Rustling reeds

Rustling reeds
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

These made a very pleasant rustling sound in the wind... not enough to drown out the moto-x tho.

Signpost lovelies...

Signpost lovelies...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The little green sign post is the London Loop one...

Bad moon rising...

Moon rising over Surbs
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Well maybe not - but I did have a fantastic view of the moon rising out of lounge window on Saturday night!

No I wasn't out doing cool and exciting things - I was at home watching the wonder of nature... :-)

And the same moon a bit later...

Moon rising over Surbs
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

A terrible day

And thats all I have to say really.

Walking during 'Monsoon Weekend'

Julia and I had hoped to go for a 'proper' walk this weekend, but the weather was bad at the end of the week, and the headlines on the paper were talking about the 'Monsoon Weekend'.

So instead of heading out into the country we did a wee stroll locally instead. Walked up to Wimbledon Common (didn't see the Wombles - they must have been hiding...), through the common to Richmond Park, through Richmond Park (past the deer), into Richmond for lunch, then along the river past Kingston and back to Surbiton. So we reckon it was probably around 6-8 miles anyhow, so not a bad stretch.

And in between the rain it was really rather pleasant!

Deer at Richmond Park

More deer at Richmond Park
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This was one of the smaller groups we passed. There was a fantastic large group (herd?), with some pretty full on antler action going on, but the camera on my phone wasn't good enough to get a pic of it from that distance.

Shock and awe

On Wednesday it was off to the Luminaire to see The Autumn Defense, a side project of two of the guys from Wilco.

I realised I had been to the Luminaire a few years ago to see Goodshirt play, but it seemed like a much better venue this time round. Laid out a lot more sensibly for a venue than I think it was when I first went.

Kevin spotted John Stirratt walking past him so nabbed him, shook his hand, and had about a 10 minute conversation with him. Towards the end of the evening he was still 'shocked and awed' from his encounter with someone from Wilco!

They were fantastic - and at such a small venue we were very close. Brilliant musicians, and they played a lot of my fave songs :-). Kevin took the photos below on his phone.

John Stirratt on stage

John Stirratt on stage
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Pat Sansone on stage

Pat Sansone on stage
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

And it feels like it...

Check this story out from the BBC

I've almost forgotten what it is like for the sun to shine for more than one day ... Saturday was gorgeous - blue skies and hot in the afternoon.

Sunday morning - woken up by thunderstorms and it proceeded to drizzle most of the day, then storm again at the end...

I've been here too long - I'm obsessing about the weather...

Poker-tastic

Well sort of!

Friday saw the inaugural poker game at Simon's house (the venue of choice in case you hadn't worked that out from previous posts!).

Me, Simon, Sylvia (his sister), Julia, Jennie and Kevin sat down (eventually) to play some poker... Several hands of Texas Hold'Em later, I was reigning fairly high, Simon was creaming us all and Sylvia had bluffed once too often...

We ended up playing Stud poker which I think is what we used to play as kids (with matchsticks!). When you get dealt 5 cards, and then have two more rounds when you can get new cards dealt if your hand is rubbish - does that sound right Eryn/Tracey (I'm figuring it was you guys I used to play with!).

Good fun tho - and it looks like it may become a more regular event. Simon is desperate for us to play with real money in the kitty - and I've got a sneaking suspicion Kevin would prefer that as well!

Lenny

Lenny
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Its been a while - thought it was time for an updated photo of the lovely Lenny...

Tracey & Lucy

Tracey & Lucy
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Looking a tad windswept in Wellington. I'm sure Lucy won't like me for saying this but I can really see the family resemblance between her and Thomas in this one!!

Dirty beach sculpture

Dirty beach sculpture
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Close up of the second sculpture.

Sand art on the Thames...

Walking down to the Tate on Saturday I passed these guys making their sand sculptures. Its the second time I've seen them - this time I thought to take a picture!

Tate and a mate

Well two mates really.

I met up with the 'newlyweds' David and Dominic on Saturday afternoon and we headed off to the Tate Modern to see the Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography exhibition (which I think Leigh and Maurie went to when they were here as well).

The exhibition was great - there was a fantastic set of video clips at the end of teenagers in a club in Liverpool - very funny, and very telling. And a couple of truly outstanding shellsuits on the boys... We then went and had cake and coffee which rounded the afternoon off perfectly.

It was great to see the two D's (as I've taken to calling them), and see their photos from the honeymoon in Greece - it is absolutely on my list to visit next year...

In Bruges

I'm not - but I did just go and see the film which I thought was FANTASTIC! I had wanted to see it when it came out a few months ago but missed it, but one of my film going chums had been keeping an eye out for it.

I didn't really know much about the story, so was a bit surprised when I sat down and saw that it was an 18... until they started speaking. Lots of bad language, a bit of violence, and some very clever dialogue. And a great ending.

So that's my film recommendation for you - go see it - or if you've missed it, rent it on DVD - although I do think it would be best at the cinema.

Just remember its an 18....

The Gathering

I just finished this book by Anne Enright - the winner of the Booker Prize last year. I heard her interviewed on the radio in one of the podcasts I listen to and thought she sounded really interesting, and the book sounded good as well.

I struggled with it almost all the way through. I just couldn't get into it, and spent a lot of the time wondering why Booker winners are always so bleak and grim. Perhaps a lot of the stuff about the large family was a bit too close to the bone...

But somewhat bizarrely in the last couple of chapters I seemed to 'get' it, and I started to enjoy it. Prior to those chapters I had it marked as a charity shop book (I don't keep ones I don't enjoy anymore), but have now changed my mind. It stays on my bookshelf, and I'll definitely be re-reading it - in fact I suspect I'll get more out of it on the second go.

Psycho Buildings!

Great title huh? Also the name of the latest exhibition I went to see on Friday with Nicola. We started off with a glass of wine at the Concrete Bar - as it was 2 for 1 it would have been criminal not to really... Plus it was Friday evening and I think we were both in dire need of a glass - well I certainly was given the week I'd had!!

It was really interesting - and a lot of the exhibits you wondered how exactly they have managed to get that set up inside! Or outside even - particularly the boating lake on the roof of the exhibition. We didn't go into the row boats - the queue was huge, and despite the fact that it is the middle of August it was also quite cold outside! But we did go out and have a look, and thanks to Nicola's prompting I took a couple of snaps on my phone to give you an idea of what it looked like.

Another interesting piece was the Observatory, Air-Port-City, 2008 which is essentially a big orb with a top level. You can either stay and observe from the bottom, or go into a lucky dip to go on to the top level. We didn't bother with the lucky dip, but did quite enjoy lying around and watching people manage to navigate themselves around - especially the women who were wearing skirts... To enter it you had to go through an airlock door to maintain the pressure.

I really liked Fallen Star by Do Ho Suh (a scale model of his home from Korea crashing into an American house), and Place by Rachel Whiteread - a collection of dolls houses lit up. Both very cool. These pictures from the Guardian will also give you a good idea of the exhibition.

Normally, Proceeding and Unrestricted With Without Title (2008)

Normally, Proceeding and Unrestricted With Without Title (2008)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

No I don't get the title either... but this gives you an idea of what it looked like! The water is about 0.9m deep I think. I was stood on a very wobbly 'jetty' to take this!

Strangely tempted...

To go to this - sadly I don't have any little kids I can use as an excuse! Its one of my favourite books from my childhood, and I even have a copy on my shelf here in London.

And its the same age as me - how cool is that :-)

Pick a title...

• Olympic gold for stupidity
• Could my day get any worse
• Expletive, expletive, expletive

So tonight my wallet was stolen out of my bag while having an after work pint. Yes I am careful, but for whatever reason, tonight I put my bag in the wrong place, and the wallet was very skillfully taken out of my bag.

Plus points: it was only my wallet this time - not my bag, my ipod, my phone or my house keys

Minus points: I had just taken out £50, I've lost the wallet given to me by Lindsey, I lost the gift vouchers I got for my birthday from Kristie & John. The rest was pretty much disposable - I learnt my hard lesson when I lost my whole bag.

Please anyone feeling like leaving a comment about being careful, watching my possessions etc - don't. It was a crap end to a crap day.

Too wet to walk...

So Saturday became an impromptu lunch at Julia's local, the Jolly Gardeners. Despite being part of a chain (I think) it is a great pub.

As always the food was delish, company fine (me, Julia, Simon and Owen), and a very wet afternoon was passed very pleasantly!

Oh and I came a distant last in Scrabble and managed to lose to Julia in Connect 4 in 3 moves!! So not my finest hour!!

Great antidotes to bad days...

Watching Wall-E when feeling a bit down cos Leigh & Maurie have left, and watching Mamma Mia after a bad day at work.

Both fantastic! I was suprised how much I enjoyed Mamma Mia - will definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD. And Wall-E was just sooo cute... :-)

Are my family blessed...?

While Tracey was here, the weather picked up, and on the whole June was a fairly pleasant month weatherwise. Not amazing - but ok for June.

Tracey left, the weather packed in.

Leigh arrived, the weather picked up. Maurie arrived - the weather got better.

Leigh & Maurie left and the weather has turned to custard again...

What can it all mean??

Amended functionality...

One of the things I've copied from Maurie is to amend my comments page - now when you click on the 'Comments' link at the bottom of the post, the comments pop-up in a new window, rather than load in a new page, which I think is much more user friendly.

Thanks also for your comments on my post re the competition - its always nice to know that people are reading! Sometimes I feel like I'm typing into the ether with no one out there!!

The competition is on!

Maurie and I had a great time swopping technology and Web 2.0 bits and pieces while we here as he had been doing a lot of looking at that stuff while tripping around the US. So I now have an RSS feeder set up on my Mac (which I have at work, but hadn't bothered to do that at home until now), Maurie is much more Facebook literate than he was, and most importantly I have downloaded a visitor counter to my site!

So while Maurie is a few thousand ahead of me, I'm keen to get my numbers up - so if I promise to update regularly you have to all promise to keep visiting me so he doesn't thrash me!!

The best laid plans...

Leigh & Maurie returned from Liverpool on Saturday evening and I had a few plans sorted out for them... However I am now the master of 'Plan B'!!

Tuesday: Plan was to go to Hatfield House - something I've been wanting to do for ages. Except that at the last minute I realised the house wasn't open on Tuesdays... As Leigh & Maurie have both spent quite a bit of time in London before, at the last minute I struggled to think of anything to do. But at the last minute I remembered London Walks so we headed off to do the Old Westminster walk - which was great! As always whenever I do one of these, I think how much I should do them more often...

Wednesday: Plan was to go down to Herne Bay with Kevin to do a tour out to the old sea forts with Bayblast. So far so good... Except we neglected to book for the 12pm tour, and the boat broke down on that tour and didn't do any more that day! I think Kevin was the most gutted, but we were all really disappointed. We did go and have a look at Reculver Tower, and then Kevin detoured on the way home to visit Leith Tower. It was a lovely day, so if they tower had been open Leigh & Maurie would have enjoyed an even better view...

Thursday: Plan was to go for a walk outside of London. Except Leigh woke up feeling wiped out and unwell, so we just ended up having a quiet day, doing a bit of shopping in Kingston...

Friday: As I wasn't involved in the planning, Leigh & Maurie did manage to get to Gatwick Airport ok, and last I heard had made it to their hotel in Barcelona!!

I finally get it...

On Saturday I went to David and Dominic's Civil Partnership ceremony. The ceremony itself was held at the Reception Room at the Old Marylebone Town Hall, and we then went on to the reception and meal at a lovely local hotel.

It was a lovely ceremony - and I really get just how important it is for gay people to have the same chance to have a 'marriage' ceremony. As far as I was concerned it was a wedding, and it was special and romantic, and I was pleased I got the chance to be part of it.

The happy couple

The happy couple
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Dominic and David after the ceremony - Mr & Mr!

Arrival number two...

Was Maurie on the Tuesday morning. I met up with him and Leigh after work - given he'd done the evil flight from the US, he was in pretty good shape and lasted until just after 10pm before having to go to bed!

Now where should we go...?

I was struggling with this question as I knew Leigh had done most of the big main London sights in her previous two visits.

Fortunately I discovered that she hadn't been on the Thames or to Greenwich so that was the day sorted!

Firstly though we went to the BP Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery which was fab. Then we cruised down the river, had a stroll around Greenwich and the Queen's House, before a spot of dinner. Very nice!

Very cool spiral staircase in The Queen's House

Very cool spiral staircase in The Queen's House
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I got told off for taking this photo - no pics in The Queen's House... But it did look cool!

Leigh in the West and East longitude

Leigh in the West and East longitude
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

What a time to arrive...

8am on a Sunday morning!! I had to get up VERY early to get to Heathrow to collect Leigh from her flight...

It is just plane (geddit??) wrong to have to get up that early on a Sunday!!

A day at the fair...

Saturday was the Lambeth Country Show, held in Brockwell Park. My friend Steve from work was in a play (Gosford's Fete) that they were performing outdoors so we took the opportunity to go along.

We had a lovely lunch at The Florence, which was delish then we spent a couple of hours wandering around the show. We managed to catch the dog show - which was very entertaining. Slightly odd commentator - seemed more keen to make sure he scared everyone about dogs, but the dogs were great!

Steve's play was good - but they struggled with the wind drowning their voices, and people walking through their set - quite a few of them very drunk after having obviously been drinking the 7% cider that was for sale in big plastic bottles... But we had parked ourselves right at the front so we could hear it ok :-).

Lazy dog in action

Lazy dog in action
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

If you look carefully you can see that the poles are on fire... This dog was so funny - he did it at his own speed and he wasn't rushing!!

My Morning Jacket - superb!

Went to see My Morning Jacket, supported by Everest (second half of my birthday present from Kevin).

Absolutely brilliant gig. Everest were great, and MMJ just rocked! I'd seen them a few years ago in a tent at the V Festival - this time they did play some slower songs, but there was still lots of full on guitar rock, long hair being shaken around etc.

Fantastic!

Gulp... time to play catch up

OK...

Its been a while - I'll admit that. But whats two months (almost...) between friends! So now I'm playing a whole lotta catch up :-).

All in date order so this is going back to the end of May - hope you enjoy finding out what I've been up to!

I've had extenuating circumstances - Tracey's been here for a month!!

Fleur - thanks for your call, reminding me to catch up - at last I'm starting to get around to it! And David commented on my lack of activity yesterday as well - guilt and shame finally caught up.

It will take me a few days to catch up though so do keep checking back!

My first ever 'Stag' do!

Headed off down to Brighton to join David on his stag do - he gets married/hitched/civil unioned on the 26th to Dominic.

We had the most fantastic lunch at Food for Friends - absolutely delicious! Then we wandered down to the Pier and chuckled at the rip off stalls and horrendous rides, then went to a bar for some Pimms.

A lovely day! And I'm looking forward to the 26th as well!

Catching up...

Me, James and Chris - after losing the group on the beach. Thank heavens for mobile phones!

On the pier...

L to R: Karl, Matt, Sian, Paul, James, Me, Michael and Chris.

David taking the picture!

The Stag...

David on Brighton Beach.

And then there was one...

Tracey left on Saturday 5th July :-(.

We met Maya and Chris for lunch as it was Maya's birthday, but then went back to my flat so Tracey could finish squeezing in everything she had bought back into her bags.

A mess up at the airport meant that we didn't get a chance to say goodbye - not the best way to end her trip. We were both really upset and sad about it.

But it was a great month - as the photos prove!

High among the tree tops..

On Tracey's last Friday I took the afternoon off and we went to Kew. Its latest attraction is a walkway amongst the trees - very very cool.

It hasn't been open that long, but you can already see that once it is a bit more well established it will be hard to tell the supports from the trees. Most impressed.

Only annoying thing was that the lift was broken so we had to walk up loads of stairs to get to the top!!

The support for the walkway

The support for the walkway
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Tracey on the walkway

Tracey on the walkway
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Dublin bound

Sunday we caught the train from Belfast to Dublin - took about 2 hours and was a much nicer way to go instead of bus. We ended up going to the wrong train station (I was slightly unprepared...) but we still managed to get on the train in time!

Monday was an orientation tour around Dublin and a visit to the Guinness Storehouse. Followed by some beer and dinner at the Porterhouse. Both very enjoyable - and Tracey managed to down her pint of Guinness at the same pace as me - most impressive!

Tuesday was a trip to Croke Park and a tour of Kilmainham Gaol. Both of which I've done before, but still really enjoyed them. Again we got a bit lost finding Croke Park but we got there in the end...

Interesting landing coming back into Heathrow as our Aer Lingus flight pulled up at the last minute from the runway and we had to circle back around. Then we saw another Aer Lingus flight do the same thing... most strange.

Tracey at Croke Park

Tracey at Croke Park
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Tracey pitchside, with Hill 16 in the background.

Kilkeel

On Saturday we got a bus to Newcastle and from there on to Kilkeel. We had an hour to kill in Newcastle so we went for a stroll along the seafront - where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea... The weather was a bit grim (as you can see in the photos!), but it didn't actually rain much.

Despite Kilkeel being a fishing town, Tracey and I managed to not be able to find the harbour... But we did have an incredibly delicious lunch of fish & chips, and then wandered around for a couple of hours. Its a fairly bleak town though - I wouldn't want to be a teenager there...

Not so much fun was the drunk man on the bus from Newcastle to Kilkeel - kept asking where we were from, where was the bus going and could he have our sunglasses...

The mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the sea - Newcastle

The mountains of Mourne sweeping down to the sea - Newcastle
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Back to our roots

We flew out to Belfast on Friday night - flying EasyJet from Gatwick and it really wasn't delayed that much at all. I think we were very lucky!

Our taxi driver into town had a plastic tiki hanging from his rearview mirror - turns out he is a NZer who has lived in Belfast for about 30 years - so he certainly didn't sound like a Kiwi!

I see a little silhouette of a man...

We Will Rock You is possibly one of the most cheesiest musicals around - but it was great! A very thin story pieced together around Queen's greatest hits - fantastic! Again we had great seats, and we were all up singing at the end - Tracey more than me and Maya, but we did get up!

I am now really quite keen to get Queen's Greatest Hits...

Nail biter!

On Thursday me, Tracey and Kevin headed off to the Oval to watch the Black Caps vs England in a one-day international.

Our seats were only 3 rows back from the pitch (is it a pitch for cricket?) which was great. I'm sure we must have ended up on tv!

Absolutely brilliant game - I've never been at such a nail biter before! To go right down to the last ball on the last over... and then to win through an English error! There were lots of very cross English fans as we left the ground...

And off we go to Austria... Innsbruck highlights

We got the train from Salzburg to Innsbruck - I dozed but Tracey enjoyed the views I think! Highlights included:

• The cable cars and going up to the skiing areas. Fantastic views - and the cable cars were just well cool!
• The expedition to Achensee - "home" of The Chalet School. From the steam train that pushed us up the hill(!), to actually seeing the places the book was based on. Maybe slightly nerdy but for two sisters who used to get so excited when we found a book we didn't have at a church fair we were very excited!
• Swarovski Kristallwelten - I'm not even that big a fan of Swarovski, but this place was cool! Lots of lovely sparkly bling to look at... and I even bought some!

• Disappointment was the ski-jump being closed as they had turned it in to a fanzone for Euro 2008. So my pics on Flickr were as close as we could get :-(
  

Crystal tree - Swarovski

Crystal tree - Swarovski
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Pretty sparkly bling...

Tracey in the carriage

Tracey in the carriage
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Waiting to head up to Achensee

Conductor checking tickets - while the train is moving

Conductor checking tickets - while the train is moving
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Checking tickets en route...

Enjoying a beer on high!

Enjoying a beer on high!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

What a fab spot to enjoy a Stiegl!

And off we go to Austria... Salzburg highlights

Which is not part of Germany just in case you were wondering... (Our guide for the Sound of Music tour was most insistent on that!).

I can't do a full on post on the whole week so here are the highlights - lots of photos on Flickr...

• The aforementioned Sound of Music tour. Great fun - even not being a die-hard fan it was still good!
• The Spaniards!! Euro 2008 was on while we were there and Spain was playing Greece in Salzburg. They were the best bunch of fans - so entertaining! And they went on to win the whole tournament (beating Germany in the final), which made both me and Tracey very happy!
• Stiegl beer - yum yum
• Schloss Hellbrunn. Trick fountains were such fun, and we were there on a very hot afternoon. Brilliant.
  
• Learning about Red Bull - well not much, but it is made in Austria, and they do have a thing about bulls in that country... There is a model of one at the Fortress as apparently when they were under siege and down to their last bull they painted the same one different colours and paraded it along the battlements to fool the besiegers that they had lots of food. So the besiegers went home...
  

Me and the view

Me and the view
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

From the battlements of the fortress

The Bull

The Bull
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Aforementioned bull!

Portsmouth Naval Memorial

On Sunday we headed down to Portsmouth to see the Naval memorial, where Mum's cousin Tom Willetts is remembered as one of the crew who went down with The Hood. I'd always been meaning to go down to take a look and send some new photos home - guess I just thought I had more time. So Tracey and I did it together which was lovely.

Even now the number of people named on these memorials is quite staggering - and a lot of the panels still had fresh flowers placed by them, or had recently had new plaques added in.

Thought this was very interesting!

Thought this was very interesting!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

This one was just interesting! I've googled it tho and there doesn't seem to be much of a story there - but obviously there is as this was only placed there in 2002...

Portsmouth Naval War Memorial

Portsmouth Naval War Memorial
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The plaques at the bottom list the sailors names. This is just WWII - there is another piece of it dealing with WW1...

Mum's cousin

Mum's cousin
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I never promised you a rose garden...

But we went anyway...

Tracey had found out about the Royal National Society Rose Gardens so we headed off out there on the Sat. The weather was looking a bit dodgy but it didn't rain. Given that the summer here is not shaping up to be too much, and the fact that the garden had only just opened for the season, there were quite a lot of flowers out.

Some of the scents were gorgeous - it was well worth a trip.

Purple! Lovely...

Purple! Lovely...
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Have no idea what this is, but it was purple and very cool!

Tracey and roses...

Tracey and the archway
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Stunning rose

Stunning rose (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Wicked!

The first of the two musicals we saw was Wicked - which was just great! Fantastic seats (thanks Tracey!), and the show was really well done. Not quite as political as the book, and the happy ending was a bit 'Hollywood' for me, but on the whole it was a really good adaptation.

And I guess with a musical you have to give it a happy ending...

I wouldn't fancy playing Elphaba though - having to green up every day must be really bad for your skin...

Tut Tut Tut

Tracey and I went to this after work - which was great. And not busy at all. Friends of mine had been during the weekend and apparently it was heaving, but Tracey and I got to wander around almost by ourselves.

Some quite amazing artefacts - lots of gold! Quite a lot of it which he would have worn in life as well which is just sort of mind blowing really...

Sunday 8th June...

VERY slow day for me... But we tidied up before we left - but lugging all my presents home was hard work when I was really suffering...

But it was worth it :-)

Debris

Debris (1)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

What a lot of empty bottles - where did it all go??

Lindsey the morning after

Lindsey the morning after
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Essential kit for the morning after - sunglasses! Now where is the Irn Bru...

Simon the morning after

Simon the morning after
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The host no doubt relieved that it is all over with!

Post party brunch

Post party brunch
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I tried to eat - but it was pretending more than anything!

7th June - now why is that important again...?

It's my birthday of course!!

I had a fantastic day. It fell on a Sat and as it was a momentous age I decided to 'reclaim' my day - the theme was 'Its all about me...' and it absolutely was!

Lindsey came down from Glasgow on the Friday night, so on Sat morning I had a chilled out time with her and Tracey opening all the presents my wonderful family had given Tracey to bring over, plus the ones from Lindsey and Tracey of course. And then Kevin turned up with more gifts... :-)

We headed off to Simon's place to get ready for the BBQ - I have a fab friend who so generously let me use his house for the party - it was great having such a wonderful space (both indoors and outdoors) to use. And the weather behaved - it wasn't boiling hot, but it didn't rain!

I had a great day - everyone turned up, everyone got along and we all ate much food and drank lots of Pimms and bubbles (Lindauer of course!). And then when it got dark we had an open fire and danced on the deck... finally staggering off to bed just as the sun was coming up...

So not so well the next day - but I had never planned to be! Some photos below, and more on Flickr...

Tracey & Julia dancing - about 3am

Tracey & Julia dancing - about 3am
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I think I was attempting to get a bit arty by going black and white...

Enjoying the bubbles and beer...

Kristie, Tracey, Chris, Maya, Sophy, Mhairi and Jackie
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The Deck crew...

Me & Julia cracking open the bubbles

Me & Julia cracking open the bubbles
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Now the fun starts!

The Gals: Maya, Tracey, Lindsey & Julia

The Gals: Maya, Tracey, Lindsey & Julia
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Early on - the sun is out, we've got our Pimms - all is right with the world!

Cake baker extraordinaire!

Cake baker extraordinaire! (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Mhairi and the fab cake she made for me - chocolate honey cake. Everyone LOVED it!!

Lindsey, Tracey, me, Julia & Simon

Lindsey, Tracey, me, Julia & Simon
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Couldn't have done it without these guys - and Owen taking the photo!

Tracey & me

Tracey & me
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

All frocked up and waiting for the guests to arrive...

And then there were two...

On June 3rd Tracey arrived for her big UK adventure :-).

First up was a ride on the London Eye and then a stroll around the streets of London in my attempt to get her an idea of how London is laid out. Not sure how well it worked out, but we had a lovely time strolling around!

I also saw the new Battle of Britain memorial on the Embankment which I hadn't seen before. I think I have a thing for war memorials, but I found it very moving.

Street art on Tate Modern

Street art on Tate Modern (1)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Fantastic street art on the walls of the Tate

Tracey outside the Houses of Parliament

Tracey outside the Houses of Parliament
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

In full on sight-seeing mode!

Battle of Britain memorial

Battle of Britain memorial (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Tracey in the pod

Tracey in the pod
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

With Westminster and Big Ben behind her...