Below the poverty line....

 I watched a BBC programme about the 3.5 million children who live below the poverty line in the UK

This dear child, who lives in the tower block pictured (in Glasgow) was well spoken , well educated, well aware of the dangers posed by the damp and mold present in their flat.
In this flat, yes, the mold was bad, yes, it was less than great living space, but the sheets on the beds were clean, there was a washing machine, a fridge, a microwave, a cooker, water and electricity and gas.
The parents didn't work, were on benefits and the little girl spoke of being cold when the money for the gas meter had run out,and bored when the money for the TV had run out (£1 for 6 hours, I didn't know you could even do this!)
There wasn't much food in the house, but they have a school dinner every day. There was a park for them to play in, not a great park, but grass and trees and a few swings and so on.
 By the end of the programme, they had been rehoused in better accommodation.
In a country of 64 million, I find it hard to see 3.5 million as a bad statistic. The poms think it is horrendous. Sure it is indeed.

 By what standard? My heart breaks for these kids, as in a first world country there should be no poverty, but it  is hard for me to see this as true poverty.

The way this child lives is luxury compared to the kids in Cape Town.
But, it is abject poverty here in the UK, and unacceptable, and things are being done about it.
This child, no matter how poor her family may be , has access to medical care, housing, schooling, counselling...I love this. I love that an hour long programme was made about it, speaking only to the children, and their perception of being 'poor'
And what thoughts they had! How accepting they were of their  situation, how understanding of how hard it is  for their parents to get jobs, how much they did their bit to help, bless them! One little lad said " In this area, 1 in 5 is unemployed and it is hard for my daddy, when he did a google search, only 2 jobs came up" This kid was about 8 years old.
Perhaps when they grow up to be teenagers , it will be a different story altogether.
 The way I see it, everyone is doing their best.
If nothing else, surely it is a good start. I pay my taxes gladly here.

Plant by numbers

 Quite something...a Van Gogh brought to life!
This is on display at Trafalgar Square

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/van-gogh-painting-brought-to-life-as-living-wall

We were on a Family Outing, you can see the family in the photo (I added them for scale!)
Why they are all looking the other way is a mystery to me.
It was a lovely summer's day. I still don't quite understand the summer...it comes and goes...., but this day was glorious. When the weather is  good, London is  truly beautiful.

Who moved my Cheese?

As you know, from my earliest shopping expeditions here, the variety of goods available is mind boggling.
Not so for cottage cheese.

There is Natural. (naturally)
Chive & Onion    (boringly)
Pineapple             (Disgustingly)

THAT'S IT!

I brought this to the attention of the dairy merchandiser in Sainsburys who was so offended that I had criticized her department that she made me wait ages while she looked it all up on the computer to prove to me that that was it for the whole country.
She did find one with strawberries, but I guess that was a special for Wimbledon (yuk)

Waitrose has the same 3 types. I really don't understand the pineapple thing.
Managed to restrain myself from saying  "Well in South Africa......"

I have bought the natural, and will make my own flavours.

Stupid.

Evil Cat

Poor Hoppy...Dave The Cat From Next Door has evil intentions methinks....

Saffas

I don't know what it is, maybe this goes on all the time and I haven't noticed yet, but Lordy! do they not take the piss out of the Saffas!
The radio DJ's can do a mean imitation of a Saffa accent.
Up until now I have always thought the Saffa accent was quite inoffensive.
When you hear someone take the piss, it makes the accent sound AWFUL.
I am trying to round my vowels .
This is quite hard to explain. In South Africa, obviously, I didn't even hear the accent .Here, it smacks you in the face. And the Saffas are so LOUD.
Initially, I was somewhat offended, now, I cringe when I hear the DJ's imitate us.
Not too sure what that says about me.

apologies

Amazing isn't it?

London Underground

As you know, we Hardened Londoners do not speak to each other on the tube.
There is a competition/comment running at the minute (by the Metro, our free newspaper we get on the tube), asking "What would make you talk to a fellow commuter?"
This is very interesting.

I did think long and hard, and this is all I could come up with.

If there was a disaster , like Princess Diana's death, or 9/11
If the train crashed
If somebody had a heart attack/baby/fit in the carriage.
If somebody vomited/screamed/fought/had a knife (maybe) Usually , in this case, people just film it on their phones and then post it on you tube.
If somebody lit a cigarette.
Last week , a tube took off and the doors didn't close. I should imagine people spoke to each other then, but probably just the tourists.


That's about it, actually.

When I travel away from London, and people talk to me (like in Dublin, on the Luas) it makes me very nervous.
Sad, but true.

Babies

There seem to be a lot of babies about at the minute, today I was nearly run over on the pavement by a triple buggy. (twins and a slightly older one)
Nobody says pram, or pushchair, it is a buggy.
People leave their buggies all over the place, and nobody steals them! It's incredible!
Obviously, without the babies in them, but they are outside front doors, doctor's rooms, supermarkets..moms put the buggies downstairs in the luggage thing on the bus and go upstairs...

One baby/toddler issue that drives me insane, everyone says Nursery.
I am fetching the baby/ toddler from Nursery
Baby /toddler is going to Nursery.
Pre prep children also go to Nursery.

In my head, and hopefully I don't say it out loud, I add SCHOOL!
Nursery  SCHOOL!
Is another Saffa thing I am going to have to get over .

Kingston Market

4 giant courgettes for £1, four peaches for £1, mushrooms, well, £1 for a pound, am never sure what a pound of anything, not just mushrooms looks like, but must admit, more mushrooms than I expected.
So, mushrooms for breakfast tomorrow, and courgette soup for supper!

Dr Lauren

I am very happy to have been a teeny wee help to Dr Lauren in her studies.

So far, I have had Parkinson's, children with asthma, Downs Syndrome and  febrile convulsions, have learnt how to put on a condom (we had no bananas, so we used my pestle) I have had a bad result to a cervical test, a liver function warning,a child with cystic fibrosis, and a  HRT counselling session.

No matter how stupid my questions, Dr Lauren had an answer for everything.
She is going to be a wonderful doctor.

You may not know this, but as part of the examinations, ACTORS act as patients to test would be doctors.
How cool is that?
I think I would like that job.
I am very good at it.
I am taking full responsibility for Dr Lauren being a fabulous doctor.

Another transport issue

Yes, I am afraid I have become a Hardened Londoner.
Yesterday, when it took me 2 and a half hours to get to Heathrow, I did not think about what could possibly have driven a poor soul to die the horrible death of leaping in front of a train at Wimbledon, no, I was annoyed that my journey was interrupted by a 'jumper' (as we Hardened Londoners call them)
These Jumpers do not jump off peak. I guess if their day is pretty much fucked anyway, they don't  care about ours.
The tourists in the coach all looked quite alarmed at the announcement, us Hardened Londoners just tutted in annoyance and read our Metro.

Transport again

This seems to be my topic of the moment.

When everyone is not talking about their summer holiday, upon meeting, the first thing to be discussed is how one was transported to where they are.

How did you get here?

Well, the Jubilee line was closed , so we took the  DLR, then the City and Bank, got the train at Waterloo..through Earlsfied..
Earlsfield? Didn't you take the fast train?
No, got there too late...

Came in on the 71 bus..
71? Surely the K4 was quicker..
No, missed that....

No problem meeting new people here, there is always something to kick off  a  conversation, either how you got there, the weather, or now, Summer Holiday Plans.
No awkward moments..Love it!

On the transport subject, they do not call it a traffic jam here. They call it a 'queue' Somehow makes it seem voluntary. Your fault if you decide to queue on the M25.
I like to listen to the radio traffic report (no matter that I don't have a car and very rarely will ever be on the M25, but they report clockwise, or anticlockwise, awfully clever I thought, gives me a reasonable idea of how the ring road works and where I am in the great scheme of things.
Today the M25, tomorrow the whole Island.

Geography in Great Britain was not on the syllabus at The Convent of St Thomas Aquinas , South Africa.

We're all going on a ...

Summer holidays are a big deal . I didn't notice this last year, probably because I was in the middle of finding a place to live and the estate agents were doing my head in (as they say here)

The conversations, the papers, the mags...all one question "Where are you going for your summer holiday?"

As it happens, we are going to Cornwall in September.
This doesn't count.
You have to have a holiday away from Britain.
Dr Lauren is sorted, she and Darling Simon are going to Gambia.
The Gorgeous son is sorted, he is going to Poland and Vienna.

Last year, we inadvertently got it right by going to Northern Spain, but that was before I knew what a big deal this Summer Holiday Issue is.
I am thinking Berlin. The weather is good, I can speak (some) German, last time The Hubby was in Berlin , the wall was still up , so this seems like a good idea.
god forbid we don't fit in!

Saatchi, amazing as always

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I do so love Saatchi…I go at least 3 times to each exhibition. Once to look, for first impressions, then I buy the catalogue on the way out.

After I have read it, I go again. With a better understanding of the sculptures (in this case) or paintings or whatever.

About once in a hundred times I actually get something ALL BY MYSELF.

To be fair, see how you do with the above!

The third time I go just for fun.

Thank you Darling Simon, for helping me to learn to display photos, you are a genius.

Almost as genius as me, who eventually worked it out with much swearing and cursing, but did it !

Wimbledon Sandwich

Even I will admit this is going a bit overboard!
Possibly one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen.

I am all ready to watch Nadal vs Murray today, we will see whether Murray is British or Scottish.

Dennis the Window Cleaner arrived at some ungodly hour this morning, as a result I have cleaned all the inside windows and feel very virtuous , so will have no problem watching tennis all afternoon.

Will not have a Wimbledon Sandwich though.
Yuk!