Time and Times Square

It's half term and eventually I've found time to write a blog post.  Life has been pretty busy as I'm doing more hours at school because my colleague is on maternity leave. I'm doing more A level teaching and that takes a lot of preparation. Don't mind really as I'm quite enjoying the teaching but some things neglected - housework mostly and, unfortunately, the blog.

But now it's half term and I'm in NewYork, staying not far from Times Square.  We're here: me, my sister and daughter Kate to celebrate her 16th birthday which was on Tuesday.  I'm writing this on the iPad and she's still dozing beside me and getting grumpy as I'm waking her up.  Outside I can hear the sound of the city, sirens and horns and the general non-stop buzz of the place. Times Square itself is incredible - a bit overwhelming actually with all the skyscrapers and crowds and flashing billboards.  I'm m happier when we escape the crowds and go to the park.  On Tuesday, it rained and Central Park was quiet so we enjoyed a damp walk round there.  And today we're going to walk The High Line which is an disused overhead freight train line now converted into a garden. And then do some more shopping....which is what the birthday girl likes best. No photos now as haven't uploaded but will try to find time to do this when we get back.

Harvest Moon

Just briefly checking in here with these pictures taken last night of the moon.  I didn@t see the eclipse or whatever it was but we spotted a beautiful full moon rising as we ate dinner last night and I had a go at capturing it.  Not much time for blogging at present nor for reading others so apologies if I am not commenting or posting so much.

End of the Summer Outings

Just a final round up, for the record, of our outings at the end of the summer holidays which, on this wet Monday evening, a week or so later already seem far away. On the day before the children went back to school Kate and I went to Manchester with the small cousins on a damp afternoon and first explored the newly revamped library in St Peter's Square.  I love this circular building and was impressed with how it has been modernised without losing its character. There's a new staircase and glass lift within the old building, yet the central big room with the glass dome is untouched and just as it was when I studied there years ago. We didn't stay too long as we had a few stern glances from disapproving library users when the children discovered the buttons which automatically opened the shelving areas. Then we dodged the rain and the puddles and went to Manchester Art Gallery, where after a brief wander around the exhibits, the children created this work of art.  

And then last weekend we flew to Paris to meet husband and his grown up nephew who had cycled there all the way from London, arriving at the Eiffel Tower on the Saturday afternoon.  I'm running out of time to write this post so I'll let the pictures mostly speak for themselves.  We stayed in a bland marble tower block hotel but had a good view from our 23rd floor room and we weren't far from the Eiffel Tower which was twinkling with sparkly lights when we arrived on the Friday evening.

On Saturday we first went here, then walked down Boulevard St Germain to have a croque madame at Les Deux Magots, shopping en route at H&M which wasn't exactly designer French clothing

We caught a bus to Opera for more shopping and then back to meet the weary, but triumphant

cyclists by the Eiffel Tower. On Sunday, nephew Carl and I climbed the steps to the second floor of the tower, a good way of avoiding the queue, and then took the lift right to the top.  Glad we did, even if husband and daughter got a bit grumpy waiting, as the views were spectacular.

Then we had lunch by the Gard du Nord here and there was just time for a quick walk to the Sacre Coeur, my favourite place in Paris, before catching the Eurostar home.  It was a bit of a shock to get up for work the next day after that.

Summer Chores and another Summer Outing: Pee-bles

Last day of August and the last week of school holidays.  Time and the pace of life seem too have speeded up in the past few weeks after the long lazy days at the end of July.  Things shift after the exam results days, and my mind turns back to work and also to the chores on my summer list.  So I've been decluttering and painting.  The understairs cupboard is now tidy and piles of unwanted clothes and books have been given to Barnardo's.  Yesterday I even painted the shed, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself,  Today I'm having a rest from all this physical activity and catching up with the blog and some reading for school.  But I thought I'd share the results of one summer project - our new seating area in the kitchen.  We tend to hang out in here with the dog watching tele rather than the lounge and, until now, it had a range of random, unmatched furniture.  I'm very pleased with my coffee table from John Lewis which has storage for remotes, ipads, glasses, notebooks and other assorted clutter.  I also like the grey squares cushions which came from that emporium of good taste - Primark.. 

I want also to record another of our summer outings earlier this month to Peebles in Scotland where my husband had signed up for another cycle event, the Tour of the Borders.  We stayed right in the town centre in the Tontine hotel, which dates from 1808 and was built by French prisoners from the Napoleonic War.  Downstairs, it was quite grand with a big, formal dining room complete with chandeliers.  It was also busy, full of other cyclists as well as tourists.  We had the dog with us which is probably why we were in a rather poky room right at the top of the building, well away from other guests.  He was well behaved with one exception: one afternoon, before we could stop him, he pee-d on the peonies just outside the front door! 

We arrived on the Saturday afternoon before the race and explored the town which is quite touristy with lots of little craft shops, ice cream parlours and cafes.  It has quite a few independent shops, including a couple of good shoe shops and is free from the usual high street stores.  Behind the hotel and the main street is a park and the river where registration for the cycle event was taking place.

On Sunday morning I got up early with my husband to see him set off, while my daughter slept in. Or tried to.  Outside the hotel, groups of cyclists were starting the race encouraged by loud thumpy music and an enthusiastic commentator. So we got up and had breakfast in the Adam room which overlooks the river.  I had the full works breakfast with haggis - very nice indeed.

Unfortunately my husband didn't enjoy the ride as it was stopped for an hour because of an accident: someone came off on a steep hill and had to be rescued by air ambulance.  He was ok in the end and apologised to the other riders who had to wait around getting cold at the top of the hill until he was taken to hospital.  Just glad it wasn't my husband who arrived back around lunchtime safe but grumpy, having had to do the shorter version of the ride because of the delay.

We spent the rest of the day lazily exploring the town walking by the river, eating cake in a cafe in the afternoon and then later on pizza in a very good Italian restaurant just by the bridge.  Cooked breakfast, cake and pizza all in one day - that's why I'm having to cut back now!

Summer Outings: Lincoln Cathedral and Castle

A couple of weeks ago we had another summer outing, staying with some friends in Lincoln.  They live in the town centre close to the cathedral and the castle.  Lincoln Cathedral is huge, much more impressive than our own in Chester, and visible on top of the hill from miles away as you approach the city.  The castle has been restored recently and now has a new visitor centre and vault to display the cathedral's copy of the Magna Carta which, as you probably know, is 800 years old this year.

The first thing you see as you enter the castle grounds is this building, which, in my ignorance, I thought was part of the castle.  It isn't - it's a Georgian building which houses the County Court.

We decided to do the Medieval Wall Walk rather than the full tour and there were information boards all the way round which was enough history - none of us are keen on guided tours.

As well as the courthouse, the castle grounds house a Victorian prison, on the left in the picture above, where prisoners used to be kept in total solitary confinement.  There's a small graveyard behind the prison, with gravestones inscribed only with initials, presumably belonging to deceased prisoners. I thought this was sad.

At the courthouse, 21st century justice was in full flow - there was a security firm's van parked at the back entrance and, at the front, a close-cropped, thick-set man in a suit on his mobile phone.  I wondered aloud whether this might be the defendant and got told off by my daughter for stereotyping. 

The view from the walls over the cathedral, the city and the surrounding countryside is superb for most of the way round.  But in one section it is obscured by thick perspex, which my friend tells me, is because some local residents objected to visitors looking down on their houses and gardens.  His partner, who lives just outside the castle walls, didn't object and, in fact, has designed her garden so it looks good when viewed from the castle walls.  If you look closely at the picture below you can see her, my husband and our dog among the lush greenery.

We climbed the steps to the top of the tower on the keep and here the view of the cathedral and the surrounding countryside was unobscured and spectacular.

Outside the walls, we found one of the Lincoln Barons, a trail of statues which has been designed for children visiting the town.  A few years ago in Chester we had a similar trail with Rhino statues instead - it seems to be a bit of a tourism trend. Someone obviously thought this baron was finding this summer a little chilly and gave him this furry scarf.

And, back in the garden, I spotted some teenage invaders trying to scale the castle walls - they aren't visible but just behind the trees here.  

I think this a great place to live - close to a historic town centre with and everything is within walking distance. Another enjoyable summer outing.

Summer Outings: Daytrip to London

Back in July when my sister from New Zealand was visiting and staying with Brighton sister we all met up in London for the day.  I meant to blog about this at the time and didn't get round to it, but better late than never.  As her children are at the age when they are finding out about cities like London, she wanted to do the traditional tourist sights.  And actually, even though I lived in London for a few years in the 80s, I hadn't seen some of these either.  First of all we went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  Now I do have a video clip of this which I tried to add but apparently it's too big and my attempts to cut it failed but you can see it on You tube anyway.  There was a lot of standing around in hordes of people before watching the bands parade by.  'Avocado,' said the policeman on crowd control duty.  At least that's what it sounded like to my daughter, used to Northern accents.  I explained that he was simply encouraging us to move in to leave the pavement clear and to .... have a cuddle. I remarked to my sister that crowd control outside BP must be a pretty boring job and the policeman who overheard me agreed! 

After that we walked down Birdcage Walk to Westminster Abbey along the edge of St James' Park where running under the sprinkler provided more entertainment for the six year old than Buckingham Palace. Big Ben chimed midday as we arrived in the square.   Some of us were getting weary as you can see from the picture so we continued our sightseeing by river boat.

It was quite a hot day so sun cream was needed.

We travelled under Tower Bridge and all the way to Greenwich where we climbed the hill to the Observatory and had a look at the Meridian Line.  This was of passing interest to the now rather tired children as the 12 hour time difference means that they are up and getting ready for school in NZ when we ring on a Sunday evening.  

We caught the boat back and got off at the Tower of London.  Then we travelled by London bus, catching a number 15 and getting seats at the front of the top deck.  This was great as we travelled through past St Paul's and Fleet Street and parts of the city I'd not seen before.  We got off on The Strand and finished the day in Covent Garden watching the street entertainers.  

It was sad saying goodbye for another couple of years but we'd enjoyed our family day out in London.

Two little birdies....

This little robin flew in through the kitchen window yesterday morning.  He panicked a bit when our dog tried to catch him but then settled down quite happily on the window sill.  Eventually I gently persuaded him to leave.

And I snapped this colourful rain forest bird at Chester Zoo on Monday. I can't remember what it's called but I think it's from Brazil.  More on this visit later - I'm making rather slow progress recording my summer outings.