Holiday adventures.....

St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge

The forecast storm winds weren't quite as bad as expected, and the rain not quite as heavy, but I may be speaking too soon as the wind is getting up again now!  Anyway on an autumnal day like today, with a cake baking in the oven, and a mug of tea in one hand, I thought I'd tell you a bit about my recent holiday adventures.

The plan was to go via London to Somerset (in the West of England). However, A's cat was unwell a few days before I was due to arrive in London and we agreed that we would wait till the poor puss cat recovered before heading off on our adventures. Fortunately the puss cat in question fully recovered and with only a couple of days delay we were able to head to Somerset.

As it turned out the delay was just as well as I arrived in London in the Friday afternoon and my luggage arrived the following evening!!  British Airways left my luggage in Edinburgh for the FOURTH time in recent years!!  Grrr AND it had a "transfer" label on it..... anyway it was finally delivered via a circuitous route by a courier and all was well.

While we were waiting to head West we spend a bit of time around London, visiting the newly opened Shard.  The Shard was by far my favourite experience in London in recent years and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone visiting the city!  You get a time of entry but can stay up on the viewing platforms (enclosed and partially open but very safe) as long as you want. We went up early evening and watched dusk fall and the lights of London come on. It was fabulous!  Here are just a selection of photos - sadly with reflection from the windows which is unavoidable mostly.

For those who know London you can see right over South London past the Crystal Palace antennae, out to the QEII bridge, the London flood defence, over to Wembley arena, all of the Olympic Park and everything in between.  It's brilliant!!

Of course there is the iconic Tower Bridge, wearing a crown in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation jubilee (or whatever the correct technical term is!).

Tower Bridge with HMS Belfast nearby

The dusk photos are less dramatic, and it had been a bit of a grey day. But I loved seeing the London I knew so well spread out before me and seeing the bends in the River Thames.

Tower bridge (again) 

A close up - we just missed the bridge going up!

Houses of Parliament

Southwark Cathedral

The Old Billingsgate Market

The Old Custom House

St Paul's Cathedral

Tower of London

The iconic BT Tower

Lights of cars snaking through the city

London Eye

Crystal Palace Transmitters

There are two viewing platforms. The top one has no roof but is well enclosed to stop anyone jumping off or throwing anyone off!  

While along the floor leading through the lifts are reminders of the history of the city, and how London grew up very much around a river which was central to it's existence. 

 Many of the old buildings are now surrounded by modern commercial buildings but a view from the top reveals the layers of history held within the city.

Calm before the storm?

Late Summer poppies in the garden

Today was a lovely warm and sunny day. One of those late summer days that are so special.  Autumn is knocking on the door, telling Summer to be on her way. We still hope she can hang on for a few more days, but Autumn is giving us a blast of HER weather tomorrow.....

Top of the UK is Orkney! The bit in RED...

But for today I enjoyed the sunshine with.... Button of course! Here she is snoozing in the sunshine while I work, planting Spring bulbs.....

And of course the hens are never far away. Mrs Chooky hen was abroad with her wee brood today. All seven of them....

But she doesn't like to keep them out too long and soon it's time to take the "children" home....

The garden has been sadly neglected this year. I've been busy with work, away for a holiday or work, or had visitors.  But though my veg patch failed due to lack of attention, the flowers carried on blooming anyway. Here's a selection that are still blooming today.

Love in a Mist (?)

Cornflowers

Daisies transplanted from Beckenham in Kent!

A summer flowering bulb, so pretty

From a wildflower mix. 

Big Blousy Poppies!

Skeletal seedheads of lovage

This border looks sad now - but it's full of seed heads which I leave for the birds, bees and insects. This is how it looked in July.

Meanwhile.... a rainbow danced over Stromness.

A ship sailed out of Stromness harbour....

There was a rain shower over the hills of Hoy....

The kye (cattle) in the field made the most of the benign weather....

And the sea looks calm around Graemsay....for now!

Just back from.......

Tower Bridge at night

......London

St Paul's Cathedral

And .....Somerset......

Watchet

I promise to be back soon to share photos of quintessentially "English" scenes!  Meanwhile just unpacked, sorting out washing, paperwork and catching up with Princess Button who was administered to by Irene (Squeak's person).......

This was my last holiday for the year (honest!) and now with autumn in the air and days shortening I shall have time to relax and share some of my gallivanting adventures with you over the next few weeks.......

I'm also hoping to catch up on blog reading which has sadly slipped during a busy summer.... hope you've all been having good times too....

Lovely sunny days for visitors....

Well we won't mention the gale on the Sunday when my visitors were here, which was a time to stay indoors with books and a lovely roast dinner cooked by G, one of my guests. Yum! But they enjoyed their visit, and went swimming several times off the beach and near the pier, with a little snorkelling thrown in. Tales of seals, fish and jellyfish..... And we all went outside to watch a sunset....

And did I mention swimming......

The smile says it all!

Meanwhile I pottered along the shore .....

This could be the Limpet equivalent of a Graemsay gathering!

While R and her dad wondered along collecting shells in an old battered jug for a school project.....

And then a walk home up the old pier...... the hills of hoy were under a blanket of mist....

And then dinner was a lovely "Thank You" chicken pie (again cooked by G)..... delicious it was too....

Visitors have departed now and all the leftovers eaten.  A few busy days to come over the next couple of weeks, then a slow wind down as the days grow steadily shorter.

Of Tall Ships and Sunsets....

Wylde Swan

Today started grey and the air was "heavy". I was trying to get my brain in gear when I received a message from someone in Stromness to look out the window as the "tall ship", the Wylde Swan, was just off Graemsay and about to sail into Stromness harbour.

I dashed outside with my camera as I wanted a picture of the vessel in sail - usually once they get near the harbour they have to drop their sails, otherwise they could sail straight into the harbour without stopping!

I love this photo - the Wylde Swan is a converted herring hunter ship - such a ship would have sailed into Stromness as part of the Herring fleet in the 19th Century. Now it's a training ship and much more luxuriously kitted out judging by the photos on their web site!!

Time to drop the sails now...

Then later this evening the murky weather cleared in time for a fine sunset.......

In other more sombre news on the radio today, four people lost their life in the helicopter crash off Shetland last night. The helicopter was transporting workers from an oil rig to Aberdeen.  The Shetland-Orkney-Aberdeen Ferry was diverted to assist as a communications base. Fourteen people were safely rescued and through the night there was the hope that the remaining four would be found alive. Sadly not. Many people in Orkney and around the UK work in the offshore oil industry in the North Sea.  The tragic loss of life this weekend reminds me that for the convenience of millions of us who use oil to heat our homes and power our cars, many people face danger daily in difficult conditions around our land. My thoughts are with the families of those lost this weekend.