Farewell to 2013!

The sky in London is crying with rain on the last day of 2013...
...

Hide & seek!

Going out this sunny afternoon, I decided to replace the usual backpack with a shoulder bag and take only necessary items including the flat keys, telephone and an oyster card. Outside, reaching for the phone, I discovered the keys were nowhere to be found in the bag. My clothes had no pockets. That meant we were locked out. It was most disturbing as I was absolutely sure I removed the oyster card and the keys from the backpack and put both items in the zipped pocket of my bag. Anyway, I quickly phoned one of the neighbours with our spare set of keys asking her to let us in. Amazed, she told me that exactly the same thing had happened to her earlier in the day. So we got in, but I couldn't find my keys. Then we eventually set off. On our return I made a thorough search for the missing set. No luck. Nowhere were they to be seen. A hopeless case. We were puzzled. I unlocked the door on our return the previous night and as always, put them in the backpack. I was convinced that I took the keys out of the backpack along with the oyster card and put them in the zipped pocket. We checked the bag many times, thoroughly. Where was the set of keys????
Having once more opened and searched all the pockets of the bag, I grabbed it by the top flap to put it away. That moment my fingers sensed a strange shape. There they were, the naughty keys. They somehow found their way to the top part of he pocket, above the zip and quietly sat there all the time!

West End at Christmas

Today's remarkable piece of information acquired by opening a random page of 'The Book of General Ignorance' is the fact that camels originated in North America!

At The West End we talked to a man giving away samples of fragrant and colourful soaps. On learning that I'm Polish, he revealed that his father was Polish too. His ancestors left their country in search for a better life at the beginning of the 20th century.

We were also approached by an Iraqi woman who was trying to sell us some miracle cosmetics at astronomical prices. I don't envy her this job...

London by night looked quite glamorous. However, the Norwegian tree in Trafalgar Square didn't receive particularly exciting festive lights this Christmas:

We have some great pictures from the seaside Christmas, well, a plenitude of them!

A thrilling cliff walk

Back home late, it's after midnight. I nearly got blown off my feet until, by the time I was at 45 degrees, I managed to grab the grass embankment. That was at the cliffs west of Dover in the afternoon.
..
Recently I had an opportunity to listen to the fascinating memories of a man in his late eighties whose life has been full of unexpected twists.

Hello,Christmas 2013 is well under way.  We are sitting on the south eastern coast of England and there is a storm developing outside.
...
Earlier we exposed ourselves to the elements, but within reason. :-)

Christmas Eve has arrived in London!

Tle last mughal and the last king

I've come across this article by William Dalrymple, you may find it worth reading. Several years ago I attended an event with this writer and historian at The British Museum or The British Library, can't recall it now. Mr Dalrymple talked about his then newly published book: 'The Last Mughal'. Of what I can understand, the circumstances,events and the silhouette of the portrayed mughal show some analogy to those that brought about the fall of Poland and its last king: Stanisław August Poniatowski. Yet another proof that history likes to repeat itself... And then, should you have the time and be willing, you can listen to Allan Watts' 'The Bible, Man and Society' and ponder over his thoughts on the topic.
....
The wind today is ferocious, really. I wish I didn't have to go out...

Ladybird exploring Christmas trinkets

A ladybird has been exploring my Christmas display in the window as I was energising myself with a cup of strong coffee. It was sunny this morning which probably encouraged the dotted inspect to come out of its shelter.

Saadi Yousef when winter started

Today we've officially entered the winter season. I wonder if it was a sunny morning in Newgrange, The Boyne Valley, Ireland. If so, the lucky early bird tourists could admire an amazingly awesome sight. Why an early bed? Because you have to be there at dawn. Why lucky? 'Cause turning up there is not enough to get the full experience.
...
A London friend of a distant cultural background (Middleeastern, actually) has been asking me about the traditional Polish music, different from the global pop mix. He, like my English neigbour, often sings to himself. My friend's repertoire is always some nostalgic Arabic tunes. I thought maybe he would be interested to a folk-inspired song by a late Polish artist: Grzegorz Ciechowski. The title is: 'Piejo kury piejo' and if he or you follow the link, you can listen to it. I wonder if you, dear Polish and non-Polishreaders, could recommend another traditional Polish or non-Polish song in the comment section here. Hope it's not too much to ask in this feverish pre-Christmas period.:-)
...
This evening I dined at a new and wonderful friend' house. Our mutual friend bought fantastic fish from the Greenford fishmonger and yet another friend cooked it in the oven. It was a perfect meal, believe me. I felt privileged to be among such eminent people: a poet, a painter and a theatre actress/director. Well, not that I want to boast about it. I'd like to share my joy with you.

The fish was tilapia, St Peter's fish.

It was absolutely delicious!

 Here is one of my host's poems:

And the rose is mine:

Life stories

Yesterday I met a nice woman born here to Polish parents and married to an English man. Hence, I learnt, her beautiful daughter doesn't speak the language of her maternal ancestors. What I also learnt was that the woman's father had fought in the Warsaw Uprising and captured by the Germans had gone through a forced labour camp in Germany. From there, when the Allies arrived he found his way to England and settled here. There is a similar life story in my family, except that my granny's brother landed in Uncle Sam's land. Just like the woman I met, his son went to study in Krakow in the 1970s.
He found a wife in his father's homeland. Maybe that's why his kids are bilingual.
.

Thunderstorm and pre-Christmas rat race

Most unusual weather pattern took me and many others by surprise this evening: a thunderstorm with lightnings accompanying a heavy rain.

I sought shelter at the shopping centre filled with people on a frantic Christmas spree. With my leg not at its best and no crutch to manifest that I'm not taking part in the mad shopper race, I had a feeling of being a helpless victim pushed or knocked by the fiddle-fit ones dashing for the next shopping post as if all the shops were to shut down for good any moment. Merry Christmas, everyone!

...
W3Gallery in Acton - I have heard about this Acton artists' haven and I have passed it many times on the bus between Ealing and Shepherds Bush, but I haven't yet been there. This will definitely change one day soon as it looks an interesting place and is located nearby.

...
Buskers at Hammersmith Station last Monday evening:

I may have a video as well, but no time to even look for it these days.
:-)

What to do

The day is very nice, sunny with a bit of wind. However, my leg has got troublesome again and I am seriously thinking whether to set off on my long commute or not today.
...