Of Dinosaurs and Daleks

What Ho, Old Beans! Is it just our area or does the weather seem to have been a little unpredictable of late? Over the course of the weekend, we had glorious sunshine, torrential rain, a hail storm, a clap of thunder (just the one, mind you) and then back to sunshine. I can't keep up. We went for the first drive of the season in Bridget the Midget yesterday and the roof was up and down like nobody's business. Talking of roofs (rooves?), we were supposed to be having ours fixed tomorrow. I had noticed some signs of damp around the coving in the bedrooms and then water started coming through the light fitting in the bathroom - luckily it landed in the bath. Phone calls were made, a roofer came and, apparently, we need 6 rows of tiles removing and a new waterproof membrane fitting before the tiles are replaced. It was supposed to start tomorrow, but they called last night and, owing to the weather, have postponed it until April. Get your suncream out people, because I can guarantee that tomorrow will now be scorchio!

Other happenings this week: I managed to tear something in my left calf whilst running at the gym. I was going fine for 25 minutes, then there was a sudden pain, I hit the emergency stop button and I've been hobbling ever since. Stairs are a bit of an issue. I can go up them relatively okay, but coming down I have to take it one stair at a time - left foot, right foot onto 1 stair - and it's a bit embarrassing; especially as I've had a couple of trips to London where I've held everyone up in the underground.

Anyway, here are my photos from the past week or so:

A bit of train knitting - casting on E's new 'Peacock' socks:

 A visit to my favourite yarn store:

 Veggie dumpling soup for lunch at a restaurant recommended by L. The rather strange looking drink is apple, carrot and ginger juice and very nice it was too.

A trip to the John Soanes museum in Lincoln's Inn  Fields. He was an architect and the (free) museum houses many of his drawings, models and various antiquities, including an Egyptian sarcophagus. It is preserved, as nearly as possible, exactly as it was at the time of Soane's death. This was achieved via an Act of Parliament as Soanes was determined that his estranged son would not inherit the property. It is a fascinating place, quite close to Leicester Square, and well worth a visit if you have a bit of extra time.

The reason for my visits to London was to attend a couple of recordings at the BBC Radio Theatre. The first was 'It's a Fair Cop' - a comedy programme starring Alfie Moore, a retired policeman turned comedian. He takes the audience through various real life crime scenarios and gets them to make the policing decisions. It was very funny but more than a little nerve wracking. We were quite near the front and sat terrified as he picked on random members of the audience to participate. Luckily, we avoided being chosen, otherwise I might have had to feign laryngitis!

The second recording was of 'Newsjack' - a satirical sketch show on Radio 4. This was less stressful and quite funny, but not worth the midnight 'we've replaced your train with a bus' ride home.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this chap outside the recording studio.

 

 

Whilst waiting for the recording, I paid a visit to the Natural History Museum. We used to be regular visitors here when the girls were younger but it had been quite a few years since my last visit. Fun though it was, it felt weird being there without L and E; also bits of it were blocked off owing to renovation work. It is one of my favourite buildings though and well worth going just for the architecture.

 I had a lonely lunch, reading my book in the T-Rex grill:

Talking of my book, it's about Greece and I learnt that Kalamata (as in the olives) apparently comes from 'kalamatia' meaning 'lovely eyes'. I'll never look at one in the same way again!

 Other happies this week:

Casting on my Boxy Sweater by Joji Locatelli. I'm really enjoying my Deathly Hallows stitch marker!

 

Spring blooms:

Since E went to uni, I don't bake nearly as much but, as we had a glut of eggs, I made a few fairy cakes:

Starting a Cosy Memory Sock Yarn Blanket with my scraps:

Finally, a trip to see comedian Susan Calman at our local theatre. She was lovely and very funny and I would definitely recommend her show if she comes to a theatre near you. Who could fail to love someone who named one of her 5 cats DCI Jane Tennison? Just imagine the trips to the vet!

Anyway, that's all for this week. The sun is shining (Grr!) so I'm off to buy some compost for my seeds.
Toodle pip for now. x