Happy New Year & Goodbye to the Naughties!

Here's a bright blue sky over a modern London Icon, the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK, the London Eye or Millennium Wheel as it was known when it was opened on 31 December 1999. It seems wrong that it's been a whole decade since it made it's presence felt on the London skyline, it can't have been that long ago can it? Where has the time gone?

This time last year I uploaded my last post of 2008 from Toronto. Now 12 months later here I am in London doing the same. Gosh, much can change in a year. A year ago we were celebrating the New Year with new Toronto friends, looking forward to and making plans for our future adventures in Canada.

As most of you will know, this was not to be and come the middle of the year and after a bumpy ride here we are back in wonderful London. It has not been the best year for us, but in the quiet moments before the night's festivities, a little reflection on the events of the past 12 months leaves me feeling a little sad for the dreams that ended, a lot sad to have left some good friends in Toronto, but there is the positive too. We are pretty much settled back into London life. We have reconnected with our friends and family. We have been enjoying the abundant wonders of this great city, we have each other and we are able to make new plans for our future.

In the grand scheme of things, life is good for us and trials endured have been manageable. There are many who have had a much harder time of it this year, so I count my blessings, thankful for so much.

So as we all plan to mark the end of another year and that of the first decade of the new millennium, let us all be thankful for our blessings and let us too think about those less fortunate than ourselves. As we start a new year in a new decade let us all be a little more mindful of those less fortunate and be motivated to give a little back in this coming year. Well, that's what I plan to do anyway.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year filled with peace, love and joy!

For more photos and stories from around the blogosphere, check out Skywatch Friday.

Float your boat - My World Tuesday

While walking along the South Bank of the Thames when on my way to visit the Tate Modern I passed the OXO Towers Wharf, home to a celebrated Restaurant. I had a look about and saw this which I liked.

I have found no info about it on the web, so we'll have to enjoy it for what it is.

For more sights from around the blogoshere, check out My World Tuesday.

Christmas Eve Skywatch

Merry Christmas  

with wishes for peace, love and joy!

Happy, Happy!

So after that awful drive in the snow virtually bringing traffic on much of the roads around London to a grinding/skidding halt, we eventually made it home - only 5 hours later and with barely a drop of petrol/gas left in the tank. It was a close call.

When we got into the warmth of home FOH was pleased to see us safe and had some much appreciated hot dinner ready for us. He also had a wonderful postal delivery to share.

Yes, this pretty Christmas card arrived while I was on the road. Just what I needed, frustrated frown replaced by happy smile. A card from my lovely moggies complete with pics!

Aww, what a lovely gesture from the kind folks at the quarantine cattery. Made my day I can tell you.

So their card and pics are happily on display with all the other cards and our stash of gifts under the "tree" - where tree is a potted yukka type plant with a string of lights casually draped around it for Seasonal affect.

From the Inukshuk household to yours, Seasons Greetings with wishes for peace, love and joy.

Stuck in the snow!

I know it's an awful pic, but I'm caught up in the awful snow storm affecting the South East!

The M4 is at a crawl, visibility awful and cars a-slipping and a-sliding. Hope to get home sometime later tonight....if we're lucky. Went to fetch Mother from her sister's in Wales so she can spend Christmas with us. So at least we have time to catch up!

The UK really don't do snow very well......Toronto send snowplows...urgent!

For more pics from around the blogoshere checkout My World Tuesday!

Winter Wonderland - Skywatch Friday

Some of you gorgeous regulars, having read the title of today's post, might well have expected to see a snowy scene, much like I would have posted last year, being as we were then up to our nipples in Toronto snow. Sorry for you, but no such luck, just a look at a cloudy sky complete with lovely rainbow over Hyde Park, scene of the Winter Wonderland including the German Christmas Market.

We jumped on the bus and headed off to Hyde Park. We sat upstairs, right in the front, the best seats to see it all, except of course when the driver tries to negotiate a low bridge. Anyway, we got to Hyde Park without incident and entered the Winter Wonderland.

An outdoor ice-rink looked like fun, for those who, unlike myself, are not prone to break things whenever an even mildly dangerous opportunity presents it's self.

The ice-rink would not be complete without a Zamboni and this one even sporting a familiar symbol.

There was also the funfair and in true paparazzi style I snapped the pic of this famous carousel. (I've no idea, I read it on the signage)

Now if your kids haven't lost their lunch going round and round on the carousel, send them into the Helter Skelter.

Still not had your fill of fun, then fight your way through the crowds and join the queue/line to ride the roller-coaster.

And the serious funsters go to all sorts of heights - yes, look closely, those are the dangling legs of the seriously dedicated fun seekers waiting to plummet to earth, or as I like to call them, the seriously insane!

After such merriness and madness, or perhaps instead of, you might like a warming Gluhwein/Mulled Wine. Yummy!

Fortified by that lovely warmness it's time to head into the German Christmas market and seek out some food.

There's gotta be some Bratwurst here somewhere...I mean you can't go to a German Market and not have a bit of sausage. Well that's what I always say.

Can you believe all the effort that goes into this. All these structures, of not insignificant proportions, are erected just before the end of November to spread cheer until just after the new year, then it's all dismantled and the area returns to lawns punctuated by benches used by lunching office workers.

For more skies be sure to checkout Skywatch Friday.

Stuck for Christmas Gift ideas?

No idea what to buy that someone special in your life?

How about one of these then? Or, how about all three if the giftee is really special!

Yes, they are solid silver lids for jars of Mustard, Ketchup and for those with a taste for it, Marmite!

Good luck with your holiday shopping for those who do.

Stuart Haygarth at the Royal Academy

Last week Fab Other Half and I were making the most of some free time (his new job started today!), so on Friday we went to the Royal Academy Contemporary.

See, it also has a Grand Entrance

It's to be found through the back door of the RA. Actually that's not fair or true really, but if you know the grand entrance to the RA at Burlington House on Picadilly, then the entrance to RA Contemporary is right around the other side of the block at 6 Burlington Gardens. It's an easy and interesting, if distracting, walk through Burlington Arcade.

Burlington Arcade

We went specifically to see Earth, Art of a Changing World, where over 30 leading international contemporary artists examine the impact of global climate change on humanity through visual art, installation and sculpture. Photography was not allowed, so do click on the above link and have a look at some of the works.

On our way out we noticed that there was also an exhibition by Stuart Haygarth. He does some amazing things with discarded stuff he finds and collects. 

He says:  Starting in 2004 I have been working on design projects which revolve around the collections of objects. The objects are normally collected in large quantities categorized and assembled in a way that transforms their meaning. My work is about giving banal and overlooked objects a new significance. The finished piece of work takes various forms such as chandeliers, installations, functional and sculptural objects.

Have a look at the exhibition pics here.

Photography was allowed, so here are some of the pics I took. Mine are not quite in the same league, but fun all the same.

Light play of a chandelier

 

 

A closer look.

 

They're spectacle lenses.

 

See!

More light fittings?

Well yes, but take a closer look.

Worked out what they are yet?

That's right, those are the arms of spectacles!

For more pics from around the blogosphere check out My World Tuesday.

Millau Viaduct, the highest bridge.

In this previous post I showed some pics of the Millau Viaduct which we drove across en route to the South of France. It's a rather famous bridge holding three World records.

It is currently the highest road bridge deck in the world at 270 m (890 ft) above the Tarn River at its highest point. It is nearly twice as tall as the previous tallest vehicular bridge in Europe, the Europabrücke in Austria. It also has the highest bridge tower in the world as well as the highest pylons in the world. You can read the Wikipedia article here.

So you've seen the photos, you've read the Wiki, now see the movie!

Well, to be honest, it's a silly little video shot on my Mobile/Cell phone as we drove over "The Highest Road Bridge in the World" that I had forgotten about. I found it today when getting all the pics off my mobile and freeing up the memory card.

It's not going to win any prizes and is quite a bit more boring than I imagined it might be when approaching the bridge and shouting "lights, camera, action!"



What can I say, it seemed a pity to waste it seeing as FOH, aka Cameraman 1 worked so hard filming my (Stunt driver extraordinaire) drive over the "Highest Road Bridge in the World."

Tate Modern - Skywatch Friday

Yesterday's outing was to Tate Modern after a yummy lunch at Las Iguanas restaurant at The Festival Hall on the South Bank.

This the view from the lawn in front of Tate modern looking across The Thames. You can see St. Paul's Cathedral through the almost leafless trees.

Here's a view of the Tate and if you look closely you can read what's currently on. Formerly Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. The building was converted by architects Herzog & de Meuron and contractors Carillion, after which it stood at 99m tall. Wikipedia entry continues here.

It's an amazing place. Enormous, huge is how to describe the Turbine Room. No longer used in the production of electricity, but as an incredible showcase space.

This then the current exhibition, Pop Life - Art in a Material World. Of course there are also the free Collections to view, so there's plenty to keep you busy for hours.

So these are some of the artists you can expect to see, plus many others. Much of the work is...um, thought provoking, but all the same it was a great few hours and thoroughly recommended.


For more skies check out Skywatch Friday.

The Wizard at Harrods - My World Tuesday

Hello my Pretties! More festive windows for you.

My World Tuesday this week is a follow on from a previous post showcasing the Christmas Windows at Selfridge's. Today I bring you Harrods offering to the world of Seasonal Window Display.

WARNING: The quality of the following pics are a little um....well, not the best, due to dodging the never ending flow of humanity pounding the pavement/sidewalk while also trying to overcome the reflections - not too successfully. Hey ho, it was fun all the same.

So here we are at the intended destination, Harrods in Knightsbridge, London. Arguably the most famous shop in the world.

We are here to look at the windows and there are loads of them! Harrods takes up a whole city block and there are windows on 3 sides.

Of course I had to park the car first. Seeing as it's a Bugatti Veyron worth £880 000/$1 400 000 I thought it might be fun to park it in the middle of street, you know, let the lesser mortals oggle!

Of course I'm kidding, I left it there awaiting valet parking!

So the theme for Harrods this year is the 70th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz! How cool is that?

And that's where I got the opening line from.

Tada! Dorothy's Ruby shoes!

And on with the windows. Some are big.

Some are small.

Here are the 4 friends and the yellow brick road.

More yellow brick road.

There she is with Toto!

I've no idea who she is, but she seems to have fallen over - perhaps too much Champagne. Well, we'll forgive her, it is the silly festive season after all!

For more pics from around the blogosphere check out My World Tuesday.