Not so much......

  .....a Day in the Life, but a week!

Where it all starts.  My beloved 14 hole DM's with steel toes.  I live in these boots.  The shoelaces are over a metre long, which gives the cats and the dog something to play with on the rare occasion that the boots are not on my feet.  It takes me five minutes to get the laces done up!

They were expensive but completely worth every penny.

I was supposed to do some work last weekend.  That pile of files?  Four reports that were due.  Do you see the problem?  Unsurprisingly the reports  didn't get written that day, since removing the cat is usually more trouble that it is worth.  She likes to remove the paper from files, in the hopes of finding a paperclip she can play with. Maybe I should use Ellie more ofter as a paperweight?  Maybe not - she is a little on the small size.  Charlie and Ozzie would make far better paperweights and they are far less excitable.

Willow had yet another vet appointment last Saturday.  This is the road leading to the Forest, and we have just left my village.  I take that road most days as it is the quickest route to the motorway, the nearest town and pretty much anywhere we want to go.  We live in a pretty bit of country!

Luckily she got the all clear at that appointment.  We had 7 visits in 14 days and Willow was not a happy bunny.  In fact, we were concerned she had had a mental breakdown.  She was stressed beyond belief.

Going into the Forest.  Apparently there are such great mushrooms to be found there that you need a licence to go mushrooming now.  We plan on taking Lila for some long walks there when the weather is a little better.  It turned pretty manky today, so I imagine another couple of weeks before we go.  She doesn't like puddles very much.  She gets all freaked out when her feet disappear.  It is very funny to watch her barking at puddles though.  And the wind.  And the rain.

Time to catch up on the washing.  Or not.  I am lazy and despite intentions to the contrary, often leave the weeks washing until the weekend.  I try to keep it in piles, and have the next load ready in the basket to take downstairs.  This is a fairly common sight in our house, but had to be caught on camera.  Frankie is very partial to a snooze in the washing basket and this held me up.  I COULD be mean and boot him out (although I usually just use the basket with the cat in it), but since washing is not my favourite past-time it was pretty easy to find something else to do.  Those reports perhaps?........

Maybe not.  Charlie has recently discovered the delights of Spider Solitaire and is getting quite good.  He won that game.  Moving Charlie usually results in a bite.  He might be a cuddly cat at night  but he doesn't like to be interrupted when on the computer.  If you look closely under the game in progress you can see the report I was trying to write.  I turn my back for one minute and the cat nicks the computer!  Well, the reports weren't that urgent anyway............

Gardening is the new love of my life.  I used to kill most things I grew, but somehow I have managed to develop a nice set of greenfingers.

So I decided to check on my garden.  I check every day, in case we have another millimetre of growth, or another snail invasion taking place .  It turns out the Baron has been lobbing snails over into next doors garden and so they keep coming back.  I prefer to feed the snails I get to the local ducks.  These are my peas, and they are looking really good!

Potatoes.  I checked today and the plant has now grown over the top of the barrel.  We have two of these barrels.

Runner beans, part two.  The first crop died as we planted them way too early. 

Parsnips, garlic, spring onions, red onions and chives.  Oh, and leeks as well. 

Carrots, more garlic (middle terracotta pot) and strawberry bushes.

Lettuce. 

Broccoli.  Purple sprouting for cut and come again growth, and calabrese for more traditional style broccoli.

My conservatory.  At least it used to be, until it became a greenhouse.  My tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, french beans, sweetcorn, melon, cucumbers and chilli's are in this picture, although we have now moved everything out to their final beds or the outside coldframe. 

My tomatoes.  Beefsteak and Moneymaker, I believe.

The Baron's beloved fellow artichokes, under their little cloches.  He saw a sketch on tv referring to "my fellow artichokes" and it stuck.  I have no clue what it means, but if it keeps him happy....and quiet then I am happy to go along with it!

Unfortunately the weekend went too quickly and Monday found me heading into London for some work.  So off I toddled.

That is the rail at Moorgate tube, Northern Line.  It is not supposed to have six inches of water under it.  I wonder where all the little mice went that day?  Anyway, that "little" puddle caused several hours worth of delays for thousands of people.  I eventually got to work.....

.....where I drank a lot of tea interspersed with flicking through files and trying to look busy whilst counting the minutes before I could decently leave again.

Home time.

Liverpool Street Station.

The next couple of days were spent in London doing various bits and pieces.  And this is where I got a little carried away.  The dangers of a camera phone!

Going down......

Essex end of the Central Line.

Nearly home!

I was a bit rushed for time on Wednesday so I didn't get to do what I really wanted to.  I was at Kings Cross and I really wanted to take a picture of platform 9 3/4, but I had to run to the Thameslink platform.  This is the station though:

I received many of my exam results outside that station - we had to wait for the early delivery of the next day's newspaper to see if our names were in it.  If they were, we had passed.  If not, tought titty.  I spent a good few hours crying outside that damn station.

On the way to a residential centre in South London.

On the way home.  This was taken coming over Blackfriars Bridge.  If you look into the distance you can see Tower Bridge.

Looking out the other window.  That is St Pauls.

A better picture of the cathedral from the top of the 26 bus.  If you were standing on those steps you would be looking down Ludgate Hill.

A typical London view.  The bus is coming up to Bank, and that is the Erotic Gherkin in the background.  A great mix of contemporary and classic architecture.

Bank isn't drunk. The bus was turning.  It's bloody hard taking a picture on the top deck going round corners!

Just past Bank gives a better view of the narrow streets.  The bus is getting towards Liverpool Street.

This is St Ethelburga's Church opposite Liverpool Street.  It was destroyed in the 1993 Bishopsgate bomb and has only recently been renovated.  Not enough cash to complete it.  It is a lovely little church, and it looks so odd tucked in around the banks, stations, pubs and fast food places.

That concludes part one.  Tune in later this week for part two!

Comments

[Jaymee]

What beautiful, beautiful cats!

[Silvia]

Week one was great - very informative. I look forward to week 2.

[Pez]

Love it! Your cats are gorgeous and I loved the tour of your garden/greenhouse. Thanks, DMouse!

[Kimmer]

Your garden & greenhouse/conservatory are to die for!

[Katie]

Wow, those are great pictures! I really like the ones of London, I will get there eventually to see it all myself. And so impressed with your gardening! And the best news about our move? I get a cat! But I'll let you in on a secret, I plan to get two! hehe

Great photos, Mouse. I am not as savvy with the internet as I would like to be, so I am not certain how you and Katie and everyone else puts up photo displays without using Hello.

I wish I knew, because I love my photos and would like to share a day in the life. Maybe. Heh.

Anyway, I really like your scenery photos, like a mini road trip of England, of course!

[DMouse]

Two cats! Brilliant!

We might have a small feline addition soon as well..........

[Miss Arrogant]

Fabulous pictures, DMouse. Thanks for sharing. It looks so interesting! Your garden is beautiful.

[Kross-Eyed Kitty]

I absolutely loved the pictures! Your kitties are adorable and I'm quite impressed with your garden. I'm looking forward to Part 2!