London

You are currently browsing the archive for the London category.

The sun is well and truly out…

February 10, 2010 in London, Mum, Photography, Toto, depression, family court by Fe | 13 comments

Whew. I’m through the dark patch.

Hallelujah!

Man it’s not fun when you’re in the middle of it. And not much fun on the wobbly edges of it.

Thanks for your kind words and support. You rock.

My Mum and I did something together today that we have not done since 1990 in London.

We went shopping together.

Those of you who know me in real life know that I hate shopping. With a passion. REALLY dislike it.

But Mum and I went to the local shops to find the perfect present for my tall and beautiful first-born son who is turning 13 tomorrow.

And after we found the perfect pressie, we browsed a shoe shop, an optometrists and a crystal/meditation/hippy-woo shop where we bought 2 beautiful Indian shirts.

And we both laughed about the fact that the last time we did that together was when she was visiting me when I lived in London.

We crawled the Kings Road looking for the perfect blazer for my Mum.

And we found it.

And she still has it!

And now I’m remembering that visit, and feeling really warm and fuzzy and enveloped in my Mummy’s love.

********

So I’m using distraction therapy to get myself out of the dark patch. And it’s been working.

I’m working on marketing my photography business.

I’m designing my business cards, my flyers, and planning my marketing strategy because I’m determined to make this business fly.

I wish I could promote my business on this site, but I still need to maintain my anonymity in order to freely discuss the family court stuff.

Still, if anyone wants a photographer in the Sydney area… .

xoxoxo

This time last year…

July 29, 2009 in Boo, Gillian, Holland, Lisbon, London, Paris, Toto, Utrecht, england, netherlands, portugal, scotland, trip by Fe | 8 comments

… my boys and I were making our way home from a 6 week European holiday.

It was amazing.

I still can’t believe that we actually did it.

The odds were against us financially and logistically, but with the amazing generosity of friends and family (Toto’s godmother paid for the boys’ flights and we spent every single night staying with friends or family) we did it.

We travelled to Scotland, England, Paris, Lisbon and Holland.

And I blogged every step of the way.

Tonight I’ve been re-living the journey through this blog. It begins here. I’ve got tears in my eyes and gratitude in my heart.

My boys and I had the most amazing adventure. We all know that it’s something that we’ll never be able to do again, and that has made it even more precious. I look at the photos of the boys from only that one short year ago and they are already so much more grown up. Especially Toto.

I’m feeling very nostalgic tonight.

I can’t quite find the right word… but I’m nostalgic for an innocence, or peace, that my boys and I had only last year. An innocence or peace that Family Court and High School have taken away from us.

And I’m grateful that we had such a spectucular way to celebrate those last weeks or months of peace.

Toto’s godmother Gillian, Toto and Boo at Dunotter Castle, Scotland

Boo, Me and Toto on the London Eye

Boo and Toto at the Louvre, Paris

Toto, Boo and Me in Lisbon, taken from the Castle

Toto, Boo and Merlijn in Utrecht, Holland

Last Day in London….

July 7, 2008 in London, Naomi, england by Fe | No comments

It started with a fun BIG brekky with the gorgeous Naomi….

…and then we took a drive to “my” part of London….. the areas in which I lived all those years ago. We went to Holland Park, and to Julie’s, a fantastic wine bar / restaurant at the end of my street. And there we had a wonderful lunch….

…. before walking around my old neighbourhood…

Julie’s

outside my old home

the outside of my other home in London

The outside of the Queen’s London home

Phew…

July 5, 2008 in London, england by Fe | 6 comments

I’m no Mary Poppins, but I’ve sworn more today (in front of my kids I should add) than in my living memory. People who live in this city should be forgiven much. It’s so bloody difficult to traverse, and so bloody full that it seriously feels as though it might burst. And, quietly, I’m not enjoying the fact that it’s 2 days until the 3rd anniversary of the London bombing.

Anyway….. here are the photos…..

We started with the London Eye….

…and then, because it felt too daunting to do it with just a map, we hopped on a Big Red Double-Decker London Tour Bus (complete with crap audio) for a 3 hour jaunt in major traffic.

There was a huge concert in Trafalgar Square….. which meant that half of the centre of town was too crowded to walk through. Shame. But then we found out that it was the London Pride Parade and all was forgiven….

F….. will you EVER smile in a photo?

Oh. Thanks.

Well thank you very much. Love the classy sign. And placement is everything…..

London

July 4, 2008 in London, england by Fe | 3 comments

And what an adventure it’s been so far. We had to drive right into the very centre of London to collect house keys from my cousin. We’re staying with her, but she’s got a job interview in Manchester tomorrow and won’t be home until tomorrow night.

It’s only been 2.5 years since I’ve driven through Central London, and only 15 years since I lived in (and owned a car in) the inner west of London, but nothing prepares me for the challenges that driving through this congested city brings. Thank GOD for Austin Powers (the faithful voice on our TomTom GPS machine) who got us through without TOO much swearing and without ANY incidents involving anything outside our own vehicle!!

(actually….. it was kind of fun!!)

After 5 hours in the car…. still in Central London

Tower Bridge taken from the car, by H

The Tower of London, from the car, taken by H

If this is the queue for the London Dungeon, imagine the queue for the London Eye tomorrow!

Looking back at Tower Bridge from the car, taken by me (the driver). Ooops…. didn’t notice that policeman at the time!

Sheesh. So we found our way to Hackney….. which is the only part of London that I really don’t know AT all. I’ve lived in West London, had friends and rellies in North and South London, but never really gone anywhere NEAR the East of London. Which meant that I really had NO idea when trying to find my cousins’ digs. But we FOUND it!!!! Yeah!!

She’s got a funky little flat in a really diverse area. The boys and I took a walk this afternoon, on our way to find dinner, and they both held my hands the entire way. And both want to be back in Glasgow (or Southwell, or York). I think they’ll change their tune after a visit to the London Eye tomorrow, but right now both are completely overwhelmed by how overcrowded and polluted London is. And the fact that we’re all on our own in a completely new part of the world.

My cousin Naomi will be here tomorrow night…. and we’ll have seen some of the more famous London sights, and then I’m sure all will be right in our world again. Right now, we’re watching Top Gear DVD’s and hunkering down.

We're in London!

June 14, 2008 in BA, F, H, London by Fe | 3 comments

We survived the flights. The FULL flights. The “every single seat on the 12 hour flight has been sold” flight. The “F got plane sick and threw up all over himself, me and the seat within the first half hour” flight. The “Phenergan definitely does NOT work for my children” flights. The “BA flight attendants aren’t nearly as nice as Qantas flight attendants” flights (information learned when juggling vomiting child from centre seat with attendant standing well back and telling me to take him to the toilet)

We’re absolutely exhausted. But, as F just said “I feel way better for getting off the plane”.

Here we are in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Brand new and hugely controversial (I definitely have jet lag. The terminal keeps swaying and it took me 3 minutes to remember the word “controversial”), it’s glamorous, expensive-looking and 25 irritating bus-ride minutes away from Terminal 4 (where we arrived). Our flight to Glasgow leaves in 1.5 hours and so we’re sitting in a cafe …….. where F ate his first meal in 24 hours ……. and now H is feeling extremely sick. Jet lag, I’m sure, but the boys are having a wonderful conversation about whether he should vomit on the Audi R8 or the Ferrari F430 (both parked on a display station less than 20 metres from us right now!).

They’ve been behaving wonderfully, although we are all getting a bit scratchy now. Especially me. Still…… we haven’t missed any connections (although we cut it very fine in Bangkok when I lost our boarding passes) and are all reasonable okay. Just dehydrated and exhausted.

Can’t wait for Glasgow. Nearly there!!! Poor Gillian. I’m sure we all STINK (F and I sure do because of afore-mentioned event on flight) and we are bound to collapse with our heads in our laps about mid-afternoon.