Bench in Westminster dedicated to some Atlantan

atl bench
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

I sat on this bench in Westminster and as I sat down I noticed that the bench had a plaque on it (most benches do in London). I turned around to see th estory and was shocked to see the bench was dedicated to the "honor (spelled wrong) of Mr. Boggs, beloved Director of Choral music at Westminster School, Atlanta Georgia."

How odd is that? Any of my Atlanta friends know of Mr. Boggs - sadly it looks as if he passed in 1992, holy cow he was born in 1969 - he was super young.

Sarah's new front door (hopefully)

Sarah's new front door (hopefully)
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

Last week, I went to south (pronounced "sowf" and north London is pronounced "norf") London to see my friend Sarah's (hopefully) new home. I say hopefully because buying a place to live in the UK is a long and onerous process. Found this place ages ago, did all her homework, made, offer, accepted, back and forthing now for MONTHS. I do not have her patience. Anyway, its super cute with a nice back garden we went there to speak with builders ---- so she may be getting close to possessing it!!!

Anyway, here she is at the front door saying, "I can't belive you are going to take another picture." But isn't it fun to have something almost yours. I remember both places I bought and how it felt to know that all those changes I made were mine. Hmmmm. maybe its time to settle down again and buy something.

or I could always just live vicariously...

Sarah in her soon to be dining room

Sarah in her soon to be dining room
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

more of Sarah's home buying adventures. Funny thing was once I got home and looked at the pictures there were none of her house just her texting builders and standing in doorways - oh well, the floor boards look nice and that will soon be here living room.

On a roll

Just finished the Debbie Bliss Baby bolero for Sally and Lucy's baby girl. It fits my old teddy bear perfectly but will look incredibly cute on the six month old. Now I just need to mail it to her - I'm not good at mailing.

So I'll send them this post!

Sunny Day in "Sowf" London

Mostly I took this photo because of the blue blue sky. Then I enjoyed the two elderly ladies at the top of the stairs. I was on my way to Borough Market for coffee, veggies, pastries, and a bacon butty.

I have to ration bacon butties... They are the best thing EVER. No thing in the US comes close to a UK bacon butty. What is a bacon butty, you ask? Its an amazing concoction of bacon (not American bacon but British bacon which is kind of like Canadian bacon but somehow better) in bread with "tomato sauce" AKA ketchup. That's it, but its perfect and on a sunny London Saturday, before the crowds make the market unbearable, in the shadow of Southwalk Cathedral, with a Monmouth coffee accompaniment; a bacon butty/sarnie/sandwich is the best thing ever.

creampuff parked

creampuff parked
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

I finally bought a Vespa. I've only been talking about it for about a zillion years. Isn't she a beauty? She's a cream coloured, 1997 ET4 125 cc Vespa. She's had six previous owners and she's only done 12000 miles. There are bits of her which are held on with zip ties (! I love that) but she's still elegant and probably not going to be the first one stolen when it comes to choosing a bike to steal.

I've been scootering to work for 2 weeks now and I'm having trouble remembering what its like to take the bus or the tube. I rush out of work at 6 pm because I cannot wait to ride her home. Last Thursday I left work and just drove around Regent's Park for no apparent reason, other than I could.

summer Sunday afternoon

summer Sunday afternoon
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

I had another set of visitors on Saturday afternoon. We had a lovely couple of hours drinking Pimms in the back garden, strolling around Hampstead and then having dinner at XO in Belsize Village.

It was great to see Bob, Virg, Ru and Ollie and catch up on all the SF gossip. They brought me some lovely sun flowers which made a beautiful display the following evening on a late Sunday afternoon.

do i need reading glasses?

do i need reading glasses?
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

This weekend someone asked me if I had reading glasses, yet. The answer is yes and here's a picture of them. However, I don't really need them to read yet. I've been expecting to need them since I turned 40 (that's seven years now).

A whole slew of folks told me its all downhill post 40; but I'm still hanging in there on the presbyopia front.

In anticipation, I bought a pair of reading glasses from Boots and even out them on a chain so I can be a librarian. It struck me as odd that I bought them before I needed them, so I took a picture of them and here they are.

Guerrilla handman

Guerilla handman
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

Dylan (my ancient orange tabby) has been breaking out of the back garden and wandering the neighborhood. All week Bob and Jen had to battle to keep him in. Bob, being the resourceful type, took some wood out of the scary back garden shed and plugged up as many escape routes as we could find.

Unfortunately, nothing stops Dylan, just because he's at least 19, he will not let a little guerrilla handiman action keep him from his appointed rounds with the local news agent.

I'm looking into a harness and leash. If I find one that fits I'll take a picture of that. In the meantime enjoy Bob's antics.

Bob and Jen: Pub a day no. 675

Bob and Jen: Pub a day no. 675
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

On Saturday we set out to enjoy a stroll around the east end and ended up in a pub, as you do. I managed to scam the only empty table and sent the intrepid pair to secure our drinks.

Must have been their 800th Guinness. I had a lovely fruity Belgian beer just right to recover from an afternoon of strolling and shopping off of Brick Lane. Best section of shops are on Cheshire Street near : Labour and Wait is a favourite; but Mimi rocks, too.

Did we mention Bob is a photographer?

did we mention Bob is a photographer?
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

Jen and Sian take another picture. Goodness, I need to brush my hair.

Bob = photographer?

Did we mention - photographer?
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

EVERYTHING was documented! Jen is a patient soul - by the way you can check out here pics of theire trip on her flickr site here.

One of my tube stations - its hot on northern line in summer

One of my tube stations - its hot on northern line in summer
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

August on the tube with Bob and Jen. Its hot and Bob takes pictures of everything. Here's me melting on the Northern line at my tube stop. note Jen's hand in the left foreground.

Bob enjoys the English seaside

summer beach trip to Brighton
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

My friends Bob and Jen visited me in early August on the way back from a two month jaunt through Europe. We spent a delightful week in London and did a small side trip to Brighton. The day was a complete English seaside treat: it was grey, then it rained, the beach was a pebble beach, it was slightly cold and we had fish and chips. The only think I didn't make them do was change underneath a towel or sit beside one of those weird stripey beach wind blockers they have at the beach in the UK.

As you can see Bob was really enjoying himself.

Sign in Shoreditch

sign in Shoreditch
Originally uploaded by sillewellyn.

really not to much to say about this. It is what it is, a lovely message about our current economic times. I liked the Shoreditch neighborhood, where this sign was located.