Sunny reflection....

As part of the decorating and renovating that I've been doing recently, I now have a new front door. Which I love! I've posted a pic further down, but I just wanted to share this one first.  I was going out to put out some rubbish this morning, and as I walked into the hallway I was greeted by this lovely reflection from a burst of winter sunshine coming through the glass in the door....

Here's an outside view of the door so far, it needs another coat of paint, but the weather had been so so bad that it wasn't drying well and couldn't be rubbed down to put on another coat. I love it's bright redness, and it's really shiny too which is just what I wanted!  Shows up the rest of the house though,so that will need a new coat of paint too when the weather's a bit better.

Mmmm....tasty.....

I've had a squirrel rootling about in my garden lately.  He seems to be there most days for the about the last couple of weeks. Not too unusual for most of you I suspect, but we don't see them in Walthamstow very often...I think the herds of cats that hang around and the foxes probably keep them away most of the time. Anyway this little fella has been having a right old time grubbing about in the flower tubs and borders, but I haven't been able to get a photo of him.  You know the scenario, by the time you walk away to the other room to get the camera or your phone to take a picture, when you back, he's disappeared! Anyway, I managed to snap him yesterday, it's not a very good picture, probably because I took it through the glass window in my back door, so it's a bit fuzzy.  He appears to have a very tasty tulip bulb in his little paws!

Double 0 Heaven...

Well, despite a rotten cold, I managed to sniff and snuffle my way through Skyfall, the latest Bond epic(apologies to anyone in the cinema who may suffer later from my selfishness!)

I'm sure we all remember the delicious Daniel Craig in Casino Royale...reproduced here just for the sake of gratuitous eye candy...

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Then there was the grand Royal Premiere of the new film at the Royal Albert Hall, just along the road from where I work....just to give you an idea of the scale of the Hoo Ha, here's a very bad picture taken from the roof of our building, by a very kind (and tall ) young man who leaned precariously over the parapet to get it. The whole road was closed off for the whole day.....

So we come to Skyfall....on general release now (as they say)

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I thought it was great. Back to the quality of Casino Royale, although I would say that Casino Royale might still be marginally better.  I recommend a viewing, there's a twist at the end, that I'm not going to tell you as I would have to kill you if I did.  But my friend and I turned to each other and said "Well...they kept that under wraps, didn't they!"

Enjoy!

Elvis has left the building!

Elvis is the plasterer, who has left me with wonderfully smooth walls in my bedroom which, when dry, will be gasping for a coat of paint!

End of an Era....

Sadly, I had to go to a funeral at the weekend.  RIP Auntie Irene....

This was taken this time last year when she was the grand old age 91and 1/2 with the youngest member of the family! I find it very sweet that the cardigan she is wearing is one my mum knitted for her....and sadly, mum's been gone for 12 years! She was doing very well for her age, still in her own flat with a little help, but contracted an infection that she couldn't fight, so for the last couple of months had been deteriorating, but not in any pain (something to be thankful for) anyway, she's now reunited with her brothers and sisters.  The oldest of them, and the last to join them.

It's Nice To Be Appreciated....

A little pressie arrived on my desk this morning as a thank you from a member of staff that I had helped out...very sweet! (no pun intended)

Wot I did at the weekend...

I did a couple of nice little things at the weekend with a couple of friends. Nothing very adventurous, but just a couple of local things (I live in Walthamstow)

First we visited the newly refurbished William Morris Gallery (known locally as The Water House)  in Lloyd Park. I met my friends there, so when I eventually found somewhere to park I had to walk through the park to the house. If you come on public transport you would normally approach from the main road and then you are directly in front of the house.

Anyway a nice little stroll and I made a friend on the way...

It's a pretty little park, although they are doing some works at the moment, so it's not as picturesque as it is usually. 

And eventually....to the front of the house....

It's been spruced up no end, compared to a year or so ago when the work started.  I believe they have had Lottery money to do it. Unfortunately no pics of the inside, although I did take some without a flash, but they were just of fabrics and wallpapers for my own inspiration. I hadn't visited for many a year, and I remember it being very dark and fusty, but it's now bright and modern, and very well laid out, with the compulsory interactive areas for the young'uns.  I recommend a visit if you are ever over this side of London, and they now have a nice little cafe with sandwiches and cakes and so on. (That bit of Walthamstow has a severe shortage of coffee shops)

The other thing we did was to visit the "village" show in Wanstead (I use inverted commas because strictly Wanstead is part of London, but it prides itself on having a village atmosphere, and it does, too!) There were various displays in the church hall, along the lines of a WI type show. You know the sort of thing...who had the best tomatoes or victoria sponge. It was the first time they had done this, and sadly there were not too many entries in some of the categories, but it was good fun.  Then there was a flower display in the church itself, and this entry caught our eye....

I thought that deserved a special mention.

We went on from there to follow part of the Art Trail, and ended up at a little craft fair in the Library. Which had some great stuff and we all treated ourselves to a little gift!