For sale.

Our first marital home here. What a lovely price eh? Sadly we won't see any of it as we are renting. We could live like kings (or a queen in Mitch's case) for that price in Scotland. We're off to look at a place just behind us but it'll be sad to move out, mainly because we both hate moving. Oh, and of course it's our first marital home. Och weel, such is life. Any takers?

A photoblog of the Big Smoke.

The Hope Workers Cafe on Holloway Rd. I've never eaten there but I love the sign outside.



The view at sunset from Chez MacKenzie.



The front of Chez MacKenzie.



Stack at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.



Me at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. I had to fight that kid for the right colour bricks. And his mum.



Mitch asleep while Stack and I built our names.



Melton Square out the front of Euston Station. Believe it or not but this picture is actually in colour and not black and white.



St Paul's at dusk. I love St Paul's, but then you knew that already right?



Shepherd's Bush H&C line station.



Camera stall in Portobello Market.



The erstwhile New Piccadilly Cafe by Piccadilly Circus. A lovely old London Cafe with formica tables and excellent tea. Daniel ate 6 sugar cubes in under a minute here for a pound. Happy days.



St Paul's again. I told you I liked it.



I think this is Baker St underground station but I'm not sure - can anyone confirm? If it is then it is my favourite underground station in London.

Ootside mah hoose.

As I promised several posts ago I would post some pictures of my 'hood. As the kids call it. I figured I'd start with a wee view from my window of the park, showing off its wonderful lustre. Or something.

This is the view from my desk of the park where it apparently lots of single men like to hang around doing absolutely nothing. All day, every day. Apart from shouting at each other and urinating in what might be London's largest public urinal- the wall at the side of my house. Nice.



And the view from my bed of the park. I know, I'm spoiling you all aren't I?



And the view from my kitchen window of the White City development of what purports will be London't biggest shopping centre. Great. Still, nice cloud and cranes combo.



So then I decided I'd wander into the park and take lots of amazing photographs of the shrubbery and green grass, showing you all how fantastic London is when it comes to parklands and commons. Instead the only thing of any real note was this tree.



But wait! What's that in the background? No not the Walkabout, which I've already mentioned and is already the bane of my life. Why it looks like the Shepherd's Bush Empire! Who could be playing there...?



Oh great. Jethro Tull. A guy hopping about on one leg and playing a flute. Just like it's 1978 all over again. Thank goodness I moved here for all the cultural delights London promised. I'm going home.

So I about-turn, and wander back where I see my room! It's where the magic happens. The one of the top middle two windows. And the bookies below? That's where a disproportionate amount of the guys I mentioned earlier seem to spend their time. Those guys must be really good at betting to not have to work all day.



So I go beyond the block to the side entrance, avoiding the puddles those kind aforementioned gentlemen leave for the residents, and walk through the back alleyway to my lovely front door, at the back.



Where I safely ensconce myself in my room (look at the difference!) and get back to work.



And there you have it, my Sunday afternoon.

My new abode.

Good day to you all- I figured since I'd sent out the email to all and sundry with my new contact details I should add a complementary post so you can at least put a picture to the words, of sorts. I say of sorts as I haven't taken a picture of the front yet, but that can follow giving you all an excuse to come back! As if you really needed one of course...

So, the lovely view from my new bedroom window which greets me each and every morning I wake:


Closely followed by the view from inside my new room (where the magic happens) (or not):


Then I discovered this in the bathroom:


Which I am not too sure whether I should be scared of or reassured by. But I do like how the 'Electronic Mouse Killer' feels compelled to state that it 'KILLS MICE'. Phew, thank goodness for that eh? I was concerned that I might have had to call Advertising Standards there. At least it should prevent a recurrence of a flat I lived in when I moved back to Glasgow that had mice, resulting in an unpleasant mouse death on the floor from poisoning of the bathroom whilst one reader of this blog was using the facilities. Kind of. A cyber pint for the first correct guess of who it was! (And no cheating and putting your name in under a different name just to win Bob) (oops!)

So from the bathroom I moved downstairs (I live in a maisonette!) to the living room:


Where my life resides:


Well, not really as I am in the process of shifting it upstairs. Yes that is almost literally all that I own in the world, unless you count Mitch but I don't think I could claim to own her yet, unless I can lay my hands on a constant supply of pink jammies from Greggs that is, then it'd be easy!


So I figure I should leave you with a last picture of the view from the living room's right hand window, which goes some way towards demonstrating how I live in a maisonette with its sightly different angle. Or maybe I used LADDERS! (I stole that from Stack's old blog from Japan where he stole it from the Mongols and their attack of the Great Wall of China, good eh?)


Next post: Niall goes OUTSIDE! Where I will show all you faithful readers the outside of my abode and my new 'hood. Apparently it is home to the largest Walkabout in the UK, so if you see lots of tanned men walking about with corks dangling from their brimmed hats clutching a 'cold one' and a surfboard exclaiming 'that's not a knife, THIS is a knife!' you'll know why. Strewth!