SNOW!

Well the UK has been hit with major snow storms and it finally came to London. They are saying it's the worst weather conditions they've had in 23 years. It shut down the a lot of trains and some of the airports. It's not so much the snow, but that it just turns to ice and the UK just isn't very good at getting the roads cleared, never mind the sidewalks (or pavements as they are called here). This is what caused poor Peter's problem. He was walking up the pavement and then slipped on some ice. He put out his hand to catch himself, and has seriously hurt it. He waited for the next day to go to A&E as it was still to dangerous to go at night with so much ice still around. We had another big snow fall, so it made for better walking conditions. So he bundled up and headed for the local hospital. He was seen quiet quickly and the x-rayed his wrist. After looking at the x-ray they couldn't say either way if he has a break or not. So they have given him a splint and a sling and sent him home to rest for 5 to 7 days, unless it doesn't get any better.

Now 5 days after all the snow started we've gone above freezing and have had our typical London rain which has washed most of it away. I'm sure by Monday there will be no evidence it ever snowed. I just hope the trains will be back running on time!

New Camera

Today I received my new Canon Powershot SX210 IS camera. While it was still light out and after it stopped raining. I went into the garden to test it out. Although it does have a macro setting, I can get as close as some of my previous cameras, however as the photo's are 14M I should be able to zoom and crop and still get a good photo. I'll have to play with it a bit more to figure out all the different function this camera does. In the mean time I hope you enjoy some of the photo's I've taken today.

Macro shot of a rose

Macro of a Wild Flower (aka weed)

Smile Detection Mode

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Well today is my birthday and also my last day to have our fourth meal out. This time I decided to go out for lunch, as it's back to work tomorrow I didn't want to have a late night out. So we headed over to Beckenham to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. We got there and it was very quiet. Only one other table was occupied. We found a nice little corner booth and perused the menu. We first ordered a couple of shakes. I had an oreo and Peter had a banana. Then we made our order, a Buffalo burger for Peter and I got a Greek Lamb with houmus, tzatziki and a tomato relish. We also ordered a portion of chips to share. The burgers came they they were so huge, you couldn't get your mouth around them. I opted to not eat the big white bun and use a knife and fork for the rest. Where as Peter ate his in layers from the top down.

After lunch we went around to the in-laws who were baby sitting my neices. They had taken them up into town and had brought back some Cin-a-bons. They put in some candles in the buns, sung me Happy Birthday and my neices helped me blow out my candles.

This brought an end to my four meals for each decades. Peter asked me which meal represented which decades. So I thought about it and came up with this order. I think the brunch would represent my first decade. As it was made up of eggs, which is the beggining of life. Then the Gourmet burger was my teen years. The picnic would be my 20's because during most of this time in my life I lived by the lakeshore. That would leave the Tapas to represent the last 10 years of my life. I think this is good because in the last 10 years I've moved to England and visited European countires.

I hope that you have all enjoyed reading all my adventures for my 40th birthday.

Birthday Brunch

DSC00045, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

After a bit of a lay-in on Saturday morning, we decided to get up and get out. It was another beautiful day of sunshine and blue skies. Not a cloud was to be seen. We had one errand that we had to do first. That was to go to the postal sorting office and pick up a couple of packaged that were delivered this week. We thought that while we were there that we would go to the restaurant beside it for some brunch. However, when we got there the restaurant still had it shutters down. We thought maybe they open later and went to check their opening hours. Only to find an eviction notice on the door. So instead we went across the road to what looks like a very small cafe with a few chairs outside. Looks can be very deceiving, because as you walk into the cafe and pass the counter/ grill, you go down a few steps. Then you walk along a hallway which has about 4 other rooms off it which you can sit in all done up nice and cozy. We carried on down the hallway and found another room at the end off of which is a conservatory room. Then off of that is another door leading outside to a patio area. We decided to sit out on the patio and found a nice table in the shade, next to some lavender. It must the be the spot to go to after the post office, because we saw lots of other people come in with packages and others we recognized from the post office queue. We ordered our breakfast and Peter nipped out and got a paper to do the crossword. We spent a nice lazy morning enjoying the peaceful soundings and each others company. Just after mid-day we decided to head back home as we were no longer in the shade at our table, the sun was getting hotter and we had been there already for a couple of hours.

SLYMI Week 6

This week Shimelle's Scrap Like You Mean It challenge on UKS for week 6 is to use ribbons. I think I've covered the requirement well and have used ribbon not only on the LO but also to make a sun/flower type emblishment done with a paper tag, ribbons and staples. The photos in this layout was of a day out in Westminster with my nieces. The layout is based on a PageMaps sketch. I've used Bazzill cardstock, Create Samantha collection of papers, Prima flowers, Making Memories crochet flower, Basic Grey ribbons and Paperminia brads. I also managed to do some hand journaling on this lay out which I really am not very good at doing.

Yvonne's Last Day

Friday was my sister's last day here in London. Again I had to work, so Peter took her out for some more sight seeing. They started off driving over to Greenwich Park. They say the Greenwich meridian but unfortunately the Observatory was closed that early in the morning. They also saw the statue of General Wolfe at the top of the park. It was another clear day, so they also some great views of the city. They then went down to the bottom into Greenwich Park and headed towards the Thames. They stopped off for breakfast at the Cutty Sark Cafe and Yvonne had the working mans full English breakfast which consisted of two eggs, two sausages, two slices of bacon, black pudding and two slices of bread and butter. All with a coffee to wash it down with. Needless to say she couldn't quiet finish it all. After breakfast they heading for the walking tunnel that goes under the Thames and walked from the Greenwich side over to the Isle of Dogs. From there Peter took her on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), which is an automated train with no driver. They got to sit at the front of the train could see where the train was going. They got off at Bank and headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. They took a tour of the Cathedral all the way from the Crypt up to the Whispering Gallery. At this point Peter's sinus from his cold was bothering him, so Yvonne ventured up to the Stone Gallery by herself. It was a twisty and tight trek up 378 steps. The Stone Gallery is on the outside of the building from where there is an amazing view of the city. While at the top of the Cathedral she called me at work to tell me where she was. She was so happy to have made it up to the top. After St Paul's, they head back down to the Thames to walk over the Millennium Bridge the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century. When it first was constructed it was meant to sway slightly, but it swayed too much so now they have dampened it, so it doesn't move at all. I now call it the Not so wobbly wobbly bridge. They then took a short boat trip up to Waterloo Millennium Pier where they stopped off for a loo break at the Eye and then walked over Westminster Bridge, where they took part in some french crepes. Yvonne had Nutella and banana and Peter had Maple Syrup and banana. Peter decided to walk up the Thames to the next boat stop to take the next boat back down the Thames. Only when they got to Millbank they found they missed the last boat from that stop. So they hopped onto a double decker bus and heading back to Westminster Millennium Pier. They finally got a boat and headed back to Greenwich. Unfortunately they didn't get a boat that had a commentary of the sites that they were passing. Peter tried to point out what he could, but as he was pointing out things on one side of the Thames, he missed some of the other sites on the other side, like the Tower of London.

They got back home around 8pm at which point we headed over to PPP's (Peter's Parent's Place) for our regular Friday night Fish and Chips. We had a lovely evening and Yvonne enjoyed her fish, but for some reason I didn't seem to be enjoying my Lamb Shish Kebab. Guess it was my sore throat that I got from Peter's cold. Yvonne also had her first taste of Treacle Tart with custard. After dinner we has some light entertainment from Peter Sr on the guitar and Yvonne tried out the didgeridoo. She did a good job too! We got home quiet late and stayed up even later while Yvonne started packing up. Then at 4:30am, I had to get up and say our goodbyes! Unfortunately I couldn't go with them to the airport as I had to work that day. So Peter took her over to the airport. Yvonne was worried about the weight of her bags, and then at check in they told her that she had to pay for extra weight. When she asked how much, the person said they couldn't say and she'd have to queue at another line. Then once she got though that queue they found out that her ticket was showing up on the system as a single ticket even though she was returning and was only allowing one bag at 20kg. So they finally got it sorted and she was allowed both her bags and didn't have to pay for anything. She then finally made it through the gate and is now safely home. I hope she enjoyed her trip over here, because we really enjoyed having her. Thanks for coming sis *HUGS*

New Kipling Bag

RIMG1433, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

During our whirl wind tour of London, I managed to find a Kipling bag store. I've been looking at a similar bag to this one for months now and trying to rationalize buying it. I kept looking at it and then walking away. A few months ago I saw it in a 20% off sale and almost bought it, but again walked away. Then I saw it in the 50% off sale yesterday in the Kipling store and I just couldn't walk away again. The lady in the shop said it had only came in that morning. It must have been waiting for me. So now it has a nice new home!

Busy Day Walking London

Well today we've had a very long and busy day. Peter wasn't feeling well, so it was just Yvonne and I that went up to Central London. We took the train from our area up into London Charing Cross. From there we walked over to Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall do Horse Guards Parade. We got there just before 11am in time to see the changing of the guards. After we heading back up past Trafalgar Square and onto Leicester Square to see the statue of Charlie Chaplin that mentions our Great Grandfather's clog troupe the "Eight Lancashire Lads". Then I got very lost trying to find my way out of Leicester Square and ended up in China Town were we partook in some Chinese BBQ pork buns. We finally ended up on Shaftesbury Ave, so headed down to Piccadilly Circus and into the underground. Yvonne had made plans to meet up with her friend who works at the Canadian Embassy. After lunch we explored Oxford street for some shopping and found a lovely little side ally called St Christopher Place. We made our way to Hyde Park and crossed through it after a very short rest break on the desk chairs. Once on the other side of the park in Knightsbridge we quickly popped into Harrods to see the Princess Diana memorial and to use their luxury loos. By then we were completely exhausted so headed for home. We ended the day with a nice meal at a local pub. Now it's time for bed as it's another early morning tomorrow. Hope to upload more photos sometime soon.

Another Day Another BBQ

Well Yvonne's visit is having a great effect on the weather here. Today was yet again another hot sunny day. After church we were invited around out our friend for another BBQ. We had some lovely marianded pork, beef sausages ( a first for Yvonne), salad, and the garlic and onions we bought at bourgh market the day before. We sat out in there lovely garden and enjoyed some nice wine and fine company. We had a nice relaxing afternoon just watching the planes fly over head and the next door cat chase the flies. It was a great way to spend a lazy sunday afternoon. A big thank you to Wulf and Jane!

She's Arrived!

How exciting! My sister has arrived for her first trip to England. She was in Germany for the last two weeks, so popped over for a brief visit this week. Today we started the day early and headed down to the South Bank for our pre-booked trip on the London Eye. We managed to get there early enough to get on the the first flight of the day. It was such a beautiful sunny clear morning, so we got some good views. By the time we got off the Eye was before our flight was even pre-booked for. So with so much time on our hands we decided to head over to Borough Market. In all the years of living in London I had never been. Boy, was I missing out! It is such a lively vibrate place with so much wonderful food on display. We had to be very restraint an only bought a few things, like garlic marinated in chili and olive oil, balsamic onions, Burt Sugar hot ginger fudge, strawberry cream tart (for me), Baileys chocolate cheesecake (for Peter) and Yvonne got her a slice of banoffee pie to try.

After a short detour home, we headed over to my sister-in-laws for a belated Canada Day BBQ. Only 25 days late, but the weather was great and the company even better. Had a great time playing with the nieces. They put on a circus for us and did several dance routines. Then surprised me with a special Canada Bush, which was a bush in there back garden that they stuck Canadian flags in. Lots of great sausages and burgers were BBQ and served with fresh rolls, salads, crisps and dips. Yvonne had her first taste of Pimms and enjoyed that too.

In the evening we popped over to PPPs for a quick stopped that ended up being not so quick and had a nice chat drinking iced water and sitting in front of the fan. Then explored the garden in the evening breeze to check on the frogs in the pond. Tonight I think it will be an early night and who knows what tomorrow might bring.

Yellow Bush of Happiness

Yellow Bush, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

I've had some very sad news today from back home in Canada. So I've been on the phone with several members of my family today. It's very hard to be so far away from them when I feel they need me the most. However it's nice to be able to stay in contact with them over the phone, with e-mail and even this blog! While I was talking with my Dad he asked me about his favourite bush outside our house. He really likes this yellow bush, as he can tell when he comes over which is our house but the bright yellow flowers in the front garden. So after talking with him I grabbed my camera and took a few photos of the bush for him. When he saw them on Flick it really made him cheer up, so I'm now calling the busy the "Yellow Bush of Happiness"! Now I am showing it all to you so you too can have a little bit of happiness today.

With all that is going on today I am reminded of a song we sing in church. Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman. It talks about Blessing God not just when we are in the good time and happy, but also when the darkness come and time of suffering. Blessed be your Glorious Name!

Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show

Today, even though I haven't been feeling well, I managed to make my annual trip to the "Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show" that is on at Alexandra Palace in London this weekend. I really enjoyed looking at all the great new products that are available to this craft and also meeting up with fellow crafter's. I met up with some of my internet friends from UKScrappers and also ran into an acquaintance of my husband, who I also dragged along. As you can tell from the above photo, I've stocked up on lots of nice stash, which I'm am enjoying stroking. I also got this great ATC from Shimelle on the Banana Frog stand. I really liked the little bird on it, so decided to purchase the set of Greenwich Park stamps. How delighted was I when I got them home to find that they also had a wonderful hedgehog stamp in the set that I didn't notice at the time. Some of the other goodies I got today were, NEW Sassafras papers and stamps, NEW My Minds Eye papers, NEW Wild Asparagus's papers, Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie kit and matching ribbons, Blue Hill Crate Paper kite's, Paper Arty's NEW squiggle stamps, Penny Black Hedgehog stamps, Tim Holtz paint dabbers, distress ink, crackle paint, alcohol inks, Glimmer mist, Ribbons, buttons, charms and a FREE book! I can't wait to start to use some of these products, so keep an eye out here to see the results.

The Bead Shop

The Bead Shop Window, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Long time no blog! I seem to be very behind this week in updating my blog. This might be because I've not really done any crafts this week. My one day when I usually get to do crafts is Wednesday, but this Wednesday I took a friend of a friend up to London. I meet Kelly through a friend at church. She and her family are over from America for a few months but head back soon. I meet Kelly and her daughter at Lewisham Station and we traveled up into London together. While there we visited three very different bead shops. First one was called "The Bead Shop", then we visited "The London Bead Company". Finally we popped into "Aura Beads" in Neal's Yard. Then we enjoyed a lovely lunch at the "Cafe Eterno" which is run by the London City Mission.

The above photo is from the window of the "The Bead Shop" and below is some photo's taken at Neal's Yard.