First Full Day in the Big City

I couldn't sleep much once the sun came up, and it was really muggy all night. Apparently, we arrived at the tail end of a heat wave and it felt like the tropics (not that I've been there, but I imagine that's the case). There are parks/gardens/squares all over this city and 2 within 2 blocks of where we're staying. So, I went out wandering in my PJ's, just as a man was unlocking the gates to one. That was a new and welcome sound! Enjoyed some quiet time there before going for breakfast and to figure out what this free-to-explore day would bring.

I grouped up with Jesse, Paul, Keith, and Dan for the day, and just decided to wander mostly aimlessly to see what we could see. We ended up going in the direction of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens - the largest free green space in the city and the location of our final project for this English Green Architecture course we're in (yes, this really is school-related! :)
Along the way, the guys were stopping to check out various cars and turning to stare at others as they drove by. I am certanly used to this behavior, but not with European cars! I'm clueless about them, and these fellows aren't nearly as patient and eager to teach as my Andyman, so I imagine I will return home just as clueless. We saw some pretty cool buildings along the way and got a feel for which way to look while crossing the street - although most crosswalks actually tell you which way to look. It's painted on the street! I'll hafta get a good picture of that to post.
Here's a fairly typical image of London - cathedrals/churches and red phone booths everywhere!
Found a park dedicated in a way to Americans while still wandering to find Hyde Park. They had an FDR statue...
...and a monument designed and built to honor those who lost their lives on 9-11:We spent some time there in almost involuntary silence and reflection. It's amazing the power memory has even years after something happens...
Finally made it to Hyde Park. The park is huge and bleeds right into Kensington Gardens, so it seems even larger. They have these deck chairs sitting around on sad-looking grass, and they look pretty inviting! Turns out you have to pay to sit in them! We found this a little funny and the guys snuck a free sit while the guard turned his back. I'd say they were pretty proud of themselves.
Our wanderings brought us next to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, which runs in a circle over various contours of textured concrete and was full of happy kids - most just in their undies or nothin', so I'm guessing it's a spontaneous stoppin' point for other park wanderers!
Of course, we had to join in the fun, so left our shoes in a pile and waded a lap. It was so refreshing for our tired feet, and fun to feel like a kid for awhile :)
After letting our feet dry, we managed to find the site for our project - a bit of grass outside the Serpentine Gallery where world-renowned architects design a temporary pavilion to be constructed for use July-October each year. We will be designing one to teach sustainability (theoretical project, of course) in a 24-hour design charette in groups of 4. Three of these guys are in my group for that (minus Dan). We walked thru the gallery first, and they had a strange modern art exhibit where the guy makes swimming pool floating toys out of aluminum and powder coats them to look exactly like the real deal, but then molds them into heavy objects that you just know they couldn't possibly bear the weight of! Quite the play on your mind. We mentioned to one of the security guys there that we were wanting to see the pavilion that was under construction right then and hidden behind fences, and he took us up on the roof for a sneak peek!
Looks like a pretty minimalistic design, wouldn't you say? Compared to the pavilions in the past, it certainly is. After that stop, we headed to the river. Here's the guys at the river, which is kinda hidden behind the trees.
Then, we found a bridge to cross and I took a few pictures of the view from the bridge. There are so many bridges that cross the Thames, and some are purely for pedestrians! Pretty cool...
The big ferris wheel thing is called the London Eye and is runs all day and has these enclosed capsules that fit about 12 people each and it takes you up to see all of London from above. We're going on it one of these days soon!
And, there are these river boats that you can rent and travel all along the river, stopping whenever to dock and check things out. They can go thru the locks and canals too. And, you drive them yourself, so no strangers on board!
We realized then that we were hungry and opted to stop by a grocery and pitch in for picnic food. We had delicious bread and dips (hummus and a smoked salmon cream cheese one) and some sliced meats, yogurt and satsumas. Found a lovely square to set up in and really enjoyed our lunch there.

As we're eating and chatting, one of the fellows looks up at something in the distance behind me and says, "look! a mormon temple!" I wheel around, thinking that can't be right and pull out my ultra-zoom camera to investigate. Here's the first, partially zoomed-in picture... And the full test 18x proof......that it obviously is not, unless I missed a memo about the statue change!
While we were on the subject of religious buildings, we decided to check out the Westminster Abbey. On the way there, as we were cutting thru a new development, we got a glimpse of the Westminster Cathedral:
Eventually did get to the Abbey. It is truly a beautiful building, and the detail in its facade is just incredible! We didn't go inside, figuring we'd come back and attend a service sometime to actually experience the space as it was designed to be experienced.All the walking wore us out and we decided to try taking the "tube" (the underground system here). So we beeped in our oyster cards (little cards you can load with money or week passes or whatever and save money with frequent use) and waited under the city for our train to come:
Had an uneventful ride on the tube and the day was over.
Next adventure comin' right up!

Landing in London

So, now that I've been here for nearly 3 weeks, I thought I better start the story. I flew out of Spokane on the 3rd, changed over in Minneapolis and lifted off for my first international flight. It was around 9pm and there were fireworks lighting up everywhere as we flew over the city. Exciting and sad at the same time - to be leaving the U.S. right before a purely-U.S. holiday that I really enjoy celebrating each year. Hours later, I looked out to see the sunrise over some unknown terrain. Was peacefully beautiful, and the loud crowd of high schoolers on the flight with me were content in watching their movies or sleeping, so that made it even better.

After dinner and a few more hours of trying to sleep in the freezing cold of high-altitude flying, I got my seat partner to raise the shades and was greeted with my first glimpse of London!
Managed to get from the airport to the place of lodging with only one unexpected change in plans. The underground I was told to take was closed for maintenance for the weekend, so I ended up on a train, which then connected to the underground, and then a few minutes of walking to find the dorms. Found them and my tiny room for the next 3 days:With quite a different view than I'm accustomed to in little Viola:Went to a pub for dinner - had courgettes for the first time. Was pretty good. Then crashed and slept off the time difference. I will attempt to tell the stories of the weeks following this arrival in London - internet is hard to come by over here, so bear with me!

Backyard Overhaul

I've got some serious catching up to do, and will start with a little update from home.

We had been discussing the future of our dandelion patch (the lawn behind the shop under some of the fruit trees) for some time and decided that it needed either some weed-b-gone and re-seeding or something else along those lines. Then, there was talk of adding on to the shop in that direction, so maybe not doing anything with it. And then, there was the realization that we wouldn't be adding on anytime soon, and the more likely happening would be the "parts pile" gradually spreading out into the dandelion patch. So, we figured up the area and decided to rent a sod cutter and just start over with dirt.

Andy ran the machine and Beth and I followed behind, making rolls. As we were rolling up the sod and figuring how to coordinate hauling it in to the yard waste place and dropping off the sod cutter to stop the per-hour charge, the neighbors wandered over. Turns out they had a friend who needed some sod and then they wanted the not-so-nice rolls to use as backfill behind their retaining wall. So, instead of making multiple trips into town, we gave it all away!

Then, we laid felt down as a weed barrier. Don got it to us in wads of the heavy stuff, and I bet it would have been quite amusing to see us wrestling it into place.

Next came the gravel. We were convinced that the delivery truck would not be able to make it thru to the back yard, so we used a handy dandy tool (heisted from Don) to pick up 1/2 yard at a time in our truck. This picture shows how far we got doing that before realizing we needed to just order it delivered and hope the truck fit (the piles you see are all from that delivery truck. The spread stuff is 4 loads in our pickup.

And, it did!

Amazingly efficient! Had the rest of the gravel done in an hour or so.

You may still be asking - Why all the trouble? Well...let me tell you.

We've added another member to the fleet!

Meet our big ol' GMC:

I think he'll probably get stuck with a name like Shop Truck...
And, the job of pulling the trailer to Bonneville next year?! Maybe, maybe!