Frosty Day Dog Walk

Here's the garden after our hard frost on Friday night, looking white and icy. You can see Olga sniffing around in the flowerbed, taking in the changes. We had another frost last night, down to -4º C (25º F).

The banana tree is not happy. We wound up not covering either it or the tree fern -- Dave is convinced they'll be fine, though the banana will lose its leaves -- so we'll see how that works.

The acanthus isn't too happy either, but I think it will perk back up.

I left a few things out that in years past I've tried to shelter -- the Asiatic lilies, for example. Dave is sure they'll be OK, and I'd like to reduce the number of flowerpots I move around every winter. I also left out one pink dahlia in a pot, as I did last year. It's kind of an experiment, to see how well it overwinters. If I could leave all the dahlias out (rather than putting the pots in the shed) that will save me a lot of work.

Dave had another concert yesterday, and with him gone I became a proverbial white tornado. I gave the apartment a top-to-bottom cleaning, including under our bed and the couch, and I took care of the plants. I also did two loads of laundry and took our sheets to the cleaners. I'm trying to get this place into shape for the dog-sitter, even though she doesn't come for another nine days. I'm thinking ahead.

In the afternoon I took Olga to the cemetery for a frosty romp. As you'll see in the video, right after we got there I threw her tennis ball and it fell into a big hole left by the removal of a tree stump. She was quite distressed, but we got it back. Whew!

One funny thing I forgot to mention about yesterday's MRI. You know how you have to answer all those questions about whether your body contains metal bits before they'll let you into the machine? Well, one of the questions they asked was whether I was wearing magnetic false eyelashes. I didn't know that's even a thing, but apparently it is -- if I understand it right, they attach onto your regular eyelashes with the aid of tiny magnetic strips.

You know, sometimes people marvel that humanity went to the moon. And that is marvelous. But I am also incredulous at the crazy inventions we use in our everyday lives. Magnetic false eyelashes?!

Mason

This is the BT tower as seen from the top of the hill one street over from our flat. I caught it just at sunrise on my walk to work the other day.

The video banner at the top seemed to be carrying a birthday message:

I'm not sure Mason is fully able to appreciate that, but maybe he'll see pictures when he's older!

Yesterday I went for yet another medical test, an MRI related to my CT scan a couple of weeks ago. I've had an MRI before so I kind of knew what to expect, but it was still a little unnerving, being slid into that big tube and having that machine buzzing and clanking around me. I was given earplugs to block most of the noise and I found if I kept my eyes closed I could relax more. When I wasn't being given the "breathe/hold your breath" instructions I could even sort of doze. The whole thing took about 30 minutes.

The weirdest part was the sensation of mild heat during the scanning. I don't remember feeling anything on my previous MRI, but this one definitely made me feel warmth at times. I couldn't help wondering what it was doing to my cells, although supposedly MRIs are safer than CT scans and x-rays.

Anyway, hopefully I'm done with scanning for a while. This is all related to my chronic cough and my recurrent gastritis -- and, to be honest, my own paranoia and hypochondria -- and I paid for these scans out of my own pocket so I'm not hitting the NHS with the bills. I'm just trying to practice good preventive medicine. (By the way, the doctor's office called yesterday and said my blood tests from Thursday morning were normal except for my lipids, which is usually the case. They want me to come in for a consultation about my cholesterol, which I suppose I'll do after the holidays. My cholesterol is always high, but I think it's hereditary and there's no heart disease in my family. I really don't want to go on anti-cholesterol meds.)

So, yeah. Fun times.

Last night Dave and I had drinks with our former head of school and her husband, a teacher, at a wine bar around the corner. They live nearby and we hadn't really spent any time together socially, so it was interesting to get to know them both a little better. I had red wine, which is good for my blood vessels, right? See -- I am practicing preventive medicine.

Frosty Sunrise Walk

I had to go to the Royal Free hospital yesterday to get some routine blood tests done. My appointment was at 7:40 a.m., and I got there about 15 minutes early to find the testing center wasn't even open yet. I joined a line waiting in the hall and stood there until 7:41, when someone finally managed to open the doors and let us in. From there things went smoothly and I was done in a flash.

I left the hospital and walked to work through Belsize Park, where the sunrise gave the shopfronts an orange glow.

All the parked cars were wearing a layer of ice. I haven't even looked at the garden to see how it's fared during these cold snaps. Our fig tree was looking pretty droopy even before the frost. I should get out there this morning and take some pictures.

Anyway, I got to work at almost my normal time and spent an uneventful day. I read Maia Kobabe's book "Gender Queer," a controversial graphic novel in which Kobabe explains eir experience as a person categorized as female at birth but inhabiting a sort of gender in-between status as a non-binary teen and adult. (Kobabe uses the pronouns e, em, eir.) It was a fascinating, thought-provoking book, said by its publisher to be appropriate for people 16 and over, but some parents in the USA have targeted it partly because of sexual scenes and references. In our library, we're probably going to make it available to older high school students only. (The head librarian is reading it now and then we'll decide.)

I came home in the evening expecting to find Dave, who usually gets home before me, in his recliner as usual. But he had a concert, which I forgot about, so it was just me and the dog and a bowl of chili and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." (Which I have seen approximately a thousand times, and that's not enough.)

I was so glad to see that Brittney Griner has been permitted to leave Russia, though I think the guy we traded for her, arms dealer Viktor Bout, is purely evil and this deal could very well come back to bite us in the end. He did serve ten years in prison, at least, so it's not like he went unpunished. I wish we'd gotten the American marine, Paul Whelan, too -- Bout seems like a nefarious enough character that a two-for-one swap shouldn't have been out of the question. Not that I have any idea what it must be like to negotiate a prisoner swap with a rogue state like Russia.

The Boom Box Mystery

Here's another look at those blocks of flats that are due to be demolished at the corner of Abbey Road and Belsize Road. (The ones that are home to the now-closed Lillie Langtry pub, which you can see on the corner with sheet metal over its windows.)

There are two buildings of flats here, called Emminster and Hinstock, and beyond that a low building containing a community center. There's a doctor's office in there somewhere too. All of it's going to be torn down and replaced with more modern housing. I don't lament the loss of the buildings, which are not all that attractive, but I wonder how the people who live there feel.

Of the shops on the Abbey Road side, only Oscar's Den, a party and costume store, is still open. I believe at least some of the flats are still occupied because I see lights on, so I'm not sure of the timetable for the demolition, but I think it's sooner rather than later.

The weirdest thing happened yesterday at work. When I got to the office there was a box on my desk containing a brand-new portable stereo, shipped from an electronics supplier here in the UK. And the shipping label had my name on it! Who would buy me a boom box?! My co-workers assumed I ordered it, but when I said I didn't, they speculated that a "Secret Santa" had sent it. We do have a Secret Santa activity at work, where people sign up to give each other little anonymous gifts, but I didn't participate and besides, that's a pretty expensive purchase for a Secret Santa.

Another teacher, coincidentally visiting the library during this conversation, said the music department was missing a boom box. Sure enough, this was their replacement. We think whoever ordered it put my name on it by mistake because the guy in charge of purchase orders at school is also named Steve -- they simply put the wrong Steve's name on the order. As long as they didn't charge me!

Last night we met Mary, the dog-sitter who's going to stay in our flat and take care of Olga during our Florida trip. She came by and we showed her around and explained some of the quirks of the apartment. Although she lives in Basildon in Essex, she has family living in West Hampstead just on the other side of the tube station, so I'm glad she won't be spending the holidays with just a borrowed mongrel. Olga seemed to take to her but I think she was mainly interested in a cookie that Mary had in her bag. The nose always knows!

Trafalgar Tree

I went down to Trafalgar Square after work yesterday to see the Christmas tree, donated every year by Norway to show appreciation to the UK for its support in World War II. It was just lit five days ago and seems a pretty healthy specimen. Hard to believe it was standing in a forest outside Oslo just 19 days ago. I'm sure if it could express itself it would wish to still be there.

That's the National Gallery behind the tree, with a Christmas market laid out in front. (I didn't peruse the market.)

Also in the square is this creche, by sculptor Tomoaki Suzuki. Apparently Suzuki won the commission after the previous manger scene was demolished in 2004 by rowdy rugby fans. According to the Guardian, Suzuki "is not a Christian and had to be told the Nativity story."

Maybe that explains why one of my co-workers described the creche as "bizarre." I don't think I'd go that far, but it's not often you see a reclining Joseph (at right) or baby Jesus so...isolated. Why is everyone so spread out? Is it a Covid Christmas scene? There's also a donkey to the left of Mary that I couldn't even fit into the frame.

Here's a view across the square with the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (which sponsors the manger scene) in the background.

And that was about the only exciting thing I did yesterday. I brought the plants inside in the morning, as I planned, and today I might cover our banana and our tree fern. (Although Dave is pretty blasé about them and thinks they'll be fine unprotected. Our banana has come through past snowy winters but it always looks like hell by the time spring comes.)

Last night I watched most of "Blonde" on Netflix -- it's almost three hours long so I'll have to finish it tonight. It's a very interesting movie, a fictionalized life of Marilyn Monroe based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, with some engrossing camerawork. I've enjoyed it. We also recently watched "The Good Nurse" with Eddie Redmayne, about a nurse who travels from hospital to hospital killing his patients (and based, horrifyingly, on a true story). That was also worth watching, if you're looking for TV tips.

Oh, and thank goodness Warnock won in Georgia! Whew!

Snarling Beasts

Here's another sticker I found while wandering in the city. Olga on a bad day?

We're supposed to get slammed by some nasty cold weather this week. Tonight will dip down to freezing, and the next week or so will bring low temperatures in the 20s F (anywhere from 0 to -4 C). Supposedly this is due to cold air coming in from Greenland.

So after I write this post and the sun comes up, I have to bring in the geraniums and the Amistad sage, and put the canna lilies in the shed. I already brought in the cursed plectranthus, which for some reason I can't bring myself to allow to die. I'll cover the banana and the tree fern. Everything else ought to be OK with the cold, I think.

I like bringing in the plants. It gives me a cozy feeling to know they're protected behind double windows in our living room as winter descends outside. Apparently we might even get some snow early next week.

Dave's high school band winter concert was Sunday. (I say Dave's, but there are actually three band instructors who all share duties across middle and high school, so it's a group effort.) It was a bit rockier -- not in the rock n' roll sense, but in the performance sense -- than in previous years. Even my unskilled ear could tell a few things weren't right. I think these kids were set back by the pandemic, when they were essentially deprived of a couple of years of ensemble playing, and haven't yet come up to speed. I went to dinner with Dave and his fellow teachers afterwards and everyone agreed it was one of their less successful concerts.

But, you know, the kids still benefitted (and hopefully learned) from the experience, and parents don't care if things run a little off the rails as long as they can watch Jimmy and Susie perform.

Since I'm on a dog theme -- at least in terms blog photos -- here are two cute French bulldogs I met on my walk home last night. The white one was not amused that I was taking its picture. I violated one of the prime rules of news reporting in failing to get the dogs' names, but at least you have their wall-eyed little faces. The owner asked if I had a dog, and I said yes, a distant (and definitely less posh) relative of these two!

Millennium Bridge to Wapping

The second part of my walk on Saturday took me past iconic London views like Tower Bridge (above). To the right you can see the HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy cruiser that now operates as a museum. I've never been on it. I suppose I should do that one of these days -- maybe the next time Dave's dad visits. He's into boats and military stuff.

The ginkgo trees (at least I think that's what they are) near the tower of St. Mary Somerset Church had turned a brilliant yellow. This is a peculiar structure -- the church was rebuilt in the 1680s after the Great Fire of London, and used for about 200 years before the congregation shrank as people moved from inner London to the eastern suburbs. The body of the church was then demolished in 1871, but for some reason the tower was saved, and now stands all on its own.

At Queenhithe, an ancient wharf area, a long (30 meters!) mosaic traces the timeline of human activity at that point. As you can see above, in 600 AD, the bubonic plague struck, and of course struck many times again over the centuries. For a closer look at the rest of the mosaic click here. I'd never heard of this treasure but it's a fascinating piece of work and I wish more visitors knew where to find it.

A construction site across the river was getting into the holiday spirit.

Some sidewalk graffiti to ponder!

Silly stickers on the riverfront railing make me smile.

I navigated my way past the crowds at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, and found myself in a confusing neighborhood of waterways and pedestrian bridges called St. Katharine Docks. As much as I've walked around London I don't think I've ever been in this area before. There are several boat basins filled with fancy watercraft and surrounded by apartments and this pub, The Dickens Inn. (Where, thank God, there was an accessible loo.)

After wandering around St. Katharine Docks for a while, trying to figure out how to get out of there, I found my way to Wapping High Street, where the Blitz Memorial (above) by artist Wendy Taylor commemorates the people of East London who were killed in the Blitz in World War II. It stands in a small park called the Hermitage Riverside Memorial Garden, overlooked by some ultra-mod new flats.

From there I walked past lots of old warehouses repurposed into flats and offices until I got to the Wapping overground station, and took the train back to West Hampstead.