Results matching “Christmas”

Yolkin serve ice cream macarons and macarons from a shop at the edge of Chinatown in London, but their humbe beginnings were selling their macaron ice cream sandwiches from a small cart at the market here; I visited them originally in 2015 before paying the first visit in their new shop this summer. They are as good as ever with seasonal flavours and cute creations. They currently have an inspiring Christmas range in store, which I just had to post about. 

The seasonal favourites include the above candy cane ice cream in a snowflake macaron. The reindeer macaron is salted caramel. The Santa is mince pie, and the Christmas pudding is chocolate honeycomb.

If those flavours do not suit your fancy, you can create a custom macaron ice cream sandwich, and they have snowmen macarons for the ice cream sandwiches. Oh, and I loved the pink tree.

I also tried some macaroons, all of which were different flavours and some non-Christmas ones too.

Strawberry cake, cookie monster, unicorn and créme brulée were the below flavours.

Yolkin is located at 24 Rupert Street, W1D 6DQ. They are open from 1:00 to 10:00 during Sundays and the weeks and open until 11:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. 

For more posts about Yolkin, see:

London "Happy Halloween" Foodie Treats
A Visit to Yolkin for Ice Cream Macaroon Sandwiches
Yolkin Macaroon Ice Cream Sandwiches

I recently visited Dominique Ansel for the third time, following my visit last November for the pumpkin pie (A November Visit to Dominique Ansel Bakery) and after a very disappointing second visit where the staff overcharged me (they displayed the wrong prices on their pastry and I noticed and ended up walking out as they wouldn't sell it for the price advertised). After this feedback and failure of customer service, I was invited to go back for a third visit for them to rectify the problem. Continue reading to learn a short history of Dominique Ansel Bakery and to see some pastries and reviews.

Dominique Ansel Bakery started in New York City and opened in London near Victoria Station in September 2016. Dominique Ansel is a French-born pastry chef who opened the restaurant first in 2011 in New York City, and the restaurant became successful and created popular items, such as the cronut (a cross between a doughnut and croissant), the cookie shot (a cookie-shaped shot glass with warm milk inside), frozen S'mores, blossoming hot chocolate, and other unique pastries. 

Like many other restaurants, shops, and cafes, Dominique Ansel decorate their storefront for the season. I photographed some of the Christmas treats below. I had the chocolate pine cone, which was created with dark chocolate mouse and dark chocolate flakes, hand-crafted to create the pinecone.

When I visited, the inside of the shop was still decorated for autumn as this is the period between fall and Christmas.

I had the Zahra Rose pastry, which is a light sponge on a rice biscuit base. The thin layer of sponge is covered with a rose mousse and raspberry sauce inside. 

Pictured above is the shake-up Eton Mess, which comes in a plastic container so that you can shake it together. I expected that this would be fruity, but it wasn't, and I didn't like the cream at all, which reminded me of a yoghurt and was slightly sour. The strawberries were strawberry mousse with white chocolate shell in the shape of a strawberry. I'm not a fan of white chocolate nor yoghurt, so I could not eat this one.

The service was much better on this visit, but the food is a bit hit-or-miss for me when I've tried it. I would give them another chance.

Since we have left the old decade (the 2010s) behind and have started a new decade (the 2020s), I thought a post was appropriate to remember the old decade while we storm into the 2020s. Ten years is a long time, and a lot can happen in those ten years. The past ten have certainly had its ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses, and highs and lows. That can be said on a personal level as much as it can on a worldwide level. 

What has changed? Looking back on the 2010s, a lot has changed. Social issues, economy, conflicts, politics, food, technology, and environment concerns have been popular this decade, and I will explain each area. 

First up, we had some changes in social issues around the LGBTQi, race, and feminism topics, including an understanding of threshold of what is acceptable. These social issues have had a lot of publicity, and overall a change in attitude from society, making every individual accountable. There is still a long way to go, but it is a start.

The MeToo movement and empowering women has highlighted scandals where women have been silent victims in daily life, work, Hollywood, and family. Altering the society to the struggles of women has attempted to bridge the pay gap, get women into more senior offices and fields, and put a halt to downgrading women. One change is that women and girls now make up more television and film characters as role models and key characters, and portraying women as objects has been frowned upon. Some newspapers have stopped the objectionified photographs, and the skantily-clad female roles have either nearly ceased to exist or include men. We saw films such as "Rogue One" and "Wonder Woman" with female leads. In addition to empowering women, many films had an all-black cast, and "Moonlight" and "Black Panther" were such films that obtained a lot of coverage for this. 

The 2010s started out with the economy being in a mess, and much of the world has had a lot of conflict. A lot of this conflict is a result of earlier decades and power struggles/shifts and the increase of terrorism. 

In terms of politics, Obama was the president at the start of the 2010s, and after his two terms, Trump was elected to the presidency. Trump's presidency has been marred by a lot of conflict internally but a strong dollar. The issue I see with politics both here and abroad are politicians who are elected are either too far left or too far right; there's no one in the middle, and the public has become split.

One example of this has been Brexit (the UK to leave the European Union). The Brexit campaign was voted on in June of 2016, and the country voted to leave the European Union by March 2019. The UK has been in limbo since then, and the nation has been divided, which has caused a lot of changes in politics over the past three years. Eventually, Boris Johnson became prime minister, and after long years of negotiations, the UK may leave the EU early in 2020. The country remains divided, but the vote in December of 2019 has put an end to a power politician divide.

On a lighter note, veganism has taken off. Previously, the world was categorised into vegetarian and meat-eaters. Veganism started to take off around the mid-2010s, and now it is common-place for restaurants to cater to vegans or alternative options for dieters, such as gluten-free. More gluten-free options started to come about at the start of the decade. Some restaurants and cafes are completely vegan. 

Advancements have been made in technology with cloud and mobile changes. Smart phones are now the standard with people being able to connect to the Internet wherever they are with a mobile phone. In addition, everyone who has a smart phone now also has a portable camera, so some have become obsessed with capturing the moment for social media; this does get annoying when traveling or having a day out because the majority of people were not interested in photography before this. Apps and social media have become standard and increased. Facebook did begin its life in the mid-2000s, and it was open to the public from 2007. The social media platform gained a lot of ground and made a lot of changes from where it was at in 2010. Also, more applications have adopted some form of social media, and new networks have been launched. Apple became more popular with users with the introduction of the tablet device in 2010 and better iPhones, resulting in iPhones being more wide-spread.

Digital cameras are now standard, and that means more people are using them and taking more photographs, unlike the old days where you had a roll of film that could hold maybe 12, 24, or 32 shots, but you couldn't see the shots until they were developed. Now, everyone has a camera in their smart phone, resulting in attractions being busier, especially when combining "selfies", and businesses marketing for these photography factors.

Additionally, television and film streaming networks have recently become entertainment tools and medium. This allows viewers to watch what they and when they want, and it has created some spin-off television shows and films. 

Last of all, one area that has had attention is the environment and a focus on protecting the environment and stopping the pollution. Changes have been made for alternative fuels and energy in research, and electric cars have been imagined. The public are more concerned about wide-spread environmental damage. There is still a long way to go in this aspect, and it's one that needs to be taken seriously.

Despite the good points and the advancements, there are some wider issues in society. First of all, there appears to be a backlash or conflict between people, and it appears that far right groups have been making headway in damaging society. People seem to have less time for each other and are glued to their mobile devices.  

Here is a personal review of my decade.

2010 - A terrible start; a rocky and turbulant year of changes 

2010: Much changed happened in 2010. At the beginning of the month, I was in the states as I had visited for Christmas, and I had gone to see the film "Avatar" with family and friends before getting a flight back to the UK. At Heathrow, the plane landed amongst a snow storm with Basingstoke being the worst affected area with large snow drifts up to my knee. We managed to slowly drive "home" to Poole without any accidents.

A lot changed in January. The purchase of my shared ownership flat completed, and I was a home-owner for the first time in my life. Sure, it was shared ownership, but I am of a generation where getting on the property ladder has been a challenging feat. Unfortunately, on the same day that I picked up my keys, I received a redundancy letter from the employer that I had worked at for the past couple of years. It was a low point. I found a new job, but I had rushed to find something and ended up with a pay cut when factoring in commuting costs to London. This led me to look for another toward the end of the year, which I started at the end of 2010. 

In 2010, I started to update this blog more regularly, but it was mainly to showcase design and technology. I soon expanded it to include street art, travel, photography, and pretty much anything on my mind.

Over Easter, I went letter-boxing in Dartmoor. This was something that I did for a few years in a row over Easter with a stay in a nice B&B at Belstone Tor. I'd make a second trip to Dartmoor letter-boxing in June, and I got engaged then.

In May, I went to Amsterdam for a long weekend to explore the city and the museums. It was a lot of walking, and I fell off the bicycle on a tour because the person in front of me panicked and stopped short due to a cycle race coming past us the opposite way. I had a gash in my skin on my forehead and had to conceal it with my hair or a hat for a few weeks. Luckily, it did not leave a scar. However, my Canon digital camera got destroyed.  

While working on Great Portland Street in the summer of 2010, I discovered the Elephant Parade (Parading Artistic Elephants in London), and saw the whole herd at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea after work. This started my love of the sculpture trail, and these sculpture trails have become particularly popular in this decade. They have brought about some great sculpture trails with big brands, fantastic artwork, and helping to raise money for charity. 

I also went to the US in the summer of 2010 for my youngest brother's wedding: Alabama Wedding. I should have taken more photographs. Anyway, the wedding was in Alabama, so I took a road trip with my family there. While in the area, I saw the space museum and "Star Wars" props, the replica of the Parthenon in Tennessee, and the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee. I would have liked to have spent more time in the road trip and done more on the way back, but we had to rush home and drive straight through because my other brother had a headache. 

While in the states, I also planned the wedding and did some preparation work. I met up with friends and had some great days out with them.

Later that summer, I had my first ever visit to Kew Gardens (An Afternoon At Kew Gardens). As a coincidence, my second visit to Kew Gardens was this year (2019); I am not counting the disappointing illuminations that I went to sometime in the middle of the century as this was just to see the illuminations after Christmas, and Kew Gardens was one of the first places to have these; now, they are in many places. I remember walking the treetop walkway, which had opened not long before, and visiting one of the palm houses.

In October, I visited Gothenburg in Sweden because my friend from the states and her husband had a seminar to attend in the city. It was a fun trip, although it was quite wet and cloudy for the majority of the time, and we had a wander around the museums; the floating museum was the highlight. We got to board several boats and a submarine. Read more about Gothenburg here: October in Gothenburg, Sweden.

2011 - One of the best years with friends & family and new beginnings

2011: A lot happened in 2011, but it was a fairly stable year. It was one of two years of this decade that I felt balanced and looked after myself and felt better. A lot changed for me this year; it was the year I got married. It was a year that I finally felt balanced for the majority of the year with the exception of the last couple of months.

In April, the world watched as Prince William and Kate Middleton got married. I captured some photographs in the run-up to the wedding ('I Do': The World Gets Ready for a Royal Wedding). Everyone was happy and wishing the royal family well, and many people traveled to London to try to get a glimpse of the event. It was one of the most-talked about events of the year.

The UK gained an extra day off of work for the royal wedding in the spring. I actually went on holiday to escape the royal wedding, and I went to enjoy Portugal, hoping for nicer weather. In fact, the UK had nicer weather than Portugal did. Despite the weather, I explored Lisbon, Cascais and Sintra: Spring in Lisbon, Portugal. I loved Sintra, and it was one of the best places that I have visited.

Working in the City of London meant that I had a new area to explore, and I visited St. Paul's Cathedral, South Bank, and Borough Market a lot during the lunch breaks. I got to know this part of London well.

In July, I went to the states for the wedding, and I had a wonderful time making the preparations and catching up with friends and family. I was in the US for most of the month of July. It was a busy time, but I really enjoyed it. This was the most period of time that I had been "home" since I moved to the UK in 2003.

After I returned from the USA in August, the bloke and I went on one of my favourite walks from Beaulieu to Buckler's Hard: Beaulieu to Bucker's Hard Walk in Photographs. This is a short walk through the countryside, forest, and riverside to the old village of Buckler's Hard, a historical row of houses.

2011 also marked the last great year for London's last festival of the year, Thames Festival 2011. The festival is not anywhere near as good now, but the month of September was dedicated to the Thames with various events. On the "closing" or final night, visitors could enjoy a night parade and a fireworks display along the river at Westminster. On one of the weekends during the month-long Thames Festival, they also closed London Bridge and hosted crafts and turned the bridge into a huge dining area. It was a massive event, and it has been sadly scaled down. Thames Festival was also rebranded to 'Totally Thames'. In 2012, the fireworks took place, but they were combined with the fireworks for the Olympics. They never had them again after that.

In September, the bloke and I went to visit friends in Kent. On the day, we went to explore the coastline of Deal, which I had previously enjoyed. We had nice weather, and we ate lunch at a pub with the sea in front of us: Walking by the Seaside in Deal, Kent. Our friend lives near Dungeness, so we had a drive there, and it was a fascinating place to visit: Inspiring Photos of Dungeness, Kent.

In autumn of 2011, the 'Occupy' movement set up camp at St. Paul's Cathedral to highlight issues with the economy and social injustice. The camp was set up for three or four months, then it just disappeared. I got some photographs: Photographs from 'Occupy London'. The monopoly board pictured below was by Banksy. Because the commute to London every day was starting to kill me, I really wanted to pitch a tent and join them. It would have saved expensive commuting costs and time spent traveling to Basingstoke each day. Heck, I also would not have had to fight for a seat on the train.

At the end of November, I had a wedding party in the UK for those who could not go to the USA, and my parents visited us for it. I really had a good time, and we enjoyed some days out at Bath Christmas market, London, and the Victorian Christmas at Historic Portsmouth Docks.

Because of tight deadlines at work and management issues, I started to feel stressed and not appreciated at work. I ended up covering support on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. I ended up doing long hours, and I started to get into unhealthy ways as well as having a hellish commute.

2012 - One of the worst years with a bad workplace & passport woes; highlights were Olympic Games, Malta, & Croatia

2012: The London Olympics year; this year was one of the greatest years in London's history as the Olympics arrived, and everyone seemed to be in a festival mood from the early summer. On a personal level, 2012 was not my year at all. It was one of the worst years of the decade for me. It was the year that I had my citizenship test and then to sort out the paperwork for my UK citizenship. It was also the year that I got a new camera, a Leica V-Lux-3. This was the second digital camera that I ever owned after never having got along with the Canon.

In the early spring, I had a long weekend break to Malta. I went to Malta and the island of Gozo to the north, and I saw the Azure Window, a beautiful rock formation that sadly crashed into the sea in 2017 and no longer exists. I loved visiting the prehistoric sites, such as the caves and tombs and the cathedral and narrow passages of Mdina. (Prehistoric Malta and the Blue Grotto, A Day in Valletta - Streets, Cathedrals, and Harbours, Narrow Passages and Romantic Walks in Mdina, Malta, Exploring Above and Under Ground in Rabat, Malta, A Beautiful Afternoon on the Maltese Islands of Gozo and Comino).

In early spring of 2012, I was head-hunted for a new role, and I accepted the job offer as it promised a shorter commute, a better work-life balance, and promised to be a custom role for me. Unfortunately, the role and company was not for me; they had told me what I wanted to hear to get me in the door. The commute ended up being as long as commuting to London, and the work-life balance did not happen. In mid-October, it was clear that it was not going to work out, but I tried to stick with it and did so for the end of the year, even though it made me really unhappy.

In the spring and in time for Easter, a new sculpture trail hit London. This time, the sculptures were giant eggs from Fabergé to raise money for charity. I went to see them around London and then again when they were all in Covent Garden: Hunting Eggs in London: Fabergé Big Egg Hunt and London's Big Egg Hunt Grand Finale at Covent Garden.

In May, I had a two-week break in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina. This was partially a road trip, and it started in Dubrovnik with a day trip to Korcula, Dubrovnik nearby islands, and then a road trip to the coastal towns such as Split, Trogir, and the island of Hvar. Here's a list of posts: Day 1: Charming Dubrovnik, "Pearl of the Adriatic", Day 2: Visiting Korčula Island, Croatia, Day 3: A Cruise to the Elaphiti Islands from Dubrovnik, Day 4: Beautiful Hvar Island - Lavender and Mountain Views, Day 5: Exploring Hvar and St. Prosper's Festival in Hvar Town, Day 6: Dalmatian Coast - Split, Salona, and Trogir.

One of the highlights of Croatia, although it was all very beautiful, was Plitvice Lakes. At Plitvice Lakes, several walkways and trails wind along the lakes, forests, and waterfalls. This was one of the most beautiful places that I have been: Day 7: Beautiful Plitvice Lakes (Croatia).

After visiting the lakes, we drove into Bosnia & Herzegovina, which was quieter than Croatia. We were welcomed with rain, which contrasted with the beautiful weather we had in Croatia and at Plitvice Lakes. We arrived in Sarajevo late in the day and had a little bit of time to look around. In the morning when we woke up in Sarajevo, we had had a freak snow storm overnight. Bear in mind that the visit was in mid-May! The trees were in full foliage, so many branches has snapped. We had pre-arranged a guided tour, and although we could see some of the city, we couldn't see everything on the list due to the snow and visibility: Day 8: Bosnian Road Trip, Day 9: Exploring Sarajevo in May in ... Snow?!.

On the last day, we explored Mostar, which was a site of conflict during the 1990s and is popular for its UNESCO bridge. The bridge has been rebuilt since it was destroyed in the conflict: Day 10: Mostar.

More royal news happened again this year with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Thames River Pageant. The world's eyes were on the UK again this year as the royal family floated down the river Thames with a parade of other boats. It was an amazing atmosphere, and I got to catch a glimpse of members of the royal family. The UK invested a lot in the event, and there were street parties and merchandise: Britain Gets Ready for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The weather on the day of the Thames River Pageant held up until just after the Queen's boat passed by Westminster Bridge, and then it started to rain. 

In July, the festival atmosphere continued with the build up to the London Olympics. To mark the Olympic Games, the country hosted special art commissions, concerts, and Olympic torch relays to most major towns and areas: London Gets Ready for the Olympics. 

One of the art commissions that I went to see was Compagnie Carabosse 'Fire Garden' in Milton Keynes. I was actually scheduled to see this at Stonehenge, but rain the day before caused the event to be cancelled. A week or two later, it travelled to Milton Keynes, and I convinced a friend to go with me to visit it after work. It was one of the best art installations that I had seen in this decade. Towers of flames lit the sky on mechanical structures with kinetic motions. It felt like being inside a magical world, teasing the brain with the senses combinging soundscapes, movement, flame, and smell of smoke and kerosene.

Toward the end of July, I also got to see the Hyde Park Olympic Torch Relay. The Olympic torch did come to Basingstoke (as it did most towns and cities), but I was working on the day and did not get to see it. The Olympic Torch Relay in Hyde Park included a concert with some decent acts and sponsors; I remember Katy B and Dizzee Rascal. Unfortunately, by the time I got into London, I missed a lot of the concert, but I was still able to see the torch and London Mayor Boris Johnson (who was well-liked then). Hyde Park was set up with concerts for at least a few days, but Hyde Park continued to host large screens to watch the games.

In July, the bloke and I had a short break. We had a night in Derby before heading away to have another night in Hull for our anniversary. This was at the end of July, and the evening spent in Derby was the same evening that the Olympics Opening Ceremony took place; we saw it on the television in the hotel lobby. We explored a little of Derby, Hull, and then we went to the Heights of Abraham and the Tramway Museum on the way home: Derbyshire - Heights of Abraham and Tramway Museum.

I managed to secure tickets to the Olympic Park in August for a September visit during the Paralympic games. There was so much to see, and the entrance time for my visit was in the afternoon, so this was not long enough to see everything. I was still able to enjoy the atmosphere and to see the crowds, including the largest McDonalds, shops, and several buildings dedicated to sponsors (Coca Cola and MINI). Today, the Olympic park is quiet and dull compared to the busy sun-filled summer of 2012: London 2012 Olympic Park.

September was also the month that I needed to give up my passport in order to process my UK citizenship. Unfortunately, this meant that I could not leave the country. I expected to get my passport back within a couple of months because it had never taken very long previously; I would have applied in person, but no spaces were available either. Unfortunately, it took over nine months to get my passport returned this time, and I would not get my passport back until the spring of 2013. This was one of the other reasons why 2012 was a bad year. It made me miss my brother's wedding in early 2013, and it also meant that I could not travel out of the country. It was a hellish time.

Since I had put a lot of focus in at work for several months over the summer, I had some days of holiday to use, so I took one day off to explore Wintery Windsor. I had only visited the city once before, and that was in 1998. The day that I visited was very cold and frosty, and the main reason for the visit was to see a pantomime, "Jack and the Beanstalk". This was my first experience to see a pantomime.

Since I had holiday to use but could not leave the country, I used a few days to go to Scotland to see the bloke's family. We had a day in Edinburgh (Edinburgh in Winter), and the rest of the time was spent in Portmahomack. I felt a bit subdued over the holiday season as I really disliked the job and really wanted my passport to arrive in time for my brother's wedding and for the UK citizenship to be sorted.

2013 - A poor start but ended up as one of the BEST years with freelancing at a nice company, travel to some great places, street art, and time with friends and family

2013: Although it did not start well, 2013 was one of the two best years of the decade for me. I left the toxic job and decided to try contracting/freelancing. This was something that I had been thinking about previously and prior to accepting that job. Because of the toxic atmosphere that I endured at the job and the false promises, I decided to have a couple of weeks off before starting my contract in order to take the breaks that I held off taking. The first break was to Cornwall. While Basingstoke had a bit of snow, Cornwall missed out, so it was actually a pleasant time: Days Out: Polperro, Cornwall, Days Out: Land's End, St. Ives and Mevagissey, Days Out: St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall.

After spending some time in Cornwall, I used one of the vouchers that I received and had a two or three-night break in Derbyshire and the Peak District. It snowed, but the villages looked picturesque with snow. We saw caves, including one with an boat ride and another with blue john stone: Days Out: Snowy Peak District, Part 1, Days Out: Snowy Peak District, Part 2, Days Out: Snowy Peak District, Part 3

Toward the end of January, I started my contract role. I was really worried about it because I'd had such a bad time at the previous company. However, this ended up being one of my favourite projects and companies in my career. I worked with some amazing people; I was sad when my time ended a couple of years later.

The only downside was the commute, which was a struggle. The company was located on Brick Lane, which is a ten or fifteen minute walk from most tube stations. I stayed in London for a couple of weeks now and then to lessen the burden. However, the one great thing about working here was the street art. I was able to explore a new part of London and to see the street art, which had exploded in 2012. This turned out to be an interest that I invested a lot of time in.

I also discovered the Spitalfields Pancake Race 2013 for the first time in 2013 when I happened to go for lunch and heard a clattering outside the office and saw a large crowd of people and contestants. It was the one day that my camera's battery had died, so I only got a few photographs on my old smart phone. 

One of my favourite sculpture charity trails of the decade was also back in London this year, and they were located in Covent Garden: Big Egg Hunt 2013 Begins in London. 

In April and over Easter, I spent a long weekend in and around Cheshire. I went to Beeston Castle (pictured above), the Anderson Boat Lift, and Chester: Days Out at Beeston Castle, Nantwich and Anderson Boat Lift, Days Out: Frodsham, Cheshire.

At the start of May, I attended one of the best street art festivals of the decade. It took place as a part of Dulwich Arts Festival, and the interior of a house was decorated entirely with street art: Open Day at the Street Art House, Dulwich Arts Festival: Part 1.

In May, I had an amazing holiday for a week to the Orkney Islands off the coast of northern Scotland. I found it to be a fascinating place with prehistoric sites, which are well-preserved. I am sure there are so many other sites buried at the bottom of the sea since the lowlands have become flooded since those times. One of the highlights was walking to the Old Man of Hoy sea stack on Hoy Island, and other highlights were Birsay and Gurness. Here's several posts of my visit to the Orkney Islands: Orkney Islands: Skara Brae, Stromness, and Ophir, Orkney Islands: Rousay, Cairns, Mills and Farms, Orkney Islands: Birsay, Gurness, Brodgar and Cuween Hill, Orkney Islands: Italian Chapel and Kirkwall, Orkney Islands: Hoy

June was an amazing month. The bloke treated me to a trip up the Shard after work. The Shard, the tallest building in London and one of the tallest buildings in Europe, had just recently opened to the public with a viewing platform at the top (310m Above London: The View from the Shard). 

He also treated me to Warner Brother Studios tour on the weekend in order to see where some of the "Harry Potter" films were filmed and to see some of the sets and props. Since that visit, more has been opened to the public. One of the attractions is a huge model of a castle that was used in the film. At Christmas, this is decorated with snow, and I still want to see this someday: Off to Hogwarts...Harry Potter Studio Tour.

I took some time off in the middle of the month in order to spend time with my friends from the states who had their first proper visit to London. I think it is fair to say that we all had a blast. One of the highlights was champagne at Tower42 in the City of London (Champagne at Tower42, Vertigo42). We did all of the touristy things too.

In July, the bloke and I went to Bristol to see the new trail "Gromit Unleashed!" This came after the success of gorilla scuptures in Bristol two years previously. This was the first of the Aardman Studios trails that continue to take place every couple of years now. 'Gromit Unleashed' in Bristol, Part 1 and Gromit Unleashed in Bristol, Part 2. This was the best trail by far, and it really captured the people of Bristol and beyond. In fact, it was so awesome that they now make a trail every couple of years, though none have been as amazing as the first one.

On the weekend that we visited Bristol, so much was going on. We even managed to visit the science museum and saw a class where we could create our very own plasticine Gromit, which was taught by one of the guys who works creating models at Aardman Studios (Creating Gromits with Aardman Studios).

That weekend was also the weekend of the annual Bristol Harbour Festival, so we ended up seeing some of the events along the harbour and watching the fireworks. 

July had amazing weather, and we went back to Cheshire for a long weekend because we had bought day tickets to Cheshire Zoo when we visited the area in the spring, but we did not get to use them during that visit. In addition to Chester Zoo, we drove through north Wales and went to Anglesey. The weather was perfect, and I would have loved to have stayed another day and did the boat ride to see puffins, but we both had to get back home for work.

In August, I had my first ever visit to Norwich, a city that I now really enjoy visiting. The reason for my visit was to see another sculpture art trail: Go Go Gorillas! take over Norwich. I also explored Norwich and watched a rubber duck race on the river.

In September, I got the chance to explore Dublin, Ireland. I enjoyed my visit, and the highlight was seeing the goal in Dublin: Dublin:Goal, Whiskey and Cathedrals, Dublin: Guinness, Castles, Colleges and Culture, A Day in Dublin: Gaol, Whiskey and Cathedrals, Dublin Parks, Pubs, Markets, Museums, and History, A Day in Dublin: Guinness, Castles, Colleges and Culture.

Lastly, 2013 left with a bang as I got to go back to the states for Thanksgiving at the end of November so that I could catch up with all of my friends and family. The day after Thanksgiving, the parents and I drove to Frankenmuth in Michigan (A Start to the Christmas Season in Frankenmuth, Michigan) where we explored the festive atmosphere of this town. We had a trip to one of the largest Christmas stores, if not the largest, in the world: A Trip to Bronner's CHRISTmas Store. 

We also spent a day at Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I found Greenfield Village to be amazing; it contains old buildings that have historical significance, and you could also ride in vintage vehicles. I got to ride in a Model T. I would love to go back to Greenfield Village because we had to rush through it and there was still much more to see. The museum was not as good as the village, but we saw historic cars and agriculture equipment. The chair that Abraham Lincoln was killed in was in the museum as well as other important items that Henry Ford collected: Days Out: Henry Ford's Greenfield Village, Days Out: Henry Ford Museum.

When we got back to Ohio, I had to go to the emergency room in December for an allergic reaction to hair dye. We also went to the Ohio Amish Christmas Cookie Tour of Inns, which included a visit to a few hotels and inns in the Amish Country and a free cookie and snacks at each place. The event was very festive, and it included horse-drawn wagon rides and visits to some beautiful properties. It was such a fantastic event. I was back in the UK for Christmas, which was a more low-key event.

2014 - An average year with some interesting moments, a road trip in Ireland, German Christmas markets, and arty events

2014: Although not as busy as 2013, 2014 was not too bad of a year. With a couple of exceptions, it was not as memorable, but I was feeling more worn down due to commuting.

One of the best art/historical displays that I visited this decade was to see the Cheapside Hoard, a collection of jewellery that was discovered buried underneath rubble of buildings on Cheapside in the City of London. These were buried in the Great Fire of London and never found again until recent times; they are great examples of jewellery from the time.

London's first cat cafe opened up at the beginning of March, and I went along to see it: Tea, Cake and Cats at London's First Cat Cafe. For months, it was fully booked up and was one of the top attractions to do in London.

Pancake Day happened on the same week, and after first glimpsing it last year, I spent most of my lunch break watching the race: Great Spitalfields Pancake Day Race 2014.  

In March, I had arranged a tour of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. This is where the Liberty Bell and Big Ben were cast. The foundary is a crooked collection of cottages/warehouses with a lot of bells, bell moulds, and bell-making machinery. I was visiting to understand more about the history of the bell foundary, but most of people in the group seemed to be there for the musical element; I know nothing about music, so that aspect did not interest me. I purchased a few bells during my visits to the foundary during my lunch breaks as it was only a ten minute walk from there. Sadly, the Whitechapel Bell Foundary decided to vacate the building three years ago, leaving the fate of the building unknown at this time.

Over Easter in April, I went letter-boxing with the bloke in Dartmoor; it's now been a few years since I last went to Dartmoor for letter-boxing and walking. Here are a couple of the trails that I walked: Walking Little Links Tor Vicinity in Dartmoor and Walking Sourton Tor in Dartmoor.

In May, I went to one of the most interesting places that had remained hidden from the public for several years: A Visit to Paddock, World War Bunker in London. This was a top secret place used in World War II and for decoding the enemy messages and codes. It is hidden underground and not often open to the public. 

In the middle of May, we went to a beautiful wedding (John and Alice's English Country House Wedding). We've only seen these friends a couple of times since then, sadly, so we must remember to meet up with them again and make an effort.

In June, my parents visited, and we had a whirlwind road trip around Ireland for a couple of weeks (The Summer Ireland Road Trip). We saw a lot of wonderful places, but also noticed how bad sight-seeing and traveling has become with people and their smart phones... just the sheer amount of visitors out trying to capture the perfect selfie on their phone without any regards to anyone else. We commented that people seem to be inconsiderate and in a rush anymore, which has certainly become a changed behaviour in the past couple of years.  

One of the highlights was to Belfast's Titanic Quarter and museum (pictured above) and the rope bridge in northern Ireland (pictured below). My first niece was also born in June during or Ireland road trip; she was born a day before my birthday.

We enjoyed Killarney National Park (the day my niece was born) and saw an amazing rainbow. Unfortunately, our trip to Skellig Michael was cancelled because of very choppy waters, so I want to return to it some day. However, the year after our Ireland road trip, this island became a setting for a part in the new "Star Wars" films, so it will probably be difficult and more expensive to get the boat across. You can only get to the island on a fishing boat.

In 2014, there were several events and art installations to commemorate 100 years since World War I began. One of the biggest events was Giant Spectacle Marionettes in Liverpool 'Memories of 1914' Commemorate World War 1. At the end of July, I headed to Liverpool to check out the giants for their special 1914 art installation. The giants were very popular, and we got stuck in bad traffic all the way to Liverpool. Instead of taking three hours to get to Liverpool, it took eight. So, we lost the first day. We still managed to see the giants and also see some of Liverpool, one of my favourite cities. This was one of the best art installations that I have seen this decade. The team behind the giants retired them a year ago now, so the giants will not be walking on Liverpool's streets anymore.

In August, the bloke and I booked Secret Cinema. I've been wanting to go to a Secret Cinema event for a long time, and this year was their biggest production yet with a replica of 1950s Hill Valley, the fictional Californian town as the setting in "Back to the Future". We were given a character to pretend, and everyone wore clothing that looked like clothing worn in the 1950s, and we enjoyed watching the film with live action scenes taking place around us: Secret Cinema "Back to the Future".

Another one of the wonderful art installations to mark the centinnial of World War I and to remember those who perished were the poppies in the Tower of London. I watched the poppy field grow throughout the couple of months and until November 5th when the poppies completely filled the moat at the Tower of London. The crowds were intense, especially in the autumn: Tower of London Poppies and Tower of London Poppies Commemorate The Great War and #LightsOut. When the ceramic poppies went up on sale, I purchased one. Each one represented a fallen British (or commonwealth) soldier.

One of the best immersive theatre experiences that I enjoyed in this decade was the Faulty Towers Dining Experience at the Charing Cross Hotel. The actors were hilarious and really put in an effort to bring the world of Faulty Towers to life.

In October, I headed over to Borough Market to experience Apple Day at Borough Market. I was able to try some historical apples and enjoy the festival atmosphere with theatre and apple-themed fun. Apple Day takes place on a Sunday, a day when Borough Market is typically closed, so this was one of the few times Borough Market is open on a Sunday. It was busy but not as busy as visiting on a Saturday.

I did not know it at the time, but 2014 was my last full year in Basingstoke. I watched the fireworks in the park on Bonfire Night in early November, and I got home in time to see the Basingstoke Christmas Lights Switch On in front of Festival Place. Live music and fireworks took place, and it was enjoyable. Basingstoke was an awesome place to live, and I loved living in the centre of town. I only regret that I did not get to enjoy it for longer.

In December, the bloke and I had a few days in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nuremberg. We explored the Christmas markets, museums, and shops. One of the most memorable museums in Nuremberg was about the rise of Hitler, which was located at the party's former rally grounds; it put the problem into new perspectives and was educational and truthful about the history of Nuremburg but also as a city that has accepted its fate and moved on to recover. The Nuremburg Court House (where the trials were held to convinct the Nazis) was also an interesting place to visit when tired of the Christmas market. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was a beautiful village with cobblestone streets and interesting architecture, and it is located not too far from Nuremburg. I walked around most of the city's walls. This city escaped damage during World War II thanks to its beauty.

On the way to Scotland for Christmas, I had a night in Liverpool and booked in A Fab Four Beatles Taxi Tour in Liverpool because I am a huge fan of the Beatles and wanted to understand more about them and about their city from their view. This was a fantastic tour, and our taxi driver was very knowledgable.

Before I close 2014, one of the best afternoon teas that I have had all decade was the Christmas Afternoon Tea at Conrad St. James. It included bottomless Prosecco, live music, and Christmas carols.

Overall, 2014 was not a bad year, but it was a tiring one and not as interesting or great as 2013. 

2015 - a year of changes: new job, moving on, moving house, a kitten, struggling with a lack of stability

2015: This year brought about some major changes, but it felt like a whirlwind, and I was not able to make plans for the majority of the year. January was particularly gloomy, and there was a terrorist incident in Paris involving a lot of people getting killed, so many people felt down. January was also the month that I'd been contracting at the same company for two years so had to leave. The project was winding down. It was very emotional as I really enjoyed the company and colleagues. My last day was toward the end of February, and I was able to try my luck at getting more photographs during the Spitalfields Great Pancake Day Race 2015.

I was also able to get a preview of the Walkie Talkie Sky Garden (20 Fenchurch Street) a couple of days after it opened to the public. This has gone on to become one of the most-visited attractions in London now thanks to social media, and I tried to take my friends here in the summer of 2019, but we could not get in.

One of the most memorable days out for Valentine's Days happened this year. Valentine's Day happened on a weekend day, and I went to the pop-up Crazy Golf at Swingers in London. This pop-up was located in Shoreditch in an area that is now being constructed on. Swingers actually ended up opening a permanent venue in the City of London a couple of years later, and it now has one in Soho. We received a free rose Prosecco during our visit, and we had a great time. Unfortunately, the visit I had this year to their venue in Soho did not even compare to my first visit when it was a pop-up.

The new job that I started as soon as the last one ended was primarily working from home, but I had to spend a couple of weeks on site at Ashby-de-la-Zouch. On one of the weekends, I explored Ashby de la Zouch Castle. I enjoyed this project because the colleagues that I worked with were amazing, and the work was interesting. Things changed later on as the original people had to leave, so the project was in two phases: pre-August and then post-August. From August, it ended up being a rolling-monthly position, so it was impossible to plan in advance.

After three years of daily commutes to London every day, I was glad that I did not have to commute from March. The job was primarily working from home, and I could finally recover. In the second phase of the priject, I had to work longer hours and had to spend some time in the office in Amsterdam. I was able to enjoy Basingstoke for the first time in the first phase of the project, and I spent a Day Making Stained Glass Artwork with Cake at Basingstoke's Aristology Cafe, which I really enjoyed.

Over Easter, the bloke and I spent a long weekend around Harrogate, and I previously posted my visit to Harrogate, afternoon tea at Betty's Tea Rooms, Mother Shipton's Petrifying Well, Knaresborough, and Knaresborough Castle. Knaresborough and its castle have amazing views over the river, and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the visit to Mother Shipton's Petrifying Well as it is a unique one-of-a-kind place with the minerals in the rock encasing items left tied along the sides.

I also saw Brimham Rocks, Yorkshire (England), Ripon and Ripon Cathedral, Yorkshire, and Ripley Castle (Yorkshire, England). I had a tour of Ripley Castle and enjoyed the lake views and daffodils. Everything was so beautiful in this area.

However, my highlight (if I had to choose one on such a memorable trip) was Easter Day. On Easter Day, we went to "Guy Fawkes Arms" pub and restaurant in Scotton, the birthplace of Guy Fawkes (Easter Lunch at the 'Guy Fawkes Arms', in Scotton near Harrogate). This was possibly the best meal of the decade; it's one of the best, at least. After the Easter lunch, we went to Fountains Abbey.

The highlight attraction for me was Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden. The setting is beautiful, and it somehow felt that I had been there before; it was a strange feeling. The whole weekend was warm, and we were lucky that we did not have any rain. The warmest and sunniest day was Easter Sunday.

In the spring, the bloke and I started to look for a house closer to London, and we had an offer accepted in May for a house in Ruislip. We did not know which area in London to move to, but the flat was always too small for us, and the commute to London was costly and killing my health. Now that I was working from home, I had more energy to invest in finding a home as I know that I would have to be commuting to London again at some point.

In early July, the bloke and his brother and I went to London for Secret Cinema Presents 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'. We had lunch at Bob Bob Ricard, London, where there is a "press for champagne" button. I really want to go back and visit this restaurant again because the food was so good.

From the beginning of July, the country had wonderful warm weather, and I went to Overton Scarecrow Festival (Hampshire, England), which was part of a summer-long event in Basingstoke and the area. A lot of the houses and businesses had designed scarecrows. 

That same weekend was Basingstoke Live 2015, and for the duration of the time spent in Basingstoke, the music could be heard from the flat. Saturday night sounded amazing, but I wanted to visit on the Sunday as Saturday in Overton was such a long day. I watched the acts, and one of the acts was Jerry Mungo who sang "In the Summertime" as probably his most well-known hit.

I also took a day off of work toward the end of the month in order to enjoy some local attractions, such as these Lavender Fields in Hampshire, England. It was a gorgeous visit, but the weather was not the best on that day due to heavy spells of rain. I loved driving past these fields and smelling the lavender. At the end of July, I had to spend a week in Amsterdam for work.

August kicked off with Battle Proms and Picnic at Highclere Castle, and I visited with friends. We enjoyed the concert and fireworks, and the weather was beautiful and warm. Highclere Castle is where "Downton Abbey" is filmed.

I then had to go back to Amsterdam for work for a couple of weeks (Visit to Amsterdam), and I managed to do some sight-seeing this time, including visiting Amsterdam SAIL 2015. The SAIL event happens every couple of years and allows members of the public to see and board various boats and ships of different ages. I went onto a working warship and submarine. Amsterdam's harbours were packed with people, and it was a long walk up and down the harbour area. We really enjoyed it, though, despite the hot weather and long walks. My legs and feet were sore by the end of it.

When I returned to England at the end of August, I went to one of the best street art events of the decade: Dismaland, Banksy's Bemusement Park. Throughout the park, I was able to see artwork and installations by Banksy and other artists.

In September, the friends we hung out with at Battle Proms and I got together for a pub lunch and walk (Pub Lunch at Mattingley's "Leather Bottle" Pub and a Visit to Silchester Ruins), and it was an enjoyable day out.

Finally, it was time to leave Basingstoke, which had become my home for the past seven years, behind as moving day came at the start of October: Goodbye, Basingstoke. Hello, Ruislip. It took awhile to adjust to a new place where I didn't know anyone. One of the differences is that the area is so quiet when compared to the middle of Basingstoke where we constantly heard noise. I struggled to sleep because of a lack of noise. Actually, over four years on, and we still have not been able to unpack. The house needed some renovations, and that has been going on in phases. As I write this at the end of 2019, the final renovations are nearing completion, so I am expecting to get sorted in early 2020.

Another huge life event happened at the beginning of November. We got a Maine Coon kitten. We named him Merlin: Welcome, Merlin the Kitten. He is still confident as a cat.

At the end of the year, the contracts were changing supplier, and the company in charge maanged to mess things up. This led to a lot of issues and caused other people to also become annoyed at the handling of this. So, I knew that I would need to find something new in January, and this had me a bit worried, so I struggled to relax.

2016 - so many promises...turned out one of the WORST years; over-worked, lacked stability, messed around, & mean people

2016: I entered this year looking for a new contract after the previous one came to an end, and I had something lined up by the middle of the month. I really enjoyed my role and put in a lot of hours to build the project up from the beginning as I was the first developer on the project. However, before I joined the company, I spent the first day of the new year on a tour to find The Seven Noses of Soho. This was a fun walk and included a pub stop.

January also brought two light shows to London, including the first Lumiere London 2016. It was a fantastic event and drew crowds into central London. I was lucky to visit it on opening night when the crowds were minimal. It was one of the best art trails/installations of the decade and included a lot of illuminated artwork. I also checked Winter Lights @ Canary Wharf, and this was my first visit and second year of the event.

During Chinese New Year, I visited the Magical Lantern Festival @ Chiswick House with two good friends. One of my friends is Chinese, so she was able to explain some of the Chinese symbols in the lanterns. We had so much fun that we decided to go back next year, but the lanterns were more "westernised" and not as enjoyable, so we did not bother to make this event a yearly tradition. 

One of the highlights of the year was that I was able to secure tickets to the sought-after Valentine's Day in the 'Harry Potter' Great Hall @ Warner Bros. Studio Tour. We had dinner in the Hogwarts Great Hall, and this was followed by a tour of the studios and a butterbeer. We were able to check out the new exhibitions, including the train.

One of the most memorable days of the year happened in early March when, after living in the UK for over twelve years, I finally received my British citizenship. Despite having moved, I had to go back to Basingstoke for the ceremony.

A couple of weekends later, a group of friends and I met up for a Sunday lunch at the Waterwitch Pub in Odiham (near Basingstoke in Hampshire), and after lunch, some of us went on a walk along the canal to Odiham Castle. This was the first proper spring day of the year, and we had a lovely walk chatting and seeing the castle ruins.

I also got to visit the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time, and I really enjoyed the show gardens.

June was the month that everything started to go downhill. I was over-worked, and this was starting to get the better of me. I also had some work done on one of my teeth, and the dentist did not have the correct tools to complete it; the temporary filling fell out, and I was left in a lot of pain for a week. I was having a couple of days off in Birmingham when this happened, and I was in so much agony that I had to leave a day in advance. Also, the night before this, I had to help with some issues at work, off the clock. So, this left me without any energy. I'd spent a lot of the previous weekends absorbed in work (because I enjoy what I do), but I was pulling the weight of everyone else on my team as everyone else except two others were either an under-achiever or inexperienced. (Yes, I did highlight the issues.) The stress started to show and started to affect me.

The Queen's official 90th birthday was in April, but her state birthday is always the same weekend as my birthday in June, and special events were put on in London for it. 

I was able to go to 'Star Wars' Celebration 2016, which was held in London this year. The event was very popular, and I wished that I had not felt too guilty for having a day or two off from work to go when it was quieter. I got to see Mark Hamill as the event was closing for the day; he was addressing a small crowd, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

In July, it was finally time to see the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", which I had booked in October last year. The play is in two parts, and I managed to book to see both parts on the same day and just before the play was open to the public. It was such a great story and a follow-up to the original characters after the films/books.

In August, I went with a group of friends to clueQuest for the Plan52 Escape Room in London, and we really enjoyed the escape room. We enjoyed it so much that we ended up doing a couple more.

September marked 350 years since the Great Fire of London (1666), and a few special art installations, events and walks were put on in London. I visited a few of them, including the Fire Garden in front of Tate South Bank, which was an art installation by the company who hosted the "Fire Garden" event in Milton Keynes in 2012. Unfortunately, each event that I went to from June was marred with an overwhelming dread of work and feeling that I couldn't take time off or enjoy life outside of work.

This overwhelming dread included a long September weekend away that I had in Rutland, England's smallest county. We went to Newark and Bolingbroke castles before staying in Oakham (where there is another castle). One of the main attractions of the area is Rutland Water, which we went to the following day. 

In October, I had a long weekend in Newcastle, again marred by work. I had learned that they would not be renewing all contractors, so my free time was then spent on starting to search for a new role before the market slowed down for the holidays instead of having some time to relax a little bit and reclaim my life from all of the overtime. That weekend, I had previously planned a trip to Newcastle to see the Great North Snowdogs sculpture trail around the area. My heart was not really into the sight-seeing.

Luckily, I was able to go back to the company that I enjoyed working at in 2013, though I was on a new project. I also had booked Christmas in the states with my family as I had been verbally told that I would be extended, but then this was changed a few days later. Talk about being messed around! Since I had already booked the time away, I had to take it and shortly after starting the new role, which I felt bad for. A lot that had happened in the next few years was all down to being messed around in October.

Despite all of the problems that I had later in the year, I tried to enjoy my time away as much as possible. To add more complications, the first phase of the building work was also scheduled to begin. I had been told that they would start in September, but they were delayed. So, I had booked the time off and didn't expect them to start until January, but they wanted to start in December; I was worried about the house while I was away because of the renovations. 

The highlights of my visit to the states was the annual trip to the Dickens Victorian Village and the Courthouse Light Show in Cambridge, Ohio and a first visit to Clifton Mill and Jersey Dairy to have delicious ice cream. We had a delicious meal at Clifton Mill in the morning and then looked around some huge antique malls before going to the ice cream and then seeing the lights.

I was glad to see the back of 2016 as it was a terrible year with mean and lazy people at work. If it was any consulation, I did find it funny when I was told that the project failed a couple of months after I left. This year had a complete lack of stability and a multitude of stresses caused the workplace. This year, along with 2012, were the worst years of the decade so far.

2017 - a roller coaster BAD year, drained, unable to catch up, messed around; highlight was a new pet

2017: The year 2017 ended up being a roller coaster of a year in which I was pulled in so many directions and lacked the stability that I desired. However, 2017 was far better because I met some great people and  completed one phase of the renovation work (which began in December 2016). One of the worst things with 2017 was that I had three different workplaces in one year, so I was unable to catch my breath or get caught up on other aspects of life. I was left feeling exhausted most of the year. 

In autumn, the UK planned to circulate the new pound coin, and I arranged a visit to the Royal Mint Exhibition Experience near Cardiff. I saw how coins were made and learned about them in the exhibition and museum. After the visit to the Royal Mint, I went down the road to Caerphilly Castle. 

Since I was back working on Brick Lane again, I got to watch the Great Spitalfields Pancake Day Race.

In March, I had a tour of the Clapham South disused underground station, which was previously used as a World War II bunker. I remember it well because it was the same day as a terror attack on Westminster Bridge; I did not know it at this time, but one person who helped a victim of this tragedy ended up being a colleague of mine later in the year.

Over Easter, I went to visit Duck Pond Market, and to watch the Easter egg hunt in Ruislip Woods. This turned out to be an enjoyable day with lovely weather, and I also saw the Ruislip Fairy Village, which I enjoyed visiting and trying to locate the little doors for. Unfortunately, someone kept destroying the little doors, so the fairies have stopped building them.

On Easter Monday, I paid a visit to the abandoned village of Imber in the Salisbury Plains. This village was abandoned during World War II, and the buildings are pretty much all empty shells. Exploring them is like exploring a ghost village. However, the large number of people visiting kept it from being eerie. This is a popular place to visit, especially after it had some publicity.

In May, I wanted to escape the confines of a small room that I shared with a cat and boxes. Being at home was depressing because of the renovations, so I got out of the house and visited Reigate Caves and Reigate Castle (and Baron's Cave) during an open day in early May. Reigate is built on a series of caves, some of which were used to harvest sand. Other sections of the cave were used in World War II.

By the middle of May, the renovations were complete. I could finally start to put things in order.

In the autumn of the previous year, the bloke's brother won second place for raising money for a charity, so he and the winner received a prize, a sailing trip from Southampton to the Isle of Wight with a stop for lunch on the boat. We had perfect weather for this and learned the basics of sailing. Unfortunately, the bloke's brother's fiance could not make it as she was expecting a baby, so it ended up being just the three of us. The winners happened to choose my birthday as the day for the sailing trip.

On the last day of June, all of the freelancers (including me) were told that our contracts were being cut. This came as a blow as I had hoped to stay at the company for awhile like I had done a couple of years previously. I really enjoyed working with new colleagues and ones that I had worked with in the past, and I made some great new contacts and friends.

On one hot July day, I visited London and took a walk through London to Regent's Park and went to see the sculptures in the park at Frieze Art Fair. This was such a lovely day with perfect temperatures. This was my first visit to the Frieze Art Sculptures in Regent's Park.

At the end of the month, I finished up my contract and started a new one the next working day. Fortunately, I met some amazing people in this project as well. 

In August, I took home a new kitten that we ended up naming Sir Lancelot, though I don't think the name really fits him. At the time of writing this, he and Merlin (the cat we got in 2015) have settled in nicely together.

Autumn was more interesting compared to the rest of the year. In September, I went on a ride of a vintage steam train tour from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Amersham during Amersham Heritage Day. I enjoyed seeing the vintage cars and beautiful gardens in Amersham, and it was a happy atmosphere with warm weather. The only problem is that I wanted to stay longer, but the bloke wanted to leave.

I did something different for Halloween this year too. Normally, I do not bother with Halloween, but this year, I went on the Haunted Hampstead to Highgate Pub Walk. This was good fun as it was a trek across a part of London that I had never explored, and we stopped off at a few pubs and heard ghost stories along the way.

I had booked time off with my parents at the end of November as my first contract was meant to end then, but we were all cut short. Then, when the second contract (a rolling monthly contract) told me that they could not extend, I needed to sort something else out. This messed me around for a second year in a row. I went from having a contract cut short to a rolling monthly contract, which then had a large project come through as soon as I found another role. I agreed to work overtime to help them with the project as well as to start a new role, which wanted me to start sooner and were not too happy about the time I had booked off; it was actually difficult to find something due to that time off. I seriously felt like I could not win this year.

My parents visited me at the end of November and beginning of December, and we had a few days in Scotland before going to Germany to visit Munich, Kufstein and Innsbruck in Austria, Lindau, and Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles.

When we returned from Germany, I had arranged a special festive treat, the BT Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. We had dinner before the show at Elgar Bar & Grill, and this was one of the best meals that I had this decade.

After my parents left, I spent the rest of the month working extra time and over-time in every free moment that I could. I was so glad to see the back of 2017 and had better aspirations for 2018. 

2018 - a continuation of 2017... drained, unable to catch up, over-worked; work, work, work; three beautiful weddings

2018: The year started with working on New Year's Day and then any spare moment I got. As soon as I completed that project for the other company in the spring, I was then asked to do overtime for the company that I joined at the end of November last year. The client was demanding and the deadline was originally in May. So, I spent most of my waking life working. In short, 2018 was a continuation of 2017.

I managed to get one evening off to enjoy Twelfth Night and Farewell Party at the Geffrye Museum, a museum dedicated to the British home. The museum is closed for renovations for a couple of years, so this doubled as a Farewell Party.

London Lumiere, a four-day light art installation show held across multiple locations in London, also took place for its second year. The illuminations were spread out over a greater area this time, and it took more than a day to see them all because of this. 

"The Beast from the East" was the term given for a spell of unusually cold weather, and this hit the UK at the end of February and continued into March with snowfall and freezing temperatures. In the middle of March, luckily, the freezing weather had stopped in time for a visit to Disneyland Paris in its 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris year. A special "Star Wars" event was also held in March. The theme park was busy for March, and we ended up having to wait a long while for the rides.

In April, we went to Bournemouth for a christening of the six-month old nephew and had lunch at Neo's Restaurant in Bournemouth afterwards.

May had beautiful weather, and I visited the bluebell forests at Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire and Berkhamstead Castle. I loved the bluebell forests; my photographs cannot even do them justice, and they smelled so beautiful. We also went down to Bournemouth again and had a day out at Corfe Castle Model Village and Corfe Castle. The views of the castle are very pretty.

June is my birthday month, and it was a big one for me this year. I had planned to take off a couple of weeks to go somewhere special, and I let work know at the beginning of the year. However, I was told that I couldn't take the time off as the client wanted more features and had pushed the deadline back by a month to deliver some of these new features. I was allowed to have a couple of days off only, so I booked a visit to Milan: Birthday Trip to Milan. Over 2.5 years later, and I still need to plan the special day that I never got to take.

I spent a couple of days in Milan and then had a trip scheduled to Lake Como and Bellagio.

My highlight of the year was July. The project was delivered, and while it was still busy, it was not as busy. I ended up arranging a very last-minute Fourth of July BBQ (which doubled as birthday and engagement parties) that a few friends came to. The weather was perfect; we had some beautiful weather in July.

I also went to Manchester to see friends visiting from the states later in the month, and at the end of month, I had a long weekend in Norfolk. I went to see the sculpture trail GoGoHares!, and I also had some time for sight-seeing. I visited Baconsthorpe Castle, Caister Castle and Caister Castle Car Collection. I also saw some of the broads but want to go back to do a boat trip on them. The weather was perfect for the duration of the visit. One of the other highlights at the end of the month was a visit to Hell-Fire Caves in Buckinghamshire; Hell-Fire Caves are a series of man-made caves and became popular with a club called the Hell-Fire club.

The nice weather did not last in August. I had arranged a long weekend in Bristol to see Gromit Unleashed 2.0, the newest sculpture trail from Aardman. It was also over the Balloon Festival, and although I saw the balloons launch in the early morning, the weather on the day became extremely rainy, so the balloons were cancelled and I left disappointed.

At the start of September, the wonderful hot weather returned for the Bournemouth Air Show on the beach. This year marked 100 years of the RAF (Royal Air Force), so this aspect was brought into the display.

We then had three weddings to attend in the autumn. The first wedding was Agnes' and Andrew's Wedding in the middle of September. The second wedding of Mini and Chris was at the end of September. The third wedding was at the wedding of my cousin and her partner in Hocking Hills, Ohio, in October.

We had two weeks in Ohio, and I got to go to the Circleville Pumpkin Show at last. This is something that I had always wanted to go and do but never got to do. I also spent a little bit of time with friends and a lot of time with family. I enjoyed a visit with my friend to "Wine Your Way Out" wine-tasting in a corn maze. 

One of the highlights of the trip was to Hocking Hills state park where part of my cousin's wedding celebrations were due to take place. I walked along some of the trails (Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave) before the weather turned into a wash-out. You can read more about what I got up to in this post, many of which were tips from my cousin and her partner.

In the festive season, I went to the Christmas at Beaulieu event. This was the first year that Beaulieu has put on an illuminated lights show; a lot of places now do this.

I also really enjoyed my visit to have Christmas Cocktails @ Miracle at Henrietta, which was especially festive and one of the best festive moments in recent years.

With all of the long hours put in in 2018, I was still feeling drained and over-worked. I did not get any time off except for a couple of weeks in the states (which wasn't exactly time off) and a couple of days in Milan and Norfolk. I wanted 2019 to be different. I didn't feel like I had a sense of stability.

2019 - a continuation of the past three years of feeling drained, over-worked, and lacking stability

2019: In 2019, I was still working on the project that I started at the end of 2017, but I had suspicions that all was not going to plan when they extended the developers until March. I was told that it would be at least three years of work, and I had cut my rates for a chance at some stability. So, I started to suspect the worst at the end of last year. 

I started the year with a visit to Walthamstow to visit "God's Own Junkyard" (A Morning at God's Own Junkyard, London), a wonderful collection of neon signs and artwork. It's out of the way, but I would consider it a must-visit!

In 2019, Winter Lights returned at Canary Wharf for a fifth year, and I went to visit it. This year of Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2019 was the best year yet with a lot of different illuminations. It also managed to attrack larger crowds and was much better organised.

Unfortunately, my suspicions about work were correct. The client decided to use a different supplier to cut costs, so the company had to let a lot of people go, including the developers for the work. This was the absolute worst time because Brexit was looming at the end of March. As a result of Brexit and the end of the financial year, companies were holding off, and budgets were not being signed off. I'd had some interest, but they either fell through or the company needed to sort out some budget. I was feeling worried.

I also could not take off any time to go away or get my mind off of it because the bloke could not get the time off, and I felt that I needed to be around for interview. However, we managed to do a long weekned with a visit to Bruges (A Day and a Half in Bruges, Belgium) and Ghent (Half a Day in Ghent, Belgium) in Belgium.

I also finally got the chance to see Hamilton at Victoria Palace Theatre (Theatre Trip: "Hamilton" at Victoria Place Theatre), which I found refreshing. I saw the matinée performance during the week, which was the only good thing that came out of not having a job.

However, April came and one of the companies managed to get together the budget and sort out the masses of paperwork. Unfortunately, the project has had strange rolling-monthly contracts, so it has been impossible to plan. Like the other projects for the past three years, there has been too much work and too little time to deliver. So, I was able to begin something new but still have the instability hanging over me.

One of the most memorable times of the year was over Easter when the country had beautiful weather. I went out for one day to see Bekonscot Model Village and Railway (A Visit to Bekonscot Model Village and Railway). On another day, I went to Colchester to see the castle (A Visit to Colchester Castle, England) and St. Botolph's Priory ruins (A Visit to St. Botolph's Priory).

I also had a long weekend off at the end of June with a visit to the Yorkshire Dales with a short drive through part of the Lake District (A Weekend in the Yorkshire Dales); the highlight for me was the short trip was to Piel Island. I saw a lot of castles and ate cheese at Wensleydale. I then went to Manchester for part of the weekend to see my friends from the states who were visiting. We went to the Peak District and had Sunday lunch and walked around Castleton.

In June, the bloke and I had joined the National Trust, so we spent some days out over the summer and autumn months to visit National Trust properties alone or with some of our friends: Winston Churchill's Family Home, Chartwell, Emmett's Garden, Upton House (National Trust Property in Warwickshire, England), Canons Ashby (National Trust Property in Northamptonshire, England), Hughenden Manor, Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens, Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckinghamshire, England, The Vyne in Basingstoke (Hampshire, England), Apple Day at Fenton House (National Trust in Hampstead, London), and 2 Willow Road in Hampstead.

One of the best immersive experiences that we visited this decade was Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds' Immersive Experience, and it included virtual reality. It was not on the same scale as Secret Cinema, but it used virtual reality and acting to create the science fiction elements.

In late summer, I also visited The Weald and Downland Museum (Living Museum) on the south coast, and I spent the day wandering around the old buildings. It is really a fascinating place to visit to see how people lived and worked.

We did not plan to visit this year, but we did decide at the last minute to visit the annual Bournemouth Air Show and Fireworks 2019. The weather was not as warm as the previous year, but after a spell of rain in the morning, it did dry out. This year, I stayed to watch the fireworks on the beach. 

One of the other highlights was to visit Leeds Castle to see their annual "Festival of Flowers" ("Leeds Festival of Flowers" marks 900 years of Leeds Castle). Every September, the castle's rooms are decorated with beautiful flowers that have been arranged by professional florists, and seeing the rooms decorated with flowers was beautiful and creative. 

Home renovations (phase two) began in the middle of October after having a delay of about a month due to the other project over-running and poor weather. So, home life became a bit of a mess with dirt and boxes everywhere and no place to move. The work is still on-going.

I enjoyed the little things. In the middle of November, I walked around the lake on site to enjoy the fall colours, which were at their prime then (Autumn Photographs at Feltham/Sunbury "Chertsey Road" Lake/Pond). 

At the end of November, I spent the day at Longleat and enjoyed the Festival of Lights (Longleat Festival of Lights: "Myths and Legends") and a visit to see the animals: Winter Safari and a Day Out at Longleat. 

One of the other highlights for me this year was the visit with our friends to enjoy Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England), Christmas at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England) and Winter Light Trail at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England).

For the first time this year, I went to London on Christmas Day and booked Christmas lunch at The Apple Tree, Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. The house is still under renovation work, so it was a low key Christmas this year. I was not able to get into it at all.

That draws the end of the decade. The renovations are still on-going, but I anticipate that they should be finished by the end of January. The lack of stability and over-working has caused me to become drained over the past three and a half years now, but 2020 has promised some great changes that I am greatly looking forward to. I just hope that it all goes to plan because I am tired of being over-worked and missing being able to take time off without feeling pressured and missing stability.

Here is my verdict:

2010: A poor start with job redundancy and the keys to my first home (on the same day). Long commutes into London; I had three jobs this year. My brother got married. I got enagaged. Not a great year as lacked stability. 2/10

2011: Overall, a good year. Time spent in Ohio ahead of the wedding and then time off to visit Portugal for a long weekend and spend time with my parents in Hampshire ahead of the UK wedding party. Got to do some festive things. However, became over-worked at the end of the year. 9/10

2012: The London Olympics and Diamond Jubilee year. I started a new job, which ended up being awful. I travelled to Derbyshire/Hull, Malta, Croatia, and Bosnia before having to give up my passport for processing and then feeling stuck and missing my brother's wedding in January 2013. 2/10 but would have been 1/10 if not for Croatia and Malta

2013: One of the best years with visits to some wonderful places, stability in a nice workplace with a start at contracting, street art, time with friends and family, Thanksgiving in Ohio and a trip to Michigan. 10/10

2014: An average year with a continuation of a nice workplace and stability, a road trip around Ireland with my parents, German Christmas markets, and Liverpool Beatles tour. Also contained a lot of arty events such as Liverpool Giants, Secret Cinema, and Tower of London poppies. My first niece was born. 8/10

2015: A year of changes; moved from Basingstoke to Ruislip. A new job with instability later in the year but worked from home mainly. A wonderful visit over Easter to Harrogate and the area. Visits to Amsterdam for work and the SAIL Amsterdam event. Did some day trips locally and enjoyed Basingstoke. Got a kitten. 5/10

2016: One of the worst years. New job started in January, which was amazing at first but then became over-worked and stressful; mean and under-achieving colleagues and Brexit. First year for London Lumiere art winter light installations, messed around. Visit to Rutland, Newcastle, and Ohio for Christmas. Home renovations phase one started. Could not relax and over-worked. Messed around and had to start a new job in November. Gained a nephew and niece this year. 1/10

2017: A roller-coaster year of being drained, over-worked, and lacking stability. Three different workplaces this year and a continuation of being messed around. Got a new kitten. Only time off was a couple of weeks with parents to Austrian and German Christmas markets at the end of the year. Gained a nephew and niece. 2/10

2018: Drained and over-worked with much overtime and feeling of instability. A visit to Disneyland Paris in the spring and three weddings attended. Went to Ohio for a couple of weeks in October for my cousin's wedding and explored Hocking Hills and went to Circleville Pumpkin Festival. Had to cancel big birthday plans. Overall, a disappointing year. 3/10

2019: Drained, over-worked, and lacking stability. Feels like a repeat of the past couple of years. Messed around with contract and Brexit and budget issues meant being out of work for awhile. Felt alienated much of the time. Visited Belgium in spring, several National Trust properties, and had days out to the Dales and Lake District. 2/10

I entered 2019 hoping for stability and to look after myself, as I've been neglecting myself and putting other things ahead of my well-being. Unfortunately, 2019 has not been kind in that respect. I did make an effort, but this year has been a total struggle for me; it's been such a bad year overall. Even my best intentions and plans did not go according to plans, and I was a victim of being cast into whatever direction fate had for me.

January: The year came to a start with signalling the end of the festive season. I celebrated Twelfth Night on the South Bank in London (Twelfth Night Celebrations at Bankside, London) outside Shakespeare's Globe theatre, then wassailed with the group or actors, spectators, and the Holly Man to one of London's oldest pubs in Borough to continue the festivities. Twelfth Night was traditionally celebrated more than Christmas itself. This annual and colourful event, created and performed by the acting group "the Lion's Part", does attract a large audience. It was a very good way to put the old year behind me.

Also, I visited a part of London that I had never visited before primarily to see a collection of neon artwork and street art, but this also coincided with an art festival. The location is Walthamstow in north London, and the borough was the winner of a year-long art festival with the opening night of festivities dubbed "Welcome to the Forest" (Walthamstow is London Borough of Culture; Opening Ceremony of Waltham Forest "Welcome to the Forest"). I checked out a few local attractions as well, including the William Morris Gallery (William Morris Museum (Art and Design) in Walthamstow, London) and Vestry House Museum (The Vestry House Museum, Walthamstow). I'd been wanting to visit "God's Own Junkyard" (A Morning at God's Own Junkyard, London) for several years and finally got there, and it was even better than I imaged. It was also a perfect cure for the dreaded month of January.

Lastly, Winter Lights returned at Canary Wharf, and I went along to that one fairly windy evening. You can ready about it here: Canary Wharf Winter Lights 2019. This year was the fifth year of the annual event, and it was a real treat. It attracted much larger crowds and included more interactive installations than previous years. The installations were also easier to locate with maps provided. In the past, the maps have not always been accurate, but they really hit the mark this year. Unfortunately, that also meant that the installations were very busy. I am hoping next year is as good or better.

February: At the beginning of February, I met up with friends to celebrate Chinese New Year (Celebrating Chinese New Year in London at Barshu Restaurant, Caffé Concerto, Soft Serve Ice Cream); we went to a restaurant in central London to celebrate the Year of the Pig and had a great time, nice chat, and a nice meal.

Unfortunately, I received bad news in February and was told that a lot of jobs were lost at the company I was working at. My role was meant to be a long-term one, and the company wanted me to cut my rates because of that. So, for it to only last fourteen months was very annoying for several reasons (such as unclaimed overtime, long hours, cancelling holidays, cutting rates, etc). My last day would be in March, and that time of year is the wrong time to look as it is the end of the financial year, plus the political climate meant that all of the companies were waiting before making budget decisions. So, this marked the start of an extremely difficult time for me. I'd spent the majority of the 2018 year working extremely hard and long hours for the client, which meant cancelling milestone birthday plans, seasonal holidays, and other plans to work weekends or long hours during the week. Although we were told that the company were trying to secure another client, we all felt on edge.

Due to all the overtime I put in unclaimed, I left work a little earlier one day in order to check out Anya Hindmarch's chubby balloon heart at Wellington Arch: Chubby Hearts Float Around London. She'd displayed a few in front of various London landmarks the previous year, but I never got to see them because I was not working in central London. Before work one morning, I also went to visit Élan Cafe Pink Love Hearts in Knightsbridge to avoid the crowds. I found the food pleasant and enjoyed the Valentine's Day theme with the heart decor and pink furnishings.

March: Although February was the start of the bad period, March was the low point of the year. On the same day that I worked the last day of my job, I was told that my remaining grandfather had died. I had only just seen him in October. Although he was old, he had generally been in good health, so it was not expected. I could not go to the funeral in the states because I had interviews lining up. 

I had spent so much time working fourteen months of long hours and weekend work that I struggled to relax and felt immediately displaced when I didn't have work to do. I felt like I lost my purpose; I'd put so much effort into the project. However, I also wanted to go away because travel is one of my biggest interests, and breaks are important. I did go to the states for a couple of weeks for my cousin's wedding, but it was a busy couple of weeks, and I didn't get to relax or recover. I wanted to go away this month anyway, but the bloke's workplace would not let him until the end of the month, and I didn't really want to go somewhere on my own. 

I actually had received a job offer early in the month one morning, but they cancelled it later that day for an unknown reason. Other companies were interested but waiting on budgets to go through. Nothing was happening because of Brexit, which was originally due to happen at the end of the month (but then did not). It was a case of waiting for a company to sort out their budget or receive another offer. 

I tried to keep myself occupied on my first "free" day. I went to enjoy pancakes on Pancake Day at "Where the Pancakes Are", but it ended up being a bit of a nightmare! They forgot my order and kept me waiting for over an hour (Pancake Day at "Where the Pancakes Are" in Flat Iron Square, (Borough, London)), which meant that I didn't get to do all I wanted to do and had to rush to get to Ely's Yard off Brick Lane as I hoped to see the Spitalfields Pancake Day Race.

I got to Ely's Yard only to discover the pancake race was not happening, and no one knew about it. I looked for other pancake day races and found that I could get to Leadenhall Market in time for the Leadenhall Market Pancake Day Race and free pancakes. During the racing, a group of boys from one of the banks standing behind me were making sexist and cruel remarks about some of the runners, and it made me angry. Since writing this, I discovered that the workplace of those "boys" has public problems regarding behaviour of their staff and are trying to address it.

I mentioned that the earliest that I could take time off was toward the end of the month, so I did not delay in booking it in as I wanted to and needed to recover after a dismal time. I visited Bruges (A Day and a Half in Bruges, Belgium) and Ghent (Half a Day in Ghent, Belgium) in Belgium for a long weekend. It was the only time that I could take because I wanted my primary focus to be on finding a new job; I had to take an interview and calls while I was away, and everything was on my mind, so I tried my best to relax. I did really enjoy Bruges, and the weather was nice there. Ghent would have probably been nice as well, but the weather was not the best; it was gloomy and overcast.

I also visited Chiltern Open Air Museum (A Visit to Chiltern Open Air Museum (Open Day, 2019)) at the end of March. The Chiltern Open Air Museum is not too far from where I live and is a folk museum with preserved buildings and equipment to show how people lived in the past and the buildings that they lived, worked, studied, and socialised in.

Apirl: Early April did not bring about any changes to the work situation. In early April, I visited the recently-opened Peggy Porschen cafe on King's Road in Chelsea (Easter at the New Peggy Porschen Cafe, King's Road) in time for Easter. This branch of the cafe is quieter, and I did not have a problem with getting a seat, getting some good photographs of the decor, and consuming some yummy food. 

While meeting with a potential client in Victoria, I finally got the chance to see Hamilton at Victoria Palace Theatre (Theatre Trip: "Hamilton" at Victoria Place Theatre). I did not know what to expect at all prior to my visit, but I thought that it was a good show with good music and choreography. "Hamilton" is still expensive and difficult to book tickets to, but I managed to wait for the early afternoon performance and get a decent ticket at a discounted price, so I was able to tick that off my list. The historical musical with a minority cast was actually refreshing and different, and I am glad that its popularity is helping to get more people interested in history.

In the middle of April, I finally started my new job working for two large companies, and I was really excited to get into a new project just in time for Easter. Over Easter, the country had beautiful weather. I went out for one day to see Bekonscot Model Village and Railway (A Visit to Bekonscot Model Village and Railway (Buckinghamshire, England)), which is an amazing and large model village near Beaconsfield, located not too far from where I live. On Easter Monday, the bloke wanted to visit Colchester to see a car, so we ended up visiting Colchester Castle and its facinating museum about the Roman town (A Visit to Colchester Castle, England) and St. Botolph's Priory ruins (A Visit to St. Botolph's Priory (Colchester, England)). The weather was beautiful, and I finally felt content for the first time in the year.

May: In early May, the country continued to have beautiful weather, and I went to Leeds Castle Motor Show, Motors by the Moat to see classic and new cars and to tour the castle. I previously visited Leeds Castle in Kent in the early summer of 2000. Buying a ticket to the castle is costly, but it grants visitors access for a year, and Leeds Castle also host other events during the year that are included in the admission price. In addition to seeing the cars, I visited the castle's rooms because I could not remember much about them when I visited nearly 20 years ago: A Visit to Leeds Castle (Kent, England).

June: The month began with nice weather carried over from May, and I finally got to visit Uffington Castle and White Horse. When I made my original "white horse tour" route nearly fifteen years ago, I never got to Uffington and had never seen it until this month. The chalk horse on the hillside is the oldest of the white horses, but it's actually hard to see or photograph unless you're in the air looking down on it. The views from the top of the hill above the white horse are breath-taking. While in the area, I also took a long walk to Wayland's Smithy Long Barrow (pictured below). There are several prehistoric sites located within walking distance.

June is my birthday month, and I ended up doing two items that have been on my London bucket list for a few years. The first one was to have afternoon tea in Sketch Parlour in the pink rooms with a stop to see the colourful toilets. You can read more about my experience here: Birthday Afternoon Tea at Sketch Gallery. The experience was actually a bit dull, and I found the food to be bland, so I would not recommend this afternoon tea in London as there are certainly much better ones. The completely pink room where the afternoon tea is served is is in the middle of buildings without natural light, and I found it slightly dated and dark. However, I liked the colourful toilets (pictured below). There are mixed reviews about Sketch with the failings mainly being on the food and service.

The next visit for my birthday was to enjoy Sunday lunch at The Little Blue Door in Fulham (Sunday lunch at The Little Blue Door). I never visited the original Little Yellow Door in Notting Hill that was popular a few years ago, even though it was on my bucket list then. I had a delicious birthday roast lunch. However, the staff there forgot that it was my birthday as Father's Day celebrations were in full swing at the venue; my birthday takes place just before Father's Day, and some years, the closest weekend to it (when it falls on a weekday) is Father's Day weekend.

In June, the bloke and I also joined the National Trust for the year because some of our friends are members. There are several National Trust places I've wanted to visit over the years, and now I am able to see as many as I like with the yearly membership. In the past, we would just buy entry for a day to the properties we wish to visit, even though we don't really visit National Trust properties much, so this gave us an excuse to see more places for the remainder of the year. The first place that we visited was Kingston Lacy with friends. This is where we took out the membership.

The highlight of June was a visit to the Yorkshire Dales with a short drive through part of the Lake District (A Weekend in the Yorkshire Dales). We saw caves, ate cheese, visited abbey ruins, went to Piel island, went on a short walk, visited several castles, and went to Manchester on the way back to London to see friends from the states who were visiting there. Besides seeing my friends in Manchester, the highlight of the short trip was to Piel Island. On Piel Island, there are castle ruins and beautiful sea views. The sea views were the highlight, and I sat at the pub garden over-looking the sea where I saw a dolphin and seals and people jet-skiing. On the last Sunday of the month, we stopped in Manchester and took my friends from the states to the Peak District and had Sunday lunch and walked around Castleton; we saw some well-dressings: Well Dressings in the Peak District, England.

July: Nice weather continued into July, and the first of the month brought the annual Pride celebrations to London. This year, I watched the Pride parade (London Pride 2019) in central London. This was something that I have wanted to do for several years now but only just got around to do this year. The following day, the friends that I saw in Manchester arrived in London before their flights back to the states, and I had a couple of days off to spend with them, but everything seemed to be conspiring against us. We had plans, but they all fell through; I am blaming Mercury Retrograde here because it just started when my friends arrived to London and left three days later!

July also marked fifty years since the moon landings (Moon Landing 50th Anniversary), and this seemed to be heavily-talked about for a couple of weeks. I watched a film and documentaries about the moon landing because I never knew much about it. I didn't even realise until fifteen years ago that there are people who claim that it is fake.

The weather for most of July turned wet and cold, but the country did have a few nice days. One day was enjoyed toward the end of the month at The 2019 Uxbridge Auto Show. I enjoyed seeing the classic cars and the entertainment, but it wasn't quite like the fun times that I have had at various MINI-related events and shows.

August: After a fairly quiet July, August was much busier. One of the highlights of the month of August was Jeff Wayne's 'War of the Worlds' Immersive Experience, which I saw near the beginning of the month. Visitors were transported back to Victorian England during an alien invasion based on the H.G. Wells novel "The War of the Worlds". I really enjoyed the experience, and I recommend it for those who are interested in interactive theatre or enjoy the story. I've never seen the musical before, but it's now on my list to see. I've read the books, of course, and I enjoy H.G. Wells' novels. "The Time Machine" is one of my favourite.

One weekend in the middle of the month of August, I went to Kent to visit two National Trust properties. The first visit of the day was to Winston Churchill's Family Home, Chartwell (Kent, England). This included a tour of the house and a walk around the gardens. The gardens were beautiful here, and the weather was warm and partially sunny. After Chartwell, I went to visit another property not far away from Chartwell, Emmett's Garden. Emmett's Garden is a series of landscaped gardens and an arboretum.

On the same weekend, I spent the day enjoying The Weald and Downland Museum (Living Museum), which is located on the south coast near Portsmouth. This is a large folk museum with old buildings and homes where people lived and worked. Many of the old buildings would have just been demolished, so they were moved here so that generations could enjoy them and see how people lived. Some of the buildings contain model trains and boats, so it is more than just a museum of old buildings and equipment; it is a place where people can take up their hobbies. There is also a working mill and demonstrations at the museum. I visited with the car as part of the "Saddles and Steam" event, and this included other attractions and demonstrations throughout the day, such as horses and various steam engines and steam-powered machinery. It was actually a very good day out, and the grounds are several acres with plenty to explore.

On another weekend day in August, I went to Kew Gardens to see one of the best art installations of the year, Dale Chihuly at Kew Gardens: "Reflections on Nature". Many large-scale glass sculptures, which were created by Dale Chihuly, were placed around Kew Gardens to see. I also had a long wander around Kew to see some of the other attractions in addition to the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures.

At the end of the month, I visited two additional National Trust properties, Upton House (National Trust Property in Warwickshire, England) and Canons Ashby (National Trust Property in Northamptonshire, England). Upton House is noted for being the home of the founders of fuel company Shell. Canons Ashby, by contrast, was a modest home owned by a religious family with the last owner's father (who was instrumental in the upkeep of the home) having a keen interest in the world, specifically archeology as the location here was a former old town that was abandoned. Canons Ashby became one of my favourite National Trust properties with its beautiful garden and the medieval house.

That brings us to the end of August, and the annual Bournemouth Air Show and Fireworks 2019 took place on the last weekend of the month. At short notice, I enjoyed a day out at the beach watching the planes fly overhead. The weather rained at the start, but it cleared afterwards. The weather was not nearly as warm as last year, but it was comfortable enough, and the crowd-pleasing Red Arrows were not a part this year. However, I saw the amazing vintage aircraft dating from the wars, and I also stayed for the fireworks on the beach.

September: September brought some nice weather days, and one of the better days was near the beginning of the month when I visited another National Trust property, Hughenden Manor, in Buckinghamshire. The home was owned by Benjamin Disreali, a former prime ministor from Queen Victoria's days; it was also used for map-making during World War II. The house also has some items on show given by Queen Victoria. I really enjoyed my visit to this secluded country mansion and enjoyed the beautiful garden.

Also in September, I visited Leeds Castle to see their annual "Festival of Flowers" ("Leeds Festival of Flowers" marks 900 years of Leeds Castle). Every September, the castle's rooms are decorated with beautiful flowers that have been arranged by professional florists, and I really enjoyed seeing the creativity of the flowers to complement the different rooms. My favourite room floral design, pictured below, was in the Great Hall. It was decorated with golden wheat and flowers in pink, dark red, and white colours. It reminded me of the country.

I also visited Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens, another National Trust property and a very popular one located south of London. It was not my favourite property, but it is more famous for the beautiful gardens rather than house. I wanted to see this property earlier in the summer, but by the time that I had a chance to visit it, most of the flowers in the garden were over. The orange garden by the cottage did look pretty, though. I may have enjoyed the property more if I had visited a couple of weeks earlier.

I also visited Hampstead in London at the end of the month where there are two National Trust properties. The first one was Fenton House (Apple Day at Fenton House (National Trust in Hampstead, London)), which hosted its annual Apple Day event. The house has a collection of ceramics, but the main highlight at Fenton House are the gardens and orchard. On Apple Day, it is extra special with apple-related products and crafts for children. After visiting Fenton House for the popular Apple Day, I walked to Willow Road to see the modernist home of architect Erno Goldfinger (2 Willow Road in Hampstead).

After work at the end of the month, I also got to see the first phase of the illuminated bridges on the Thames (London Illuminated Bridges (Phase One) 2019). I have rarely worked in London this year, so I had to make a trip in to London after work in order to see them.

October: October went very quickly. It was enjoyed by taking a walk to see some autumnal colour at Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckinghamshire, England. This is a very large National Trust property to walk around, and classical statues and buildings (many created for the artistic and classical beauty) are dotted throughout the walk. I also visited The Vyne in Basingstoke (Hampshire, England) with friends.

Near the middle of October, phase two of the home renovations also started. Instead of going out, I had to spend a little bit of time and effort sorting out and moving boxes and items of furniture out of the way for the work to begin. The work is still on-going, but I imagine that it will not be completed until the end of January next year.

With the home renovations taking place, Halloween came and went. To get out of the house and try to appreciate Halloween, I explored London in search of London "Happy Halloween" Foodie Treats. I stopped off at Milk Train, Yolkin, Bubble Waffle, and a few other places in search of Halloween treats. I really enjoyed the macaroons from Yolkin (pictured below), and I really enjoyed the Bubble Waffle pumpkin ice cream too.

November: November came along quickly. I did not see the Guy Fawkes Bonfire Day fireworks this year. The weather was not good for fireworks anyway because of the wind and the rain, and I needed to sort out bits and pieces for the renovations, so my mind was far away from thinking about Bonfire Night. Although I saw some fall colour in October, November is the month where the autumnal colour was at the best. At work one day in the middle of the month, I did walk around the lake on site to enjoy the fall colours, which were at their prime then (Autumn Photographs at Feltham/Sunbury "Chertsey Road" Lake/Pond). 

Toward the end of November, the Christmas season officially kicked off for me. I do not like celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving, but I did break this tradition this year. A group of friends and I went to Waddesdon Manor to tour the house and grounds to visit the illuminated light trail (Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England)). This year, the theme of the Christmas trees and rooms in the house was based on Christmas music. In addition to seeing the house, there was also a Christmas market and two illuminated trails. We ran out of time to see the market and one of the trails, but I enjoyed the main illuminated trail. This was my first visit to Waddesdon Manor; I attempted to go at the end of April, but it was too busy. I will have to visit in the spring, and I would love to return next Christmas.

Toward the end of November, I went to Wembley Park after work to see the first ever Winterfest illuminations for Wembley on its launch day. Winterfest at Wembley Park is designed to bring people into the area to shop while they enjoy the lights (Winterfest in Wembley Park: Christmas in Technicolour). One of the highlights is Sonic Runway, which combines patterns of colour and a soundscape that visitors can walk through.

For Thanksgiving this year, I started the day with Christmas cocktails at Miracle pop-up at Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden. I went last year to the pop-up bar, and I found it to be amazing. After cocktails, I slowly made my way to the Riding House Cafe for Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving Dinner at Riding House Cafe). Unfortunately, I was not impressed with the food at the Riding House Cafe, so the Thanksgiving meal was my least favourite that I have had in the UK.

The day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday), I spent the day at Longleat and enjoyed the Festival of Lights (Longleat Festival of Lights: "Myths and Legends"), went on the safari to see the animals, saw additional animals in the park, and visited Longleat House. Longleat was a great day out and provided a much-needed break: Winter Safari and a Day Out at Longleat. 

December: December has gone quickly, and the renovations are still in progress. Since it is in progress, I have still been living amongst boxes and do not have room to decorate for the holidays this year. The holidays and Christmas are very far from my mind, but I did go to a couple of places to enjoy their decorations. The first place that I visited was Leeds Castle, which decorates its rooms for the season and has a Christmas market. The theme of the rooms at Leeds Castle was feathers and birds: Christmas at Leeds Castle: Magical Birds and Festive Feathers.

I also had a trip to the theatre to see "White Christmas" at Dominion Theatre, London. The show included some great music and helped get into a Christmas mood at a time when Christmas is so far from my mind.

I also met up with friends at Kingston Lacy House again, and we explored the house and a winter light trail. The house was decorated with a few Christmas trees, and the illuminated light trail was a nice walk through a colourful forest: Christmas at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England) and Winter Light Trail at National Trust's Kingston Lacy House (Dorset, England). I also enjoyed seeing London decorated for Christmas, including Covent Garden for Christmas. I was also able to check out London's lights and decorations throughout the past six weeks.

Since the house renovation work was not completed in time for the holidays, I decided to take the opportunity to wake up early in order to go into London on Christmas Day and to see it without the usual crowds. London on Christmas Day was pretty amazing as it only took half an hour to drive to Marble Arch and not long at all to get to Tower Bridge. In all of the ground covered whilst driving, I only saw seven places open for coffee or souvinirs. I'm not including restaurants or hotels because hotels would be open, and some restaurants would have opened later if they planned on hosting for Christmas.

After the trip into London, Christmas lunch had to be enjoyed at a restaurant/pub this year, so I booked Christmas Lunch at The Apple Tree, Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire a week ago. The food and drink was really yummy.

I've spent as much time as I could working this year, especially as March and April were low points, so I have spent the time in between Christmas and New Year working. When not working, I've been painting the house, cleaning the grime from the building work, and attempting to get some items out of the way. 

I did not live up to my promises for 2019 at the end of 2018, but I do hope that 2020 will allow those to come to fruition. Stability and success was what I was looking for from 2019, but it did not happen. I am in the process of making some changes, so readers will just have to see what happens in 2020. My goals, the same as before, are to take better care of myself and not work myself to death, plan days to look forward to, and travel. Happy New Year!

London did not disappoint this year with its Christmas lights and decorations. Many of the lights and decorations this year have been reused from previous years. The areas to see Christmas lights and decorations in London include Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Mayfair, and King's Cross. South Bank, the City, and the Strand also have their own decorations; I never got pohotographs of some of them this year, but they are similar to or the same as in previous years. 

Carnaby Street: A firm favourite, this street's Christmas lights change every year. Carnaby Street runs just off Regent's Street and Oxford Street, and this year's lights are "One Ocean, One Planet" for "Project Zero", which aims to draw attention to the pollution in the oceans. The lights include giant coral, tortoises, seahorses, and dolphins. For more information, read about it here: Carnaby Street Christmas "One Ocean One Planet".

Soho: Just beyond Carnaby Street is Soho, and the SoHoHoHo lights have returned this year. They were red last year, but they are blue this year. The lights can be seen around Carnaby Street.

Regent Street: Like the past year, the festive angels of Regent Street have returned. These were a throw-back to the streets Christmas decorations many years ago. They are a firm favourite and more interesting than some of the Christmas lights in London. Regent Street also has some shops that decorate for the holidays, including the famous toy story Hamley's. The shop windows this year looked very much like last year's with the soft toy display, so I did not bother to snap a photograph. Continue to walk up Regent Street and you will come to Maddox Street, a couple of blocks from where Oxford Circus is. Maddox Gallery have been putting on a nice display the past couple of years.

Liberty Department Store: At the end of Carnaby Street is Liberty Department Store. The windows were nothing special this year, so I did not bother with a photograph, but I do like their Christmas trees that decorate the outside. However, the main attraction for them this year was inside where a giant Christmas tree (a bonsai) has been constructed out of velvet. It is called "The Tree of Liberty" and is made from purple and blue velvet. 

Oxford Street: Many of the shops along Oxford Street have decorations and Christmas lights on them. This year, Oxford Circus has new lights that replaced its round orbs. The lights are programmed to display different messages onto them. They didn't win me over because they were not very festive, and the light has to be very low in order to really see them.

St. Christopher's Place: This little alleyway off of Oxford Street always decorates for the holiday season. The decorations are always the same or very similar with festive large orbs. This year, they have added tinsel and snowflakes and went with a white theme with purple and red.

Selfridges Department Store: Selfridges department store on Oxford Street cover their shop front with pine and lights. The store windows are usually worth a look, but they have been a little disappointing in recent years. I took a photograph of the main window on the corner with a silver boat and moon and one of the other windows. The silver boat looked nice because it rotated around.

Wembley: Visitors to Wembley can check out new wintery illuminations at the area's Winterfest (Winterfest in Wembley Park: Christmas in Technicolour), new this year. Included at the attraction are a few illuminations, a giant lit-up and walk-through Christmas tree, and other interactive illuminations. It was one of the places to get selfies this winter.

The Churchill Arms. Although I did not visit this year, the Churchill Arms always puts on a spectacular display of Christmas trees covering every inch of the pub. The pub is located near Notting Hill.

The Ivy Chelsea Garden: King's Road is home to The Ivy Chelsea Garden restaurant, and they have been going all out with the decorations. The decorations are perfect for selfie-lovers in mind. This year, they have gone a frosty white with an ice throne, which is perfect for visitors who want a photograph.

Peggy Porschen: This cute pink cafe has two branches: one on King's Road and the other on Elizabeth Street. Each year, the decorations change in its branches, and they have cute cupcakes for sale with the winter theme. You can read more here: Peggy Porschen Winter 2019. A similar shop with floral displays includes Fait Maison (Gloucester Road).

The Strand: The Strand's Christmas lights remain the same as they have the past couple of years, and I did not get a photograph this year.

Somerset House: This is the place to visit for ice skating. It also has a lovely Christmas tree and typically has some events taking place. This year, it has been hosting a giant gingerbread city. I have not been to visit this year.

Covent Garden: One of the highlights to a London Christmas is certainly Covent Garden (Covent Garden Christmas 2019). Each year, it has multiple decorations, including a massive Christmas tree. The shops around it decorate as well, so you will always see something new. This year has a couple of places to take selfies with beautiful decorated tree and floral displays, a gingerbread Covent Garden, giant tree, Tiffany wonderland with an ice rink, and much more.

Seven Dials: The past few years, this area of London has been changing their Christmas lights every year. This year, it has a star theme with gold and pink stars. It's not my favoruite display, but it does look kind of pretty around the Seven Dials dial.

Leicester Square: As in the previous three or four years, Leicester Square's square now hosts a Christmas market, food/drink area, and attraction tent. 

Fortnum & Mason: I enjoy looking at the window displays in Fortnum & Mason each year. They seem to be similar to the decorations last year, and they were nothing special really. However, I love the store front design this year with the shop appearing to look like a giant advent calendar.

South Bank: South Bank has its own Christmas market along the bank and the food Christmas market, which is hosted at weekends. If you're in the area, it's worth visiting.

London Bridge City: New to this year's Christmas offerings (at least on the same scale) is the area on the south bank of the Thames between London and Tower bridges. This area has been named London Bridge City, and it has a long row of Christmas market and street food stalls. It is also hosting a snowman trail. It was busy when I visited it in mid-December.

King's Cross: Each year, St. Pancras International station at King's Cross has a unique Christmas tree from one of the big brands. This year, the tree is from beauty company Lancôme. It is in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, which is fitting for the hub of the Eurostar. Also, a short walk away is a new market area Coal Drops Yard, and they have decorated for Christmas this year. The area opened up toward the end of last year, but I never paid it a visit. This year, they have lights and brightly-coloured trees.

Mayfair: Mayfair is an area to visit if you want to see a lot of decorations. There are some lights, such as the peacock feathers and diamonds along Bond Street; these lights have been around for a long while. South Moulton Street used to have blue archway lights, but they were not placed out this year. A firm favourite is the club Anabel's, located on Berkeley Square. This year, it is a white Christmas tree with giant gold baubles. When I visited, I also saw a polar bear! It is always busy here with so many people coming to snap photographs. Other favourites in the area include a wine shop, Stella McCarney, and Cartier.

The Connaught Christmas tree: The Connaught hotel's Christmas tree is designed by an artist each year.  This year, the artist is Sean Scully. For more information, see: Sean Scully Designs 2019 Connaught Christmas Tree.

Burlington Arcade: The arcades around Mayfair look nice at Christmas. 

Trafalgar Square: Each year, the traditional Christmas tree from Norway is brought to the square and decorated. Trafalgar Square also hosts carol-singing. 

Previous London Christmas lights are below:

• Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays
• Where to see London's Christmas Lights 2017
• London's Christmas Lights 2016
• Christmas Lights and Windows 2015
• London Christmas Lights 2014
• London's Christmas Lights 2013
• London Christmas Lights and Window Displays 2012

Previous London Window displays are below (I've phased these out as they have not been as interesting the past few years and more interest seems to be on the facade of the building as opposed to displays inside the windows):

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011

Since "home" is in the middle of major renovations and a mess, I had to resort to booking Christmas lunch this year. I choose to book The Apple Tree in Gerrards Cross (Buckinghamshire, England). At a 15-minute drive from home and a restaurant that I had a good meal at for the first time three months ago, I decided to book at short notice for Christmas Day. The food was good, and I wasn't disappointed. This is probably not something that I will do again, but the main room, dining table, and kitchen are full of boxes, so I did not really have a choice.

The Apple Tree is located in Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, England. This isn't too far from Beaconsfield or Denham about twenty miles to the west of London. (It's actually not too far from just outside the M25 road around London.)

I choose the option for the six-course Christmas Day meal. This included a glass of champagne to start and a plate of bread, olives, and a choice of butter and dip for the bread. The meal also included the Christmas crackers.

The starter was a choice between seven different options, and I had the apple and parsnip soup, which was delicious. It had slices of parsnip on top and came with bread and butter.

We also ordered a couple of cocktails; they have a great selection at The Apple Tree.

As a part of the meal, we also received amuse bouche, a little vegetarian taster prepared by the chef. It was something that neither of us would eat: pickled onion and beetroot. This arrived before the soup.

I had the turkey, which came with gravy and bread sauce and a delicious cranberry sauce pie. It also came with a lump of stuffing and a bacon wrapped in sausage (pigs in blankets). The bloke had the venision, and it came in a jus with blackberries and onions. Both meals included some roast potatoes. The vegetables to share were sprouts cooked with chestnuts and cubed carrots cooked with a bit of pepper. The food was delicious, but the turkey was a little too dry for me.

There were six options of main to have, and the others included fish, beef wellington, lamb, and a vegetarian bake.

I actually struggled to eat all of my food! And I still had two more courses to go. The last course, which we could choose, was the dessert, and we both had the brownie. Christmas pudding, mousse, creme brulee, plum tart, cheese board, and a cherry and chocolate pudding. The brownie came with ice cream and honeycomb pieces. It was delicious and not as heavy as it looks. It was light and tasty, and we both struggled to finish it.

The last course that we had included a cocktail of our choice between six options and two chocolate truffles. I had a cosmopolitan, and the bloke had a Bailey's cocktail. 

Overall, the food was delicious but a bit too filling; we certainly did not leave hungry. I really enjoyed the visit, and the first meal that I had three months ago was also good, so I will return at some point in the new year.

Chrsitmas Day in London is known for being nearly empty, and to see the city in that emptiness has been on my London list for a few years. I heard from someone that London on Christmas Day is getting a bit busier this year, but it's still very quiet compared to how it normally is. Public transportation (buses, trains) do not run on Christmas Day, and taxis are limited; this contributes to the lack of visitors. However, visitors can drive to the city or ride a bike. I had a drive around earlier this morning. Although London was not completely quiet, it was significantly quiet with the ability to drive from Marble Arch to Tower Bridge without traffic jams. It also only took thirty minutes to drive from home to Marble Arch; this journey would normally take longer due to traffic. There were a few other cars and tourists who had the same idea. No doubt that these others were also taking advantage of the city being so quiet.

Seeing normally over-crowded streets such as Oxford Street/Oxford Circus and Regent Street actually quiet was strange. The drive went down Oxford Street, Regents Street, and around Piccadilly Circus a couple of times. I went into Soho, past Seven Dials, down the Strand, around Trafalgar Square, past Holborn, into the City of London, and across Tower Bridge twice. The most amount of people that I saw were on Tower Bridge.

It was normally the same car or two in front of me, but driving around central London took minutes instead of hours, and I liked this. It allowed me to see London in a different light. While not completely quiet in some of my photographs, you can still get an idea of how quiet the city was on Christmas Day morning. Have a look below.

In total, I counted seven coffee shops or souvinir shops that were open for business. This was rare as I did travel a lot of ground. There are also a few places to get Christmas lunch, and I noted a couple of these places looked to be open as well, so tourists staying centrally could easily do a little bit of sight-seeing without the crowds and enjoy Christmas lunch. Happy holidays to all of my readers.

Covent Garden has become one of the best places in London for Christmas decorations, and this year did not disappoint. In fact, I've created a post to highlight Covent Garden at Christmas because there is so much to see here. This year, Covent Garden has brought a couple of new experiences: a little wonderland of decorated Christmas trees, a festive ice rink, and a gingerbread model of Covent Garden. Of course, there are the usual restaurants, cafes, shops, and opera house that make Covent Garden a great place to visit.

Visitors may remember last year's post. Last year's Covent Garden decorations are lights can be found here: Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays. This year, the festive Christmas trees are gathered on the northern end of the market. Last year, Covent Garden had a decorated vintage car here. In addition to the Christmas trees, there are several wagons decorated and a swing decorated with pine and red flowers.

I loved the decorated trees, and each one was decorated by a business located in Covent Garden.

Inside the market is a model of the Covent Garden market made of gingerbread. The gingerbread Covent Garden was created by biscuit company Biscuiteers (I've previously covered them here: Queen's 90th Birthday @ Biscuiteers). The model is beautiful and captures Covent Garden well and beautiful decorated for Christmas.

As the previous few years, the mistletoe berry Christmas lights have been placed around the main hall in Covent Garden, pictured below.

Another treat this year is brought to us by Tiffany & Co. Visitors to Covent Garden can ice skate on the small ice skating rink here and enjoy a festive setting with the Tiffany & Co perfume as the centrepiece.

Inside the market hall is another Christmas display that is perfect for photographs; this is the usual space dedicated to highlighting seasonal decorations and is located on the western side of the market hall.

On the market square (sotuhern side) is the Ivy Grill restaurant, and they decorate every year. This year, they have gone for the traditional red and green decorations with nearly life-sized nutcracker statues. These were very popular with people wanting photographs.

As every year, the large Christmas tree has been put up at Covent Garden piazza, amongst the street performers. The tree is positioned to appear as if it is in a large wooden planter, tied with a bow, keeping it consistent with the previous years. However, the other large oranment, the giant silver reindeer, has not made an appearance this year as the spot that it usually occupies is taken over by Tiffany & Co.

This part of London is looking very festive indeed! If you wish to see what it looked like in previous years, see below:

Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays
Where to See London's Christmas Lights 2017
Lego "Let's Build Xmas" in Covent Garden
London's Christmas Lights 2016: A Trail
Where to See Christmas Lights in London
Christmas Mistletoe in Covent Garden
Lego Santa Express in Covent Garden
London's Christmas Lights 2014
Covent Garden's New Shiny Reindeer
Santa and Reindeer Lego for Christmas in Covent Garden
Covent Garden's Christmas Lego Snow Globe
Lego Advent Calendar in Covent Garden
London Christmas Lights 2012 and Window Displays

The medieval moated house of Ightham Mote is a Grade I listed building in Kent, England. Over the winter months, part of the house is closed to the public, but part of it is decorated at Christmas. This was my first visit to Ightham Mote, so I was unable to see most of the house but did get to see a lot of the ground floor, but it was much too busy to look at anything or talk to the volunteers about the history. I do hope to return when it is open to learn more about it instead of just paying a fleeting visit.

Ightham Mote was probably built in the mid-1300s, and it was sold to the Selby family in the late 1500s. The house was rented out to American Railroad man William Jackson Palmer in the late 1800s and then became a centre for artists and writers before being put up for sale in the late 1800s after the death of Selby family. The property would pass hands again before being purchased in 1953 by an American who had known the property during his time in World War II. He had made repairs to the house, and he gave the property to the National Trust, which took possession in 1985 when he passed away. From the late 1980s, the property underwent a several-year conservation project, and this uncovered some new features as well as gave the house a new lease of life as it was in need of repair.

The house is beautiful and contains an inner courtyard and rooms that appear to have been added on at different stages of its life. The Great Hall is the most ellaborate room (pictured above).

The exterior of the property is also attractive as a timber-framed and brick building with a moat surrounding it.

Christmas trees and decorations really gave the house a festive atmosphere, and I hope to be going back to visit it next spring so I can read and learn about it and view the rest of the house.

Last week, I headed over to Peggy Porschen Bakery between Victoria and Sloane Square to check out their winter and Christmas goodies this year. Peggy Porschen is one of the most photographed locations in London due to its pretty pink storefront and creative cupcakes, cakes, and hot drinks. This year, they brought back some old favourites and included some new treats into the mix, such as peppermint cupcakes with designs of polar bears, penguins, and snowflakes. Readers of my blog may remember last year's post when I visited them for the first time: A Christmas Visit to Peggy Porschen Bakery.

The shop front this year was minimal on the florals but included some white twigs, snowflake lights, and a large polar bear, similar to the design on their cupcakes this Christmas.

I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate with a lot of marshmallows and a peppermint cupcake.

The polar bears and penguins really look adorable, and the cupcakes were good. The cost for the goodies is not cheap, and visitors pay for the design and the seating in the trendy cafe. 

More posts about Peggy Porschen on this blog are below:

Summer at Peggy Porschen Cafe King's Road
Easter at the New Peggy Porschen Cafe, King's Road
February/March Heart and Floral Designs at London Shops
A Christmas Visit to Peggy Porschen Bakery