Rain, giggles and an Angel!

The weather today was awful..rain.rain and more rain. At one point, it was SO dark it felt like 8pm in the evening instead of 3pm in the afternoon! The first image of today's blog, is taken through the window of the Pocket Rocket.  I was trying to show you the very dramatic sky and caught the windscreen wiper in mid-flow as well!

The next image was taken in Richmond and l was lucky enough to be stopped at traffic lights, just as these children cycled across the crossing. Oh and please note, l was the passenger NOT the driver! They crossed the road like three little ducks in a row, with dad herding them across the road. I wonder if children find bikes with wooden wheels, (the smallest bike) easier to ride than a bike with rubber wheels? The fact they looked so cute was one thing but the look on the face of the smallest girl made me giggle. I would have loved to been able to see what she was looking at so seriously across the other side of the road from her!

We literally crawled through Richmond because there was so much traffic and as the Rugby had already started, that couldn't have been the reason! We had to go much slower than normal because of the traffic jam, so l noticed quite a few shops l had never been concious of before. One shop, which was on a narrow road, incidentally next to a fasntastic looking Fresh Fish shop, was a Dry Cleaners. In the window was the most amazing silver sculpture, of a very ornate Angel Cloths Horse! I suppose it was saying..Let us Dry Clean your clothes for you and they will be bright and shiny just like this Siver Angel! Not sure l would trust them with my clothes but l definetly would buy their Angel!

Still in a traffic jam but moving a bit faster, we went pass a shop with a very funny sign on it's shop window. In large, yellow capital letters was written on the glass ....

 RENT THE

 HOUSE SELL

THE CAR KEEP

YOUR JEANS 

I think the shop might have been Gap but l am not sure! Did cheer me up a bit...which was a good thing!

I love looking at building and living in London, enables me to visit all sorts of amazing buildings and constrution sites. One building l have been recently watching,  was going to be quite boring l thought to myself but no.  Since l was here a few weeks ago, the builders have added some really attractive decorations,  just below and in between the sash windows. Really changed a boring, plain looking building, into something that has style. Very impressed!

The last image in today's blog is of a lost wellington boot. Can anyone answer this question for me? How can a child, quite a big child judging by it's size, loose it's boot and not notice? At first l thought it might have been dropped as the child carried it from the car. But then l discover the car infront of the boot, had only just arrived. Um..it is a beautiful blue too!

And that folks... was my journey for today, not earth shattering stuff or mind blowing new discoveries but in my small world, l had smiled, l still had my adorable husband,l had giggled and also learnt something new..what more could l ask for?!
Night all):

Lost and Found Gloves!

For the last 4 years or so, l have been collecting Lost or Found gloves!! I must have over 150, l should think! I never know if l should say ..l collect "Lost' or is it ..I collect "Found" gloves? I mean if you drop your glove, you have lost it but if l see your glove and pick it up or photograph it, l have found it! Anyway l now have a large amount but thats a different project/story for another blog entry! I thought it might be fun to show you, on here, some of those gloves!!

I always laugh when l look at this image, the reason being,  that the rubber gloved finger looks like the finger- nail is still there! and why is the hole there and how is the glove supported. Even though l have looked several times, the glove seems to be sticking to the wood by...thin air! very weird. It is the only glove l have ever left in place. Why?..so other people could try and find out the answer where l failed!ha!

The next image is a black knitted glove. If l had a pound for every black glove l found..l'd be rich. I think black must be the nations favorite colour for gloves. Either that or people buy cheap black gloves because they know they are going to loose them and that way it doesn't cost them the earth!

The exception to the black rule is children's gloves. They are nearly always colourful and have wonderful designs on them. The draw back for me as the collector is, because they are bright and colourful, parents tend to notice when the child either drops or throws their glove on to the ground. Some times l get lucky..like the glove below.  

Now l can hear you saying things like poor parents wasting money on having to buy new gloves, why don't you leave them where they are? Maybe the parents will come back and retrieve it. Well l do try and leave the glove for a while and sometimes a day or more, just in case the owner comes back. I am not really that cold hearted l promise!!

The next glove is a disposible glove. This was one l saw on Wimbledon Common and l am sure the owner of this glove would not spend time trying to find it again! It is properbly one of a pair, that a dog owner would keep in their pockets. "Why"? ...you ask if you are not a dog owner? Well... we are all encouraged these days to pick up our animals waste products...in others words...Shit! One wouldn't be advised to pick it up without a glove..then you place glove and forementioned "shit" into a plastic bag and dispose of both, in a nearby dustbin...if you are in luck. If not..you take it home with you!

 This one looks as though some driver took his temper out on it! The next Lost and Found image, is of a child's knitted glove. We found this one, while we were resting after walking to The Windmill on Wimbledon Common. It had been put on the back of the bench we were sitting on, by someone who properbly found it on the floor. It was a bit damp, so l think it had been there quite a few hours. It looked as though it might fit a child of around 8 or 9 years old. I do hope they didn't get into trouble. I can remember that as children, in fact right up to the age of about 13, l had to have a tape on our gloves. By that l mean,  a glove was attached to a peice of tape, that was threaded through each of the arms of your coat and then the other glove was attached to the other end of the tape. That way it was almost impossible to loose them. You had to come up with an amazing excuse, if ever you really wanted to get rid of them. I remember once, a young boy in my class, he must have been about 7, told his mum that a dragon had burnt the tape, when the dragon had spoken to him and therefore he had lost the gloves!!!! I wonder where he is now?..maybe a member of Parliment perhaps!

  

The last two images are of the common black glove! The first one, is a rather nice leather glove with a thin wool lining. I feel sorry for the lady who lost it, quite expensive l should think. It was very wet and soggy, so l think it had been there most of the day and well into the evening. I nearly missed it but as l waited for the lights to change, l saw it out of the corner of my eye! The lights of the cars must have made it shine enough for me to notice it!

The last image is of again an expensive black leather glove, lined with cotton this time. I found it hanging on an iron gate, with barbed wire wound round some of the bars. The gate was "guarding" a field that housed chickens, a broken down shed and a horse, wearing beautifully polished brass and a warm coat!

I have hundreds more gloves but l think that would be pushing your interest in my blog, just a little too far!Ha

WHY DO L WRITE THIS BLOG?

I know l have a few followers on this blog but l often wonder if l am speaking to myself! Then l saw a question put by my friend Amelia ,about what makes a good blog? This got me thinking.

WHY DO I WROTE THIS BLOG? 

I write this blog because l want to keep a record of my daily life, the changes going on around me, funny or strange events, monumental happenings and also to remind myself on days l am depressed..Life is worth living! 

OK....WHY AN OPEN BLOG?

It is a way for my family and friends, who live farway from me, to see what l get up, if they want to. But, l think mainly, it is because l want to share my happy, sometimes sad but always interesting daily journey. How many people actually really look at their surroundings? Before l came to live in Putney, l had had lived all over the world and never for longer than 3 years straight, in any one place or country.  Don't get me wrong, l loved every minute of it and l would do it again like a shot. When we came back to the UK, we had no intention of staying very long, we just needed a break. Eventually we realised we actually liked living in London and decided we would stay for a few years..that turned into 12 and my husband has retired! Why l am saying all this... it is to point out that when you don't stay in one place very long, it is exciting but you don't actually really learn about your enviroment, season, ect. For the first time ever, l actually know where the my robin has his nest and how many babies he/she had last year and what has happened to them. I know that the lady in the greengrocers has cancer and l have been able to help where l can. When l was very ill, the chemist picked up my prescriptions from my doctor and delivered them to me, free of charge. My hairdresser told me she is pregnant before anyone else because she thought knew l'd care and help her because l am so wise!Ha! I know my neighbours properly for the first time ever. The postman knows me and doesn't charge me for things he should. I know, that this year the crocus's are early, not world shattering information but important to me! Yes there are draw backs from living in London and in a flat but they are out weighed by the pluses. 

If you are writing a personal blog rather than a buisness blog..

I THINK IT HAS TO COME FROM THE HEART AND HAVE YOUR SOUL WOVEN INTO IT.

So if no-one reads this or no-one leaves a comment does it matter? No.. because in many ways this is for me to write my feelings in and rethink about my everyday and just record it. Every so often l print it out and l am making it into books. In the years to come, l hope it gives me a giggle or a happy memory to keep me going in my old age. And just maybe, my grandchildren will see a life and be-able to experiences though my writing, things that might no longer exist! Oh my goodness..l recording History! And to think my History teacher said l would never, in a thousand years contribe to any thing historial because l didn't have the brains!!!No wonder l hated school!Ha!

For the last 2 to 3 weeks l have been pre-occupied with my husband's heart problems. This eposide has made me even more aware of how precious life is. Don't put of what you should do today until tomorrow..do it now because tomorrow may never come! That sentence really stuck home with me. 

To end this blog l am going to put up some images, that l have taken over the last few days, which to me show the beauty of everything around us and remind me how lucky l am to be living in London. I promise l am not becoming over sentimental or weird but just life has become a little more precious to me lately!

Himself!

Simply bricks and moss but so beautiful. Rich warm colours.

Sitting with Tony under the fir tree, giving him a rest before we walked back home. I happened to look up and there above us was a fir cone. It also smelt so gorgeous as well as looking beautiful!

This is the view we had from a bench on Putney Heath, about 6 mins away from my flat! Such a dramatic sky and then 2 mins later the heavens open and the rain came pouring down!

I know this is only a blue plastic bag and techically rubbish but oh what a beautiful colour for rubbish to be!

Most of us, at one time or another, moan about the NHS and wish it was better. I too moaned about the NHS over the last few weeks, then l remembered what it was like, medically when we lived in such places as Papua New Guinea and The Bahamas and once again l thank god for the NHS!

After tony's scare, l will look out for one of these signs on every station l go on, through or too! This is where the magical electric pads live... to shock you back into life!!

And last but not least, this image of a tree. Bit like LIFE really, you get beaten about, you loss things, you get bits taken out of you, you live with stress  BUT...somehow we still excist and more than that..WE SURVIVE!

Weather.

Over the last few weeks l have taken many images of our sky. The weather has been quite strange..rain, snow, sunshine, dull, cloudy, no clouds...seems to be changing dramatically every day. So l decided that today's images should just concentrate on Weather!
The first image is in Richmond Park one afternoon about a week or so ago.

    

This is was taken at my son's flat in Ealing in London. Such an amazing blue and not altered either! 

One night a few weeks ago..very biblical!

This is the Windmill on Wimbledon Common, this image was taken a few days ago!

This 3 images were taken on Monday on Putney Heath, just a few minutes walk from my flat.

This was a wipe out a few days ago..no sky to see!Ha!

This last image is of the sky tonight! Beautiful!

All these images, just reinforce my view that Nature is just amazing and although l am struggling with depression, l know l am winning because l can still go...Wow!

A gleaming Pocket Rocket!

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Today we had quite an easy day. Reason..the talk we had with our wonderful Dr Ashley Helm yesterday. Some of you will know, that l have been worrying alot about Tony taking too much exercise each day! Well much to Tony's annoyance, she agreed with me. Not because Tony's heart is a problem, but as she explained..... it is the electrics that need mending. So he doesn't have to make sure his heart is kept fit by exercise, for when his heart is going to be shocked back into it's correct rythm, quite the opposite in fact. Tony is allowed two 10min walks a day..he is NOT a happy bunny! So his way of "not being too energetic" was to wash the car! He managed half of it and then l took over. The Pocket Rocket is now sparkling!

Roehampton.

Roehampton is an area near us, that consists of Council Housing and flats, private houses and flats, a small strip of shops, Roehampton University Campus and the newly built Queen Mary's Hospital. The Alton Estate is a council owned estate, which consisits of  10 blocks and bungalows, were built in the early 1960's are now Grade 11 listed.Their design owes alot to the designer Le Corbusier. If you want to find out more go to http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_19.htm   There is a problem with these blocks being Grade 11 listed, it means that the council have more excuses not to do repairs! Quote.." Sorry we can't mend that until we have checked it doesn't interfere with the Listings rules"..more frustrated tenants! Below is an image of the tower blocks from inside richmond Park, they look great from this distance!

Just as we were leaving the common, to get access to the under-pass to the A3, we saw these young boys playing in the woods. They were having a fun time. Hiding from each other, doing all the militsary style crawling and running behind trees. It was great to see, that they were outside having exercise instead of playing the same game, on a machine!

After watching the boys for a while, we went through the under-pass to get to the main road in Roehampton. I have walked through this under-pass many many times and never noticed this sign before. Which makes me think actually, it is a new addition to the under-pass. I have to ask myself..Why do we need this here? can you read the sign?

It actually say the following....It is against the law to smoke in these premises.....l kid you not.  I don't smoke but sometimes l think this country has gone mad!
I go past the local church in Roehampton frequently but l had never really seen it from this angle before. I had never realised how big it actually is.  From the front aspect, which is next to the primary school, it looks quite small and insignificant. At the moment there is a lot of repair work being done to the spire. Infact the top of the spire is not there and has been taken down for repaires. I think the scaffolding gives the church the look of a Chinese Pagoda!

As l mentioned earlier, the primary school is attached to the church and you can see the playground in the image above. I had to smile to myself when l saw the sign in the playground, attached to the fence!

It says..Careful..there is tree growing here......That is like saying ..on a beach..becareful there is a grain of sand on this beach. if you see what l mean!Ha!
Night folks..l need to sleep as it is late and l am tired. thanks for visiting my blog.

More finds on a daily walk!

Yesterday's walk in the woods was full of interesting things and far too many to put up on yesterday blog chat. 

 I noticed this tree for the first time yesterday and yet l must have walked past it loads of time in the last 12 years. It looks like a boney finger, pointing the way! It actually points the way to a wigwam in the woods, which lately has become one and a half wigwams! Actually l suppose technically the half wigwam is a bivouac, a temporary camp without tents or covers.

There has been a lot of talk about children/teenagers wearing hoodies and how they make them look threatening. Just after we had walked away from the wigwams, Tony pointed two people coming our way, they wore hoodies and the person on the right walked as though he was "tough". After l had taken the picture and downloaded it, l was surprised to see it was a couple and not teenagers either. Funny how we are so susceptible to the media's ideas.

For ages l have been trying to catch a good image of a Magpie with no avail. Today l thought l had it but alas..NO...it flew off just as l was tryingt to get near. But l caught an image, just as it flew away. Can you see the small shadow just to the right of the flying bird?

Just a bit further along the path, there were many puddles. One vase shaped puddle,  had some lovely reflections of a tree, the sky and clouds.

If you have been a follower of this site, you will have remember the images from a hill, which was used as a tobaggan run. Well, that hill was being used as bike-run this weekend and as one other activity which really made me laugh. A child of about the age of 8, challenged his dad to a race up the hill. Dad let him have a head start, members of the group shouting and lots of laughing. Dad almost won but you could see he actually slowed down, just as he got to the top! Good old Dad!Ha

From here, we carried on walking to The Windmill, for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake and also to give Tony a rest. Unfortunetly the queue was huge, we had forgotten it was half-term and the world and his family were out walking and then needing to get warm! So needing to sit, we went and sat on a bench round the corner, watching people and the Golf Course. 

As we were sitting there, we kept seeing these runners going past us, males, one female, all ages and in all conditions! One guy really caught my attention, bandy legs but the cheekiest smile and running his heart out!

After he had gone by, we decided to go and see what the sign was on the stick and also on their T-shirts! Thought it was Hash House Harriers but the letters were not correct.

The actual club is called Thane Hare & Hounds Cross Country Running Club. After we had been sitting for on the bench for 20 mins or so, we decided that Tony had rested enough and we got up to go. 

When l was pregenant with Jenny in 1975, our doctor was an amazing old lady who had a huge old proper poodle. She used to strap it into the front of her Morris Minor and during surgery hours, it used to sit at her feet, under her table. As we got up to go, there in front of me, were 2 proper poodles. Amazing animals. 

The Common was full of dogs, as well as people today. I think l saw at least 50 different breeds today and quite a few Heinz 57 varieties! This next image really made us giggle. Now that is what l call a lead!!!

As wegot to enter the woods, we saw this very talented little boy, who l discovered was 2 years old. A future footballer l think, he had the most amazing control of the ball and an amazing kick.

 He was so sweet, l asked him" Do your boots help you to kick the ball better?". Back came the reply, "Er..er..no...they um keep my feet dry". Ha! Ask a stupid question! I think they are Fireman Sam boots.

 

The next image is of what every dog walker needs....someone must have dropped theirs. Hope they had another one handy!!

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This was quite a walk for Tony..l knew this but ...! He had to see how much he could do! By the time we got to Putney Heath, he was VERY tired, we had to go very slowly and sit where ever there was a chair. We came home and Tony slept from about 8.30 in the evening till 5ish in the morning...he is resting today but also it is raining!!!