Tales of Woe and other stories!

After my thought provoking last post I thought I'd post something a bit more light hearted but nonetheless quite true.
Following my long trek along the Thames Path to Tower Bridge and back again, catching the train home and being waved on by a friendly guard:

by the time I trekked up Blythe Hill, my feet were killing me!! I must digress a wee bit here. As you know I'm staying with THE FOOT:

which belongs to my big sis which is a bit of a contradiction in terms as she is quite petite and probably reaches to my nipple line. But she is also a very generous soul with her stuff, excluding her clothes of course, which I could never even dream to fit into. She does, however, gift me her discarded designer handbags and is very generous with all the uber expensive cosmetics, creams, lotions and potions that she uses. She's definitely not an Oil of Olay kind of girl! So, on my arrival, she left a pot of Elemis night moisturizer/miracle worker and all things in between and a tube of Creme de la Mer miracle cream on my bedside table for me to try out - was she hinting at something????

This is just a small sample of her lotions and potions:

She probably has more money invested in her closets and cosmetics than I have in my bank account!!

When I arrived home from my trek, climbing into bed and spec-less, my poor and tired feet got a generous application of Creme de la Mer at $180 a pop before I went to bed. I must admit they did feel great in the am! This was not a deliberate act of sabotage, with all the proffered goodies and being spec-less, I just presumed this was a tube of hand cream or something similar and applied it quite liberally.

Oops!

It got progressively worse. Being the helpful soul that I am, I threw the contents of her laundry basket into the washing machine on a regular cycle only to be told that these designer labels were hand wash only. The final straw was when I disassembled her designer bathroom light fixture to give it a well deserved wash only to realize I couldn't remember how to put it back together. At this point I was told in a VERY school-marmish tone not to touch ANYTHING and to leave EVERYTHING the way it was.

Well, Karma can be a bitch because, later that evening, I was going down s short flight of steps, missed the bottom step and fell hitting my head against the door frame! I lay there stunned, my first thought was OMG did I break my I-Pad, my second thought was, are my glasses OK and my third was, did I lose consciousness? My head hurt, I had a massive haematoma forming on the right side of my forehead and pain in my right shoulder and knee. Now, if I was in North Bay, I probably would have dragged myself to ER, had a CT of my head and probably been discharged in the care of a responsible adult and clutching a head injury sheet. But, being in London and having had my earlier experience in the A & E with my Mum, I grabbed a bag of frozen peas, took some Ibuprofen, had a glass of this: 

and, after several hours, went to bed with strict instructions  to make sure I woke up in the morning!! I

 still have a dent in my forehead and am still looking for signs of mental impairment (no comments please) but so far, so good.

All in all NOT a good day but that's OK because I have a Golden Ticket and tomorrow night I have a date with an Oompa Loompa!

Talk Soon

Zoe

The Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

One of my must -do things in London was to see the poppies at the Tower of London and I just made it in time!

Last Thursday I caught the bus to London Bridge and walked along the Thames Path to the Tower of London.

The tall building is called The Shard and really does look like a shard of glass! It is an 87-storey skyscraper that is home to offices, restaurants, hotel rooms and a viewing platform. No, I didn't go in, I'm not really interested in super- new developments when there's better stuff to see!!

Here's a view from the walk along the Thames.  In the distance is Tower Bridge and on the right is HMS Belfast, now a museum. Belfast was originally part of the British naval blockade against Germany, used as an escort ship for Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union and then redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet.

   

It really wasn't that far a walk!!!

The Tower of London is to the left of Tower Bridge looking downriver and, as I turned left, the "seas of red" came into view:

The major art installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London, marked 100 years since the first full day of Britain's involvement in the First World War. Created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, 888,246 ceramic poppies progressively filled the Tower's moat between July 17th and November 11th 2014. Each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war.
The scale of the installation was intended to reflect the magnitude of such an important centenary and create a powerful visual commemoration and it fulfilled this and more.

I took a picture of these sculptures, I don't know what they are supposed to represent except that in years gone by The Tower was also used as the Royal Menagerie. I really like the lion!!

All of the poppies that made up the installation were sold, raising millions of pounds which were shared equally amongst six service charities.
After Armistice Day (November 11th) , Remembrance Day in Canada, the poppies were to be dismantled and sent to the people that had donated towards a poppy. 10,000 people had volunteered to do this task, you can see some of them to the left of the photo



This part of the display is called "The Waterfall"

If you look to the left of The Waterfall you can see a Beefeater or Yeoman Guard in their traditional uniform:

BTW if you double click on the photos they should enlarge.

Each day in the moat at sunset, names of 180 Commonwealth troops killed during the war, (including Canadians of course)  were read out as part of a Roll of Honour, followed by the Last Post.

I was SO glad I was able to see this before it was dismantled, it was one of the highlights of my trip. It was a sobering thought to look down on these poppies and realize that each poppy represented a life. Such a senseless waste. We still haven't learned our lesson have we?? 

The poppy display reminded me of In Flanders Fields, written by our own Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae and known to all Canadian school kids:

 In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

 That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

 Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.Short days ago

      We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow   

        Loved and were loved,and now we lie        

In Flanders fields

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

      We shall not sleep,though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

I wish you all could have shared this with me.

Talk soon

Zoe

When a man (or woman!) is tired of London Town…..

I have been down in London for a week . We say "down" after coming "down" from the Great White North , or, in this case, the Midlands.  Ostensibly to give some TLC to this foot belonging to my big sis:

but also to have some fun! After all, all work and no play……..

My sister lives in Catford, SE London which is in the London Borough of Lewisham. So, after dispensing the necessary amount of TLC I went for a walk around Catford. Catford's claim to fame is this big cat, apparently so named after the river here and the presence of wild cats all no doubt dating back to medieval times.

Catford is VERY multicultural with a large proportion of Afro-Caribbean, African and Eastern European residents which is also evidenced by the number of ethnic food stores and restaurants.

I found my favourite Vietnamese soup and chatted up a cute stall owner:

I loved the Black Beauty Salon and love the short red wig. I can see myself going places in that:-)

And of course I HAD to take a photo of a red double-decker bus! No trip to London without a ride in one!

Later on that day………… I caught the train to Charing Cross……….

wandered out into Trafalgar Square and the Strand, passed the National Gallery, St.Martin's in the Fields Church, passed by the Savoy Hotel:

Walked to Covent Garden which is beautifully decorated for Christmas:

I was a woman on a mission - to find the Cross Keys pub on Endell Street in Covent Garden.

The brother of one of the housekeeping staff at  North Bay Hospital is the landlord of the pub and I had told her I would go and visit him. Thanks Sandy, have you ever walked into a pub and asked for a John!!! Unfortunately, John was not working that night but did that deter me from a drink???? No way!! If you're ever in London, the pub is a must see:

I even got a thumbs up from the barman!

And because we all know:

I went to see:

Which,  to be honest, was a bit disappointing after seeing the original movie zillions of times over the years and it would be a hard act to follow the likes of Bing Crosby,Danny Kaye etc. But it was still worth going to see. On the way back I nearly walked into a group of Hare Krishna's who were doing their thing along Charing Cross Road. That brought back memories of the 70's!! I didn't know they were still around and, after the musical, I felt like joining in - shoot I didn't bring my tambourine with me!

I DO love London. So much to see and so much to do:

Talk soon

Zoe

What Angelina Jolie and I have in common!!

 I just read that Angelina Jolie greeted a Brit actor at a Hollywood Film Award ceremony last week with the words Ay up me duck!!!  Jack O'Connell, actor, hails from Derbyshire, the next county to mine and part of the East Midlands which is where Nottingham is. Sorry Angelina, I got there first with naming my blog over a week ago. Sweetie, you got Brad. you just can't have everything lol !

Talking about blogs, I have been sadly remiss in not posting more frequently. I have been on this side of the pond for nearly a month now. Time has flown by incredibly fast and now I'm playing catch up.

When I flew into Heathrow I had an incredible bus journey to Nottingham.It should have taken 3 hours
but between the bus breaking down and a serious accident on the M1 motorway, it took 8 hours!! I was beginning to feel I was on The Voyage of the Damned, no end in sight. Within 3 hours of arriving home I realised my poor mama was in congestive cardiac failure, short of breath, cyanotic around the lips and massive bilateral leg oedema. So….. 999 (Brit equivalent of 911) was called and the EMT's whisked us off to the local ER (or Accident and Emergency). One Chest X ray and Lasix 20mg po (I was told they don't give IV Lasix!!!) and after 6 hours I whisked her home in a taxi and tucked her back into bed!!!

                                           This is what she looked like in ER:

And this is what  happened after  a few days of TLC at home:

Great looking for 94 years young!! I hope the genes get passed to me!!

Needless to say I have been busy but have also been doing some fun stuff in between. I did have a trip booked for Ireland this weekend but had to cancel for several reasons,one of which was this:

   

No, not MY foot!! My sister finally had her foot surgery last week, on one day's notice.

In between, the live in carer had to go back to Poland unexpectedly and sadly, I had two funerals to attend on my arrival here. So life has been full but I did manage to meet up with friends (all members of the Lost Souls Girl's Society). We had a lovely lunch and catch up session at Squares restaurant in Nottingham and planned some neat things to do in the New Year.

This is what hit me in the face when I came out of the washroom (the loo!):

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

I'll give you a little taster of my home town Nottingham. I always go for walks whenever I can and am fortunate to have some beautiful places close by.

This place is just across the road from my home. It dates from Elizabethan times and was owned by the 

Willoughby family and now owned by the City of Nottingham and open to the public. As kids we spent many Sundays picnicking here and my own kids have visited it on numerous occasions.

The gardens are beautiful, even at this time of the year:

Now who needs a gym when you can have a great workout in a place like this!!!

OMG I have to go, I've just found out Season 4 of Homeland is on TV over here !!!

Talk soon 

Zoe

In the nick of time!!!!

Just thought I'd add some photos. I always did say I wanted to get out of the North before the first snow fall and I made it just in time - 2 days left to spare!!

This his what I left behind:

And this is what I arrived to:

 Which would you rather have???

I think I've sort of got it!!

Hi People,

Well it has taken me forever but I finally took the plunge and entered into the blogosphere and am set for my first blog. Bear in mind I am a blogging virgin and no doubt will learn and make changes along the way so patience, patience …….   Oooooh I do miss you Helen, Kim and Rebecca and wish I hadn't procrastinated and had come to you for your expert advice and guidance before I left. I am, of course, talking about the great staff at the best little library in the east - Callander!!!  The best ever. And also a big thank you to Shauna at the North Bay Regional Health Centre for guiding me on which kind of I Pad I should get. Shauna, I bought an I- Pad in Calgary, used it in Vancouver and then changed it to an I-Pad mini in Edmonton and I love, love, love it!!!! It's just perfect for travelling. Thank you Lisa for showing me the ins and outs of using this handy little gadget, I'm still learning big time.

My blog will be my diary of what I'm up to while I'm away and make it easier for me to keep in touch with family and friends. Also I hope to develop my literary skills -I'm still annoyed I didn't think of writing Fifty Shades of Grey !!!!!! I could have made a killing and just KNOW I could have done a better job!!  Please feel free to post your comments!!

Phew, I think that's it for tonight. Oh, except I guess I should let you know I'm in Nottingham obviously in the UK. Will download some photos next time.

BTW the title of my blog to non-Nottinghamians : Ay Up Me Ducks is Nottingham slang for "How are you doing" or words to that effect !! At least that's what I always thought it meant. It REALLY is hard to choose a blog title, they've all been taken!

Talk soon

Zoe