Notting Hill

Here are some shots of the area I live now. This is part of the street I live on. I love the colors of the houses along this section.

Just a couple random cute houses.

My coffee shop.

As winter is approaching I think I will find myself spending more time here at my favourite cafe with super comfy big leather couches. I will miss sunning in the parks of London but winter here isn't so long as in Halifax, and spring actually exists!

Sunny Cornwall

Alright so here we are at the beach, sort of, yes it was lovely and sunny but the sea breeze was a little on the cool side.

A lovely sunset, even with a touque on.


I haven't done a thing to this picture, the water really is that colour!

In a stone circle.

The stone circle dance as demonstrated by Trethanna, a real live Cornish girl.

With our guide, Molly the dog who lead us to the stone circle in the farmers's field. Magical.

Summer Adventures

Alright so time to start publishing again now that things seem to have calmed down and I find myself with a pile of photos to share.

This is a photo of (from left to right) Rowan, Trethanna, and Nat, who I shared a chalet in Cornwall with this past August.

If you look in behind them you will see beds, yes beds in a bar, not a good combination in anyway as far as I can tell.

Long time no post.

I haven't forgotten about my blog, life in London has been as crazy busy as always. Add to that the fact that the modem in the flat doesn't seem to want to work with my computer so no internet at home. I now have a bit of a backlog of photos to post.

So what have I been up to? Birthday celebrations for Trethana, some live music gigs (I'm now a big fan of a band called Serpico), some dates, exploring Notting Hill, meeting up with friends, a trip to Ikea (my room is becoming quite coordinated), tried to go to a ceilidh but it sold out before we got to the front of the line, and of course work.

Mostly looking forward to my visit home next Wednesday. Where you will find me sitting at a patio on Argyle Street with some drinks, proper nachos and the company of good friends. Shortly after I get back there is Carnival in Notting Hill, which I am told is HUGE, and the following week I head to Cornwall for a little R and R on the beach, and to celebrate Natalie's 30 birthday!

Moving Day

Tomorrow is moving day and I am so ready to have a little space to call my own again. I am a bit nervous after the last disaster of a flatmate situation. As a side note to everyone this is the one and only blog I keep, this is my authorised and official blog.

As in the recent past when I was in need of help my friends pulled through for me. I am happy to say that I am a very lucky girl in the friend department on both sides of the ocean. There were many offers of places to stay, legal advice and Nat managed at a moments notice managed to find me a truck at 10pm on a Friday night!

As a thank you to Nat for her help and putting me up for a week I invited here to join me at Live Earth when I snagged 2 tickets at the last minute. I will get some photos up shortly as soon as I am settled for you all to see

Blogging on the go

Since I finally got the phone I really wanted with a QWERTY keyboard I can now post on the go. Today's post is from the tube while on the way to work =)

So there haven't been many posts this month, it has been a bit of a rollercoaster. I was back to Cornwall for Brian's funeral. It was very sad to say goodbye, and as the packed church showed he will be greatly missed.

Then I was on a mad hunt for a flat that would allow a cat as it has been decided that bringing a 3rd cat into the flat with 2 others that don't like each other might be a bit much. In reality I was happy to have a graceful exit but that is a post of it's own.

Apparently not many landlords in London allow for cats/pets. I was really starting to worry after seeing some flats in not very suitable areas that it may not work. Then I sent a message to Lynda about her ad because she mentioned she had a dog. To my surprise she was ok with the dog and cat idea!

I went to the flat, which is also a garden flat. We got along, her dogs are about the same size as Tweasel, the room is much bigger and the best part is it's in one of my favourite part of London - Notting Hill. I happen to be one of the first to contact her and she liked me so gave me first dibs on the room, for that I was lucky, there were a couple that I would call to confirm that I was on the way to be told it had been taken 2 hours ago. It's a crazy world flat hunting in London.

Moving date is July 16, Tweasel arrives August 20 so here's hoping she is ok with living with 2 dogs. The guy that is moving out has been there over 2.5 years which hopefully is a good sign.

Day trip to Bath

A couple of weeks ago I took a day trip to bath using my handy rail pass. It is in a very pretty part of the country. Think Jane Austin books. I have been to Bath before. In 1998 on my very first visit to England I flew to London and took the train right to Bath and spent my first night ever in England there. It was interesting to see how my memories of Bath (which where my first impressions of England) stood the test of time. What was once so new to me, is now very familiar.

The Cathedral



Georgian Houses


They have the most beautiful flowers for sale all over England.

More George!

So George Micheal opened the brand new Wembly Stadium, it holds 90 000, or 70 000 for concerts. It's big.



When the sun went down and the lights went out it really felt like a proper concert.


Being that I was at the front of the crowd, I was at the back when it was time to leave, ahead of me was a sea of people, this is the road to the tube station, it was wall to wall people all the way (where the bright light is at the very back of the photo). Yet it took me less than 20 minutes to get from here to getting on a train! I was very impressed.

All danced out.

Just a quick one as I am tired. I had a great time singing and dancing at the concert, and a great view as you can see. Beyond the guy in the orange vest is the "gold circle" which was 100 pounds. I could have gotten one of those tickets but I thought $250 Canandian for one concert might be a bit much. Although it might have been fun to try, maybe next time, when it's Robbie Williams =)

I have wheels!

I bought a bike last weekend and since the rain has stopped I took it for a ride along the river today. Last time I owned a bike was over 12 years ago! London is much better for biking than Halifax, much flatter! Here it is, isn't it pretty?

Day on the Beach

I went down to Brighton to meet up with some friends. And what a difference a week makes! Last week was gloomy and cold, yesterday was beautifully sunny and hot.

Tweasel

The things I miss from Canada are my family friends and my Twee. I'm counting down the days until I can go home and bring her back with me. 103 to be exact. Just wish I could bring all my family and friends too!

Riverside life.

Some of the amazing houses along the river, they are so diverse.

I love all the different colored roses growing on the front of this one.

A walk along the Thames - Hammersmith

I live in the Hammersmith Fulham borough of London, which covers part of the river Thames. So last weekend I finally went down to the river (about a 15 minute walk from my flat) to explore. I can't wait until the warm weather returns so I can go back and make the most of the parks and river side pubs with patios. It was a windy day, one minute sunny the next raining which kept the crowds away and made for a nice walk.

It felt like being in the countryside.


Rain clouds!

Not so pretty, but interesting.

Along the tube track that runs behind where I live is shepherds Bush Market, this is the entrace at one end. You can see the overhead tube tracks. Not the prettiest of markets, but handy.

And from the Shepherds Bush tube platform you can see the home of the BBC, which is about a 10 minute walk from where I live. It's a field of satellite dishes.

Alright now that I am a working girl I am not able to wander the city taking photos. I have gathered a few of the past couple of weeks. Here are a couple. More to follow tomorrow as it is looking like a rain day, perfect for catching up on my blog and emails! In the mean while here are a couple shots.

London Eye all lit up.

A road in Knotting Hill on the way to the Portabello Road market. One of the houses in this row was George Orwell's.

Who could say no?

Got an invite to stay in one of the apartments below in Cornwall for the weekend. Who can say no to an invite like that?