A New Jumper

Lucky for Riley it has stayed cold here so she has had ample opportunities to wear her fabulous new jumper. Yes, she is British and prefers jumper to sweater. Technically her new jumper is an American Apparel hoodie. We happened to see them at the AA section in Selfridges but didn’t like the color selection. Then whilst on our way to lunch one day we walked by the AA store on Oxford Street and ran inside to look at their selection. We decided we had to buy Riley the red striped version. We got an x-large (she has a lot of fur) and when buying it the salesgirl told me “no returns,” I suppose to avoid such a product being returned riddled with fleas. Luckily it fits perfectly and she looks smashing in it. In fact she looks more than smashing, she looks like a mini Wheaten boxer about to enter the ring for her first welterweight fight with some song like “Mama Said Knock You Out” playing loudly in order to fire up the crowd. I love how her chest hair flows out of the top. When I finally finish the furcut I started last week (yes, last week) she won’t look quite so unruly. The best part is that the hoodie has a pocket so Riley can make herself useful and carry her own baggies on walks. I think she likes her hoodie, she doesn’t mind putting it on and doesn’t seem to run away from it as she does when we pull out her heavier jacket. I am hoping it starts to warm up around here, but I think Riley hopes it stays cold so she can continue to live out her ringside dreams. 

Of Pippas and Pelicans

These are past due, but still relevant.

Last month I was walking through St. James' Park on my way home on an unseasonably warm(ish) and sunny day. I was just innocently making my way when I came across two massive pelicans. Huge, at least one was. They were just standing there, on the path, with a group of people taking pictures and staring. I was rather surprised just how close some people were getting, I mean have you seen a pelican's mouth? That thing is nuts, I wouldn't get any of my appendages in biting distance of one. So of course I too had to stand around and take some pictures (from a safe distance) because I hadn't seen these pelicans in the park before, and I walk through St. James' Park fairly often. There was one older man standing right by them and I first thought maybe they were his "pets" and he takes them to the park to entertain the tourists. But I changed my mind on that one, he seemed just as entertained as everyone else, so maybe he just likes them and visits often, he seemed the type.

After I walked past them I immediately emailed a picture to Dave and my parents, because after all it's not every day you see two massive pelicans in the middle of London. Soon after Dave sent me the link to a YouTube video showing one pelican, the very pelican I just saw, eating a pigeon. It was disgusting. I had to stop the video right after the pelican grabbed the poor bird in its mouth and I heard a loud CRUNCH. Now I am no pigeon fanatic but I still don't like to see an innocent small bird being taken down by a much larger, and let's face it, inappropriately located water bird. The video clip was from BBC news so I obviously missed the boat on the whole pigeon massacre and the fact that pelicans even exist in St. James' Park. Who knew? Not I. I haven't been back to the park but now that I know, I will be on the look out and will keep my pinkies out of sight and protected from the murderous interlopers. And PS - I am not linking to the video. I don't want to glorify that bird on bird violence.

Also last month, while our friend was staying with us (more relevant in a few minutes...) Dave and I took Riley out for her second Saturday walk. It was about 4pm and we had to tear ourselves away from an exciting indoor bowls match on BBC. None of us had ever watched indoor bowls but I can tell you with certainty that we were enthralled. It was such a...fascinating? No. Fun? No. Interesting? Maybe. Entertaining? Not quite. Perplexing? YES, perplexing sport and we got very into the match. I googled the tourney and found out we could have gotten tickets for a whopping £5. Paying a few pounds more got you a box lunch! Next year's match is already on our calendar. But getting back to the point of the story Dave and I took Riley out, we were freezing and heading home. Behind Peter Jones we happened to see a woman crossing the street towards us and realized it was Pippa! THE Pippa! The Duchess' sister Pippa. Our very first Middleton sighting! I would have preferred Kate but that's neither here nor there, I'm happy to have seen one sister. She wasn't wearing a coat which was crazy since it was freezing. And no pictures, I wasn't that dorky, sorry! When we got home and told our friend we saw her he was a liiiiiiitle annoyed he didn't go on the walk also. But at least he got to see the final minutes of the bowling. He raved about it so much Dave and I backed up live TV to watch it and to see the highlight reel, which was some reel. It was indoor bowls glorious!

Pippa and bowls, what more could you want from a Saturday?

And the Beep Goes On...

Have you ever listened to a smoke detector beeping non-stop for 22 hours? No? Well then I feel sorry for you. Because I did, starting at about 4pm Monday and continuing until about 2pm yesterday. It wasn't the first time the thing went off (actually multiple "things" since it was more than one detector. A veritable symphony of detectors all going at once) it had been sporadically beeping for almost a week. The first time it went off was about 2am one night last week and I don't know if it woke me up or I happened to wake up and hear it but it set me off on a panicked run around our apartment doing the ever reliable sniff test. I finally fell back asleep after reassuring myself it was a false alarm and we wouldn't need to evacuate in the dead of night carrying Riley, our phones and one mismatched pair of shoes. You know you'd always go for mismatched, seasonally inappropriate footwear at a time like that. It kept on going off at different times of the day until the climax of 22 hours of mellifluous high pitched beeping. I couldn't get enough! In fact I still hear beeps in my head even a day after it finally stopped. Honestly, at least five times now I have stopped and listened, convinced the thing started up again. But no, it was just the beeping in my head. Carry on. It turns out the place next door, currently for rent, had a new system and batteries installed and they didn't work quite right. I can attest to that. The management company came yesterday after I involved the council noise complaint line, and the guy shut off the system and removed all the batteries. So yeah! Beeping over but Boo! Now I have to worry that our neighboring flat will actually go up in smoke and no detectors will be working to alert me to the fact we need to grab our dog, an old sweater, one photo from 10 years ago, some useless safety item like a fork and high tail it outside. So it's a trade off - no beeping interrupting my every thought mixed with the possibility of an alarm-less fire. Not sure which one could wreck my sanity first...

But in other news, we just got back from a weekend in Italy. Bologna (with day trips) to be exact. And let's see, Riley got a new wardrobe. It's still freezing here. Apparently every beef product in this country is actually made with horse meat. Dave's studying up on life in the UK and I need to start studying pronto. We're hitting the beach next month. Riley needs a fur cut. It's Valentine's Day tomorrow. I am on a stupid diet. And that's it. More to come...