairfield Halls (Croydon), The Rose Theatre (Kingston), Wimbledon Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Shepherds Bush Empire. I’ve also enjoyed some nice musical evenings in pubs. I’ve never been to musical festival like Glastonbury. The nearerst I got to one of those was when we all went to Cornwall for the Eclipse back in the 90’s. Across a field there was a music festival. We could hear the thump, thump of the music. from the caravan site. Apparently my nephew was there!

I enjoy taking photos at the concerts I do get to, though in those early days my camera wasn’t as good, or I was too far away. I’ve been through a range of cameras over the years. My first attempt was with my dad’s Box Brownie (that ages me!), but my first camera was a Kadak Instamatic with two settings (sun and cloud) and a place to stick the flash bulbs on! I think it cost me around £6. Wow, hasn’t the world of photography moved on?

Brian Wilson in concert Royal Festival Hall – 2008

Mike and the Mechanics – Shepherds Bush Empire – 2017

Weather Report – NaBloPoMo – Day 15

The above photo was taken in London a couple of weeks before national lockdown in March. I may have posted this photo before, but I do like it.

The weather this weekend has been appalling. It rained virtually all day yesterday, and the wind picked up. Rain was beating upon the window like crazy. This morning began the same and my heart sunk. But although now as I write (11.15am GMT) the sky has cleared and there are blue bits up there, I see angry clouds forming again. This looks like another stay-at-home day.

So, today I thought I’d post some weather pictures – interesting skies and different types of weather. Hope you like them.