Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the two of us! Thanks for following us on our adventures this year, it's been a tough but exciting and happy one... though we've had some hard times with work or lack of work, and a few moves from home to home, we've also visited my home country, seen some new countries, and got engaged! We're so lucky to have wonderful family and friends.

If some of you are still doing some last minute Christmas Eve shopping, you might like to take up this suggestion spotted outside a pub:



Stay safe and see you in the New Year.

xxx

Snow in London Town

Several hours of heavy snowfall yesterday transformed our drab London suburb into a snow-covered spectacle. The main road outside our window struggled to cope with desperate Christmas shoppers trying to get home.



24 hours on and little has changed:









We took the underground into central London to sample the festive mood:


The fountains in Trafalgar Square almost completely frozen over.



And the 4th plinth sporting a snazzy giant ship-in-a-bottle.





We enjoyed a lovely wander through the Christmas market on the South Bank.







And warmed ourselves up with a delicious German bratwurst!

Things not to miss, UK

This is the wonderful list that Dave made for me when we had just met. I thought it was immensely sweet that he wanted to share all these places where he'd been and enjoyed with me! Since then, we've explored quite a few together and I had some fun highlighting where we've been in blue. Seems like we need to see more of Cornwall, Scotland and Wales? I did make a similar NZ list for Dave and happily I can say we polished off that list this year!

Things not to miss, UK:

Wildlife
Bluebells in spring/Autumn leaf fall/Puffin colonies/Badger set/Foxes/Deer/Robin

Stately home gardens
Chatsworth/Cliveden

Castles
Leeds/Warwick/Windsor/Canaervon

Stonehenge, Avebury

Cornwall
Land's End/Penzance/St Michael's Mount/St Ives/coast path/Lizard lighthouse/Eden Project

Scotland
Aviemore/Cairngorms/Ben Nevis/Edinburgh/Glasgow - Charles Rennie MacKintosh architecture/Perth/Aberfeldy/Loch Ness

Wales
Snowdon/Canaervon/Cardiff/Gower peninsula/Pembrokeshire/Skomer Island/Brecon Beacons
Big Pit, Crickhowell (Mining Pit Museum!)/Cream Tea

London
Tower of London/Regents Park/Primrose Hill/Richmond Park/Hampstead Heath/Primrose Hill
Open Air Theatre (Regents Park)/Globe Theatre/West End Musicals/Putney!/Wimbledon/Epsom Downs/Battersea power station/Battersea Dogs' Home/Walpole Park wildlife reserve/Wembley Stadium/Tate Modern/South Bank/National Gallery/National Portrait Gallery/Vinopolis/Trafalgar Square/Leicester Square/Covent Garden/Canary Wharf/Greenwich/Millenium eye/Walk along Little Venice/Millenium dome/O2 arena/HMS Belfast/(Cutty Sark)/London Zoo/Whipsnade Zoo/London Aquarium/Markets/See the Royal Ballet

Dover/York/Canterbury/Henley/Marlow/Windsor/Eton College/Bath/Oxford/Cambridge
Colleges - Kings, Trinity, St Johns, Clare/Punting/Hastings/Brighton/Portsmouth/Birmingham - Selfridges store

Devon
Sidmouth/Plymouth/Lulworth Cove/Woolacombe/Exmoor/Dartmoor/Beachy Head/Seven Sisters

Lake district
Skiddaw/Derwent water/Windermere/Norfolk Broads

Peak District
Dovedale/Bakewell/Lady Bower Reservoir

New Forest/Yorkshire Dales

Monkey

Last Friday a lovely couple dropped in to the vet surgery downstairs to meet Murray. They are really keen on him and will pick him up this Saturday to begin a new life being top cat with a cat flap and garden, and being allowed to sleep on the humans' bed! We are convinced that he will be utterly spoilt and not remember life in a one bed flat at all. We'll miss the little monkey... we tried to make it work but he has too much kittenish energy to be an indoor mog. Everything is turned into a plaything, from the bannister to the clothes drier, to our toes peeking out from under the blankets, and Christmas baubles being rolled down the stairs. Here he is helping me with the Christmas presents. I was doing the laundry and heard a strange 'plink plink' noise. The ginger fellow was having fun with the parcel. Good luck, Murray.

Comfort from the Cold

Brrrrr!! It's been chilly these past few days with the mean temperature hovering around freezing here in London. Dave and I escaped the worst of the cold, with no snow days at all. We were a little disappointed to miss out on the snow but really it's better to have business as usual and go to work and be productive... This is a pic Dave took on his way to the Harefield practice.



Iced branches.



My Aunty CY and Uncle Jack were visiting London from Portland, Oregon and braved it out to see us in Greenford. They had some trouble with getting in to London due to the snowy conditions, then had a problem with getting a puncture fixed on their rental car. We went to the Royal Standard, our go-to oldest pub in Britain, for some comfort food. I'm glad I got to help my aunt fulfil her Dickensian dream!



The table opposite us had this scythe hanging above it... glad I wasn't sitting underneath!



We had a friendly festive fellow looking over us instead.

1st of December

The cold snap in Britain has been the latest news, with much of the country blanketed in snow. We happen to live in one of the only unaffected areas, so it was off to work as usual for me this morning. The days have been dark and chilly, so it's been hard to take any good pictures, but here is our tree. I was really excited as this is the first tree of our very own! Luckily I chose shatterproof baubles as it has already been climbed on, redecorated and chewed on by a certain someone.

My aunt and uncle from Oregon are visiting London this week and we'll see them on Saturday. Hopefully they arrive safely at the airport.

Junkaholic

One of my new favourite blogs is Artemis Russells' Tales of a Junkaholic. I love her sense of style and lovely photography... not to mention that she and her husband Nao are both very talented jewellery designers who live and work in London. I wish our flat had a meadow at the back of it like theirs does. When I feel a bit jaded about living in London, it's nice to browse her blog and see that it's not always about concrete, roads and sirens.

Their beautiful vintage DIY wedding in the Isle of Wight is also a source of inspiration. Our own wedding planning is coming along, we are plugging away at it every now and again so that hopefully next July won't be too daunting. The nights are getting long and cold, so Dave, Murray and I now have a habit of curling up on the couch to watch 'Grand Designs' and other housey programmes to feed the dream.