Farewell May...

May arrived in a bluster of blossom and signs that Spring had sprung and that Summer was around the corner.
London became awash with floral installations as the Summer season launched and the city started to get ready for Chelsea.
Favourites across Mayfair included Claridges, The Connaught, Annabel's in Berkeley Square, Wild Things Flowers and of course the Corner shop on Bond street which is festooned with balloons and flowers. These certainly cheered up my lunch time walks and commute to the station.
Aside from enjoying the floral installations across London, May was busy with walking, cycling and enjoying time with M, family & friends.

Mays highlights include:

*Purchase of a lovely blue bicycle, complete with basket!
*Breakfast at The Ivy Chelsea Garden with M
*Some 'me time' to read, relax & pamper.
*Night out at the Albert Hall with Bruv & Sis & M to listen to Harry Redknapp
*Date Night with M and Michael Buble at The O2
*Bumping into Peggy Porschen in her new parlour on our way to Chelsea Flower Show.
*Ticked another 125 miles off my walk 1,000 miles in 2019

Blog posts to follow of my May adventures. June is a mixed bag of work & fun & fitness. Work will see me spend several days in Newcastle on project work.
Looking forward to getting out with the Makelight Ladies this month to explore the Rose garden at Regents Park and playing with my Olympus Pen.
I am also pulling on my trainers to march 10k for men and raise some funds for prostrate cancer.
Where as May saw us boogie with Buble, June will see us bounce to Bon Jovi before we head off for a few days to Amsterdam.

Hopefully the sun will shine on us all and we can start to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets of summer...

Date with Dumbo

There are very few films that hit the big screen now that entice me to the cinema but once the trailer of Dumbo was released I knew this was something that I would like to see on the big screen. The last movie that M and I saw at the cinema was Mary Poppins which was magical so I had high expectations of the Disney / Tim Burton collaboration for Dumbo. The original Dumbo hit the screens in 1941 and has been a favourite of mine from a small child.

This updated live cinematic see's the original concept of a flying elephant help a struggling circus.
Circus owner Max Medici (played by Danny DeVito) enlists Holt (Colin Farrell) a once acclaimed circus star returning from war with injuries and his 2 young children to take care of Dumbo, a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him a laughing stock of the struggling circus. Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly and suddenly Dumbo becomes a big commodity. Vandevere (Michael Keaton) swoops in with his star act trapeze artist Colette (Bond Girl Eva Green) to make the little elephant a star.
As with all Tim Burton films there is a darker side to this movie but the cinematic effects used to create Dumbo are just as magical as the original and I defy anyone that watches not to fall in love with the little cute fellow and not shed a tear at certain moments in the movie. This is a delightful family movie with some great underlying messages environmentally and of greed not being good.

M booked to take me to see this on Mother's Day at the Imax in Waterloo and surprised me with a little white box hidden in my popcorn which held a little Pandora Dumbo charm to add to my bangle that he bought at Christmas.

Winter Retreat....

Last year M and I escaped for an overnight Winter Retreat to the lovely Tuddenham Mill in Suffolk, this year we escaped to the picturesque hamlet of Rye in East Sussex.
Nestled near the South Coast this lovely town really does feel that you are stepping back in time, filled with curiosity and antique shops, old fashion sweet shops, cobbled streets and an old apothecary which is now a coffee and cake stop. Once surrounded by sea, this fortified hilltop town played an important role in the defence of the south coast of England. These days, the river no longer harbours warships and is home to the local fishing fleet.

Meandering for over one and a half miles from Rye to the coast, the river forms part of the picturesque scenery visible from several vantage points in and around the citadel of Rye. 

St Mary's church tower (usually open to the public) offers the best viewpoint to show the terracotta roofs of the many timbered houses. These ancient buildings, cobbled streets and secret passages, once the haunt of smugglers and highwaymen, regularly attract film crews in search of historical settings for period productions. M and I climbed the church tower (not for the feint hearted or larger sizes as the ladders are steep and the spaces small!) 

One of the loveliest finds was this very cute coffee shop that used to be an old chemist. I was filled with great little reading nooks and comfy sofas along with a great range of cakes and delicious coffee. We had the gluten free lemon drizzle and the carrot cake with skinny latte's. The perfect treat after the climb up the tower. For someone who spent the early part of her career dispensing prescriptions this little find was a joy.

Rye was a lovely and the only disappointment was the weather. The day we arrived was a little grey and chilly which we wrapped up for but our second day a very blustery storm blew in from the West bringing lots of rain and wind. Before heading home we did stop at Camber Sands so that I could take the wellies for a walk on the beach!

Farewell Feb, Hello March...

Midway through March and another brief hello on the blog.
February was a mixed bag weather wise with blustery storms and tropical sunshine - both extremes for the season. M and I escaped for a couple of days to the picturesque hamlet of Rye in Sussex which was a delight (if not a little chilly!) - perfect excuse to wear woolly hats and wellies or stay in the pub in front of the log fire.
M & I had a low key Valentines this year, he was on the late shift at work and I had a funeral to attend so it was a breakfast together with cards before we both did our things.
With the inclement weather I have managed to get use of my camera with some lovely winter sunrises and blossom appearing on the trees which has been lovely.
Feb also saw my gorgeous niece turn 16 so a fun filled cupcake treat cake was made for her to enjoy with her friends filled with doughnuts, sprinkles, ferrero rocher and chocolate!

Hello February ....

February has arrived and with it a little more energy, less working hours and hopefully more time catching up with family and friends. There are a few treats penciled into the calendar which is always nice to start the month with things to look forward to. These include a Winter Retreat, a birthday party, and a trip to a museum, alongside some coffee dates, curry nights and down time.

Winter Retreat – M and I are off for an overnight stay to the picturesque town of Rye in Sussex. We are staying in an old pub and hoping to relax, explore and just get some time away from the hustle of work life.

This weekend we have a friends birthday party, it will be a late one, it will get messy and I will be hustling M into the car at some obscene hour of the morning!

Next weekend we are catching up with M’s friends for a curry night and to celebrate another birthday, its ages since we have all got together as a group, at least 6 months so that will be a nice evening.

Later in the month I have tickets booked for my friend C and I to visit the V&A and the new Dior exhibition. I am really looking forward to this as the reviews have been fabulous and if it is staged anywhere as spectacularly as the McQueen exhibition we are in for a treat.
Heres to a fun filled February.... 

Farewell January ...

Well January, you were an extremely long month!.... New Year saw me step into a new role, which resulted in an challenging round of year of stocktakes for financial year end across 9 stores, 4 systems in amongst a huge change programme. Challenging was certainly a word that was banded about a lot!

Thankfully it is over and a 21 day stretch of 15-18hrs is now complete
Rail & Road saw me visit:
Newcastle, Bracknell, Brent Cross, Kingston, Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury and Colchester as well as Bond Street.
I learnt to travel light, survive on Haribo's and Hotel Breakfasts and in amongst the stress savour the small things.
These included catching up with my friend Caroline who was in town for her annual shopping treat with mum.
Catching some epic winter sunrises, & sunsets whilst on my travels.
Enjoying train travel with a podcast, book or netflix download.

Life at home was limited but M and I did manage a fun date night at the beginning of January which was the Snow White pantomime at the London Palladium. Having seen this I am now spoilt for life on local panto's starring Dawn French and Julian Clary it was a riot from start to finish and a fantastic laugh from start to finish.
January finished with a trip to the ballet to see Matthew Bournes production of Swan Lake at Sadlers Wells which is just amazing, breathtaking and sublime. Having seen this previously I am still blown away by just how masterful and heartbreaking this ballet is.
A stray Sunday home saw a little time for relaxing and a afternoon trip to the cinema to see Mary Poppins returns. A delight of a movie, keeping true to the original, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
With January complete and work hopefully calming down I am looking forward to February catching up with friends and enjoying a little more me time.