A whirlwind, wizardly, wet weekend in London

Anyone who reads this blog will note from previous posts that I’m incredibly proud of my home city, Coventry. If I couldn’t live in Coventry I’d definitely want to live in London because I absolutely love it!

In fact my only problem with visiting London is that I never leave any time to just sit and relax when I visit. There is so much to do and see. If I sit down for more than 10 minutes I feel as though I’m missing out on the excitement.

This weekend was a case in point – from my arrival just after lunchtime on Friday to my return home on Sunday evening I have had a whirlwind weekend full of fun. 

After checking into my hotel in Lancaster Gate I set off for theatre land. I do love a good show and tonight’s offering was The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium.

 

This was my first visit to the Palladium and what a lovely surprise it was. The inside of the theatre is gorgeous, even in the bar areas!

 

As my visit to London was only planned at the last minute I had booked really cheap tickets online for this show. I paid just £16.50 each and was allocated seats near the very back of the upper circle. I don’t mind having seats up in the gods, in fact sometimes the view can be equally as good as the stalls.

However, when I went to the box office to collect the tickets, I was given the option of upgrading for another £10 each. Given a choice between the grand circle and the stalls I chose the grand circle and I was absolutely thrilled with the new seats. We were given front row seats in the grand circle and right in the centre of the theatre. The view of the stage was amazing and although I don’t want to spoil the show for anyone who hasn’t seen it, some action takes place above the stalls that anyone in those seats would need to turn around to see. 

From my new seat in the grand circle the action was literally right in our faces.

The cast were all great, from Des O’Connor as the Wizard to ‘Toto’ the dog. A special mention has to go to the actors playing Lion and Tin Man. I laughed so much each time either of them spoke; they really made the show for me!

Day 2 of my mad weekend started with an early trip to Notting Hill and a walk through Portobello Road market. Wow! What a very long market this is. Having walked the length of it I now understand that scene from Notting Hill where Hugh Grant walks through the market and the seasons change around him! 

I’m extremely proud to say that not only did I bring back a few souvenirs, but I also started my Christmas shopping! (Yes, I do know it’s only July- how organised is that?)

Saturday evening was the real highlight of my weekend when I visited Kew the Music. This fabulous event in Kew Gardens is held to raise money to support the amazing work they do to protect plant species.

The fantastic Will Young was performing on Saturday night and despite the rain (which was extremely heavy at times) he had the whole crowd on our feet and singing along.

Normally I wouldn’t publish a photo of a celebrity because they do ask the audience not to take photos at these events. (No-one takes any notice but they do ask.) But on this occasion I feel justified in sharing this one because the lovely Mr Young did encourage the audience to take out their camera phones. So as he was obviously happy for us to take pic’s – here’s one of the many that I took.

The evening ended with a spectacular firework display above Kew’s glass house. Amazing and even the rain didn’t spoil it!

Sunday was another hectic day, spent racing around London, mostly around the Hyde Park area meeting up with various people. Due to the crowds on the tubes around Hyde Park (because of the Wireless Festival), I managed to fulfil one of my long held ambitions – to cycle around London on a Boris Bike! I picked up a cycle at Hyde Park corner and after getting my ‘bicycle legs’ by riding across Hyde Park I cycled around a few roads on the way back to Lancaster Gate. What a very clever initiative to introduce these bikes. I know the London Mayor Boris Johnson is credited with introducing them but I’m not sure he actually thought of the original idea. Whoever it was – I salute you….although obviously not while actually cycling because I need two sweaty hands on the handlebars at all times!

The start of our wildflower garden

For quite a few years our garden has been structured, with most of the colour coming from pots rather than from flowers actually planted in the earth.

This year, Grumps decided to set aside a section of the garden to encourage wildlife.

He deliberately decided not to buy plants for this section of the garden, instead wanting to sprinkle seeds to attract birds and butterflies and to allow the flowers to grow wherever the seedlings appeared.

To involve the girls, both of them were allowed to get involved. One of the funniest moments, and our 'Great garden moment' was when Daisy was given the task of sprinkling seeds. She’s clearly just a little tot yet so Grumps lifted her to get a better angle for the seeds. Here you can see how successful the ‘spreading’ was – she literally just tipped the packet up and let all the seeds fall in a single spot!

This year has obviously been lacking in sunshine but our seeds have had plenty (and I do mean plenty) of water.

We don’t expect great results this year. Grumps tells me that most of the seeds will not really come into their own until next year. But already we have seen some wildlife using this area of the garden.

The wild flower section includes some rotting logs, cut down from trees we had in the garden which had reached the end of their life. We left the stumps for beetles and insects and the girls love looking for ladybirds.

Recently Piper found a frog in the garden. This caused lots of hilarity, particularly when Grumps caught it in a bucket to show Daisy and it jumped out just as she peered into the bucket!

We’ve also seen an increase in visits from Cyril Squirrel. He’s always visited the garden but now he seems to be becoming even more regular – although Grumps was not happy when he found Cyril had taken up residence in his bird house!

We do love our garden and we use it as often as the weather allows. The minute the sun is out we bring out the trampoline, the slide and the sandpit and the girls are happy to play outside all day long.

Grumps’ favourite place in the garden is his patio. Around 4 o’clock the sun comes around the side of the house and hits a secluded spot on the patio. Grumps says this indicates it’s time to sit down with a bottle of something cool and alcoholic and relax, watching the blue tits, gold finches and other birds that have started to visit on a regular basis.

I’ve written this post in response to a Great Garden Moments Competition being run by Furniture Village. More details of the competition can be found by clicking  this link If you love your garden as much as we love ours, then go and have a look and why not enter your own great garden moment?

Sunday 1st July – what a great day as the Olympic Torch Relay comes to town!

Today was my first day on duty as a City Ambassador for the Olympic Games in Coventry. Today was the day that the Olympic Torch Relay came to town and I was there in my lovely pink uniform, trying (and mostly failing) to control the very excited crowd who came out to cheer the torch bearers.

As ambassadors, our day began with a briefing from the Chief Constable, after which we were paired up with our police partners and loaded aboard our luxury transport (a double decker bus) to the torch relay route.

The crowds were slow to gather along the route but once there they showed plenty of Olympic spirit by proudly displaying their red, white and blue or their home made torches.

I was stationed at a torch handover point – known as a ‘kissing point’ because this is where the torches kiss to pass the flame from one to another.  My kissing point was number 151 and when the bus came along to drop off the lovely lady who would be collecting the torch and running the next 300 metres she was also wearing number 151. This lovely torch bearer was called Debbie. You can see how happy and proud she was.

She received the torch from Freya and I had spent some time talking to both Debbie and Freya’s families before the crowd built up. They were all enormously proud of their girls and I did my best to help them get into the best position to grab photos of their special day.

First came the initial build up, when the sponsors advance party of vehicles passed by, handing out goodies and generally whipping up enthusiasm in the crowd. 

Following closely behind these vehicles was the minibus containing the live camera which records the whole relay. Right behind this came Freya with her torch held proudly aloft before she ‘kissed’ torches with Debbie and handed over responsibility for the flame for the next 300 metres.

Almost immediately after the torch went on its way, the crowd began to disperse. I was surprised how quickly the huge number of people who had lined the streets just seemed to melt away.

A few moments later Mike, my policeman partner, received the message from his control to say we could stand down.

I honestly didn’t expect to feel so happy and proud to have played a part in the torch relay event but I had a really brilliant day. Now I’m just waiting for my next ambassador day on 25^th July when I will be helping out on the ‘last mile’ near the City of Coventry Stadium. Roll on the Olympic Football!

Next, Mummy Stylist blogger competition!

I’ve always quite fancied being a stylist to the stars but as it’s extremely unlikely that Cheryl or Kate (or let’s face it, anyone else) will have heard of me, instead I’ve got the chance to style my own little star – Daisy – for this fabulous Mummy blogger competition with Next.

Those lovely people at All Baby Advice Blog are hosting the competition on their site. Go here to find out more: http://allbabyadvice-blog.com/index.php/2012/06/win-500-to-spend-at-next-in-a-mummy-stylist-blogger-competition/

You might notice a ‘Daisy’ theme throughout my choices of a gorgeous children’s outfit.

I know that when Daisy grows up she is going to reject all attempts to dress her in cute items that match her name, so I’m going to make the most of it while she is still happy to be dressed in whatever is chosen for her.

My first choice is these beautiful Navy Daisy Print leggings. http://www.next.co.uk/g372520s10#829315g37 They are an absolute bargain at £3 -£4. These are very pretty and very practical. I have bought leggings from Next before and like the quality. Some cheaper leggings from other shops have suffered under the extreme quality testing that Daisy puts her clothes through. She really needs items that allow her to run, jump, splash, stretch, curl up into a small ball and generally keep moving 24 hours a day!

On the theory of why have just one T shirt when a pack of three is so reasonably priced, my next choice is this three pack of Daisy short sleeved T shirts. http://www.next.co.uk/g37480s3#836325g37 I particularly love the red one with the huge Daisy but the yellow one would also easily fit into my ‘styled’ outfit. At just £10 to £16 (depending on size) these T shirts are again a great value buy.

Obviously, every British Summer outfit needs a raincoat so choice number three is this fab little printed jacket. http://www.next.co.uk/g37520s2#839299g37  Colour clash is all the rage this year so this green jacket over the red t shirt would look fantastic and be right on trend. I love jackets that are not too fitted because Daisy is such a little live wire that I don’t want her to be restricted.

Finally to footwear. Peppa Pig has a lot to answer for as Daisy does love to splash in muddy puddles. She has numerous pairs of wellies but for a summer outing I’d love to complete her outfit with these beautiful Eva Mules. http://www.next.co.uk/x493758s4#800033x49 Oh look, they have a flower on them – how surprising! In these mules she could happily play on sand or in water but they also have enough support to hold her gorgeous little feet when she is running around chasing her big sister Piper.

So that’s my chosen outfit. An absolute snip at less than £45 in total. With the combination of T shirts this means Daisy has 3 different looks for £15 each! 

Well done Next for offering such a gorgeous selection. 

What a great time as the ship sails from the centre of Birmingham

On Saturday evening I enjoyed a fantastic event in the centre of Birmingham when I went to watch 'The Voyage'. 

The Voyage was produced by Birmingham Hippodrome and created by Motionhouse in collaboration with Legs On The Wall, funded by Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and supported by Dancing for the Games. (Phew!)

The Voyage was also in partnership with Town Hall Symphony Hall Birmingham, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Conservatoire.

The front of the Town Hall was turned into an enormous ship for 4 fantastic performances from 21st to 24th June and I was so pleased to be there and to be able to share the fun.

Professional dancers and aerialists joined forces with a huge amateur choir, live musicians and more than 140 community performers to transform the Square and tell the story.

This event was public theatre at its best. A really great spectacle, with a huge ‘ship’ nestled into Victoria Square and the audience forming the ocean.

When the event began at 10pm the announcer stated that performers and large objects would be passing through the crowd. It was all very ‘panto’ with the announcer asking if we would part to let these through and the whole audience responding ‘Yes!’

The spectacle began with a tight rope walker crossing high above the ship. As the weather was typical of a British summer (i.e. pouring down with rain) I really didn't envy him the task of crossing a wet, slippy rope but thankfully he made it safely to the other side. 

As the action unfolded, the passengers began boardng the ship, weaving through the crowd with their luggage.

 
Onboard the ship the final farewells were taking place and the dancers and aerialists were building up to a fantastic 'launch' with streamers and confetti being projected onto the town hall, followed by the ship sailing past a projected city scape. It was very effective and extremely clever. I never thought I would stand in the centre of Birmingham and watch a ship sail!

I obviously don't want to spoil the story in case this amazing spectacle travels to other cities, but the audience were called upon to move again to avoid floating passengers and lifeboats.

The Voyage was developed and presented as part of London 2012 festival. Birmingham is proud to be hosting the USA and Jamaican track and field athletes during the games and with this event the city showed that it is really taking its role seriously.

Although the weather was pretty poor 'The Voyage' was amazing. Well done Birmingham!  I hope this is just the start of things to come in terms of free public events.

Apologies for the quality of the photos in this post. My little camera and I were getting very wet and it was already dark before the performance began so I'm pleased to have been able to capture anything at all!

The highs and lows of Football in Coventry

Saturday was a sad day for Coventry sports fans, when Coventry City FC, who play their home games at the City of Coventry Stadium (aka the Ricoh Stadium) lost 2-0 to Doncaster Rovers. A result which sees them relegated from the Championship for next season.

City fans are already showing their 'look on the bright side' attitude, pledging that the club is 'only visiting' the lower divisions and will be back in the Championship very soon.

But as if to showcase both the highs and lows of football, CCFC’s home stadium will tonight host the only official Olympic football test event, when the City of Coventry Stadium hosts the Olympic qualifying match between Senegal and Oman, with the winning team taking the final place in this year’s Olympic Games.

Coventry will host 12 matches during the Olympics, including the women's bronze play-off and I’m extremely excited to have been chosen as an ambassador for the city during the games.
I’ll be looking forward to meeting and greeting visiting fans from around the world and helping them get safely to the stadium.

Many congratulations by the way to the England women’s football captain, Faye White on her recently announced pregnancy. But with Faye out of the games, is it too soon to offer a replacement in the form of this fine young dribbler?  Not quite sure she's got the idea of 'ball skills' yet.

I’m eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s Olympic football draw when we will know which teams will play in the city. Obviously I’m hoping for some of the big teams such as Brazil, or Spain or even – dare I hope – England!
My only disappointment is that the draw is to take place in London. I know the games are badged as London 2012 but wouldn’t it have been great if the organisers had used tonight’s test event to host the draw too?