Long time coming

I feel like I have been neglecting this journal a little bit lately. There is no excuse of course.

I love having broadband. I am currently listening to the radio on the internet! I am listening to a classic rock show on Virgin radio that Alice Cooper hosts. Scott had mentioned it the other day, saying that he thought it was on digital radio, but it is obviously also on the internet! Excellent. :-) So many radio stations have an internet listening facility to them that we do not need to listen to the normal radio.

We did a little bit of random tourism on the weekend. We stayed in bed til late on Saturday, then went to Lewisham train station to see where we could go. I chose to go to Gravesend, as there was a train in the next 15mins. Gravesend used to be a holiday destination in the Victorian times. People used to take day trips down the Thames on steamships to Gravesend and to Margate, which is closer to the mouth of the Thames. It is a quaint little historic town, well, perhaps not small, but a nice place to visit. We dida bit of a heritage walk around, following one of the guides we picked up at the tourist info place. Very interesting. Saw world's only remaining iron pier. I love seeing things that are the"world's only" or the "world's biggest" or whatever. Makes me feel connected to the rest of the planet.

We stayed the night and came back Sunday afternoon. I was beginning to fade, and by which time I thinkI had passed on my cold to Scott. But I enjoyed myself, and think I would like to go back there, but perhaps in summer!!

I called in sick to work today. So did Scott. Spent most of the day on or on bed, sleeping or knitting. Much needed. And an early night tonight too and I should be all good. Giulia from work rang me and left a message wonderinghow I was. She is so lovely. We are going to Giulia's house tomorrow night as she will be trying out some shiatsu massage on Scott's sore back. I have made some quite close friends at work,for which I am grateful.

There are plans for us to move in with Alison from work early next year. We feel we have no room to move in our current place, and I think Alison would make a nice house mate. We get on well, as do she and Scott which is great. We just have to figure out what we can afford. I will keep you posted!!

xxx

Lovely collegues

I was feeling a little down at work on Tuesday. But I was cheered up by Alison, Martin and Giulia. I think it was a combination of over-tiredness, loneliness with Scott doing so much overtime lately and the weather. But I was really touched when I was not only cheered up by them, but I was given a small token from them each to cheer me up. I received two packets of sweets and a Body Shop lip gloss. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside....

:-)

Old school peoples

As the title suggests, I have had contact with old school friends lately. Yesterday I went out to dinner with two girls I went to school with at my school in Brisbane. We had a lovely night, ending up having dinner in China Town. I was able to show Ayesha, who had been in London all of 48 hours, Piccadilly Circus (you seriously need sunglasses for that one even in the daylight!!) and of course China Town. It's funny how some things change and others don't. I haven't seen Ayesha for at least three years now, but we still had plenty to talk about, which is nice.

The other contact was I received an email from my school in Melbourne about signing up for the alumni website. So I did, and I saw the "diary entry" of one of my old old school friends. I think I shall email her. At school she was Belinda Gan, but now she is Belinda Jolly. She was always so lovely. :-)

Work is going well. The Christmas party this year will be held at the Guildhall in London. I know it is early to be tlaking about Christmas, but I had to mention it because they are not sure I will be able to go. As I am a temp,and not technically an employee of the museum, I should not be able to go. But my boss will try and wangle it. I will have been there 6 months by the time the party comes around, so I think I will feel a little miffed if I don't get to go!! And it's also in such a lovely building that I will probably never see the inside of again!!

I am a law widow again tonight. *Sigh*

Ooooh!! I almost forgot!! Scott and I are going to Sweden for the weekend on the 20th January. It is going to be sooooooooo cold, but I am really looking forward to it. We have not done Sweden yet. And the place we are going to, Malmo, is literally a 20 minute train ride from Copenhagen, so the plan is to have a day in each place.

:-)

Guy Fawkes Day

It was Guy Fawkes Day on Saturday, which means lots and lots and lots of fireworks. In fact I watched fireworks three nights in a row! Thursday night there was a display on near my work. Friday night there was a huge display near our house, and all I had to do was stand in my street with my warm coat on and I felt like I had a private display! And Saturday night I met Scott in Greenwich. We were joined there by Donald, Clare and Tim from my work, and Clare's hubby Robert. We traipsed up to the top of the hill, to Black Heath, to watch the fireworks. Fab fireworks, and the best bit is that we could see about 6 other displays in the distance as well! Fireworks are legal over here, so there are plenty of people (still) lighting them up.

Day off

I had a lovely day today. I decided I would go and visit the Bank of England Museum. It is only open Mondays to Fridays - bank hours suprisingly!! ;-) I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of information about the history of the Bank, which only became a public institution in 1946 (it opened in 1694). I enjoyed reading about the history of the bank note, which developed from the goldsmiths in London who were the original bankers.

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/museum/

After that I wandered to the Museum of London to have a brief look there too. I wandered around and had a look in the shop. Scott was looking for something specific to send home, and I found it there. But he will go and buy it another time. I saw one of the managers there who I know, Diana. She is a lovely person, and was very very drunk at the wedding we went to at the beginning of October!! Anyway, it was close to closing time, but she whicked me off downstairs to show me the new exhibition by three black photographers. Some amazing photos. :-)

Tonight I am a law widow again, as Scott is doing overtime. No idea when I shall see him either. :-( Early to bed methinks!

A loss to the Archaeological Community

I found out this morning that one of my lovely lecturers from uni died a couple of weeks ago. Dr Tom Loy was a lecturer at the University of Queensland, and his speciality was blood residues on stone tools and the Ice Man, Oetzi. Apparently the newspapers at home are saying that he had a blood condition that he found out about some 12 years ago, soon after he started his association with Oetzi. So of course there is talk of a curse on the Ice Man, as Tom is the seventh person to die who has been closely associated with Oetzi. Personally, I don't believe there is a curse. I believe Tom's death was just an accident or whatever, I am not superstitious enough to associate it with the "curse of the mummy". I am sad that he has died, for he was truly a wonderful scientist, a dedicated teacher, and a genuinely nice guy.

Tom, wherever you are, I hope that you and Oetzi are having a good old chat, and that you are finally solving the mystery.

A trial photo posting

This is Scott and I at the wedding we went to three weekends ago.

One Year

Well, as the title suggests, we left Australia exactly one year ago today. It is hard to imagine in some ways. I have really enjoyed my year over here. I am not ready to go home by any means. I am enjoying London, even though I am being driven insane by my house mates, but that's a story for another day. There is so much to see in London. So much to do. I have not done it all in a year. I do like the fact that we kind of lead parallel existences in a sense - we are workers during the week, and tourists on the weekends! If that makes sense. Not a lot of people are able to be tourists in the city they live in, or necessarily want to of course! But we enjoy going out to see different things. Which reminds me, I think we need to go back to the theatre, we have not been in a while!

Scott is not liking his job as much as he thought he would. But, I just keep telling him to think of the money and the experience. I think he is realising that he does not really like lawyers. :-) Oh well! His heart really does lie in politics.

I am getting over my cold. I went to the doctor on Tuesday just to get a prescription. He checked me out when I was there, and said I was fine. Nice to know. It's also nice to know I have found a really nice, and thorough, doctor. Hard to come by these days!! He even checked my technique I use when I use my asthma inhaler. Never had that before!!

We are having drinks tomorrow night. We decided on a great old pub in Greenwich. So any of you reading this who would like to come, let me know and I shall tell you which one..... :-)

There was a wonderfully thick fog covering London yesterday morning. I could hardly see anything from the DLR train. And the buildings Canary Wharf all but disappeared into the fog.

Other than that, nothing is really exciting. Work, sleep, fighting off a cold. :-)

How is everyone?

I had my first real live Skype conversation today. I bought a microphone today in Oxford Street, and I wanted to try it before I spoke to mum. So I called Melissa. And it worked very nicely.It dropped out a little, but for practically nothing that you pay for the phone call, it's great. So, if any of you out there are interested in this software, let me know. It is so easy to use, which is great. And then I can catch up with more people. :-)

Weekend otherwise was lovely. Scott and I slept in yesterday, then headed to Greenwich. I really like Greenwich, it has a lovely feel to the place. A bit sleepy, a bit touristy, crowded, noisy, quiet. It sounds strange, but that's the feeling the place gives you. It's a bit of everything. And at night time there is a green light projected into the night sky which represents the Greenwich Meridian. It's really lovely to have a visual reminder of just how close we really are to it! We wandered through the town looking at the bookshops, the people and a market. I found a bag stall in the markets that is run by a lady who makes all of the bags. I loved the bags, but I asked her if it was possible for her to put a zip into the top for me, and to make it out of a thicker corduroy fabric. So, in three weeks time, I shall have me a funky bag to show off. I have been looking for a while for something, and this seems to fit the bill. And I like the fact that I can support a small business.

Then today we headed into Oxford Street. Scott and I both needed to make purchases of work trousers, as they are getting too big, and some work shoes. We were very successful, which was great. We ended up with Dr Martens each. They will be perfect for work and other occasions.


And in other news, my lovely friend Maree had her third baby on Thursday! His name is Corbin Dominic Walker, and he is very cute. A real cuddle is not possible, but I send virtual cuddles to all members of the family!!