This 'Hobbit hole' is my kitchen window! I was actually trying to get a shot of the Blue Tit (which is a bird thank you very much!) eating from the peanut feeder but he flew off. And that is how thick the walls of our church flat are! 

My 9 month old darling niece recently received one of these toys. I liked it so much I tracked it down off the internet over here and bought one for me - I really do need to get out more!! It sings 'Singing in the Rain' while tapping its left foot, moving it's head from side to side and moving the umbrella back and forth. It's endearingly cute, honestly! 

Here is Stu's new work office in Canary Wharf. It's right on the river (well, it is in Docklands) and occasionally ships dock right behind his office! Earlier in the week a huge British Navy ship was there apparently.  

University & Work
I thought I had spread the word but I'm getting feedback that people don't know that I am either studying a Bachelor of Psychology or am three weeks into a new job at Badenoch & Clark. Sorry! Been a bit busy and pre-occupied!

Uni first - I love it. It is certainly a challenge, but for me a workable and worthwhile one, of working 8.30 - 6 then going to classes and reading all the course books and researching and writing essays while still having a marriage, social life and tidy flat (ok that last one has slipped). My first year courses so far are a general introduction to psychology where we've looked at things such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and memory; the other course is on Psychobiology which is studying the physical structure of the brain and what each section does and how it all functions. It's all really interesting. Next year the final first year course is on Research Methods and Statistics - eeek! The university year runs from August - May by the way.

Work - Badenoch & Clark is a recruitment firm and I am the Systems Coordinator for the Financial Services recruitment division. It's a new role and it's still being worked out exactly what it is they want me to do! So far I input and check placements on the system with the view to me being the one who knows all the fee deals and relationships with the clients, as well as set up and run a series of diverse corporate reports to enable the division to monitor its functioning and set targets etc. It's taken a while but I'm slowly understanding the intracacies of the database and how to massage the right information out of it!

So that's me. It's certainly keeping me busy.

Goodness me it's been days since I last put a pic of my Princess Lauren up! Here's one of the Wood clan with its newest member. My aren't we all growed up! And I just love being short for a change!  

This one's for you Mum.
A pic of my slow-roasted duck on my newly bought-antiquey plate (which is actually ginormous so it makes the duck look tiny), with my pot of cointreau cranberry sauce on the side. It was scrumpsh even if I do say so myself. Mum - eat more duck!

Rudolph is in town
You know Christmas is just around the corner when there is a pen with real reindeer in it set up on Regent Street! It was the weekend they turned the Christmas lights on, and apparently Samuel L Jackson was the celeb they got to turn them on! I had gone home by that stage as it was cold, dark and chucking it down. Still, I met some nice reindeer and about 20 Santa Clauses all walking up and down the street!

Pure Class.
Here are my new ugg boots which I bought on the proviso that I will never ever wear them out of the house. I now have the warmest feet in London :) I saw someone the other day wearing ugg boots that had been fashioned into a pointy toe and had the top folded down to show the fleece, with leather straps criss-crossing from the ankle up. It was so wrong. They are SLIPPERS!!!! Not things you wear to work! And that would be our washing machine in the background one cupboard away from our oven! And please excuse my exceedingly brightly coloured clothes - it's dark here at 4.30 and I need things to brighten my days up. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

This is my exquisite phalaenopsis orchid that I bought to congratulate myself on getting a job! (And that's our every expanding DVD collection in the background!!). Orchids are such rewarding plants - water them once a week and you get these amazing blooms that last for months! Go buy yourself one!  

We babysat Thomas and Arthur Saturday morning - I don't think Stu is quite used to being woken up by a pirate! 

This is me through the eyes (and drawing skills) of my four year old nephew Thomas. - Those blue things are my dangly blue earrings on my, er, blue ears! We had a bit of problem with the concept of ten fingers being spread over two hands as well! 

Seen Part 1...

Kilburn Tube station, two non-English speakers seated on a bench having an animated conversation. In order to sit on the bench they had had to pull off the tape tied between the two bench arms aimed at preventing people from sitting on them. They'd also had to pull off the huge sign that was still on the bench next to them. The sign read 'Wet Paint'...

Seen Part 2...

The corner of Kilburn High Road and Willesden Lane, from my upstairs front row bus seat. Waiting at the traffic lights, movement on the street corner catches my eye. A middle-aged negro man with closely cropped greying hair begins a slow tap-dancing shuffle, a slow shuffling turning circle to his own ragtime tune. Holding his walking stick aloft he dances around and around. As the lights change and we drive off he continues to dance alone, shuffling, tapping, the music moving him.

Another (Fight) Night in London
We witnessed a fight in a shopping centre on our way to the Finn brothers concert at the Hammersmith Apollo last night. Due to the size differences of the two men involved one guy ended up getting quite badly beaten. One aspect of Londoners I will never understand is why so many people either just stand and watch, or quickly walk on so they don't have to get involved when someone is yelling 'Help me'. Last night I just couldn't walk by. One man was trying to pull the larger guy off the smaller one, and ended up taking some blows when he put himself in between the two of them to try to break it up. Unfortunately the smaller guy had a hold of the larger guy's jean's pocket and just wasn't letting it go which kept him in punching range. I tried yelling at them to stop but didn't know how to actually stop them so stayed on the outskirts. I really need to do some sort of martial arts course that will teach me how to immobilise someone bigger than me. The other guy finally succeeded in breaking the fight up and getting the smaller guy's hand off the pocket of the bigger guy, who then slipped away into the crowd and towards the exit. The smaller guy's face was beaten quite badly and had blood coming from his mouth and nose, dripping onto his clothes and the floor. The guy who helped out stayed around and I spoke to him for a few minutes to find out what had happened. He alleges that as they were coming down the escalator the smaller guy was behind them and shoved past them. The bigger guy said something to the effect of 'what the f*** are you doing?' and the smaller guy told him to 'f*** off' and shoved him, then punched him. And then it all kicked off. I didn't see any of this so I can't verify it, but there were 2 or 3 security cameras in the area which would have caught it all. I waited with the smaller guy, who went into shock very quickly, for medical and police assistance and then described what I had seen and been told. And then I went and tried to enjoy the Finn brothers concert and remove the image of a beaten face dripping blood from the front of my mind. I didn't do it with much success.

Two things

1. The first essay I am writing for my psych course is, ironically, on eye witness testimony.
2. We were discussing my research for the essay on the train to the gig last night, and how eye witness testimony is typically unreliable, how the memory is easily suggestible and how often it does not actually retain an accurate record of the facts of an event, regardless of how vehemently a person believes it. With this in mind I wrote down as much as could remember of the incident within thirty minutes of it happening.

The synchronocities of life are, er, interesting sometimes.

The now-crawling Princess Lauren
Oh it's been at least 2 days since I last posted a picture of Princess Lauren! Who I hear has started crawling this week - I bet she'll be into everything now!

Sandy Crab

Walking on the stormy beach at Mandurah on my recent trip home, I spied this exhausted tiny crab washed up in amongst the seaweed marking the tide line. After briefly studying his little body and the patterns on his shell I returned him carefully to the water where I figured he had a better chance of survival than 10 metres up the beach away from it. I wonder if he made it?

Flame tree - Kings Park
If you're in Perth and not been to Kings Park for the Spring display then what are you doing?? Go do the Tree top walk and admire all the kangaroo paws, everlastings and countless brides having photos taken there every weekend!

Gainfully employed
Well after a mammoth two days of unemployment and one interview I have managed to secure a new permanent job with Badenoch & Clark looking after their client data! Closest tube is Blackfriars. Average age in my department is around 28. Everyone I've met so far is so lovely. Can't wait to start! Of course this means I am a lady of leisure this week which I am enjoying thoroughly :) Movie last night, research for an essay at uni this afternoon, shopping tomorrow on Oxford Street!

Lauren's Christening
Andy, Brad, Lauren and I at my princess' christening. Oh those eyes! And what a proud Dad :)

Ouch!
On the way to an interview today I rounded the corner of a tube platform and took a hard elbow to the ribs as a man sprinting for the train didn't consider the possibility of other people being around (in a busy City tube station). He didn't make the train, and I was slammed into the wall and winded. Luckily nothing broken but the bruising and pain is more than enough! And if I'm sore now I don't want to think about how sore I'm going to be tomorrow!