goodbye ER!....

tonight saw the last ever episode of ER, after 15 seasons the scrubs are no more. There are many reasons to be thankful to ER:

1. It introduced the world to the gorgeous George Clooney.
2. It raised the bar for cutting edge drama, Casualty would never look the same again!
3. Anthony Edwards was recognised as a great actor other than Tom Cruises sidekick Goose in Top Gun!
4. All women went to A&E in the faint hope that George would be there to nurse their wounds!
5. We all lived through the pain & heartache of Doug & Carol with the "happy ever after"

As you can guess I have been a huge fan since season 1 and this last season has been fantastic. Michael Crichton was an amazing writer and will be much missed in the literary world as well as the world of film & tv.

It has made us laugh, cry and hope but most of all it has kept us gripped for many years.... I have cried all the way thru the last episode!

So Goodbye ER...you will be much missed......

blooms from chelsea!

yesterday i went to the chelsea flower show, i have never been before and I loved it. The weather was glorious, and the gardens gorgeous. I was really surprised on how small some of the gardens were as like most things it all seems bigger on the tv!

We started off very early in the morning where we boarded a boat at Tilbury port (in Essex) which set sail at 7.30am along the River Thames to a landing dock at the Albert Bridge in Chelsea. The boat trip took a couple of hours and was lovely. I took many photo's which will be featured on my 'Recipe's of London' blog over the next few weeks! ... On arrival at Chelsea you are faced with a huge pavilion which houses all the plants & flower exhibitions from the brands & growers.

The show gardens are featured down Main Avenue and then dotted round the parks of the Royal Hospital.

As we arrived Alan & Joe were getting ready to film!

Karen & I parted from her mum & aunt at this point as trying to keep 2 together in the crowds would be enough of a challenge let alone 4 of us! The day was filled with sunshine, floral scents, homemade scream & pimms! an ideal summers day!

As it was the last day they do the great 'sell-off' at 4pm when the bell tolls to let everyone know that this year's chelsea has finished. The bell was rung by the two new lady pensioners and then it was a free for all!.... you can reserve flowers during the day on some stands for a small fee and then you collect after 4. We were strategically placed around the pavilion and left with 40 large bloom cream chrysanthemums, 9 huge strawberry plants from what could be described as the best smell at chelsea. two bouquets of flowers and as i was leaving the pavilion the man from the sweetpea stand gave me an oasis of pink sweetpeas. Sweetpeas are one of my favorite flowers and remind me so much of my gramps. he grew the most beautiful flowers and when i saw the alchemist garden with the old bike parked outside it took me right back to my gramps's allotment and riding crossbar over there with him with random cutting's hanging out of sacks on the handlebars. There was some beautiful modern clean line gardens but i loved the nostalgic gardens of which there many including afternoon tea.

Cupcakes for Comfort!

as comforting as cupcakes are, and how easy it would be to eat them constantly during my grief, I can't as it does nothing for my muffin top! so i seek out cupcake goodies instead!... (however a small tub of chunky monkey was consumed during my 2 hr feast of george...mmm which has inspired a chunky monkey cupcake recipe so watch this space as it's coming!)

I have found some bargains recently to fill my cupcake craving, i am currently coveting these for my kitchen!...how cute. My cupcake goodies are from tins ~ debenhams (25% off until today!) and tea towels & pj's from matalan....this week has been an uphill struggle, we did gramps's ashes yesterday which was painful. He is finally back together with my nan which does bring me comfort. Work is busy what with the 100 years birthday celebrations, fortunately this keeps my mind occupied. My book read on the train this week was Wedding Tiers by Trisha Ashley which i loved good fun chicklit revolving round a girl who makes quirky wedding cakes! great fun. As you can see i've not done any crafting, but at least i'm out from under the duvet!.......

something to brighten my day!......

This week my life has been very much 1 step forward and 2 very large steps backwards, ...however I have one very yummy reason to smile tonight and that is ....... the return of the gorgeous Mr Clooney to ER. I was given some duff information some weeks ago and waited in anticipation for him to show, alas he stood me up! ... however he has waited just when I need a huge lift, there he is in his scrubs looking very scrummy! Here are a few reasons why we were glued to ER! ..YYYY Doug & Carol YYYY..

Thanks & Friendship...

It has really amazed me the kindness and thoughtfulness shown over the past month ... my friends have been fantastic, and i'm taking each day as it comes. I have this huge void in my life which i'm trying to fill, so i've been challenged to write my own "Things to Do" list. As most of you know I had worked through gramps's list over the last couple of years, which bought him lots of joy. There was just a couple left, which I will complete in his memory.... one is to go to Chelsea Flower Show and the other is Carol's at Westminster. Unknown to this my friend has booked us tickets for the flower show this year...so i'm off there very soon... it will be difficult but i'm glad to be going.
... So here are a few from my list:
Y Hampton Court
Y Borough Market
Y Columbia Road Flower Market
Y Little Venice Canal Trip
Y Thames River cruise to Kew Gardens
Y Portobello road
To document my favorite ingredients of london i've set up a new blog just for my ramblings.... here, Recipes of London Life. I am trying to update it weekly! ... as you can see I've not scrapped anything, i've lost my oomph at the moment, but at least i am looking forward. This week on arrival at work this was on my desk- the hummingbird bakery
i am still fluctuating between insomnia and narcolepsy, which can be a challenge at times, especially when sitting at my desk! so this has been great reading ... hugs Tx