It’s a thing, I guess? I created something that has fans. I’m kind of in awe of this.
I went into Google Maps to get the address of the mouse hole to send to someone who wanted to know exactly where it is, and discovered that someone has actually added Wakehurst Mouse Hole to Google Maps as a “tourist attraction,” and it currently has a 5-star rating! How about THAT! It’s an actual London landmark now.
I can’t believe I didn’t know about this for so long, after living here for almost five years! And it’s even something we can go do within the current lockdown restrictions!
For those of you who are as in the dark as I was about what this is, well, you’ve heard of beach combing? Mudlarking is like that, except along the Thames River in London; and you’re not looking for pretty shells, but rather, for bits of centuries-old-trash-turned-treasure. Centuries of lost or cast-off items that now qualify as antiques. It’s treasure hunting the whole family can do together, right here in London.
Continue readingI’m rewinding back to May for this post. (I’m no longer fussed about chronology on this increasingly sporadic blog of mine. As I say to my kids, you get what you get and you don’t get upset.)
To go along with the annual Chelsea Flower Show, the King’s Road and its cross streets, along with Sloane Square and Duke of York Square, get a floral makeover for a week, called ‘Chelsea in Bloom.’
(I was going to title this “Kicking off Christmas,” but I realised that is a very American thing to say, as here “kicking off” means starting to throw a fit. So I revised to something that sounds a lot more British.)
This is our third Christmas season in London. Yes, Christmas, not holiday season; the holiday season here means summer vacation; and even though in general I find this a very tolerant melting pot of a city, Brits don’t seem to be concerned about religious political correctness surrounding Christmas the way Americans are, hence every public school child performs in a nativity play, and no one seems bothered by it. Continue reading
M and I have had a good run of both, lately, mostly as audience members. (Fun fact: We actually met in a college class called Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion. We watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian and fell in love.)
First, I was lucky to get free tickets to a taping of Live at the Apollo, the famous British stand-up comedy series recorded at the Apollo Hammersmith.
Walks Between the Commons 