Gallivanting OAP

Today, I behaved like a tourist to London. And you know what, I enjoyed myself. I went to Piccadilly Circus and walked to the LEGO STORE at Leicester Square. That was my destination as I wanted to buy a gift for a very dear friend’s grandson’s birthday. I love giving my own grandchildren and great-grandchild LEGO as I am fascinated by LEGO BRICKS. I have a Classic 4-99 years old box of LEGO Bricks. I build various items when I am bored and when I do not want to do anymore crosswords or Word Search. Building LEGO challenges the brain as well as crosswords or word search. On my way to the LEGO STORE, I stopped just as I got to Swiss Court and asked a passer-by to please take a photo of me. After that, as I was now opposite the M & M Store, I had another photo taken of me standing right in front. I then had my photo taken of me in front of the LEGO store. Let me quickly add here that for now, the LEGO STORE in Leicester Square, London, is the largest LEGO store in the world. That ...

Today, I found myself by Fulham Broadway Shopping Centre. As I was walking into the Centre, I saw two young ladies wearing branded t-shirts and fleece jackets with the Name, Bernardo's on them. That stopped me in my tracks. Long Long ago, Bernardo's was a well known name. For years I have not heard anymore about Bernardo's and I just assumed that this Charity of yesterday years, was no longer in existence. How wrong I was. The Charity is still very much in existence but now operating in a different way. I stood with the young ladies and let them educate me about the work of Bernardo's in its new form. What an eye opener. Bernardo's is still out there helping lots of people. Supporting the Homeless, Abused children, Young People, they help to put children up for Adoption and Fostering and they have lots of projects that they are involved with. I was truly impressed. These two young ladies were at the Shopping Centre to raise awareness and to seek for donations to he...

Today, my Gallivanting was to attend a Conference of The Bi-Borough Adult Social Care and Public Health Staff Conference. This Conference meant sitting down for almost 5 hours with a short break. The emphasis of the Conference was on Mental Health. This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The Bi-Borough are The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea plus The Borough of Westminster. The Conference was attended by the CEOs of both Boroughs and senior staff of both Boroughs. It was a truly moving and emotional day. People were sharing their personal experiences about their journey with Mental Health. There were many contributors and I made sure that I participated in everything that happened during the 5 hours. It ended beautifully with a choir made up of different people that cut across many races, backgrounds and culture. The one thing binding these people together, was that they are all battling Mental Health problems and have discovered Singing as one of the many Therapies availabl...

I do volunteer in various ways and with various Charities, Organisations and well known Institutions. Today was no different. I was in the Fulham road area and when I was finished and I made my way slowly to the bus stop. Lucky for me, there is a direct bus from my place to the venue of today's volunteer meeting and so I was walking to catch the same bus home.  I love the Le Creuset brand. I own my own collection and I am always on the lookout for new lines of the brand. So, as I was walking to the bus stop after  the volunteer meeting, I walked past the Fulham Road branch of the Le Creuset store. I could not resist stopping to browse even though I was truly tired and just wanted to get home. Coincidentally I was wearing orange trousers and a blouse with bits of orange. Well, being me, I could not resist taking photos with some of the brands products. Yes, I did end up buying one to add to my growing collection. The brand is very dependable and I treasure my collection. I was ...

Today, I visited The Fount Bar inside Selfridges, located within the newer section, which opens into Duke Street. It was a lovely , truly nice place. I was wowed as it was totally different from the ambiance of other Bars and eating places within Selfridges. I know because I have been to all the other Bars and Restaurants, on other floors. I had an exotic Herbal Tea, which is listed in their menu as, The Daily Fortitude. It was made with lovely tea leaves from Poland, and a small piece each of fresh orange and grapefruit plus a few pieces of fresh strawberries. The idea is that, the tea is made with hot water in a dainty see through teapot and the pieces of fresh  fruits are put into a glass, see through mug. You then have a choice of ice cubes added to the pieces of fresh fruits or just the pieces of fresh fruits are left in the mug. The choice is yours and all you have to do is, let the tea brew and you pour it into the glass mug containing the pieces of fresh fruits. You end up ...

I left home today early to arrive at my Conference Venue for 0930. The Conference started at 1000/ I attended a one day Conference, at City Hall, SE1, the office of the Mayor of London! The Theme of the Conference was Ageing in London. It was interesting, exciting in some ways, and it was an opportunity to criticise existing policies and services. However, it was also an opportunity to help formulate plans of action, going forward. Housing for the elderly, health care, respect, activities, introducing two generations living together, transport, social, cultural & civic participation in community activities and many other improvements. All these, aimed at making London Age Friendly! Like all such projects, the implementations will be challenging. However, that the authorities are listening and engaging with Older Londoners is a good starting point! My photos tell you about my journey to City Hall today. Ciao and catch up soon.

During my Gallivanting, I went into Selfridges, a store I love. I go there often, not necessarily to shop but to browse, see what is trending, new styles, new designs and try on several perfumes. I usually leave Selfridges smelling like a perfume factory- with assorted perfumes sprayed on my wrist, hands, elbows etc. It usually takes me a few days to get the smell off no matter how many showers I have. I sometimes stop in the Brasserie as the famous Salted Beef Sandwich I always an attraction. This time as I was walking through from the designer bags section, I came across a small queue. Being curious I stopped to look at the reason for the queue. Well, having discovered why there was a small queue, I happily joined the queue. Yes, I did and in about 6 minutes it was my turn. And I share below with you, the reason for the queue. I hope you can find me as I had to laugh and laugh and laugh at my size versus the display. Enjoy and ciao. Catch up soon.

As a grandmother and great-grandmother this is a store that I visit often. I have so many birthdays and I find it useful to visit the M&Ms World Store in Leicester Square, as they do have a wide selection of items there that cuts across various age groups. So, I visited the M&Ms World Store and decided that I wanted to personalise the various Beans Chocolate that I bought. One obviously pays extra for  the service of personalising the beans chocolate. I was able to choose 4 names and extra words for two grandchildren and their parents. The delight on their faces when they saw their names on Beans Chocolates from M&M's World, was truly fascinating. I got to go through the whole process myself and that was also exciting for me. So today, I am sharing photos with you. Ciao and catch up soon.