I used to love Monopoly as a child, I mean really love it. I especially liked winning. To the point that my family won’t play me, they believe I am just super lucky, but I know the truth, I am ruthless and take no prisoners.  I am sure my boys are throwing their hands up in horror as they read this and start to chunter about the game that they won, but generally I win the board games, well apart from Chess, they have overtaken me on Chess and Poker, that’s a very tight game these days, I still win but its 50/50 and they all gang up against me if it looks like I’m going to win, which I think is a little unfair!

So you can imagine my delight when I paid my 30p to have a tinkle at Marylebone Station and found this….

Monopoly, my very favourite board game.  Even as a very grown up adult, I sort of knew the game was about London but I had no idea how much it was connected. I am still coming across roads or streets that I first learned their names whilst huddled in front of our coal fire, in deep winter, playing Monopoly with my sister, whilst wondering what we were having for tea.

And after I squealed silently with glee I turned towards the doors and found these…

I think I started to beam a big big smile at this point.  I made a happy comment to a woman who was washing her hands and she just grunted at me.. it was then I remembered I was still in London and had not been transported to Willy Wonka’s factory loo’s.

And then I opened the door to the loo…

I definitely squealed loudly then, and laughed and giggled and little tears pricked my eyes of pure happiness. It was just such fun, I just loved it so very, very much. To the point that I told the attendant on the way out just how much I loved it.

One little fun fact from Wiki, the history of the game can be traced back to 1903 but in 1941 the British Secret Intelligence Service had John Waddington Ltd, create a special edition for World War II prisoners held by the Nazis.  Hidden inside these games were maps, compasses, real money and other objects useful for escaping.  They were distributed to prisoners by British secret service-created fake charity groups.

So in honour of those POW’s, I think we should all have a game and soon.

Hubby and I were wandering down Shaftesbury Avenue when we came across this shop/cafe, we just had to go in, it was wonderful.  There were crocodiles and waterfalls, squawking parrots and other noises from the rainforest, it was good fun and free!  I can’t attest to the affordability or quality of the cafe but I am sure that children would just love it.

Today, 27 years ago, I married my sweetheart. I love him more now than I ever knew I could.

Happy Anniversary darling, see you soon xxx

I at long last got around to taking Hubby to Sky Garden unfortunately it was a very wet day with very poor visibility. However he loved it none the less and we spent a lovely couple of hours, drinking coffee, eating pastries, lounging around with blankets over our laps to keep out the chill and then we went for a good old explore.  It is a lovely space, you do need to book unless coming very early, it opens at 7.00 a.m. or after 6.00 p.m.  Because of the bad weather the viewing platform was closed, so these photo’s are pretty ropey, but you get the idea.

 

 

Bompas & Parr launched the British Museum of Food as a pop up, opening for three months from 23rd October to 23rd January. I decided to pop along before it closes and found it to be delightfully quirky and before I forget the staff were incredibly helpful, happily explaining the various exhibitions so that I could fully engage with them, I had a brilliant time.

We start with a video of the Bolus experience, just to get you in the mood. The lucky couple next to me were sat in massage chairs which flung them back into the chair in unison as the film moved on, the startled lady passenger and I shared a glance before we both burst into spontaneous laughter.

We then move onto the serious act of chocolate eating, I kid you not. In this cubicle there are four rooms and with pen and questionnaire in hand one enters each cubicle, closes the curtain, eats a chocolate button whilst listening to the recordings and then records bitterness, sweetness and creaminess of the chocolate. It was brilliant.  As a woman that worked in market research for far too many years, I loved the concept and I’m not going to say anymore lest I spoil the research.

Next was the butterfly room, I know butterflies and chocolate together, who designed this exhibition, they were genius!  At this point I am getting giddier by the minute, I am having such a good time. There is the interesting side of the butterflies acting as pollinators in various parts of the world, but all I am seeing is the pretty, pretty butterflies. 

I have no idea what has happened to the white balance and its been impossible to correct, there were some interesting lights and lots of condensation.

Then there are a selection of historical and beautiful menus which were just lovely to read through, I am very partial to the idea of trying a goldfish in a bag. 

The prison menu was quite an eye opener.

There was food as art, I thought this knitted breakfast was incredible.

(Collaboration between Jessica Dance and photographer David Sykes)

But this set of four galleries, well, they are made out of Gingerbread!  On hearing this I laughed out loud as the memory of my Christmas gingerbread flashed before my eyes. Incredible aren’t they.

(Gingerbread and Candy Art Galleries by Henry Hargreaves and Caitlin Levin)

So although this is just a pop up and will close shortly the good news is that they are looking for bigger premises to open at the end of the year, so keep ’em peeled, I’ll definitely be going back to see what else they have done with the place.

Boxpark is a Pop-up mall right in the middle of the East of London.  It opened in 2011 and is intended to only last 5 years. It is constructed entirely out of 61 shipping containers which have basically been bolted together to form a mall with space on the upper deck to allow for customers to relax and enjoy the many restaurants, bars and music, it is open until late at night.  I imagine being in the middle of Shoreditch with its younger vibe, it is the place to hang out.

I loved these boxes, identical, but yet so different from each other, I love the edginess, the youth and the vigour of the merchandise, it just makes you smile.  I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them. And if you can do go, I intend to go back for a good long wander around with hubby, possibly partaking of a beer or two.

Time is a very valuable commodity, even when there are no discernible strains on it, it seems to drift away often without one really noticing.  It is easy to get nothing done in a day just by tottering around the home or surfing the internet.  Having noticed that my years are adding up I need to plan to get the most out of what ever I have left, which includes getting fitter and feeling better and for that I will need to work harder than I have been doing.

Hence the use of my weekly planner by Lollipopdesigns.being used as my meal planner – with activities and excursions tagged into the last two columns. It will be hung in the kitchen thanks to its useful hanging hole and I’ll be able to quickly refer back to what I should be doing or eating whilst drinking my morning coffee.

The other advantage is that by taking the time to go through some of my vast collection of recipe books ‘at the same time’ as planning the weeks meals, I will cook a few new to me meals and whilst watching intake it’s always good to make every single tasty calorie count.

Already it is working, one Caesar salad, made from scratch was absolutely gorgeous.

On one of our walks around London we came across St Paul’s, it was dark and drizzly and the way St Paul’s loomed out of the darkness sent shivers down my spine.

The tiny rain drops giving an ethereal feel

and a great feeling of illustriousness.

We trotted to the front and were wowed by St Paul’s majesty.  I’ve seen St Paul’s in the daylight but at night it really is magical.

Borough Market is a huge food market underneath the railway lines, hop off at London Bridge Station and follow the signs.  If you happen to be a foodie and who out of us isn’t these days, it is a haven, although one I can only indulge in occasionally.  As much as I love their exceptional home grown and international produce my bank manager would rather I was a little more circumspect, but at Christmas time, one can spoil oneself just a little and I suspect a mid January pick me up wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

The atmosphere is lovely, (apologies about Christmas decorations after Twelfth night) especially at Christmas, but spring, summer and autumn are pretty exceptional too.

Wending one’s way underneath the arches is just magical.

With the loud clankety-clank and screeches of the trains above you.

Good bread

ripe cheese

and sweet figs make the simplest yet most decadent of meals. 

With a lovely selection of dried fruits to add to your Christmas table,

along with a lobster or two!

 

We stopped at our favourite oyster seller, the smell of the sea having drawn us in,  to enjoy a couple of Native oysters a piece – so difficult to come by.

And one day I will make something with quinces, I think their notoriety of being difficult to cook with as they require a long and slow cooking time has scared me off.  Perhaps this winter I will get around to trying them.