Animal From Abroad

Aaron and Sue have been with us for the past week or so as part of their world tour. They arrived in London from India last Saturday, and the first stop on our itinerary was the doctor's to get a rabies shot for Aaron. He and an angry Indian monkey did not see eye to eye on some key issues.

See, Aaron was handing out peanuts in a monkey temple (yes, a religious monkey no less), and all these temple monkeys were grateful, except for one. Yes, some monkeys aren't interested in peanuts, or bananas, or blueberry muffins; some monkeys just want to watch the world burn.

Anyway, it's lucky Aaron got this particular shot in time, otherwise he wouldn't have been let past the dock at Greenwich (above).

And Now It's Shelley's Turn...

This morning Shelley and I went to the train station together and lined up to buy our tickets. Shelley was served by a man of Indian descent, and requested her weekly ticket.

"Well, you've come to the right place," said the attendant.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Shelley.

"You've come to the right place," he repeated.

"I'm sorry, I missed it again."

"You've come to the right place," a little exasperated this time.

(Pause)

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Don't worry" he said, hanging his shoulders and punching the keys.

Poor guy; you try to be nice to people.

Classic Gag!

Aaron and Sue arrived last night, and instead of resting, we decided to go out and meet our friend Sophia for dinner at a Kensington pub. Sophia had given us a call on the train a little earlier to check where we were up to, and I told her we were just a couple of minutes away. Fine, she said, I'll meet you outside Earls Court Station. Fine, I said.

So we got there, a few minutes later than expected, and I saw Sophia waiting at the entrance to the station looking out onto the street. She hadn't seen me yet, so I decided to do that classic Stand-Really-Close-To-Someone-Until-They-Notice-You gag. I often find that's the perfect way to start an evening, and it worked like a charm this time too, because Aaron was standing on the other side of her making it ultra-uncomfortable. The only thing that spoiled it was that Sophia hadn't arrived yet, and this particular girl didn't see the funny side of the gag.

The Compost Bin

This is a story that I had been meaning to write, but shamefully didn't. So read about it here instead. Thanks Gerrod!

St Alfege's Park

This is St Alfege's Park in Greenwich (and me looking sombre about something). As you can see, the park's perimeter is completely lined with headstones. I can't tell if the headstones have always been there, or if they were just relocated there when the cemetery was converted to a park (around 1889).


The place is quaintly atmospheric, but I have to say, my strange-o-metre clicked a few times when I saw the kids' play equipment, and it went off the scale when I saw the basketball court - both completely lined with headstones.


If you build it, they will come.