Place: Funchal, Madeira.
Date: Thursday July 31, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.
After a wonderful sun-soaked 6-day, 7-night sojourn to the island of Madeira we're back in London and trying not to think about our return to work tomorrow.
The holiday was fabulous. We stayed in a modern 5-star hotel about a mile from the centre of Funchal, the island's capital, overlooking the Atlantic.
Our days were a blur of leisurely breakfasts followed by hours of reading in the sun, the occasional excursion, and then a trip into town for an evening meal. All very relaxing.
I'll write more in the days to follow and show you a selection of the very many photographs I took and tell you a bit about our adventures, including a slide down a hillside in a toboggan -- I kid you not.
In the meantime, enjoy this picture taken from the terrace of our hotel, where we had a nightcap on Thursday evening as we watched the city lights tinkling into life as darkness descended.
Today is my birthday.
I wasn't going to refer to it here, but then biglittlesister has told all and sundry on her blog, and some of you have already popped by to wish me returns of the day, so here's the attention-seeking post I was hoping to avoid writing!!
Anyway, I find it hard to believe that next year will be the big one (if you know what I mean), because I honestly don't know where the time has gone. Am I really 39?
In a few moments I'm off to the airport to go on a little journey to find some sun. Mind you, the weather here in London has been very summery this past week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the chosen destination doesn't turn out to be a rainswept version of hell. Which it may well be if Murphy's Law has anything to do with it!
Things will be quiet here while I'm away, but expect some piccies and posts in a weeks' time.
I just don't see the point of Twitter.
Unless you want to make it easier for stalkers to keep tabs on you.
So, after about four weeks of building work, I'm pleased to announce that our new-look bathroom is finally finished.
This is what it looked like before the wreckers came in and destroyed it all. Notice the lovely mould on the grout and ceilings!
We saw Liam Finn's second London gig last night. This one was at Cargo, a live music venue in Shoreditch, in a much larger concert space than last week's gig.
We were at the back surrounded by a lot of TALL people, so I didn't get to see much beyond the occasional blur of Liam's beard. But the sound was AWESOME and the set list impressive. He basically played the entire contents of his album, I'll Be Lightning, along with a Neil Young cover and quite a bit of free-fall prog-rocky type stuff that wouldn't have been out of place on a (late era) Split Enz album.
There was also quite a lot of (meaningless but lighthearted) banter between him and EJ Barnes. Both appeared to be having fun (he was drinking whisky, she was on the vodka and lime) and seemed genuinely thrilled that so many people bothered to pay a tenner to turn up to hear them play. (Yes, along with his musical talent, he's also inherited his father's modesty.)
Unfortunately my enjoyment of the gig was hindered by two factors:
1. It was really bloody hot in the venue ("It's a bit muggy in here, isn't it?" EJ Barnes said between songs), to the point where I could feel the sweat rolling down the back of my leg!; and
2. I was wearing uncomfortable shoes -- high heels, if you must know -- and the balls of my feet were stinging like you wouldn't believe. I kept trying to shift my weight, but it had absolutely no effect whatsoever. I couldn't wait for the gig to finish so I could go home and put my feet up!
That aside, it was an impressive performance, and well worth the pain and discomfort!
Subject: Liam Finn
Place: The Cross Kings, London
Date: Wednesday, July 16, 2008.
Camera: Sony Ericsson K800i phone.
There were four bands on the bill -- two upstairs, two downstairs in the cellar bar -- but we were there to see just one person. He was the last on stage so we had to wait until 11pm before he strutted his stuff in front of a small, enthusiastic crowd. But he was wandering around the venue beforehand, drinking at the bar, and later on setting up his musical equipment, which is how T took this picture.
(I have to point out that I was too shy to approach him, although T kept egging me on to "go up and say hello" and "go and tell him you remember when he was born"!! Umm, I don't think so.)
I'm not sure why I find Simon's Cat so funny, because I am not a cat lover by any stretch of the imagination. But there is something so very realistic about this portrayal of the relationship between a cat and his human owner that you can't help but smile. This particular cat is a greedy little bugger and annoying as hell but he is so damn cute you'd forgive him (almost) anything -- just like a real cat!
Place: Thames River, near Blackfriar's Bridge, London.
Date: Friday July 11, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.
Can you guess what it is yet? Because it's certainly stumped me. And judging by the number of pedestrians walking over Blackfriar's Bridge or along Jubilee Walk stopping for a look, there are plenty of others as perplexed and fascinated by this mysterious object sitting in the middle of the Thames as I am.
It's been there for about two weeks now, and always seems to be alive with activity. Men wearing hard hats dash about on the platform, and there's usually a boat or two nearby ferrying workman to and from it.
This morning when I walked past I noticed it seems to have moved overnight. It was sitting much closer to the rail bridge (pictured there on the right) than the road bridge (on the left). Then, tonight, it had inched closer to the middle of the river than the southern bank where it had previously resided. How on earth does a big heavy thing like that move?
I'd really like to know what the whole thing is about. Are they drilling for something? Is it testing water quality? Riverbed quality? Is it seeking dead bodies? I mean the imagination could really take off here. I'm sure it's something exceedingly dull, but inquiring minds want to know!
Place: Beach near Gabriel's Wharf, Southbank, London.
Date: Friday July 11, 2008.
Camera: Panasonic DMC-TZ3.
Who says you can't build sandcastles on the banks of the Thames?
This chap was especially busy last Friday afternoon building a giant hand and some weird abstract object under the watchful eyes of a steady stream of tourists.
Note the white plastic sheet masquerading as a begging cap in which the generous could drop a coin or two for the privilege of watching a grown man mucking about with buckets, shovels and a bit of wet sand.
Funnily enough, this wasn't a one-off. During the summer this little beach is home to sand castle builders on a constant basis, although I can never figure out if it is the same person or a host of different people on a roster system.
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