A Heart-Warming Christmas Tale...

On Christmas Eve I went to a place which is not usually associated with holidays, festivities and Christmas cheer -  I went to the cemetery! A bit unusual and different - but not really when you think about it. Cemeteries in England are open even on Christmas Day.

I went with my good friend, Millie, the provider of luscious cream cakes. Millie and I have known each other since the late 70's when I was a midwife and we both worked together at The Women's Hospital, Peel Street, Nottingham. We bonded when she came to work one day looking decidedly ill and I said "Millie, you look so pale!! Then we both burst into peals of laughter and a friendship was struck that has endured all these years.

Seventeen years ago Millie lost her only son to an aggressive form of cancer. He was 35 years old. Since that time she has never celebrated Christmas, preferring to stay at home alone with her thoughts.She has even requested people not to send Christmas cards. Apart from church, the only other place she visits over Christmas is the cemetery to visit with her son. So…. when she phoned on Christmas Eve morning, I said I would go with her.

The car park was crowded when we arrived! As I said, it's not uncommon for families in England to visit cemeteries over the Christmas period. I think it's a lovely idea to remember dearly departed ones at this time.

Many of the graves were adorned with Christmas decorations.

I love the Christmas stocking:

And the thought that loved ones aren't forgotten:

This cherub was wagging his finger at me!!

This is something I've never seen before. At first I thought someone had made a big error in their

calculations and then I realized these graves were all facing east:

Even the benches were adorned with Christmas greenery:

I loved this statue adorned with fresh flowers:

There were even Christmas cards for loved ones:

Is this morbid? I don't think so, I think it's a very healthy way to approach death, dying, mourning and grieving.

After all:

Following our visit, we decided to go out for lunch. This is when the magic happened.

We headed to the Wheelhouse pub, and after changing seats we ended up sitting near the Christmas tree and in full view of the bar. After placing our orders, Millie suddenly stood up, her face as pale as when I had commented on it over 30 years ago. Behind the bar from where we were sitting, stood her son's partner from all those years ago! Millie hadn't seen her since his death and had been thinking of her that very morning! Even more surprising, at the time Millie saw her, Sharon was recounting the story of Millie's son to a patron of the pub who verified that . After a tearful reunion Sharon disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a beautifully decorated box in which she had kept all the mementos, including photos and knick- knacks, she had collected over the years spent with Everald. He was obviously still very much in her thoughts. Millie was so elated that her son's memory was not forgotten and that, unbeknown to her, Sharon had visited his grave. They visited for a long time and exchanged phone numbers. Millie was positively beaming:

Before we left,  Millie had an invite for Christmas dinner the following day. After all these years, she was unsure whether to break her custom of being on her own over Christmas, but……

The next day she came to visit on her way to Christmas dinner! She was still beaming. there was a lilt in her voice and she was totally transformed. This long- lost link with her son had made her Christmas!

By the way she did call me the next day and told me what a wonderful time she had. She met long lost friends who had known her son and spoke of him with warmth and affection. She was touched by their memories of him. The best Christmas for a long time!

Merry Christmas Millie!

Love ya babes!

Talk soon

Zoe

BTW Millie graciously allowed me to share this story.

On The Road Again...

So ….. all good things come to an end and it was time to say goodbye to London and head back up north:

But never fear, I'll be back. Still lots to see and do! I headed off to Victoria to catch my coach. I passed through Victoria Train Station:

Not too busy at this time of day.

There was a school choir singing carols as part of a fundraiser for an orphanage overseas.

Flower sellers and gorgeous flower displays!

I love the blend of the old and the new!

Outside the coach and train stations I could have rented a bike but, no thanks, a little too far to pedal!

As I mentioned in a previous post, the roads here are totally congested with way too many vehicles and the motorways ( highways) are just as bad. This is a view from my coach seat on the M1, a major artery leading out of London to the North:

 I could have easily reached out and touched this truck!! I've noticed road rage here is getting as bad as North America. I'd be a bit leery to drive here, especially on the wrong side of the road!

After a long trip, a quick change and off to see this at the Theatre Royal:

Told you I loved the theatre! This is another panto, not as good as the first. I sat up in the gods again:

Look how close I was to the ceiling, isn't the ceiling rose detailing gorgeous?

Here's another view, I could almost reach out and touch!

This is a day (and summer!) view of the theatre:

The Theatre Royal was built in 1865 and together with the Royal Concert Hall, forms part of the Royal Centre in Nottingham. They have world class theatre, concerts, ballet, opera etc. Joan Rivers was booked to do a one-woman stage show here just a week or two before her demise. I'm already planning what I'll see next year! Top of my list is the stage musical "The Full Monty". I've already seen the movie and it was great - so off to book my tickets!

Talk soon

Zoe

A Little Bit Of Culture…...

Having some spare time before a trip to the theatre in London, I decided to go walkabout and visit some places that I hadn't seen in years. I started off at Charing Cross Station and walked to Trafalgar Square, named after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when Britain's naval hero, Lord Horatio Nelson was killed:

Trafalgar Square is always full of tourists (me included!) and at New Year's there's always at least one person that tries to scale Nelson's Column. On one side of the Square is this building, do you recognize it?

Maybe this is a better photo:

OK, final clue:

And just because we have to be politically correct:-)

I was going to go inside for a quick peek. I always took my kids there and they would sign the Visitor's Book and feel very important! But, alas, Canada House was closed for extensive refurbishment. The Canadian Government had sold the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square-  super prime real estate - for  a small fortune - and were merging both buildings into one. This is an update from their website: "We're all abuzz about the latest addition to Canada House. The High Commissioner has unveiled a luxury bee hotel that will grace the roof of our new office in Trafalgar Square. We're pleased to be able to offer London's bees a safe haven in the middle of the city, and staff are lining up to learn all about maintaining a great environment for these important animals". Hmmmm…. interesting to the average Canadian taxpayer. They did add that this was donated by the Savoy Hotel but……

Alongside Canada House is the National Gallery, I haven't been here for years so thought it was worth a visit:

The Christmas tree is annual gift from the people of Norway in thanks for the help they received from Britain in WW2.

Here's a close up look:

There were lots of street entertainers in the square, this guy was playing with fire, one way to keep warm!

Now, Art was never a favourite subject at school - I just never had the artistic touch and I think I only scraped by by getting good marks on the Theory of Art so…. not knowing the difference between a Manet and a Monet I went in anyway and was pleasantly surprised to actually recognize these:

"At the Theatre" by Renoir

"The Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice" by Canaletto

"The Fighting Temeraire" by Turner

"Mrs. Siddons" by Thomas Gainsborough

I guess I didn't snooze through all those classes after all!!

Now this one is a real classic:

It's called a selfie!! Just kidding, but the hips look disturbingly familiar!!

There were also lots of Italian Renaissance paintings, I took these because it was so close to Christmas:

Lots and lots of Italian Renaissance:

These are familiar scenes on Christmas cards in England.

I'm glad I went for a visit, a little bit of culture never harms! Now, outside was a familiar figure:

And I knew immediately who it was…. Paddington Bear!

A collection box, aptly, for the NSPCC

On the third side of Trafalgar Square is this building:

St. Martin-in the-Fields Church. I had to steal this photo as mine was too dark! This church dates back to the 1700's or, as my kids always said, "everything in England is so old"! I always like to come here, not just to sit in the church:

There was a choir rehearsal in progress for a fund raising concert later that night.

But also, because down in the crypt……………

They have a lovely cafeteria that serves great food and afternoon cream teas. It was a bit late for afternoon tea but I couldn't just go there and not eat anything, could I???

Just a wee slab of coffee and walnut cake….

It does feel a bit disrespectful eating in the crypt with gravestones like this at my feet:

But everyone is doing it!! The ambiance is great!

In the foyer there was a gorgeous Nativity scene, made from oak and gilded with gold and copper leaf:

The artist is from Nottingham, how cool is that!

So, time for my theatre trip. A short little stroll down the Strand to the Savoy Hotel:

The theatre is just to the right, you can see the red lights. It's an Art Deco theatre and is really neat inside:

This was a view from my seat, I guess I was the first one there!

The play was a comedy and was terrific: two con-men who were then conned by a woman!!

I can tell you that because the season is over next month!!

I laughed and laughed and…… because no visit to the theatre is complete without chocolate……

this is what I had:

because, as all us Brits know, Maltesers are "the chocolates with the less fattening centre."

So, in view of that, I ate the whole pack all by myself!!!

Thanks for the theatre, Donna, even if you did send me out in the freezing cold!

Talk soon

Zoe