Happy Birthday

Mum turned 50 this week so she and I hopped down to London to celebrate with Corinne. We found dinner in LEON then desert and champagne in Caffe Vergnano 1882.

And let our hair down in the hotel.

Bathurst Mews- I'd take one of these houses for free. You might not be able to see it, but there is a horse standing outside its stable at the end of the street. And that Olive Tree is quality.

Mum and I strolled through Hyde Park and sat at the Lido by the Serpentine for some elevenses. There was a heron, plenty of other close-up birds and two chinooks, cue plenty of "oh wow, that's amazing!" from Mum.

Then we stumbled across the rose garden, which is incredibly scented and full of delicate colours.

We'd planned to walk past Buckingham Palace on our way to lunch with Corinne but this crowd persuaded us to linger and watch the Changing of the Guard. Reader beware: if you go to watch the Changing of the Guard, what you will actually do is watch the back of the crowd watching people marching around, while you shuffle around trying to catch a glimpse of some red and gold on your tip-toes. (And when you do finally get a clear view of the procession, your camera battery will have just conked out). Still, if its not raining, its pretty good fun.