tower of London | willowdot21

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Well hello everyone how are you all today, come on in we are moving indoors now as the Autumn is well and truly here and Winter is hot on her heels!! We have the coffee and the cakes all ready the fire is all lit! The sofas and armchairs all have their cushions all plumped up! So go on spoil yourselves we have stocked up on hot chocolate now and brought in some good books for you to read too! I can hear Paul has all his guest here many of whom you will know so lets see, what have you been up to this week. Paul is still using the Marquee but he and his guest will probably be coming in here too, soon!! Also we have an extra hostess Audrey from Oldest Daughter & Red Headed Sister. I am so very excited to have Audrey join us!

If we were having coffee: I would say woo! what a week it has been my feet have hardly touched the ground! Monday was a surprise day, late Sunday evening the husband up and said let’s go up to town and see The Poppies at the Tower of London. It was a wonderful idea and all the better for going on the spur of the moment! So first thing Monday morning off we set!

We arrived in London mid morning and made our way by tube to Tower Hill. Well it was so impressive I cannot explain it just needs to be seen!

Light by heaven light

Fountain of poppies

Mother’s sons

fathers, brothers , lovers,

such a sacrifice

each one a life

poppies galore

Pouring out of Poppies

Every poppy is a life, young, old all given for what was to be a better world. A war to end all wars. Sadly they were lied to, they returned to harder lives than before!

As for a war to end all wars that did not happen either! No world war 2 came and went Vietnam, Falklands, Middle east and so on! . But I am not going to go on and on the pictures tell the tale it is just heart breaking .

If we were having coffee : I would tell you that after we had walked completely round the tower and seen all the poppies, one of which will be ours! We bought one a couple of months ago and we intend to keep it until the Newbie is old enough to understand it’s importance at which point we will give it to him!

If we were having coffee : I’d tell you that after seeing the poppies we went for an amazingly well planned walk. My husband knows the city of London well, having worked there among other places. He took me to where Samuel Pepys used to live in Seething Lane, also where he and his wife Elizabeth went to church at St Olave’s in Hart Street.

We spent an hour looking around the church, churchyard and even visited the chapel in the crypt. Samuel Pepys and his wife are buried in the church and have a plaque commemorating them on the wall inside the church. Samuel out lived his wife and was very sad when she died. He had a bust made of Elizabeth had it positioned so he could gaze upon her from his pew in the raised gallery.

There use to be a mezzanine around the church but it is no longer there. The church was damaged in WW2 and the mezzanine was not replaced. Now hold on where are my manners! Would you like another coffee or tea or even hot chocolate? Do join me lets have some cake . I had the coffee cake and carrot cake last week so I fancy some of that lemon drizzle cake.

If we were having coffee : I hope I am not boring you but I tell you how after leaving St Olave’s and seeing Seething Lane we headed off to see the infamous Pudding Lane , then on to Monument . The monument if it was lain down would reach to the exact spot in Pudding Lane where the fire of London started.

After that we headed off towards the river and the South Bank, past the Globe Theatre , then half way across the millennium bridge then back and along to have a a picnic in a park my hubby used to use when he was working! Then it was a quick dash past the ITV studios then back to Waterloo and then train home!

Fabulous stained glass windows in St Olave’s

a haven of peace jus off the street

unusual ceiling

Mr and Mrs Pepys memorial plaque

more windows

fabulous wood pulpit

Stone alter donated by the King of Denmark.

the crown resting on the alter

The wood above the door is where the mezzanine was.

Entrance to the crypt

St Olave’s grave yard

this would of been the mezzanine

The door Samuel and Elizabeth used to enter by.

The Bust of Elizabeth Pepys

All Hallows by the Tower

If we were having coffee: I’d have to say well now I have to go out now as I have another coffee morning to join they ladies I used to work with.So I wish you all a lovely stay here remember you can eat as much cake as you fancy they are all calorie free! So please stay as long as you like , Paul and Audrey will take care of you all!! I shall be back soon so mix and enjoy I won’t be long.

Monument

Where the great fire of London started

Seething Lane

Church on the site of the entrance to London Bridge

This was once the entrance to London Bridge

Southwark Cathedral

The Shard by the river

Borough Market

The New Globe theatre

The Golden Hind

The Millennium Bridge

Ah! good you you are still here, so If we were having coffee: I say that the rest of my week had been very busy too! I have been writing poems all this month to bring Breast Cancer Awareness Month to the fore. I cannot say it has been easy but I have put my heart and soul into it you can read read them if you like they are dotted about through out this month.

Tuesday: After the gym my friend and I set off on the bus to our local town ( we love the fact that the bus stops almost outside my house so it transports us door to door!) We had coffee and cake and I spotted the perfect Christmas Present for the Newbie…. A Rocking Horse. After we got back home we told the husband all about it and then when my friend had left to go and get dinner for her husband we rushed to the computer and ordered the horse. I have put a photo of “Dobbin” our name for him, below.

If we were having Coffee: The rest of the week has been filled with Drs appointments, and trip to a clinic for a Dexoscan to check out the density of my spine, since I have have broken it twice the Drs think it wise to keep an eye on it’s density . Apparently it is very difficult to read my scan. The radiographer who did it told me she would have to spend some extra time reading my scan as there was so much, cement, metal work and pins and screws in my back it was hard to make out the bone let alone the density. OKAY ! I have heard all the jokes about me being dense!

I really must go now so thank you so much for visiting and I really hope you will all be back again next week. Don’t forget to spend time with Audrey and Paul they have so much to share with you . I was going to talk about the sad goings on at the Canadian Parliament this week but Paul has covered that with great thought and information so I have left that to him apart from saying GOD BLESS CANADA. So bye bye for now enjoy your weeks and hope to have coffee with you all again next week.xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Newbies Christmas present

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IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE: I would ask you if you would like another cuppa, or another cake . ! If we were having Coffee Original idea from http://parttimemonster.wordpress.com/