Southend And An Owl

Had a lovely day out today. Well lovely-ish...

My partner and I went to Southend On Sea, which I had not been to for so many years I couldn't remember, so we thought as it's so close to London it was worth a trip.

It is, to say the least, NOT the nicest or prettiest of seasides... The tide was out further than the eye could see and that just added to the overall yuck appearance of the place. There are great big ugly trashy looking amusement arcades along the front and I really do not like these.

We walked along though enjoying the weather, stopping for a while to sit and relax and take a few photos.

We had lunch at a seafront chippy and then walked back the other way, which I have to admit once we had passed the funfair (which I also disliked) it improved just a little. Especially on the side away from the sea where there are cliff side gardens which we decided to take another rest in.

We then walked (struggled) to the top of these gardens where there is a much nicer road and houses and then looking back out to the sea, there was a rather beautiful view. By now the tide had come in and made it much nicer to look at then just the dullness of the mudflats.

As we returned back to the train station there was a man with a couple of owls, a bit odd really, I don't quite know why he was there but it was a fantastic opportunity for some photos...

I have been trying to get the photo's uploaded to Flickr but it seems to be having hiccups this evening and taking forever! But here is one of the owls that I think came out rather well!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

My son missed his flight from Dubai this morning, so all his plans are now delayed by 24 hours - he should arrive tomorrow afternoon some time.

I thought I'd post this photo I took when I was in Dubai in January!

Don't Mess With My Stuff Boy!

Went to visit some of Robs family today. Was a lovely sunny day for a change so we were able to sit out in the garden.

The little ones (Robs niece and nephew) played nicely, most of the time. Apart from when the boy had what the girl wanted - we got this shot and I think her expression says it all - Don't mess with my stuff boy!

I say Go Girl - start as you mean to go on!!! LOL

Click the pic to view large!

Wordless Wednesday

My Favourite Visitor

Too Cold For April

You know how we always think the weather was better last year and it really wasn't we just feel it was? Well this year that feeling is right!

It has been really cold recently even though it has been very sunny at times, top temp today was 12c (54f) which is a lot cooler than last April.

I can prove it this time as I was looking back through my Flickr photos and saw this:

Taken on 14th April 2007 in Hyde Park - it was a wonderfully warm day as you can imagine by the flesh that is on display!

Ohhhh I'm so longing for some better weather!

Spring Snow!

All winter we didn't get a single flake of snow, this morning, 1 week into spring and we woke to heavy snow - it's FANTASTIC!!

I got so excited I ran through the house waking my 2 girls, who were not amused. (They are here for the weekend and had a late night last night!) Just to think not so many years ago they would have been up, pulling on boots and coats, dying to get out there!

Hard to believe on Friday we had such a beautiful day with a high temperature of about 17c (62f)

My neighbours cat was quite bemused by it all!

Wordless Wednesday

IMG_1892, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

Bank Card Reader

Card Reader, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

It's great to have a bank with a high level of security and this card reader came today in the post. Seems I am soon going to have to use it for any online banking transactions.

Now it seems to me it could be a whole lot of hassle.. Not just for me but everyone.. What happens if it gets lost, broken, runs out of battery, we want to use our cards whilst not at home and don't have it with us?

Oh well, I guess it's progress..

Do you have one of these? Or is it just in UK?

The Happy Couple

My daughter and her boyfriend. I forgot I had this photo of them, taken in London when they were last together in December 2007..

Tired Thursday And Gorillas

Had an incredibly busy day at work today - my body, particularly my legs are throbbing.. so no real post today, just one of my favourite photo's. Taken in London Zoo around a year ago.

Thinking Of My Kids

It's almost a year since this photo was taken on my youngest daughters 19th birthday. We had all been out for a dinner to celebrate this and also as a farewell to my son who was about to go off to Dubai.

For some reason they were, all three of them at the front of my mind all day today. Since this pic they have not all been together. I have seen all of them and they have all seen each other but not all together and that made me sad. They are all busy in their own separate places, all away from home and sometimes I just flippin well miss them!

I have no idea when we'll all be together again, but I suppose as long as I know they are happy and well, and that I can pick up the phone and have a chat now and then, it's OK.

Being a Mum is so difficult.. from the moment you're pregnant (morning sickness etc) through all the terrible twos, the constant changes as they grow into sometimes quite challenging teens, and then when they are just about all grown up and leave home, you never ever stop worrying!!

I'm used to being the empty nester now, and it's not all bad.. I do enjoy the quiet, the extra time for myself.. but as I said before, I do sometimes miss them - A LOT!

Dettol - But What Is It?

Dettol - But What Is It?, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

I actually bought this from a local shop - but not a word on the bottle is in English..

So any ideas what it is?

Cleaning fluid, loo cleaner, disinfectant, shower gel???

Anyone know?

A Bit Late But Still Old Fashioned

I thought of doing the PhotoHunt this weekend. Had a look on the site earlier this week to find the theme - Old Fashioned - got my photo ready, a quick check back to the PhotoHunt site just now and I realised I had misread it!! Old fashioned was a month ago!!

Well, I had scanned the pic and got it ready so I thought I may as well post it anyway, it's even more old fashioned than it was a month ago!



Yep! It's me, way back in August 1979, with old fashioned hair, glasses, and clothes and sitting on a very old fashioned train!

New Look For New Year

Well not quite..

I've been having a bit of a Stumble this evening and stumbled upon Hairmixer..

Just the kind of thing I can't resist having a play with, not sure about being a blonde though!

Photo Hunt: Long

Been very lazy and uninspired this week, been a dull wet week, that's my excuse.

So this weeks theme being long, I have interpreted as a LONG time ago....

ME, a long time ago to be precise!

Photo Hunt: Red

Delicious strawberries, got eaten pretty quickly after this photo was taken!

Up To My Waist In Water!

As I was taking my photos in the pouring rain today I fell in a puddle!!



Nahh I'm only joking, not ventured out at all today.. Just been playing on Fotline

I notice the water doesn't ripple on the blog, well not for me anyway, to see the pic at it's best click it and it will load and ripple in a new page!

My Flickr Badge

My Flickr Badge, originally uploaded by LadyBanana.

Just browsing through my old Flickr photos, I had forgotten about this and I thought I'd blog it.

Well come on, you gotta agree it's wonderfully awful!

Yes, it is me, but I'll admit I was wearing some very very old 80's style glasses and believe it or not some fake fun teeth!!!

Am I cool or what!?!

Feelin Hot! Hot! Hot!!

What an amazing start to November! It has been sunny and pleasantly warm, in fact better than many days of our so called summer.

Looks like being similar tomorrow as well, with a top temp of 17c (62f for my American friends!)

I live in a block of flats which has a communal heating system over which we have no control whatsoever, and at the moment it seems for some reason to be on full blast, I have the laptop on my lap and even though I have the windows fully open I am absolutely sweltering!

I don't mind mild weather in the least but it's all over the place nowadays - climate change I suppose - just wish it would be as we expect it to be for November!

On the way home from work I took this photo, it was a stunning sunset but I don't think the photo really does it justice...

I Used To Be A Kitten (thanks to Foto Flexer)

A few posts ago I wrote about the online photo editor Picnik. Well now the premium free week is over you have to pay to use the most exciting things on there, which is a shame for a poor woman like me... lol

In the meantime I remembered FotoFlexer another photo editing site I had joined sometime ago, (I join a lot of things and then forget about them) so I went to refresh my memory. This has many lovely features and as far as I can see is free..

Here's something I made earlier: