Happy Bloggiversary to Meeeee!

I just went to look and see the date of my very First Blog Post.. Because I knew it was around the beginning of November 2009, that I started this Blog, as part of Shimelle's "Blogging for Scrapbookers" course. 

It was... 2nd November 2009, to be exact!  Which makes today my Second Bloggiversary! Yay!

Last year, in honour of our First Bloggiversaries, me, Jo and quite a few of our Blog Friends (29 of us actually!), had a Party.  It was a blog-hop, held on the Saturday closest to the start of the first BfS course the year before.  Many of the blog friends me and Jo had made, were through BfS.  In fact, I met Jo through her blog, while we were both taking part in the course.  

I am so glad I took up the challenge and joined in with BfS.  It gave me the encouragement to start a blog (my second, but the first was not a success, being in the "wrong place").  I also got lots of information and helpful hints from the great course that Shimelle produced for us.  To date, I have written almost 300 posts, on a variety of subjects, including home, family, friends, holidays and celebrations, my studio (and it's trials & tribulations!), scrapbooking, crafting, book-binding, my Etsy shop, sock pets, teaching... oh, lots of stuff.

But most importantly, I "met" so many fab people, as a direct result of keeping my blog going.  It's been a great two years of blogging - and I plan on continuing for as long as I feel like it!

And, later this month, I will be meeting up - for real - with nine of those Blog Friends, at Coalport YHA near Telford, for a weekend of crafting, chat, cake (of course!) and relaxing.  I am getting excited about this now - and will soon be contacting all those who are coming, to tie up loose ends and finalise any arrangements.  Watch your e-mail in-boxes!

Of course, if you are available on the 25th-27th November and can make it to Telford, there is probably still time for you to join in.  The hostel is quiet at this time of year, so there may be a bed for you.  If you want to join us, give me a shout (e-mail lizziemade (at) aol (dot) com).  See the sidebar for a link to the post with all the details, plus a list of "who is going"! 

Meanwhile, if you fancy a bit of fun, you could try re-reading last year's Blog Party posts, or have a look at my little story of yesterday's fun here at LizzieMade.

And it just remains for me to say a Huge, Enormous and Grateful Thank You, to all my Blog Friends and Followers - long-term and brand new.  I value everyone who takes the time to drop in and read my posts - regularly, or occasional - and I love to read your comments.  Starting my blog was one of the best things I ever did - and that is all down to my Blog Friends (which means you)!

Blog Party Winners!

Well, I nearly forgot… to make the Draws for the Five Prizes from my Blog Party Pin-the-Tail-On-the-Donkey game!  I know I’m late and I’m sorry…

So, it got a bit complicated.  There are 45 comments on my Blog Party Post.  However, some of these were my response to the comments and one or two were from people who didn’t want to join in with the draw, but did want to comment….

I decided that if I drew a random comment which falls into those categories, I would draw again.  I hope no-one minds, but I just couldn’t cope with any mathematical gymnastics tonight!

Soooooo…. DRRRRRRRR (drum roll – yeah, I know, sad, but what can you do?); With the help of Random.Org and it’s great random number generator…

Prize Number One

The cute little Birthday Stamps

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 45
Result: 19

The Prize goes to Becky!   Congratulations to you, Becky.  Please get in touch to claim your prize.

Prize Number Two

The Pink Owl notebooks

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 45
Result: 45

The Winner is Beverly!  Last but not least, eh? Please send me your details, so I can let you have your prize.

Prize Number Three

Two Teeny Notebooks

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 45
Result: 18

The winner is Deb! Yay for DebTurtle!

Prize Number Four

The Christmas Bauble mini-scrapbook

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 45
Result: 5

Another winner… this time, it’s Nancy!  Well done you – let me know where to send your prize!

And Finally…

Prize Number Five

The pair of Pamphlet Notebooks

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 45
Result: 24

The final prize goes to…. Elizabeth!  Congratulations to you!  Send me your address and I’ll post your prize.

* * *

Some new Blog Friends are in the prize winners’ list.  I love blogging!

Please, all Prize Winners, send me an e-mail (lizziemade [at] aol [dot] com) with your Contact and Postal Details, so I can post your prizes to you ASAP!

A bit of Catching Up

Hello again, all Blog Friends – old and new!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything… I was busy telling you all about our family trip to London – still some of the story left to tell; I’ll post (the final) Part Three very soon. 

Before I carry on with that though, a bit of “housekeeping” and a little catching up on my last two or three hectic weeks… 

* * *

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks, since we got back from our London trip.  J. has been back at school for two weeks now.  D. has been at home, “in between contracts” and has been busy with various projects of his own.

I’ve been doing the usual juggling of household chores (housework, what’s that? I’ve no time for housework!!); trying to make sure the house isn’t too grubby for good health; that we all have clean clothes, towels and bed linen; that the pets are fed and watered, with clean homes/beds…  Then I’ve been taking my mum to her usual assortment of appointments – mainly nurse and dr. visits – helping her with a few jobs, keeping an eye on her. … and trying to make books – lots of them!
 
And, of course, there was the small diversion of a Blog Party to go to last weekend…

* * *

Blog Hop Prize Draw

Firstly, I forgot to put a Draw Date on my blog hop post.  I will make the draw for the Five prizes on Sunday evening, some time around 8pm (GMT).  I hope that will give anyone who’d like to join in, the time to read the post and leave their entry on the Comments.

* * *

Then there’s this:

Ships Photo Album

9”x6” Photo album - Front view

Back view

Binding view

This was a commission order, that I received from a friend on Tuesday morning.  She rather urgently wanted an album, in blue, with a ship design, that she could put photos in and give to someone as a present.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, discussing her requirements, I came up with this lovely ultramarine blue paper for the hinged edge and inside the covers, and the fabby travel design paper on the covers.  I also used the travel paper as guards/spacers round each pair of pages.  It added a bit of colour and interest to the bound edge of the book.

I spent a while trying to decide whether to make a Coptic stitched binding, or a Japanese-style stab-stitch, with hinged cover.  I decided that neither would allow room for expansion, which would be needed if photos were being put into the album.  It was to have between 20 and 40 pages, which is quite a lot for a photo album (a paper one anyway).

I decided to make a traditional tied binding, through two holes in the covers and pages, so set about making the album along those lines.  After a while, I worried that a cord tie would be tricky to use for such a thick book. 

A bit more thinking and I came up with these binding posts, which are used for scrapbook albums.  I had a set of K&Co album binding posts, which were brand new and shiny, so I used those;  even so, I’m not sure there is enough room in the album and I’m going to try and find some extra extension posts (I only have 1 extension and obviously need 2!!), which I’ll send on asap.

I was quite pleased to have this completed in two days (in amongst my various commitments for J. and my mum!).  It went off in the post yesterday, with guaranteed delivery by 1pm today.  I’m waiting to hear if she likes it (I hope!!).  Apart from my reservations about how thick it is and whether the posts are long enough, I am really pleased with this album.  I’d have liked just a little more time though, to spend on planning and binding, as it has a couple of small mistakes, which I wouldn’t have made, if I had been able to take more time over it.  But it isn’t too “imperfect” and overall is quite a nice book!

(smiles broadly )

* * *

Going a bit further back in the calendar…

I did my first ever “Craft Fair” last Saturday.  A local lady organised an Art and Crafts Exhibition in the Village; this was the second year that she has done this.  Last year I saw her advert, but didn’t think I would have enough stock for a stall, so I chickened out…

When we went to see the exhibition, there were people with little teeny card tables, on which they were displaying their work.  Even I could’ve filled one of those, so this year I phoned as soon as I saw the advertisement (before I lost my nerve) and booked a table, to have a Handbound Book stall.
 
I also booked a large table to be used by our Scrapbooking Club, so we could give demonstrations and try to drum up a few more members. 


We were lucky enough to be given 3 notice boards and a small table to display stuff on – some of our work.


Two Scrappers hard at work!

My Stall

I spent the two or three weeks leading up to the sale working flat-out to make books to sell.  The organiser thought I should have plenty of lower priced items, since she thought that people would not have a lot to spend.  So I made quite a few of my pamphlet-style notebooks, to sell in pairs; also a number of sets of covered note-pads (ready-made tablets of note paper, on which I put nice “policeman style” flip over covers). 

I made a couple of bigger books too:-


A large Album/ Sketchbook, covered with lovely collage-style paper.  Japanese-style stab-stitch binding in red linen.  Contains ten hand-torn pages of heavy-weight watercolour/print paper, with folded spacers.  Measures 11^1/4” x 8^1/4”


A Journal or Sketchbook, covered with “Pens” paper, with a navy silk quarter binding. Contains 50 pages of sketch paper.  Measures 8^1/4” x 6^1/4”.

So the Big Day Dawned:


My stall, all set out and ready for Business!

I didn’t actually sell a great deal.  I made £24 of sales, which means I covered my costs, but no  more.  There just were not enough people coming through – and many who did come were not really spending any money, they were just there to look at the crafts on display.

However, I think it was still worthwhile, as now a lot of people locally know that I exist.  Quite a few took my business card away with them and some took my phone number.  A few stopped to chat and seemed interested – maybe I will get some orders from them later.

And, of course, the experience was good for me; planning, making, packing, pricing, presentation of books and the stall, putting together a portfolio album, just getting it all sorted out and experiencing a sale – even if a small one.  I may do it again – perhaps at a slightly bigger venue.  It wasn’t a waste of a day, but useful experience. I am glad I took the plunge and did it!

* * *

That’s a quick summary of the last couple of weeks in “Lizzie Land”.  Lots of other things have happened, but now they’ve gone by, it doesn’t seem a good idea to drag them back up again – nothing of much significance in the Great Scheme of things! 

I will post about London soon – probably tomorrow! 
G’night All…

Celebrating Blog Friendships–Blog Party!

Good Evening All Bloggers!

A big welcome to our  Blog Party.  This is a Blog Hop, with 29 wonderful people blogging on the subject of “Celebrating Blog Friendships”.  You start right here and can follow the links from one blog to another, all the way round the chain, until you will (hopefully) end up at Jo’s blog – Curlyscrapbooker. 

As this is a party, I hope you’ll have some fun on the way, perhaps have a little music, cake, a balloon or two, play a game… whatever our friends have in store for you, I’m sure it will be fun! 

Every party should start with a little bit of a quiet spell, while everyone has their first little drink (!) and warms up a bit; this is the quiet start, but I hope it will soon get lively!  So, pull up a floor cushion, get comfortable, sip your first drink and let’s make a beginning to our evening. 

Firstly, a little bit of history… this time last year, many of those taking part in this evening’s Party were starting out on a new online course, created and organised by the ever-fabulous Shimelle (yay!).  It was, of course, “Blogging For Scrapbookers” and as a result many of us started our first ever blog, or began to use our blogs on a regular basis, to post about our lives, homes, families, scrapping and crafting.  Of course, we also began to read others’ blogs – many of those on a regular basis too.

As always, there was a forum available to all course members, where we could post questions, comments etc and our responses to challenges set by the course.  Shimelle dropped in regularly to give support and help.  We were encourages to introduce ourselves and to “meet” others who were on the course.
All that was a year ago, starting on 2nd November; but for me, and many others, it has continued well beyond that initial month of BFS.  I began to visit other blogs on a regular basis and quickly gathered a list of blogs belonging to other BFS classmates, which I read daily and often responded to with comments.  I started updating my new blog on a regular basis too and was so pleased when someone commented on one of my own posts.

And now? 

Well, last month I realised that I’d had this blog for almost a year.  It got me thinking about the year and how my blog had developed, what sort of posts I’d made, whose blogs I had visited, the enjoyment I had while joining in with the huge Blog World that is Out There.

I mentioned this to Jo, during a bit of a chat we had.  We agreed that we wanted to do something to mark the occasion.  After all, it’s not every day that you have a “Bloggiversary”, is it?  

We chose today as our Official Bloggiversary – or Blog Birthday if you prefer – and a subject of “Celebrating Blog Friendships”, since we both felt that the most significant benefit to both of us, from becoming involved in our blogs, has been the wonderful new friendships we have formed during this past year!

So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all Blog Friends who have been with us this past year.  Even if you already had your blog, or if you’ve started it since, we want you to know that we appreciate your friendship, we love having you around and it is a pleasure to know you all!

* * *

On a personal note, I want to tell you how very much I personally value the friendships I have begun this year.   A number of you – and you know who you are – have become regular visitors to my blog.  You read the various rambling waffles that I choose to call “Blog Posts”; you even leave me comments. 
Your encouragement when I have posted a tutorial or pictures of my various layouts, craft projects or bookbinding efforts, has been much appreciated; your appreciation of my efforts to please has cheered me and made me happy. 

It is great to have people laugh with me, when I post something that I have found amusing, to have someone to tell about my adventures – small or big.
 
And, really important to me, I have wholly appreciated the wonderful, supportive, encouraging and friendly comments that you have left for me, when my posts have not been about adventures, crafting or fun, but about sad, lonely, dull, frustrating or unhappy episodes in my day-to-day life.  I have posted about these things and you have supported me every time.  It makes it easier to cope, knowing that other people do care – even though they are people I have never met face to face – even though they may be hundreds, or even thousands of miles away, across oceans and lands I have never seen. 

I LOVE MY BLOG FRIENDS! 

* * *

Okay, that’s the soppy speech-making out of the way guys….

Shall we liven things up, just a bit?  Fancy a few Party Games? 

* * *

Pass the Parcel

(the essential game for any serious British Party-goer! )

In case you have never played this and don’t know the rules: 

There is a large parcel, wrapped in many layers of paper. 

This is passed round a circle of people, while someone plays music (live music is not required, but if someone fancies bringing their guitar to the party, well, hey, we won’t say no!). 

The musician (or controller of the cd player) stops the music – whoever is holding the parcel at this point tears off One Layer of paper.

Often there will be a little prize (sweeties?), or a forfeit in the wrapping.  Any forfeit must be done straight away, then the music starts again and Pass the Parcel continues.

The final layer of paper will always contain a Prize (and maybe a forfeit too, if the party-host is rotten, mean and likes teasing their friends). 

Of course, being a British party game, the person in charge of the music does tend to try and make sure that everyone gets a chance to open a layer of the Parcel.  We do like Fair Play!

* * *

So, how can we play Pass the Parcel by Blog? 
Easy!
Yes, really!
At every blog you visit in the Blog Party, you will get the chance to open a layer of wrapping.  The “Prize” will be a Letter.
?
Okay, bear with me here…

You will get a Letter from the Alphabet.   Each letter, in order, will be one more clue to work out a Phrase that will entitle you to have a try at winning the Final Prize in the middle of the Parcel.
(okay so it’s a bit of a fiddle, but we thought it would be fun).

So, has the music stopped?  Are you holding the Parcel?   If you are, the Letter under the first layer of wrapping is….

“H”!

Umm… I’m getting a bit of Deja-Vue here….

Collect all the letters, keep a note of them in order and when you call at Curlyscrapbooker at the end of the Blog Hop, you will be told what to do next.

Okay? 

Good Luck!

* * *

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Another good, old-fashioned Party Game!

Ever played this?  No?

* * *
There is a picture of a donkey, usually side-on, but in any case, it must include the part of the donkey where the tail would go (with me? hee hee…).

Each person in turn is blindfolded.  The Person In Charge then spins them round and round, until they are probably dizzy.

They then try to Pin the Tail on the Donkey – ie. they try to attach a “tail” to the donkey’s picture, in the correct place. 

The “Tail” can be a sticker, a bit of string on a push-pin, a paper slip with blu-tac on the back….

If the person attaches the tail in the right place they win a prize – OR  at the end of the game, the person whose “tail” is judged closest to the correct place will be the Winner!  (the second rule is better for older kids – or “grown-ups”!).

* * *

Pin the Tail on the Donkey… by Blog? 

Yup! I know, I get madder and crazier every post, but never mind eh…

Okay… this is really a Giveaway in disguise…

All the best parties have Prizes.  I wanted to give away some prizes at my party, so I have found some goodies to share.

I have five prizes!

Prize Number ONE

Since this is really a Birthday Party, I thought I would share part of a great Prize that I received recently. 

In August, Shimelle held a weekend Inspiration Party, with challenges and ideas posted every hour.  Some were scrapping posts and those in between were photo challenges.   I won the prize for this Photo Challenge.  It included these great little stamps, with a Birthday Theme.

Prize Number TWO

What does Liz do?  Liz makes BOOKS!  So I had to give books as my other prizes.

This is a pair of notebooks, one A6 size (approx 6x4”) and one A7 size (4x3”).  They are tablets of plain white notepaper, which I have covered with pink cardstock and this cute wintery Owl scrap paper.  Each book ties with a pale blue ribbon.

I chose the owls because I know Jo loves owls… go on Jo, have a try to win these!

Prize Number THREE

Teeny Notebooks!  These notebooks are absolutely tiny, weeny and teeny!  You can see from the photo above that they are sooo small!

They are filled with twenty or so sheets of thin notepaper.  The covers are stiff scrapbook papers, by Imaginisce.  The binding is a Japanese-style stab-stitch in red linen thread.

They would be great for a very small handbag, or a wallet.  You could fit one in your pocket and still have room for your door key and a pen.

Or you could make them into scrapbook embellishments – what an interesting way to record your journalling!

Prize Number FOUR

A Christmas Decoration?  Not quite… it’s a mini-book. 

This is a mini scrapbook, with embellished chipboard covers, pages made from coloured cardstock, with Christmas papers and a book ring fastening, decorated with ribbons.

Inside view…

It’s about 3 1/2” diameter and has 10 pages for you to decorate as you choose.  Of course, you could turn it into a real Christmas decoration and hang your completed mini-book on the Tree!

Prize Number FIVE

A pair of pamphlet-style notebooks, measuring approx 6 x 4”.  Each book contains 20 pages (40 sides) of good quality sketch paper (stiffer than notepaper), hand-cut and folded into a single section and hand-stitched with ivory-coloured cotton. 

They are covered with stiff scrapbook paper – one has a design of Christmas trees on a burgundy background, the other has tiny spots in burgundy, olive and aqua, on a white background.  Each book has a wrap-round ribbon which ties on the front cover.  

Ideal for your seasonal planning, Christmas shopping or present lists, journalling notes for JYC, collecting quotes, scribbles, doodles and drawings… anything you fancy!

* * *

How to Pin the Tail on the Blog Donkey? 

Please leave me a Comment!  Simple really!  I would love to know your opinions on Blog Friendships.  Do you feel they are valuable?  Are they “real” friendships, or just something contrived?  Do you feel that you have blog friends who support and encourage you, or do you not really want this sort of interaction with other bloggers?  Everyone has different points of view in life – would you like to share yours? 

* * *

OKAY!  So now we’ve come to the end of this round of party games.   Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed yourself.   However, it’s not over you know… there is more (much more) to come!

To continue on your way through the Blog Hop, follow the link below, to the Second Party Host’s blog… Jennifer will be happy to welcome you!

http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/

* * *
In case you should become lost at any point, or a link fails to work, here is a complete list of Blog Party participants, in order:

http://www.lizziemade.blogspot.com/  (You Are Here!)
http://jennifersjumbles.blogspot.com/
http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
http://www.overatourplace.blogspot.com
http://www.creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.com
http://www.gallorganico.blogspot.com
http://libertycottage.blogspot.com/
http://scrapadventure.wordpress.com
http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com
http://mypaperview.blogspot.com
http://www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com
http://www.clearingthebrambles.blogspot.com
http://www.fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com
http://www.rachelbsworld.blogspot.com
http://www.sunlight-simplicity.blogspot.com
http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com
http://www.enjoytheridetoday.blogspot.com
http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com
http://sharyncarlson.typepad.com/living_artfully
http://paperturtle.blogspot.com
http://www.amysoto.blogspot.com
http://www.snapsandsnippets.blogspot.com
http://www.scrappyjedi.com
http://mayadahan.blogspot.com
http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com
http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com
http://www.xnomads.typepad.com/blog
http://www.debs14.blogspot.com
http://www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

* * *

Have a Great Time – see you at Jennifer’s in a minute!

* * *

This Blog Post was brought to you by the Letter

and the Number

This was a LizzieMade Production…. Thank You and Good Night!

Thanks to Stacey and Heather for their suggestion to solve my Blogger editing problems – I am trying Windows Live Writer to produce this post.  Let’s see how I get on…

* * *

Firstly, if you're looking for the post about the Celebrating Blog Friendships Blog Party on 6th November, see this post.


Also Jo has published an update post today, with a final checklist of those who said they'd like to join in.  Please check her post here, to make sure your name is on the list!

* * *

So, the mini-holiday in London… (this post has a fair bit of writing and lots of pictures – you may wish to go now and get a cuppa & a biccie!)

* * *

Lizzie's Guide to London -Part Two

Sunday 24th October

Day-Trip to Greenwich

(and a night-time adventure!)

We had a strange night.  The bathrooms were right across the hall from our room, which made it a bit noisy, as families got their children settled for the night. 

Also, the room was a bit warm, so we had to open the window – then there were the usual Saturday night noises to get used to, not to mention the striking of the St. Paul’s bells, on every quarter-hour and the big, “Great Tom” bell booming the time on each full hour.  That was nice, but took a bit of getting used to! 

Once everyone had settled down, it was about 10:30pm and I started to drift off…

At around 11pm, a group of students came in and started going into the bathrooms.  Doors creaking and banging, voices, sounds of teeth-cleaning (they left the doors open so they could chat!)… I thought it would settle down soon, but it went on, and on, and on.  The chatting became louder, then there were sounds of thumping, zips and velcro, more chatting… then a man’s voice. I thought it must be the dad from the family room next door, asking them to be quiet – it was after 11:30 by now – but it went on still. 

Eventually, after the Clock struck midnight, I went out to see what was going on – by now DS was also awake and I didn’t want him up all night. 

An interesting sight… Our room was by a fire door, which led to a sort-of cul-de-sac, with two bedrooms and a shower room.  There was a group of about ten or twelve students – mainly girls – sitting around the edges of the cul-de-sac, leaning on the open fire-door, all the way up to our bedroom door.  They were in their sleeping bags, with their rucsacs on the floor next to them.  They seemed to be camping (!?) and showed no sign of preparing to go to bed. 

So I had to ask them to please either go down to the lounge and chat there, or to go to bed and sleep.  I was nice, but pointed out there were family rooms next to them, that they had woken us and probably the family next to us and that there were children in these rooms, trying to sleep.  They did look sheepish and apologised, then I heard them all going into rooms, or downstairs – whatever.  Peace at last! But how weird…

So we were a bit sleepy in the morning, but at least we managed 7 hours or so (and DS went straight back to sleep, so he had about 9 hours).  Warm showers woke us up okay and we were hungry enough to forget about bed.

Breakfast photo from tripadvisor.co.uk

We went and ate breakfast.  The breakfasts in the hostel were pretty okay. Lots of choice – cereals, yoghurt, ham, cheese, croissants and chocolatines, toast, fresh fruit, hot food – bacon, eggs, sausages, grilled tomato, baked beans, mushrooms… nicely cooked too, choice of fruit juices and also hot chocolate, tea and coffee. 

Some girls at our table arrived with trays piled high. I thought they must be good eaters… but they used the toast, cheese and ham to make sandwiches for their lunches!  They wrapped them in napkins and had an apple each too – definitely a clever money-saver for students travelling in London!

So, we were ready to go OUT on a sunny October Sunday morning…

St. Paul’s Cathedral, early morning.

From St. Peter’s Hill, up to St. Paul’s…

…from St. Peter’s Hill, down to the Millenium Bridge and the River Thames.

Walking across the Millenium Bridge in the early morning

Millenium Bridge views to St. Paul’s

We crossed the bridge to the South Bank, because we wanted to catch a river ferry from the pier at Bankside.

The replica Globe Theatre on the South Bank.  We planned on going there on Tuesday, for a tour.

HMS Belfast, by Tower Bridge,

Our Thames Clipper ferry, arriving at Bankside Pier. We went down the Thames to Greenwich.

National Maritime Museum – We spent a couple of hours here, exploring lots of interesting Maritime history.  There was an exhibition of Toy Boats as well, which was fun.  Lunch in the cafe, then a stroll to Greenwich Park.

Greenwich: Old Royal Naval College (now part of Maritime Museum)

Colonnade between Old Royal Naval College and the Queens House

I can imaging ladies and gentlemen from long ago, strolling under the shelter of the colonnade, looking across Greenwich Park…

… there’s certainly a great view from here!  View across Greenwich Park, to the Royal Observatory

From the Observatory hill, across Greenwich Park, to the Queen’s House and Maritime Museum.  In the background, Canary Wharf – see the tower with the pyramid roof – the Isle of Dogs and other buildings along the North bank of the Thames.

What a contrast, between the old and new!

The site of the Prime Meridian, Greenwich – designated as the point of 0 degrees Longitude and the home of Greenwich Mean Time (which, incidentally, Britain reverts to tonight as British Summertime ends for the winter).

The famous Meridian Line.  There was such a queue to stand on this and have your picture taken… we didn’t bother.

Instead, J stood on the Old Meridian Line, just below the courtyard of the Observatory… Standing in two Hemispheres at a time!  That stone above his head has an inscription describing the Meridian.

The Greenwich Royal Observatory.  This is the rather nice garden.  We went into the Camera Obscura, in a little house to the side, where we could see Greenwich Park and the Maritime Museum reflected in real-time, on a white curved table – little people and their dogs walking along, children running, pushchairs and skateboards…  All good fun.

From the Observatory, the views across the Park and up the Thames are even better.  The highest point for miles (which is why the Royal Observatory was sited here, of course!).

After looking round the Observatory a bit, we headed for the Planetarium.  This building has replaced the old London Planetarium, which now belongs to Madame Tussauds and has shows about a different sort of “star”!

Photo from waymarking,com

We had tickets for one of their shows and spent half an hour drifting around the Galaxy, learning about other planets in our Solar System.  It’s quite exciting actually and they have a brilliant system, which projects amazing images of the sky, photographs of the planets, star maps etc, all onto their curved ceiling, which you view from a comfy seat that is conveniently tipped back slightly, so you don’t have to crane your kneck (v. good for me, who can’t tip my head back!)

We headed back to Greenwich Pier about 5pm and caught another Thames Clipper back to Bankside. 

Dinner at Pizza Express, just across the road from St. Paul’s Cathedral.  We’re spoilt rotten! 

We slept like babies!