An absolutely beautiful morning in London
And as soon as I’ve finished this coffee, I’m heading out for a run. It might not be very long, or very fast, but it’ll be a run and it’ll be better than spending the morning on the sofa wishing I’d some something energetic.
Interesting London skies (and wind!!!) thanks to Storm Henk.
My Top Nine for 2023.
Just the best memories of family, friends and travel. Here’s to more adventures in 2024. Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year and all the very best for 2024.
This year’s Christmas centrepiece, created by my other half.
Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!
Waking up to find that Ocado aren’t actually going to deliver the turkey we ordered is not the best start to Christmas Eve.
So, instead of leisurely relaxing with a mimosa and a mince pie, I have to walk to M&S and fight off all the other panicked shoppers to get a turkey. And thyme for the stuffing. And vegan mince pies. And an orange.
It’s a long story.
Seems like no matter how much I prepare for Christmas, there’s always something… Anyway, I’m sure the rest of the holiday will go according to plan. And if it doesn’t, there’s always champagne.
Cheers!
Friday, December 22, 2023
Despite being on holiday today, my brain woke me up bright and early at 0645 this morning. There’s just no need for that. Old habits die hard, I guess. I stayed in bed with a coffee and did some Japanese practice on Duolingo, caught up on the news on Threads and watched some YouTube videos …Wednesday, December 20, 2023 →
A beautiful sunny morning here in London.
I’ve spent the day so far in the ‘recovery position’, owing to last night’s festivities.
On the sofa, under a blanket, watching The Simpsons and snoozing. My 47 year old body just can’t handle it anymore. Time to avoid prosecco for a while…
On a much more positive note, everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves and we have some delicious leftovers for dinner this evening. As predicted, I failed to take any photos, but I do have some lovely memories of the evening.
The prosecco didn’t erase them all…
Saturday, December 9, 2023
We have convened the Council of the Gays™️! Our pre-Christmas open house starts at 4pm and will go on until the last person leaves (or falls asleep). I’ve been awake since before 6am due to the wind and rain battering our apartment building. So it’s going to be a toss-up as to whether …It’s that time of year again.
Our front door is firmly in the Christmas spirit! If I had my way, I’d leave this up all year. It adds some much-needed colour to the otherwise boring and identical front doors in our building.
Today’s plan:
A ton of life admin and Christmas planning. We need to visit a furniture store to pick out a new armchair for the apartment, agree our Christmas dinner menu, sort out Christmas cards and. place some online grocery orders.
The Christmas tree is up!
This year’s is small, yet perfectly formed. I just hope it survives next weekend’s party!
Taking a break from my sick bed to make a cup of tea and take in London’s gorgeous blue skies. I’d give anything to be walking by the Thames this morning!
Feet up, watching Netflix, and sipping some delicious prosecco. 🥂
Here comes the weekend. And I am so ready for it.
Loving the sunset views this evening.
Squinting and pretending I’m still in Shinjuku!
Wednesday, November 22, 2023 →
Good morning from Canary Wharf.
Enjoying the beautiful skies over London as I have my morning coffee. Then, off to run a workshop and battle the remainder of my jet lag.
Hope to make it an early finish this afternoon.
I recorded another time lapse of the river with my DJI Pocket 3 this afternoon. It compresses 30mins of footage into just 2mins of video. You can check it out on YouTube:
I’m already planning the similar videos I’m going to take once I get to Tokyo!
Your (almost) daily reminder of how changeable the weather is in London. After torrential rain and winds yesterday, we’re back to clearer skies and much better visibility.
We’ve put an armchair next to this window and I now spent a lot of time there, reading and watching the vista change.
Love the shadows this afternoon sunshine casts across my apartment…
This evening, I got some exquisite side-eye from a Shiba. Judgement from a dog is a terrible thing.
22yrs since I met this one. And we’ve never been apart since. Happy Anniversary! 🎉
Some more amazing sky over the City of London this evening.
A very ominous London skyline this morning.
Another Monday has come around too quickly.
But on a positive note, I’m on my way to my Japanese class, which is always great fun. And good exercise for my brain.
Regularly stepping into “novice mind” is such a positive, worthwhile experience.
I can’t quite believe it, but I’m sunbathing in London in October.
After lunch, I realised our balcony was getting loads of direct sun, so I sat down. But after just ten minutes, I was too warm in my sweatshirt etc. So after a moment’s hesitation, I stripped off, grabbed a throw cushion and lay down, getting a solid hour of very warm and very relaxing sunbathing time.
This weather is incredibly abnormal and therefore worrying, but my mental health is also definitely benefitting from pretending I’m lying on the beach in Sitges.
Picture of my very relaxed potato-head (pre-stripping) below.
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Just been for a lovely walk in the sun. No filters applied - the sky really is that blue today. It feels like we’ve skipped ahead to Spring - but obviously, there’s just no way to avoid the inevitability of the winter that’s coming. So I’ll soak up as much of this sunshine as …Good morning from a very sunny London…
It’s like a different world when compared to yesterday’s wind, rain and dark skies.
Saturday, October 21, 2023
I’ve just spent a couple of hours packing up my summer clothes and getting my winter wardrobe out of storage. Living in an apartment, there’s just not enough room to have all my clothes in the wardrobe at the same time. So for half the year, half of my clothing lives in vacuum-packed …Sunday, October 8, 2023
Went for another 5km run this morning and managed a faster pace than yesterday. It felt good throughout and I’m once again pain-free. Hoping that I’ve finally put my achilles tendons issues behind me. I had to shame a dog walker into putting his dog’s shit into the bin. He threw it at …