The Cronx. December 2013

After what seems like donkeys years Croydon is finally taking  on a new look. Those of you who have abandoned Croydon will have to dig deep to work out where this new place is. A new entrance to East Croydon Station has been built in Dingwall Road. The old Warehouse Theatre has been demolished and the whole area behind it has also been cleared to make way for restaurants, shops and flats, all linking with the station. So from the station, going towards town, the first turn on the right is where the new stuff begins. The new entrance is down by the  old Spillers roundabout and multi storey car park.There is a new Premier Inn and a huge complex of posh flats. They had a "Grand Opening" a few weeks ago.

New entrance.

 They made a really big thing of it with fireworks and street entertainers.

We also saw the lovely Yaz from Pip and Squeak.

 

She was absolutely frozen but still managed to smile. By the way, her stuff is lovely, photos on FB just don't do it justice. 

From Here To Eternity. December 2013.

 Tonight we went to see the new Tim Rice musical From Here To Eternity. We went with some friends who are able to get tickets  for almost nothing £3 in fact. The original film was made in 1953. Then the stars were Frank Sinatra, Burt  Lancaster, Montgomerie Clift and Ernest Borgnine. It was considered a bit steamy back then, but by today's standards ..........  very tame and predictable.  The cast now had Darius from the XFactor and a whole bunch of excellent singers and actors that I'd never heard of. To be fair they had cast the show very well, the actors all bore more than a passing resemblance to the original film cast.

 We had a bit of a wander around and London is looking very festive

                    

                      

Got to love London in the winter.

Autumn Colour 15th November 2013

The weather was absolutely glorious on Friday so we headed off to Winkworth Arboretum. Not a lot to say about it really but the colours were superb. Since we were there last they have built a viewing platform. You can see for miles.

    Had to queue up to get this shot. Lots of folks wanting to capture the sunlight shining through the leaves.

 Beautiful maple.

  

While we were there we saw a bloke striding along bare foot wearing shorts. Very weird. His feet were covered in mud but he seemed ok, so we did the British thing and ignored him! 

Christmas Ideal Home Exhibition. November 2013.

We went to the Ideal Home Exhibition last year. Although its full of fabulous stuff, there is nothing that you actually  want to buy. However, it's a good day out. I managed to get some free tickets for the Christmas Home Exhibition so off we went. 

It was all very Christmassy, with lots of lights, Christmas trees and fake snow.

 

 So,while I'm mincing about taking photos of all things Christmas, Malcolm is taking photos of this soppy bint

                         

                           

   The place was full of groups of women and couples like us. We didn't have a clue who she was and neither did most people  walking past. Why the event managers thought she would be a good advert for the show is a bit of a mystery. Well, not a real mystery obviously, but wrong for the audience I think. Mary Berry would have been better 😊

Anyway..... it was a good day out. All things Christmas were available as well as all the other old rubbish like miracle peelers and super cloths. No, we didn't buy any. Malcolm would have done if he'd been on his own though! 

 They even had an ice rink.

Just a few nuts!!

William's Birthday November 2013.

Can't believe that this gorgeous little boy is now 6.

 On the Sunday after his birthday Emma had a family get- together. It's lovely to see everybody and William gets some help with his toys.

      

    

   Good old Grandad. Grandpa was also busy assembling but he was out of sight!

  

 

We bought William a skateboard.

I think he liked it. James took him outside for some tuition. Just as well James was there, William is fearless.

It's going to take a bit of practice.! We also had the obligatory pyrotechnic show

                                      

          

                      

     Vic, I'm not sure this is clear enough but can you see what Phoebe is wearing

     

After the fireworks we went inside for some yummy food and cake

Happy Birthday .xx

In the wars November 2013

For a long time I have had a lump on my eyelid. My GP has always been a bit dismissive about removing it. It's not dangerous and will be difficult to remove has always been the response. However,I now have a new GP who sent me to the eye clinic. If you've never been to Mayday eye clinic you can count yourself lucky. I spent hours there with my mum and was not looking forward to it. As luck would have it my appointment was with the consultant, a jolly chap called Mr Childes. 

"Yep" he said, "I can whip that off now" Had a little panic as  I was only expecting a consultation👀

It looked a bit grim but wasn't painful and it has healed completely now.

I also had to have a blood test

That did actually hurt, and still hasn't healed. Ouchy ouch.

October Half Term 2013

As always we were happy to help out with child care during the holidays. We only had the kids for two days this time and as the weather was rubbish on Monday we took them to the cinema. They wanted to see Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. I didn't have a clue what was going on, but judging by the happy kids all around us it was clearly a popular film.

On Tuesday Jo came to stay. Phoebe, Abigail and William haven't seen Madelyn for ages and they were very excited at the thought of her coming to stay. On Tuesday morning Phoebe and Abigail played schools while we waited for Jo.

Spot the real boy!

They only had one real pupil and he soon got bored, so more teddies were brought in to make up the numbers. Not really sure why I've still got this many soft toys in my house.

Trying to make lunch for everyone was a bit of a challenge. I think Phoebe got fed up with me asking what they wanted so she marched into the kitchen with this. 

 

                  ⬆ and stuck it in front of me.

After lunch we went to the shop and everyone chose a magazine. There were lots of stickers to put in and everyone needed a bit of help.

Even grandad got in on the act.

 Madelyn was a bit under the weather but the kids had a plan to cheer her up

   Peppa Pig time. Yay!!

              

The weather was bright and sunny the next day so we got togged up and headed off to the park.

                                      

 It was lovely seeing everyone having fun together.

Despite feeling poorly Madelyn had a good time.

   Lovely girls xx

We got cold after a while so we came back for lunch

We had planned to go out again but the toys came out so did the chocolate,so we stayed put.

                                    

 

I took the kids over to the park to collect conkers. Grandad and William turned them into game conkers.

       

A few whacked knuckles and the game was soon finished.

It was super lovely to have all my gorgeous grandchildren together. Sadly it doesn't happen often

                               

     

All to soon it was time to take Jo and Madelyn home. We stopped off to pick up some shopping. Madelyn was feeling much better now

 Crazy baby . 

  These are a couple of photos that Madelyn's childminder sent to Jo. 

 

              

    Lovely smiley little sweetheart.

                It was Williams birthday on Thursday. He went for a curry.!!

                  Birthday boy.

                    And his lovely sisters

                            

   Cheers!!