Greenwich, London, UK

[Sundae]

CF - I've actually been to those places already, but I do agree they are worth seeing. Last time I lived in London I didn't get on with my housemates and would try to get out of the house before they got up at the weekends. I'd often get the Tube to London Bridge and walk up to Westminster - always past Clink Street Museum, always thinking about going in but being too scared (over-active imagination coupled with mild claustrophobia).

Even further back, when I worked for a marketing company in Thame (Oxon) one of the accounts I worked on was the Post Office, and any time we visited them, they'd drag us to the Blackfriar. Being a lowly assistant, I didn't take much dragging, but it used to irritate the Account Manager, who was actually there to work and didn't appreciate a three hour round trip to spend two hours in the pub.

We have to set up a meeting at some point - I'm not sure how far I can come out on my Oyster Card, but if you can suggest something I'll sure I can find some way of getting there.

Okay, two pictures of Canary Wharf - for those not familiar with London this is an area of regeneration in the old docklands. It dominates the skyline in East London - when I used to drive from Aylesbury back to London it would be my first sign that I was getting close to home, from about 15 miles away (due to the lie of the land it disappeared closer to).

The distance picture is my walk to North Greenwich tube station. It shows you how undeveloped this area is at present. There is literally just the Dome and the tube station surrounded by wasteland and industrial sites at the moment. And looming improbably over all this, a beacon of tertiary industry is Canary Wharf (offices, restaurants, shops etc). If I go into Greenwich proper - which I will take pictures of soon - the outlook is very different. It's a proper town, with historic buildings etc.

The second picture is taken from North Greenwich tube station - again just to show how Canary Wharf stands alone, waiting for the tide of development to rise to meet it.

[Sundae]

And this is my street and house.
The commentary is quite faint - it's been so long since I used the video function I'd forgotten I need to keep it quite close to my mouth. You can just mute it pretty much anyway - it's self explanatory.

The walk down the street is pretty uneventful, but bear with it if you want to see the house - I have no way of editing. I don't show the house from the outside out of courtesy to my housemate - I'm pretty casual about people knowing my details but it's not my house after all.

[Uisge Beatha]

Thank you, SG, for your hospitality. That does indeed look like a very nice home and I hope it is a happy one for you. Seeing this quick tour and your boys was quite a pleasant surprise. Oh, and please allow me to say what a lovely voice you have; I am a sucker for an accent, but this goes beyond that and it is simply delightful to listen to you.

[skysidhe]

Been missing you SG. Congradulations on your new home!

[Shawnee123]

Need to get back to my office to watch the video; I'm on a wireless laptop right now and it is slow. Great pics. Oh, I must travel!

[Undertoad]

V. nice, thanks SG!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Your bedroom looks like heaven for kitty cats... so much stuff to poke into and tip over. Thanks for the tour.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Your bedroom looks like heaven for kitty cats... so much stuff to poke into and tip over.

You're quite right of course. I fit a flats-worth of knicknacks into a room and then wonder why the cats are mean enough to try and wreck it. That's why my two ceramic clocks are on the side rather than on top of the wardrobe where they'd look better - I'm waiting to see if the boys get done exploring after a few weeks.

This morning Dylan decided that he would see if he could get through the skylight. He wasn't bothered about the fact the blind was drawn - he knew it was open and he went for it. I was woken to the crashbangwallop of the blind coming down and Dylan's furry hindquarters disappearing over the edge of the window. Luckily, finding himself at roof height made him pause for thought and I managed to grab the base of his tail and tow him back far enough to grab him by the scruff back to safety.

Thanks Dylan, now I have to sleep in a bedroom over 80 degrees.

[Shawnee123]

That was wonderful! How neat to get a glimpse into your life. I loved how your kitties followed you around filming. And I also loved the under the breath "child. can't talk."
Thanks for sharing that!

[Uisge Beatha]

Good grief, SG, was that the blind we saw at the end of the clip - a blue blind hanging over the head of your bed? It's lucky the blind didn't land right on you. I can certainly see just how curious (and acrobatic) Dylan is now.

[Sundae]

Yes, it's a temporary blind, which just hangs down when it's not drawn. The futon is temporary as well - my fault for moving in with 3 days noticce when my housemate is on a 3 month job in Wales.

Dylan tried it again later in the day when I had the window closed. Bonk. Made me laugh anyway.

The silly thing is, HM warned me that the cats might be able to get out of the skylight and I scoffed. Famous last scoff of course.

[Uisge Beatha]

[Cyclefrance]

Nice accommodation SG - looks like a fairly recent refurb and I hink I spotted a few examples of IKEA extravagance around the place as well... and the pussy-cats seem to have made themselves at home already!

I'm in town shortly and in a couple of month's time running training courses - always gasping for a drink after 8 hours of talking and teaching, so one of these may be a good opportunity to grab a drink and have a chat - I'll PM you details.

[Griff]

"Child, can't talk."
I swear I saw that movie. Thank you Sundae!

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Uisge Beatha

Oh, and please allow me to say what a lovely voice you have; I am a sucker for an accent, but this goes beyond that and it is simply delightful to listen to you.

You need to hear her sing, she is all that and a bag of chips.