Royal Wedding

I know this was a happy and very splendid occasion, but despite all the Pomp (totally different meaning to this word in England) and Ceremony, there were truly only two thoughts in my mind.

Thought#1

I am old enough to have now seen Diana's son get married. This is made even more alarming seeing as I saw her get married, and her son is not exactly a child bridegroom

Thought#2

I will not live to see William be King. Hell, the way the Queen is going, I will probably not live to see Charles be King.

Apart from that.....

I enjoyed the fact that I guessed the designer of the dress correctly.

Wavered between being glad we didn't join the million billion people in London and being cross that we didn't.

Was amazed that Beatrice could look even worse than usual by strapping a kudu to her head.

Was perturbed that Sir Elton seemed not to know the words to Jerusalem.

Wondered where Sir Cliff was.

Was impressed by the HD on our TV.

Did actually stand when we sang God Save The Queen, and did have a tear in my eye.

Le Bel Canto

http://www.lebelcanto.co.uk/

What a wonderful evening The Gorgeous Son and I had here, at Bel Canto.

Fabulously situated 150m from Lancaster gate, in the Corus Hyde Park Hotel, an evening of fine French Cuisine and opera!

All the staff are Opera singers, and as well as serving , they serenade.

I am an opera ignoramus, but they do tend to stick to the better known arias, so I could conduct.

And hum along.

Do click on the link...it is marvelous!

Price wise...

Saffas, sit down. Pour a drink.

Poms...this was really good value!

I had a voucher from Groupon, so was way way cheaper.

So, we had a starter (chicory salad with blue cheese and walnuts)(both of us)

A main.. me: oven baked sea bass

Gorgeous son: King prawns and scallops

A side order of fries (Gorgeous Son)

A bottle of sparkling water

A bottle of New Zealand Savignon Blanc

An after dinner (single) tot of Black Bush Irish Whiskey

A (free) glass of prosecco (for the toast to the singers and pianist)

Including tip. (And £80 off, due to voucher, had already paid £80 up front))

£160.00 in total.

BARGAIN ! (poms)

R1766.00

VIR TWEE MENSE? IS JY FOKKEN MAL? (saffas)

Book Club Blog

I have not laughed as much for years. This is the funniest book ever.

I couldn't sit out in the sun to read as the neighbours would have thought I was mad, laughing my head off all by myself.

I have discovered that when you laugh on your own, it is not the same laugh you use in social situations. It is more a combination of snorks and gasps and is most unattractive.

I kept having to put this book down as it was too much to bear.

What made me laugh even more, is that her name is Emma, and in Afrikaans that means bucket anyway.

The fact that she probably doesn't know this , is hilarious.

I did e mail her and tell her.

Rehab

Robin The Physio made no rude remarks this week about The Ministry of Funny Walks. In fact he was most complimentary and I am done with rehab now, officially I can walk. It's a miracle!

I can't walk fast yet, and if I am tired I do tend to walk a bit like a duck. But I think I have always walked a bit like a duck anyway.

I have new shoes...Clarks orthopedic type. They are not as ugly as you may think, but not that great either. Still, they encourage heel /toe action. They are sky blue sandals, and I have seen worse shoes. Crocs are worse for example. Marginally.

So, to celebrate, I am going for a pedicure. Woo hoo!

Still summer today.......

Hoppy Update

Sure it's not just me, am sure anyone seeing this photo can see how traumatised Hoppy is.

Lady Ga Ga hasn't been seen for weeks now. Hoppy is starving hungry every day, and waiting for me to put his nuts out.

OK, that sounds a bit odd, but how else would I say it? Waiting for me to feed him.

Better.

My ambition is to get him to actually take something from my hand, but he is not quite there yet, he gets less and less nervous every day though. Is it just me? Or does he actually look traumatised? Perhaps I am going mad.

Or not going. Perhaps I am mad.

Being summer now (when the Poms all come out to play) I have met more people in our street than I have met since we moved in here.

The people across the road , I met, because he has also broken his ankle and had surgery, so I gave him my extra pair of crutches.

Two old ladies in the road have had strokes and been taken off to hospital, so I have had conversations with their families.

So, not HAPPY meetings, but meetings nonetheless.

Dave, The Cat From Next Door, has taken to sleeping in our bay window, so I have to force him to go home when his mom calls him for supper.

What a mad social whirl!!

5th May Vote

I have been in quite a state over this flipping vote.

Thank goodness I have been given plenty of time to think about it so that I can at least be a bit informed.

For the non-poms, this is what it's about .

(or, my limited understanding of it)

At the moment, the current system is 'first past the post' So, most votes win.

The AV (alternative Vote) means that you can vote for more than one person, so if your first choice doesn't get enough votes, your second and third will be counted.

In theory then, if only 100 people in the whole country vote, and 60 of them vote yes, it will be enough to change the way we elect our MPs.

And then, under the AV system , a candidate who comes third, can end up winning.

The Yes voters are saying that this is a way to get rid of non productive MP's , which is true. But there is non productive versus downright useless...or even quite mad, if you see some of the candidates.

I was initially swayed by peer pressure, as Joanna Lumley is championing the Yes vote

But, so is Ed Milliband, and he is a creepy person whom I do not trust.

Cameron says No.

Apart from the fact that he looks like Gareth Cliff from 5FM, which amuses me, I like Cameron.

I do not trust the Labourites. I have discovered that I am a dyed in the recently transported wool Tory.

It does worry me, slightly off subject, that a bunch of children are running the country.

But at least Cameron is a gifted child.

It will cost £250 million to implement this change. I don't like that. We can't afford it, thanks to the previous government.

There are only 3 countries in the whole world that use this AV system, Fiji, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

So far, I am voting No.

The Hubby is voting Yes. But then again, he did vote for the Lib Dems, and Nick Clegg is voting Yes.

I actually have a headache now.

Summer

The reason for the packing/unpacking of seasonal items is illustrated right here. To the left, you will see a photograph of my bedroom cupboard. Yup! That's it. For me and The Hubby.

He has a million shirts, so I have about 10 centimeters of hanging space.

Many men in London buy 5 new white shirts every week and throw away the last week's ones.

I think it is a brilliant idea.

So, at the top of this cupboard, illustrated left, are all the (now ) winter clothes, neatly vacuum squished.

And here is a close up of the vacuum squishing. When I am done, there will be 3 bags neatly in the top of the cupboard.

In the meantime, I am ironing all last season's squished clothes.

I am not sure if summer is actually here, but it does seem that way. Yesterday it was 25 degrees, hottest day so far, and already the Poms are talking about a drought and hosepipe bans.

London Marathon

Fabulous day indeed! We are so proud of The Gorgeous Son. We are as knackered, The Hubby and I , as though we had run the marathon ourselves. It is hard work looking through 35000 runners to find your boy!

He phoned us when he was at mile 19 , (we were at Mile 23) and said he really needed a banana. The Hubby disappeared and returned with 2 bananas, I was kak impressed. He is a wonderful father.

I had a SA flag, and waved it enthusiastically at every Saffa I saw.

After the race , we went to the St John's Ambulance reception party, where we were greeted with a round of applause ( I graciously nodded)

The Gorgeous Son disappeared for an inordinate amount of time for a massage.

I did take some pics...as you can see....OK, the bum one is not The Gorgeous Son...I was distracted....

Then we went to eat, and Bless, when we went into the restaurant, everyone burst into applause.

I love the Poms.

Last year , they raised £45 million from this marathon.

I love The Comrades as well.

I wish they would raise as much money...it can be done.

It just seems that the Saffas simply do not have the same culture of giving.

I include myself, as I have said before, I am a better Pom than a Saffa.

Bathroom Blues

We had a bathroom door problem...the inside door handle came off .

(The Hubby is not a handyman, so we had quite a while with a problem door before The Landlord came to fix it)

Few issues with people getting stuck in the bathroom, but someone was always on hand to let them out.

For myself, home alone, I firmly put a doorstop on the door. And left it ajar.

So The Hubby is home, and in the shower. I went in to brush my teeth, and as usual, the room was like a sauna, which I remarked upon, and opened the window.

So so bad idea.

The door slammed shut.

We looked at each other in horror. Naked Hubby in the shower, me in nightie .

Bathroom is upstairs.

No cell phone (obviously) in bathroom.

Panic .

Choices:

a) Naked Hubby climbs out of window.

Not good. Apart from anything else,it is quite a long way down, with only a drainpipe to hold onto.

Due to my usual efficiency, the only clothes in the laundry hamper were a pair of my knickers and a pair of my socks

Hubby climbing out of window in my knickers and socks...also bad idea.

b) Me, with my useless foot climbing out of window in my M&S nightie, also not a good idea.

Would break my neck for sure.

c) Shouting 'help' to neighbors...also no good, They are never in, and how would they get to us?

If we could shout for help, the fire brigade would have to come and rescue Naked Hubby and Nightie Me on a ladder. Would be on the front page of our local rag. Nope. Bad idea.

Was not funny.

After much panic , The Hubby managed to open the door, using a towel and a toothbrush.

Bloody Hell.

The door is fixed now.

Sun, Sun , Sun, Let it Shine!

South Africa should be one of the happiest nations in the world.

It has been 20 degrees here for 4 days now, sometimes as much as 22, and the Poms are so happy! They are out in their T shirts, fat, thin, young, old...all smiling...sitting out in the sun, in pub gardens and parks, shopping, driving with the windows open, music blaring, waving, chatting...burning their lily white skins ...BBQing.

We all know it's not going to last, that summer is not here yet, but lordy, lordy, how wonderful it is.

The Hubby and I are happy too, we had breakfast in the sun, lunch in the sun, a glass of alcoholic ginger beer in a very odd, but fascinating pub called The Lamb.

Last summer they built a massive version of Mousetrap in the garden of this pub, raised £2000.00 for a children's hospice, this summer we are building Hungry Hippos. Such fun!

A little bit of sun and warmth has given such joy.

Isn't it amazing?

Come on summer, come on, come on!

Royal Wedding

Getting close and closer....I realised I was getting into this whole mania when I triumphantly told The Hubby "See! I TOLD you she would go with Mc Queen!"

And, indeed , I did tell him, ages ago.

So...what to do ...what to do??

Do we go with a local Street Party or a Wedding Party with a group of friends and family? Or go the whole hog and head off into London with the other million billion people?

Then do we do the big screen TV option in one of the various venues, or queue a hundred deep to catch an actual glimpse?

I was thinking it may not be a bad idea to hire a wheelchair for the day . But that would be evil.

And somehow not very patriotic.

I guess I could attach a Union Jack to the wheelchair...but , no, no, no.

Health and Safety

When I arrived at the hospital on the K4 bus yesterday, just as I had stepped (in my pathetic way) off the bus, the driver banged on the glass and beckoned me back, as the dear old lady behind me had fallen over.

He, as a bus driver, knows that Health and Safety does not allow him to pick her up by himself. There always has to be 2 people to pick up someone who has fallen over, in case of injury to the picker upper.

So I helped to pick her up.

Then, much like the blind leading the blind, I helped her (with her crutch) get to a seat outside the hospital, having established that she was diabetic. She was very shaken , poor thing.

So I left her on a bench and limped (or walked like an idiot , as we have now established) to the hospital entrance.

In this enormous hospital in The Royal Borough Of Kingston, there are Welcome Ladies. They have sashes that say "Welcome" and they tell you where to go and so on.

So I told the Welcome Lady about the poor old duck, and said she needed a wheelchair to get her to the hospital. Due to Health and Safety Regs, the Welcome Lady could not push the wheelchair. Neither, apparently , could I.

If I pushed her, and a bus or taxi or car or even Godzilla ploughed into her, it would be my fault. So we had to wait for a porter. I had to go , seeing as I had my physio appointment, so I hope the poor old duck is not still sitting on a bench waiting for a porter.

I know this whole Health and Safety thing is a bit crazy, and they do go overboard, but it is not a bad thing.

You can either have no Health and Safety, or the total overboard Health and Safety they have here.

Is better to go overboard.

Annoying as some of the Health and Safety things are , and as pathetically funny and amusing and sometimes even tragic as they may seem...believe me, it is better.

Think of the alternative.

Physio

There has been an improvement , so says Robin The Physio.

Then, he very cruelly did an imitation of how I am walking and warned me that I am headed for The Ministry of Funny Walks. Those were his very words. A tad cruel, I thought, but effective seeing as he looked like a total idiot.

Apparently I am walking too fast.

Seeing as I am constantly overtaken by pensioners, toddlers and people with crutches, I thought not. He has made me slow down to a pace which is undetectable as actual movement.

Combine this with my new Sissy Baby Pom feet and I am doomed.

Disaster!

It has happened. My feet have turned into Sissy Baby Pom Feet. I was at Amiga Jane's house and I couldn't walk on the gravel. Teeny tiny gravel which my Saffa tackie feet would't even have noticed.

I don't think there is any way to reverse this process. Soon I will be like Darling Simon and be unable to walk on spiky grass.

Obviously the turning into a Pom starts from the feet up.

Also, I am outside typing this and it is too hot for me.

I checked the thermometer and it is 20 degrees.

Bloody hell.

FROG

Today I saw my first frog in the UK.

I was taking out the bins (rubbish day tomorrow) and it attacked me .

So, I had to run (yes, on my ankle) out of the service alley, and it was just like a dream, I could neither run nor scream. I managed to get to the front door where I hammered on the door knocker until The Hubby came to save me. After he had calmed my hysterics, he said he thought my 6 months of aversion therapy all those years ago may have worn off.

Well, let me tell you, in that aversion therapy we did not cover what would happen if a frog jumped on my FOOT.

We only got as far as " Look, accept, and walk away"

I am traumatised.

Beware! A Rant...

It is A Very Good Thing to have a blog, otherwise I think I would explode and/or make snotty replies on Facebook before I have formulated my thoughts.

As Facebook does, another survey has popped up.

Do you support the freedom to marry for Gays and Lesbians?

Firstly, this is not a grammatically correct sentence

Secondly, I do not want to hear you say 'No'

The Hubby and I have a Civil Union. Dr Lauren and Darling Simon have a Civil Union.

In fact, everybody does. The ceremony in the church is not legal. You cannot get married in church and then hop off home in wedded bliss without signing the legal documents. A marriage is a legal right, not a bloody survey.

Nobody has the right to make a judgement on who should marry and who should not.

Lots of people marry 'out.'

Man to man, woman to woman, catholic to Jew, black to white, just look at us! The Hubby is Linux, Darling Simon is Windows. Insurmountable, you may say.

But No! There has been no judgement, and despite this massive difference, all is well.

We have adapted. Bill Gates did not get up on his soap box and question the union.

Do not judge anyone's right to choose their partner.

Or say whether they can marry or not

Or WHERE they can marry.

In this wonderful secular country, there are many churches with signs up saying 'Civil Unions Welcome here' Of course , what they mean is 'You can get married here if you are the same sex, we do not judge you'

And so they bloody well shouldn't.

If you are gay , you can also choose to be religious. Two way street.

And while I am ranting, never say that you 'tolerate' a gay marriage. It is not to be 'tolerated' You 'tolerate' bad behaviour in a child or a puppy.

You either 'accept' a gay marriage or you sit in judgement.

It seems to me that most of the judgmental people also happen to be religious.

I think they forget that religion does not belong to them only. It belongs to anyone who wants it.

Me, I don't want it. But here in the UK I am not judged for being an atheist. In fact, my rights are protected as much as anybody else's.

If any of my gay friends choose to get married, I will attend their wedding (church or otherwise) with love and joy in my heart.

I will throw rose petals and confetti, I will even sing a hymn, and I will wish them the long and glorious marriage that The Hubby and I have .