Your 2012 Five A Day - March

Violent Veg's March offering, a take on the quiz show Deal or No Deal for those who don't know, might seem to be a bit naff at first glance but funnily enough there's a little story I have to tell.

I've just spent 10 days with my Mum who loves a quiz show. Any quiz show. She's applied for a few, been on a few and still working and saving frantically to support her travels. Which basically tells me that it's harder than it looks.

The day after she arrived in London, we were walking past a hardware shop on the main road here in Fab Finchley when she stopped to take this photo...

Thinking that the jetlag had finally gotten the better of her, I think I said something like 'What ARE you doing?'

In response, she told me that she'd gotten quite far along in one of these quiz shows but when faced with a question about DeWalt, failed to connect the power tools brand she has been watching sponsor car races for years with the DeWalt of the question. She has been rubbished about it by her partner and Lil Chicky and Husband ever since.

So we uploaded the photo on to Facebook for them.

Hope March gives you something to smile about.
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Five A Day Back Catalogue
January
February

Departures...

After a 10 day sojourn, Mum flew out to Dubai last night on the final leg of her February 2012 odyssey. It's quiet here this afternoon at Gidday HQ but I have lots of things to be getting on with before it's back to work tomorrow.

All up it's been a busy 10 days with some 'must dos' not done as we traded off a few excursions for a little chill out time at home. I'll post about some of the specific things we did over the next week or so - that'll be more posts of the 'Armchair' variety coming up for you - but in summary we shopped, played tourist, ate, drank and were generally slightly hysterical very merry.

Day 1 started gently for my erstwhile traveller, recovering from 2 weeks amidst the hurly burly of Egypt with a sleep in, a short stroll around my local park and a coffee stop or two before heading into The Tower of London in the evening for the Ceremony of the Keys.

The Ceremony of the Keys has been occurring every night at the Tower for the last 700 years and is the ritual of securing the Tower and the Crown Jewels for the night. From arrival at the West Gate at 9.30pm to departure at approximately 10.15pm, every moment was filled with a sense of both occasion and history as the Yeoman Warder led the group down to stand at Traitor's Gate and watch the ceremony.

After explaining the ceremony itself, he left us to watch in silence as he joined his fellow warders in the ritual locking of the two outer gates, the steady march towards Traitor's Gate right through to the proclamation that the Tower had been secured and the haunting notes of the bugler's Last Post. This is definitely one of London's hidden gems and even better, it is free but you need to send off a request form a couple of months in advance. You can click here to go to the website and check it out for yourself.

Saturday we were off to High Tea at The Connaught in Mayfair with A-down-the-hill to enjoy a significantly posher version of our previous Champers and Cupcakes escapades...

Champers gets our afternoon off to a fab start

There were also scones (they were scrum-diddly-umptious) and we got to choose three jams between us - my fave was the Apple & Quince!

Mum and I took ourselves off to see The Artist afterwards which meant a much needed 25 minute waddle along Oxford Street...

Oxford Circus

Selfridges

Get your five a day at the junction of Oxford and Duke Streets

Sunday was clear and crisp so we headed off to Greenwich. This will be featured as an Armchair post so more about our day later on. Suffice to say we managed to get our hands on something quite old...

We did a spot of shopping on Monday then decided on a 'rest day' before heading off to Dublin on Wednesday for 4 days. This little trip warrants a couple of dedicated posts but for now, I'll leave you with a highlights package...

The Boyne Valley, about 45 minutes drive north of Dublin, has 40 passage tombs in all shapes, sizes and states of preservation...

...and we visited Newgrange Passage Tomb which predates the pyramids.

.

I poured (and drank) the perfect pint at The Guinness Storehouse (and have a certificate to prove it)...

...while Irish history came to life for me at Kilmainham Jail.

I was delighted to find a 'host of golden daffodils' in Merrion Square...

...whilst visiting the Famine memorial by the Liffey River was quite moving.

We managed to cram a lot into our four days and came back to Gidday HQ on Saturday night absolutely exhuasted. Then departure day had arrived, all too soon it seemed, with much packing and sorting going on before heading back out to Heathrow again and hugging Mum goodbye.

As I walked away from the Departure Gate, I felt the familiar tearing of my heart between the love of family on the other side of the world and the connection of my soul with London. And I wondered at what it was in me that led me here so very far away, and where I might end up next.

Arrivals...

A few weeks back I read a post over on 4 Kids, 20 Suitcases and a Beagle, Arrivals or Departures, where Australian serial expat Kirsty shared her love of the Arrivals Hall. 

It struck a chord. The anticipation of seeing loved ones, the joy and the relief (particularly if you meet anyone coming off a flight from Oz) of even the most seasoned traveller in arriving at last. The excitement of embarking on new adventures, renewing old acquaintances and reinforcing the deepest connections of the heart. That moment when time and distance disappears and suddenly you can see, hear, touch each other for real.

No matter what the advances modern technology provides - and the advent of Skype is a wonderful thing, if I could only get them all the way down there on it - nothing beats that moment.

And my moment will come later today. Just before 9pm tonight, Egypt Air flight 9230 will touch down at Heathrow Airport and deliver my lovely Mum to me. To hear, see, touch for real. For a whole 10 days.

I'm excited.

My Village Is An Onion...

Today I sat down in front of my computer, coffee in hand, to meander happily through cyber-space. This is a Sunday thing, a sacred fragment of me-time and a pleasure I rarely feel guilty about. While I try to keep up with it all during the week on my commute, there's something about the big screen and multiple tabs that makes a Sunday trawl more delightful than flicking between windows on my phone and keeping half an ear out for my station announcement.

You see this is my village, or a large part of it anyway. Scrolling back through Facebook updates and tweets often uncovers a delightful surprise from a friend or loved one that may have passed me by in the busy-ness of the week. And checking out what my fellow bloggers have had to say - and perhaps leaving them with a thought or two of my own - is like peeling back layers of an onion. At different times, in different ways, each reveals something new, a different dimension that in my mind's eye, I had not imagined.

Today, I clicked on one of my Gidday faves, Adventures in Expatland. Linda is an American, living in The Hague with her family, who is forging new paths for herself as a writer and 'go to' person on the highs, lows and in-betweens of expat life. She's featured a few times on Gidday from the UK before and today, she's here again for two very special reasons:

...she's received the Versatile Blogger Award (And deservedly so. Good onya, mate!)

and

...she's nominated me for one.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
(That's an excited squeal for you newcomers to Gidday)

The Versatile Blogger Award is a peer acknowledgement and apart from getting to put the little Versatile Blogger logo on my blog, I get to share with you 7 things about myself as well as another 15 of my favourite versatile virtuosos. As this post is already getting on a bit, let's just get cracking...

The Seven Wonders of the world Kym

• My birthday is August 1st (which most of you probably know via the sleeps to go posts). My point is this - it's the Horse's Birthday.
• I was actually due to 'arrive' on this here planet on the day 'The Eagle' landed and man set foot on the moon - 20th July 1969. I've not been late since.
• If you've been reading Gidday for a while you probably know that Dad is Dutch but did I ever tell you that on my Mum's side we are descended from Bernadette Devlin, the youngest woman to be elected to British Parliament?
• I jumped out of a perfectly good plane somewhere near Bendigo, Victoria in 2003. Note: I was strapped to the front of a burly skydiving instructor.
• I was blonde (and I mean Annie Lennox blonde) for about 18 months. This happened to coincide with Lil Chicky's wedding so my bleached barnet is preserved for all eternity.
• I received a scholarship from The Order of the Rechabites at age 13 and received my Alliance Francaise certificate at age 14. I drink and don't speak French. Cest la vie.
• I played the role of Frenchy in our High School production of Grease. I wore a pink wig as Teen Angel (our Maths teacher Mr Smith) crooned 'Beauty School Dropout' at me.

The Fellowship of Fifteen

Ham Life
Local lad Matthew blogs about living in London, camera always at the ready.
The Vegemite Wife
Fellow Aussie somewhere up north who blogs with irony, humour and originality.
Perking The Pansies
One half of 'absurd' gay couple trying their luck in secular Turkey. He (Jack) wrote a book about it.
Lost in Cheeseland
An American in Paris. A recent addition to the blog roll.
Happy Homemaker UK
The name says it all. A pleasure to dip into.
4 Kids, 20 Suitcases and a Beagle
Another fellow Aussie living in Qatar. Always frank, often poignant.
The Displaced Nation
A group of cyber friends gathering yarns from global travellers everywhere. Confession: I am a Libby groupie.
Spies, Lies And Pies
Writer Charlie Wade leaves stories, book snippets and occasional 'old man' rants here.
AdBroad
She calls herself the oldest working writer in advertising. I call her brilliant.
In Search Of A Life Less Ordinary
Expat Brit exploring life in 'The Lucky Country'.
The New Australian
Another Expat Brit in Oz finding much to write home about.
Postcards - The Blog
Published and proud. Celebrating a decade in The Downs.
And Here We Are
Fresh off the boat from Bavaria. Another recent addition to the blogroll.
A Big Life
An Aussie in Germany. We from Down Under get around you know.
Ladaisi
A twenty-something artist living in Denmark. My little dash of creative juice.

To put my thoughts out there on Gidday From The UK is an amazing experience.To be acknowledged by my one of my virtual village absolutely rocks. Hope you stop and visit them for a while.