Brighton Sewer Walk

This morning, bright and early, we met up at Palace Pier to embark on our Brighton sewer walk. It was beautiful this morning - cloudless sky, nice and warm, even at 9:15. Perfect time to go underground into the sewer!

We were outfitted in hard hats and latex gloves. I used this opportunity to show off my fabulous bee wellingtons!

The smell - not as bad as you'd think, but not very nice, either. They warned us about sewer rats, but I didn't see any. Did see other nibblies, though! The jokes - you can imagine what they were like. My favourite was "poovenir".

The tunnels themselves were impressive. Those Victorian engineers really knew what they were doing. The tunnels are made of brick four layers deep. They estimate they used 7 million to build them. The tunnels were designed in an egg shape, which helps propel the water through the tunnels and breaking up large bits of debris (you know what I mean by debris!) We finished the tour by climbing up a ladder and exiting via a manhole by the Royal Pavilion. Great tour!

If you're interested in learning more:

www.southernwater.co.uk/homeAndLeisure/daysOut/brightonSewerTours

Dead Birds

Heather e-mailed me reporting she had found a bird carcass in the apartment this morning. We agreed that it is way better to find the body than to try and save them as they're frantically bashing into windows and such and all the cats are kill mode.

When Pony was just little another neighbourhood cat taught him how to hunt. It was obvious that they were in cahoots. The other cat never came by to eat or try and move in - it was purely a professional relationship. I have a great picture of him with one of his first kills but the photo is at home. I thought I'd put up a couple of other cute ones of my boy.

Another time Arthur had a poor little bird in the house. I valiantly tried to save it. I managed to pick him up and put him back in the tree outside my apartment. Alas, it was all in vain. Arthur nimbly jumped up into the tree and grabbed him. Bye bye birdie...

Something new every day

 

It is very difficult to find bedding that is: (a)100% cotton; (b)any colour other than white. Why? Who knows.

Today I miraculously found coloured 100% Egyptian cotton sheets and pillowcases. I couldn't tell how many cases were in the package so I asked the clerk. Apparently here an "Oxford" is one pillowcase and a "Housewife" is two (and costs a pound less!). Go figure!!

Funny Kitty Story

You gotta check this out!

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/japantourismanimalcatoffbeat

Hockey

Who says England knows nothing of hockey? We're watching Detroit v. Pittsburgh right now. Yes, it's 3:30am, but it's on!

Some Updates

This boiler thing has really got me worked up. But, you will be thrilled to find out that I have FINALLY fixed it. The water pressure is still terrible, but the hot water is a go! Maybe I can get a job as a boiler technician!

On a sadder note, something has happened to my kitty friend, Ginger. I'm hoping he's either on vacation or has found a new hangout, but I haven't seen him in almost two weeks.

Jay got back from Korea and had a very successful trip. It sure is great to have him back. It's a long weekend here and a bunch of us are going to Lemurland! I'll promise to take lots of photos. I've been a little slack in that area lately, but I'll do better.

I've also been slack in my Wii play - I did another fitness test and I've gone up by 8 years.

I also recommend "Happy-Go-Lucky" - Mike Leigh's new movie. Very upbeat without being too sappy.

Alrighty then - ta ta for now!

Perhaps

My cat, Pony, died. I have his ashes here with me in England. I like to joke, "he's the first cat I brought over". Tonight I finally really mourned him and cried. No, I wept for the loss of him, for the beauty of him, and for the absence of him. How can you ever replace your first kitty love?

A Neat Thing I Discovered Today

Remember my "itsy bitsy spider"? Well, another spider showed up today and I was showing him the door when I accidentally flipped him over. He curled up and went still, like a caterpillar. Made it much easier to put him back outside!

Appliances

There are things we take for granted in Canada. Hot water and water pressure have be at the top of my list. Our tub takes more than an hour to fill and a shower is out of the question. Our flat has a small boiler that heats the radiators and the hot water. I read the manual several times - I was endeavoring to turn off the central heating as it's quite warm here now and it seemed like an enormous waste of energy.

I thought I had achieved success, but actually made things worse - the hot water would only stay on for a few minutes. I don't think the boiler was actually firing at all! So I re-read the manual and peered at the boiler like Mole from "Wind in the Willows" incessantly. I finally ascertained that it wasn't pressurized properly. I called the appliance company and they walked me through the procedure to re-pressurize it. Ridiculously simple, really! But, there still isn't a lot of hot water. I feel like I'm camping. I hate camping.

The knob on the dishwasher broke. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I'm not naturally handy, but I'm learning...

London

Last weekend Jay and I went to London. We stayed in a lovely hotel - this is the view...



Our first night we went to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Hammersmith Apollo Theater. It was my first Nick Cave show. Cathy saw him in Montreal and said the show was "a religious experience for the secular". I wouldn't go that far, but he does put on quite a show.

Saturday we visited the Tate Britain - you really can along take in some much art a time. There is so much in there. I saw one of my favorite paintings - the Lady of Shalott. Of course, no photos inside the gallery, but I did take a side view of the gallery.



We then wandered around London. Man there are a lot of people there! And we were in prime tourist real estate on a sunny Saturday. Fighting crowds is a little frustrating. But, saw everything a good tourist should! Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Parliament Buildings, Carnaby Street, the Eye.

This little guy was on a lamp post and i couldn't resist taking his picture.



We were planning on seeing Wicked, but couldn't get very good seats so decided to come up during the week at a later day. It is supposed to be fantastic (the book certainly was) and I really want to see it. We ended up going to a comedy club for the midnight show. Six comedians, including two Canadians. What are the chances of that happening? There was another Vancouverite in the audience, too. I've never seen stand-up live before and it was great.

We got up late on Sunday morning and had to race to the London Dungeon after breakfast because footie (Man Utd. v. Wigan) was on at 3pm. The Dungeon tour was interesting (not very scary, but I did jump a couple of times). We were stuck with a huge group of Belgians - large numbers never move very fast do they? And no one wanted to be in the front and be singled out by the tour guides.

I thought they did a pretty good job. The tour takes you through history, starting with the plague in 1665. There are a couple of rides along the way - yay! At the end, a sweet mini hellevator drop from the gallows. They take a snap shot when the ride drops. Jay looks calm as ever, but I look terrified. I did scream, I fully admit it!

And then, football. Here's us in the pub...

 

I just could not resist buying this off e-bay (it came all the way from china). It's really like Phillip on a bad day.

Baby Needed Some New...

 
 
 

And now Baby is happy!

Not So Itsy Bitsy Spider

I fell asleep on the couch last night and this morning I was folding up the blanket when I discovered a new friend. I really hope it came in this morning.

Arundel Castle

I've been pretty busy since my last post and the weather here is incredible - cloudless hot days with a nice breeze. Hope that doesn't mean that it will rain the rest of the summer...

On Sunday a group of us went to check out Arundel Castle, which is one of the oldest country "homes" in England. The motte (a tall artifical mound) is the oldest part of the castle - built in 1068. I was born in 1968, and using my incredible powers of mathematics (or "maths" as they like to say here), that means this place is 900 years older than I am!

It was really incredible - gorgeous gardens, private chapel, the view from the Keep.