November garden

My daisy bed is still stunning, this simple planting has worked perfectly, I do very little to this bed, hubby loves it as well. I love how the blooms tumble to the lawn, I am hopeful of a few seedings next spring. These are evergreen and if our winter is mild we will have daisies for months.

A couple of my fuchsias are still  in bloom, both are not in the ground, being raised they do flower longer. My hosta tub is a mass of colour, the begonia is full of flowers, all the cyclamen are in pots, placed there for colour.

A quick check on my veg beds, everything is growing well, I have a fine pea net over both beds to keep the birds away. The veg in these beds requires no work, they will grow over winter giving spring harvest.

I managed to pick up all the leaves, I got 4 tubs, my acer is bare, so just the last of the huge magnolia leaves left to drop, both black dustbins are full, they will supply me with leaf mulch next autumn. I have piled loads of leaves over my rhubarb crown, I did the same last year. My composters are both full, the levels will drop, I don't plan to dig the compost out until the spring, when I should get enough compost for my needs.

Everything is looking good in the greenhouse, I will soon sow my sweet-peas, they were a success this year, so I'm going to do exactly as I did last year. I will plant my tulips in pots, hopefully with Molly on Sunday, she loves the garden, I have an amaryllis bulb to plant as well, in hope to have a flower before Christmas, I have 5 other bulbs which I have put outside in hope the cold weather will stimulate a bud instead of just leaves.

Our fake grass helps keep the garden looking good, it has brilliant drainage which is necessary in our wet winters, I get as much pleasure looking at our winter garden as I do in summer, the structure is enough to give interest. 

I spent Wednesday with daughter, I have finished all the children's gifts and George's birthday present, I'm out with hubby on Friday to choose our gift to each other. I did get a pair of green cords from Next, I have always loved cord trousers, they are not often on sale, so I grabbed a pair when I saw them.

Weekend

 Daughter and children sneaked into the house on Friday and decorated for our home coming on Saturday, it was a lovely surprise, the last time I had balloons was 10 years ago, we took a few to their house so they could play with them. The '70' balloons are in our office Lilly was getting herself tied up in the strings. 

I did get a lovely bunch of flowers, I've not received fresh flowers in ages, they do brighten up the sitting room, I stopped buying fresh flowers a few years ago, the cost and the fact they are not grown in UK, being the main factors. 

Sunday we all went out for a meal to a local pub where George is comfortable, they do a lovely roast dinner, which I had, afterwards we had chocolate birthday cake, daughter got a 'freefrom' dairy so both George and Molly could have some, we left the rest of the cake for them. 

We have done very little since we came home, Lilly behaved at the cattery and came for a cuddle when she saw me, she has been in luxury, there is underfloor heating in the cages, she was snug, I tried to keep her in on Saturday night, there were loads of fireworks, she yowled so hubby let her out, later she slept on my lap for ages.

No plans for the coming week, rest and relax, I have a ton of leaves to pick up, my acer is almost bare and the magnolia is slowly dropping it's huge leaves, the rest of the garden is looking after itself. We are off to Lidl's this morning to fill the fridge, it's raining hard so rest of the day will be inside, probably chatting on the phone with my sister. Laundry is all done, cases are packed away, it's just memories now, and what great memories I have. 

Last look

 From the top of Battersea chimney, the old power station is now a shopping complex and newly built up area, there is a glass lift inside one chimney, we were lucky only 6 people in our's loads of room to view London..

Inside 

loads of the old mechanics of the building on show.

Iconic view, 

old and new

Fun on Tower bridge, 

we walked across the two towers under the top section.

Uber water taxi,

a great way to get around.

Millennium bridge, we walked across twice.

The Golden Hinde

Poppies at Traitors gate, 

Tower of London.

My birthday lunch was in China Town.

Liberty's

This is my final London post, I took so many photos, we made so many great memories, we planed our day to walk away from our hotel and then jumped on the underground to get back, its much easier now you don't have to purchase tickets, just tap your card at beginning and end of every journey. 

We do love to walk everywhere, we again found lovely spots, things not always in any guide, different places to eat, our hotel has a brilliant restaurant, we did not use it preferring to find different places when out and about. Nothing beats turning a corner and finding a treasure, we stumbled on The Golden Hinde.

Thanks to Steve

Our trip to London was brilliant, 4 days gave us plenty of time to wander, we averaged over 16,000 steps each day, Steve on his blog Shadow and Light found this statue on his walks, situated close to St Paul's cathedral. Well worth the walk to find it, a friendly local told us it's only here for this year, afterwards it will be replaced.

On another post Steve took an evening cruise, we have had many lunchtime cruises, the night cruise was much nicer, so many landmarks lit, here is just a few. This was just after 6pm, so not too late.

So thanks to Steve, we had two different adventures, its good to see a different side to the capital city. We caught the lunch time National express coach home for a much needed rest, no plans for the rest of the day, my knees and feet are happy to be still, a takeaway for tea and an early night. More photos next time. 

Thank you everyone for my birthday wishes, it been a fun week, I know I am blessed to be able to have such a good time, the weather was kind, we did not use our coats at all, my scarf and gloves were not necessary,  just a few spots of rain on Friday. It was cool enough to walk around in just our fleeces, sadly most of the Christmas things were starting next week.