Cloudy and very windy. From the cranes outside the hotel window it's evident that Brexit is not ( yet ) slowing the London construction market.
Dog owners and American tourists coming to terms with jet lag are early risers . Buckingham Palace already attracting crowds at seven in the morning.
The City is quieter. The Guildhall almost deserted. Most folks are already behind their desks or in morning meetings.
Ten minutes early for a seven thirty meeting with men in dark suits. The dining room will be on the top floor and have wonderful views that no one will look at. The American men will toy with a pretzel and drink unimaginably strong coffee by the gallon. Angus will have sausages and bacon and ( as a sop to his cholesterol ) one egg over hard. City churches are always open early. While waiting I pop into one. Destroyed in the 1940 blitz and re-opened ( or should that be re-consecrated ? ) in 1958. Completely empty at this hour of the morning. My only companions four carved angels with fluttering wings on top of a wooden screen.
How can you mispronounce Nevada or Oregon ?
Four more angels with flamboyant wings , this time cast in brass, on top of an altar. If there was anyone around I'd ask what the high wings signify - but there isn't. I'll remember it as the church with the fancy angels. The brass angels have swords, the wooden ones don't. They must have been recreated from pre-war photos.
The young Jamaican guard on the train to Heathrow checks my ticket and yawns. ' Long shift ? ' I ask more out of politeness than interest. '' Another eleven hours to go " he replies. I'm incredulous. Seems he works a 12 hour shift, three days a week, to pay his way through college. ' I can't believe how lucky I am to have a job like this ' he adds. I think he's being facetious. He's not. Something uplifting about the lack of complaint and the enthusiasm for life.
An accident on the motorway home. What usually takes fifty minutes takes two and a half hours. One of those 'awful' moments when you have to avert your eyes. Back at The Rickety Old Farmhouse the PONs are delighted to have found their flock. There is a full ten minutes of unconstrained, joyful, mayhem.
Toe tapping music. Played on Radio Nostalgie this morning : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyZAJQgrXKk
Not all golfers have the same outlook on life : https://news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/golfing-legend-renee-powell-opens-student-hall-in-her-name/
8 comments:
Real estate is such a great way to launder money for the Russians looking to park their fortunes somewhere relatively safe.
Best wishes to the Jamaican student.
Lovely photos of London. In my pre-dog owner, pre-Aberdeen era, my favourite time of day was the early morning bicycle ride from Highgate (when Russians were just starting to walk through estate agents doors with suitcases of cash) to Trafalgar Square. And yes I do go round telling people I was into cycling in London at least two decades before it became fashionable! The Guildhall picture triggers a vivid memory of a champagne saturated wedding reception, being sat between an Old Etonian city financier (groom's side) who was asking a ferret owner from Bolton (bride's side) about his pets' habits...
Cheers! Gail.
PS Wondering what the men in dark suits said about the current state of Brexit negotiations?
Love almost empty London.
Don't know about Oregonians, but apparently Nevadans are quite sensitive about the pronunciation of their state. That first "a" has to be the same as in "hat." No ahhh, and politicians are quite conscious of this.
Big crush on Ricky Nelson as a pre-teen and then the Beatles arrived.
Sharon from Canada
You should have the “Suits” come to your house for a change..
Bob and Sophie would not approve !
I don't follow golf closely, but I do think it's indicative of the exposure given women athletes that I'd never heard of her. Had she been Richard Powell, I suspect the face and name would be much better known.
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