This is a first for me....I'm uing a wireless keyboard to type this. It seems very odd that I can type on one piece of equipment and what I type appears on another seperate bit of technology that is not attachedin any way.
My reason for doing this is because my trusty old laptop that I usually use to blog from has given up the ghost and refuses to turn on.In fact, it refuses to do anything which is slightly worrying because I store all of my photos on it and there are lots of personal notes and documents on it too which I would hate to lose.
People tell me that they are all 'on the cloud' which may or may not be true. I wouldn't know because the whole iCloud thing confuses me beyond belief.
I'm not sure if I can at photos to the blog using thkeyboard and my iPad but I giess I won't know until I try.......
I wanted to post some lovely photos of a trip my sister, niece and I made to the Tower of London in the week.
The three of us had volunteered to do a shift helping with the poppy installation that is going to be at the tower until November 11th.
We met on the train at Woking and, as seems the norm whenever I go on a train to London, we had to stand all the way as the train was full...mainly of a group of very excited school children who were on their way from Portsmouth to The Imperial War Museum. You can imagine how noisy it was on the train and I was amused to see that most of the little darlings had already eaten their packed lunches. It was 10.20!
When we arrived at Waterloo we took a walk along the South Bank (should that be all one word?). There is always something to do there, something going on. We sauntered past various stalls and
exhibitions, The Tate, The Globe and umpteen eateries. We got stopped and asked if we would like to be in the audience for Loose Women, which we declined even though it would have been 'interesting',
and we saw Rory McIlroy, the golfer, who was on a boat on the river filming a new advertisement for Santander.
My sister had found a good place to eat in St. Katherine's dock, a Chinese restaurant called Ping Pong which which was doing a dim sum menu for £8 per person which included iced tea. I wasn't sure what to expect but, do you know what, it was really lovely. The three of us sat outside in the sunshine, looked at the boats and enjoyed our food and fabulous drink before heading to the Tower.
When we got to the Tower we joined a surprisingly long queue of volunteers and waited for our shift to begin.
We entered the Tower by a side door, were shown a short film about the idea behind the installation and how to assemble the poppies and then we were taken to the moat, given out instructions and that was it.
Just being in the moat of the tower was exciting and when we saw all of the poppies that were already planted I think all of us were immediately moved by what we could see. Poppies, poppies
everywhere!
Our shift of volunteers numbered about 200 and we had 6000 poppies to assemble and plant. Each poppy is individual and, by November 11th, there should be over 800,000 poppies planted. Each poppy represents a person who lost their lives in the First World War. At the moment there are over 400,000 in situ so the installation is over half way to being completed.
The volunteers ranged from families doing it together ( 18's and over), work colleagues, couples, friends.. and it was great to see everyone doing something so meaningful and with such good feeling.
I will never forget planting my first poppy. As I pushed the metal spike into the ground I just thought that it was being planted for someone who I never knew who gave their life for their country. I whispered a little 'thank you' and then looked at the thousands of poppies all around me and felt very emotional.
We sat in the sunshine chatting and assembling our poppies and planting them and 2 hours flew by and we were done. All 6000 poppies planted in just over 2 hours. We were given free reign to wander around the moat and take as many pictures as we wanted to which we all did and which is why I am
so irritated that I can't put any on here at the moment. I will find a way and add some later on if I can.
We took a slower saunter back along the riverside and got ourselves an ice cream. A cocktail or a glass of wine would have been nicer but I had to jump back on the train and get home in time to go to work my night shift. My sister and my niece were in no rush to return home so they stayed and eventually went to the theatre to see Matilda. Not envious at all!!
I got home, weary but elated, incredibly happy to have been involved in such a unique event. My thumbs hurt, my elbows ached and my knees were giving me grief but it was so worth it. Memories are made of such things. It was truly a wonderful day, a wonderful experience and brilliant to have been able to have done it with family.
I would urge anyone who is able to to take a trip to the Tower and see for yourselves the incredible
sight of the the moat gradually being turned red. It is a very moving thing to see. Also, each poppy is being sold after the installation is dismantled and I have already ordered one for myself and am going to order several more, one each for each of my children. I believe there has been some negative media coverage about the installation and about how the money is being distributed...basically not
enough money being given to the armed forces etc etc. For me, that is irrelevant. For me my day at the Tower was about being a part of something memorable, a once in a lifetime experience. It was about paying my respects to the people who died in the Great War. It was about remembering my Nan who was so very passionate about 'Poppy Day' and who supported it every year via the British Legion, about remembering my dear old Dad whose birthday was November 11th and who has a poppy engraved on his headstone. It was a personal pilgrimage of sorts if you like and I am so happy to have been a part of it.
So, there you are. My first blog entry using a wireless keyboard. I may have made a few mistakes with things so I do hope that anyone reading this ill forgive me for any punctuation, grammar, spelling errors. I will endeavour to get my laptop repaired but I don't hold out much hope. I guess I am just going to have to try and get to grips some newer technology. Heaven help us all!
Much love
xxxxx
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