A strange sight on the Thames

As I was walking in this morning, I ws greeted by a strange sight as I neared Tate Modern, and the Wobbly Bridge; Waterloo Pier – a thethered, floating wooden jetty/quai/riverboat stop. So I stopped and took some photos.

I’ve no idea what it was doing there, and from whence it came. There were no notices up about it or on it, and the only other craft on the river were a Police launch (equally mystified by the looks of it as the zoomed off) and the silent yet looming, Damien Hirst decorated, Tate-to-Tate river shuttle.

Au revoir Hazel!

Last night I got home in time to wave a slightly nervous Hazel off to her dad’s. She’ll be on a plane somewhere now.

It was weird being in my flat without her and her stuff around. 5 weeks of lodging, and having H in situ had become normal.

I asked Peter on Monday if I could have 4 weeks off to go out to South America to travel with her – he said he’d have to speak to Chris and Personnel about it…. Still no news….

BBQ at Helen and Charlie’s

Hazel and I drove up to Syresham in the heat of the day, on the hottest day of the year to-date. And yes, the MGB did overheat again, this time due to stop start traffic on the M25 just before the M40 turn off. We sat it out on the hard shoulder for 20 mins or so, and were lucky that the traffic started flowing again so that we didn’t have to coax the car through more stop-start jams. And I did swear that I’d never get into H’s MG ever again. But I reserve the right to change my mind….

We had a lovely afternoon with Charlie, Helen and Lizzie, who’d come up from Bath earlier in the day. It’s always lovely to see Lizzie, she’s just so chilled. After a sit in the sun, and dashing off to catch the ice cream van man, we started preparing food for the BBQ, while Charlie watered the garden and set up the table and chairs for tomorrow. We dined on pizza al fresco before retiring indoors to watch Notting Hill on video. All very convivial and relaxing.

After breakfasting outside on coffee and croissants, we spent Sunday morning preparing salads, kebabs and dips, as Charlie got the BBQ up and running. People started arriving around 1pm ish, and we ignored the passing drops of rain enjoying BBQ grub in the flower-filled gardens of The White Cottage.

And I got to meet Hamish Aitken and William Ritchie for the first time! And the drive back to CJ was a breeze. I do miss having a car. But I don’t miss having to hunt out parking spaces….

Photos here. (09 Feb 2014: now on Flickr)