another lensbaby shot

The more I use this lens the more I discover it will be months or perhaps years before I have mastered it. Even with an image in mind it is very difficult to see it materialised. It will probably be a similar undertaking to learning the violin - no frets to work with but purely an incredibly fine tuned eye (as opposed to ear!) will be required to make music, so to speak. I think I need to become 'at one' with the lens and clearly I am not!

looking out

Don't you just want to squeeze that belly?!

our excitement was contagious

Nate couldn't stop beaming from the moment we took him outside.

rosy cheeks

looking out from our bedroom window

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

After a chilly night we woke this morning to find the marina covered in a thick layer of snow! After two years this is the first time we've seen snow in central London. It was so unexpected too which made it even more magical! We've had such a mild Winter so far and really it has felt very much like a Melbourne Winter but with more overcast days. Today it is expected to reach a top of 4˚c which is more like a typical Winter's day. Right now, at 12.00 pm it is 3˚c so the gloves and hat will be coming out today!

a new toy

Our good friends Andrew and Vicki spoilt me during the week with a new toy, a 'lensbaby', which is a new lens I have had my eye on for a while. It is a strange looking concertina like lens for our digital SLR which allows you to bring a very small area of your subject into sharp focus and creates a graduated glow from that point (Nate's right eye). A very rudimentary attempt but it was my first time! Woz and I are going to have lots of fun with this I can tell!

stop the rocking!

I can't remember how long it's been since we had a still day. It has been so windy here the boat feels as though it is on the open sea and is rocking quite violently up and down and from side to side. My boat-legs are failing me today as I have almost lost my balance on a number of occasions! Outside, anything that isn't tied down to either the boat or the pontoon is as good as gone and at night, we are quite literally being rocked to sleep.

men at work

Woz went back to work on Tuesday ... sigh. So did the construction workers opposite us who are a year into a three year project. It was a rude awakening on Tuesday morning at 8 am after nearly two weeks of peace and quiet on the Marina. It didn't bother me when I was working as I'd leave before they clocked on and would be home as they were finishing up for the day (as Woz does) but now I have the pleasure of constant noise in the background forming a soundtrack to my day.

Today a good friend of mine, Ann, who I studied Auslan with, visited us for lunch with her family. They're on a holiday in Europe for a month or so. It was great to catch up on all the news and see her face to face - hand to hand. Here's us the last time she was here. The little boy in today's photo was but a twinkle in his father's eye.

making it count

New Years Eve - we are reminded of our bravery, naivety and sense of adventure all mixed in together as just two years ago we threw caution to the wind and moved to the opposite side of the globe. How those years have flown!

Unfortunately this New Years was one of the worst I've had - I came down with gastro in the small hours of the morning and spent most of the day and evening hovering over the toilet seat. We were both in bed well before 12 but woke to hear the firework display on the river.

Woz and I have huge plans for this year and are really excited about what it may hold for us. We have a term we use to encourage each other in life and it is one we really want to continue this year which is to 'make it count'. We have the opportunity at this time to be living in the heart of a vibrant, exciting city, to be parents to a beautiful little boy and to live each day for what it is. So here's to making it count.

Happy New Year!

regents park

After at least a week of overcast days this morning the sun was shining so Woz and I took a walk along the canal to Regents Park.

tip of the iceberg

We're already well into the time off Woz has and although he has been working on his masters it has absolutely highlighted how much more work he has to do. Think we're going to dedicate Saturdays from here on in to slogging through it. He's going to go in to work tomorrow while there's no one there so he can work in a less distracting environment!

thank you

A big thank you to those who sent presents over for Nate from Australia. If we haven't already been able to speak with you we hope to be able to call over the next few days.

christmas day

Our first Christmas Day as a family was fantastic! We had a very relaxed, sleepy morning before opening presents. It was fun watching Nate rip the paper apart. He was of course too young to understand any of it but just having him there made it all the more exciting.

After breakfast we headed over to Vicki and Andrew's to spend the day with them and their four day old baby son! Looking at him next to Nate it was hard to believe that just six months ago he was that small! It was such a lovely relaxed day with a big roast dinner followed by walk to the park, pudding and then a nap. It was very special for us to be able to spend our first Christmas as a new family with another new family. It hadn't quite sunk in for Vicki and Andrew and it still hasn't for us (six months later!) and so we spent most of the day shaking our heads and saying 'Who'd have thought?'

too many toys to choose from

i'll have that thanks!

first christmas

chrismas eve

We spent a good part of our Christmas Eve calling family in Australia as it was Christmas morning for them. My parents were given a webcam for Christmas so we tried that out and got to see and talk to the whole family.

christmas in the west end

happy holidays

Woz finished work last night for ten days. I'm not sure who was more excited, him or me. As usual he has big plans for the next ten days so today we've got all of the work out of the way; first our water pump needed fixing, followed by a huge clean out/clean up, followed by lots of wood chopping, food shopping, Christmas baking and finally some present wrapping
for the little 'un.


We decided not to go away this Christmas to allow Woz to concentrate on his Masters research, so he'll be busily working away at that over his break but it will be nice to be able to see him each day and for him to have some time with Nate.

to market to market

I did a last minute shop at the market yesterday for some fruit and vegies. I couldn't bear the thought of standing in a ridiculously long line at the supermarket being subjected to hearing 'Last Christmas' played for the fifth time in one day. Which brings me to a thought - no one seems to play traditional carols here for some reason.

The market was incredibly busy but had so much more atmosphere and you didn't really have to wait to be served. I was navigating Nate's push chair through the crowd and 'pulled in' behind a large burly man pushing an empty trolley. He seemed to be making his way through the swarms of people so I thought it would be a good idea to follow him. I soon discovered why. He was tearing along ramming the ankle of any unsuspecting shoppers ahead of him and as they jumped out of his way he shouted in a huge booming market type voice,

'Alright darlin'? Wwwwwwatch yer feet, if you don't I wont!'

christmas is coming

Our tiny little boat now has a tiny little tree. I picked one up yesterday at a stall on the side of the street about a fifteen minute walk from home. To qualify it had to be small enough for me to carry with one hand whilst pushing the buggy with the other.

My favourite part of Christmas as I was growing up was finding a tree and decorating it. Those were the good old days when we would chop one down from the bush surrounding our house and cart it inside. The thrill of seeing the box which held all the Christmas decorations retrieved from the depths of the linen press would always hark the start of the festivities for me.

The trees here are absolutely beautiful. Perfectly conical, bushy and green ... but they just don't smell like Christmas. The smell of the pine needles was the one thing that helped me hold on to the magic of Christmas as I grew up - that and Christmas carols. So I feel a little like a fish out of water here; it's cold, the trees don't smell as they should and it's dark but suddenly all those 'Winter wonderland' songs are beginning to make sense in a way they just couldn't when it was 30 degrees!

eye eye captain!

stark reality

Cor blimey it's cold here! The coats are on and buttoned up and the gloves and scarves are shortly to follow. Winter has officially arrived!

Almost everyone we meet asks the same question of living on a boat ... 'Doesn't it get cold in winter?'. We are often heard to retort quickly, 'Not at all! We have central heating and a wood fire', which is true, and on a good day it's toasty and warm throughout the boat, but the reality is that for the last two weeks we've had to turn the central heating off as it has been so windy that the diesel fumes were blowing back into the boat through the chimney, and when we light the wood fire we stoke it with enough coal to last the night which means that we generate a heatwave in the boat (28˚C last night!) but by morning the coal has burnt out and it feels as though ice has settled on the floorboards. This morning our thermometer in the bathroom (which is closed off to the heating in the main part of the boat) read 7.6˚C.

Of course none of that bothers me now ... it couldn't be further from my mind. I'm sitting by the fire which is glowing with red hot coal and both Woz and I are in t-shirts and bare feet ... but then there is always the knowledge that tomorrow I'll be wearing thick socks, knee high uggs and a coat while eating my breakfast.

Ahh the price of adventure!

adiós amigos!

And so we say goodbye to Barcelona ... until next time.

two generations

Sunday afternoon in the park.

an artist in the making?

gaudi's handprint

stunning views

park güell

Commissioned by Eusebi Güell as a stylish park for Barcelona aristocracy, Park Güell is a showcase of Gaudi's finest work and absolutely breathtaking. Just a pity about all the tourists.

la sagrada familia

Almost every inch of the facade of this incredible cathedral was covered in scaffolding and the mark of construction was everywhere. Even inside the windows you could see the criss-cross of layer upon layer of scaffolding poles. I'm not one for taking photos of famous iconic photos covered in scaffolding so I took a shot of its spires, although now I think about it the scaffolding is as much a part of the cathedral as the stone itself as construction began in 1882 and it is not predicted to be completed for another fifty years so. A missed photo opportunity perhaps? Oh well, we'll have to go back then wont we? I wonder if it will be completed in our lifetime or if Nate will have to visit it for us?

hola!

No post for a few days as we've been in Barcelona. We spent three short days there and it wasn't nearly enough. We went along with Woz's office for their annual Christmas trip so we were put up in a swanky hotel in the centre of town which was such luxury for us as we normally travel on a pretty tight budget.

Barcelona - what an amazing, surprising, inspiring city. Had we not gone as part of the office trip I am not sure we would have made it there as it wasn't high on our list of travel priorities but having been it is now top of our list of places to return. I have seen images of Gaudi's work countless times but I can truly say that I had no real appreciation for them until I saw them in the flesh and in the context that Gaudi designed them for - nature.

There are some places you can visit and upon returning home you're happy to have seen what you've seen and experienced but at the same time are quite happy not to see again. Been there, done that. There are others which infect you like a virus and you leave knowing that they will always be in your bloodstream. There will always be something inside you that longs to return to have the opportunity to understand the city.

We will be back, for at least a week next time to see all the places we didn't manage to get to and to just enjoy the culture and feel of the city.

If you're planning a trip to Europe, Barcelona is a must see!

has it been two years already?

December 31st 2006. When Woz and I left Melbourne for London that date seemed like a lifetime away yet here it is fast approaching and my visa is running out. You may have read earlier this year that Woz was granted British citizenship thanks to his Scottish heritage. Nate also has a British passport which leaves little old me with my Australian passport.

It's all very last minute but I've organised an interview at the British Home Office later this month to apply for the extension of my visa. Unfortunately they don't allow you to apply until 28 days before it expires so I'm really hoping they approve it as it will leave little time for Woz and I to whip up a plan B. They tell me it's all a matter of paperwork.

As I was feeling a little reminiscent I had a look back to this time last year in our archive posts and saw that by mid November last year we were waking to cold frosty mornings and it made me realise how mild it has been lately. While we daren't leave home without a coat, scarves have been a fashionable accessory rather than a necessity and gloves haven't even got a look in.

I remember visiting our friends Karen and Eric in London while we were still living in Melbourne several years ago. Having left our Summer to travel over here in the peak of Winter Woz and I were wearing thermals head to toe, coats, scarves, gloves and hats. I remember so clearly Karen leaving for work in an unbuttoned coat with bare hands, head and neck on an absolutely freezing morning saying 'Oh it's not nearly cold enough for gloves yet'. I remember thinking she was absolutely mad and yet here I am, doing the same thing.

upgrade

I've upgraded this site to make it much easier for me to edit (no more html) and at the same time changed the appearance slightly.

If a post has a comment against it the best way to view it now is by clicking on the title of the post and you will be able to view the post itself with the attached comments below. You can easily return to the main page by clicking on 'Home' below.

Happy viewing and remember, we love youse all!

fun at the park

I met Woz at the park again today on his lunchbreak. It had been a while since I'd taken Nate to this particular park, which I visited almost every day in Summer. It was a very different experience; hardly a child in sight, the trees almost bare and the ground littered with coloured leaves. It was a cold day and the park was lacking in atmosphere, but for Nate ... his Dad was with him and fun ensued!

self portrait

is there an electrician in the house ...er ... boat?!

Who ever said that electricity and water don’t mix? How right they were.

The short story is that water leaking from our water pump which feeds water from one end of the boat to the kitchen and bathroom always seems to find its way to the only electrical wiring that is below the floor in the hull of the boat. I'm happy to say that with a problem solver onboard we are back to normal with full lighting again.

Candles back into the cupboard ready for the next romantic dinner or power blackout.

candle lit

Who said that living on a boat wasn't romantic? Something weird has happened with the electrics in our boat and so we're left with power down one side of the boat only. Thankfully, the computer and television (our computer monitor) are working but we've been left without any lights which means that we're lighting hundreds of tea light candles by late afternoon. Fingers crossed Woz will work it out tonight when he gets home.

eerie

We woke this morning to an eerie yellow light and a grumbling sky. These photos were taken (by Woz) just minutes before it bucketed down with rain.

comment to your hearts content!

I have decided to change the settings on this blog to allow anyone to comment on the posts. Initially I set it up so that you had to be a registered member of blogger to make a comment thinking that it might help in filtering spam comments, but with all the millions of blogger users out there I don't really think this is an issue.

So ... if you happen to be reading this blog and have the time to comment please do so. We'll receive an e-mail in our inbox telling us you've left a comment and we'd love to hear from you!

7˚ C

Not sure if this story will make the headlines today in Oz but in tonight's news we learned that the Prince of Wales has joined the bloggers union and has started up his very own video blog. It shows a typical day for the Prince starting at 8.30am in his office, before heading off for a grueling schedule of meeting and greeting the commonfolk, sharing witty anecdotes and shaking hands. Not unlike my day really and I think the Prince will be surprised to learn he has some competition on his hands if he thinks the British public are going to warm to him and to his site. He may have millions of pounds and a team of professional web designers on his side but who could compare with the exciting lives we lead over here at Look out London, whose entries have become decidedly more lengthy since my becoming a desperate housewife and whose adventures are always entertaining? Take today for example; woke up absolutely freezing, lit the fire, made some porridge, got Nate ready to go out, waited ten minutes in the cold for my first bus, swapped buses 15 mins later, sat on the bus for another 45 minutes, then hung out with lots of mums and toddlers, back on the bus again in time to get home for 'Neighbours' before cooking dinner. What could be more exciting than that?!

Suffice to say, I love my new life ... work, who needs it?!

who's the boss?

Woz had a meeting close to home today so he came home for lunch. I wasn't the only one happy to see him. Nate just cuddled into him and sat there very content. Me, I have to entertain him all day with toys or silly faces. Got me wrapped around his little finger already!

that's a new idea!

A package arrived today ... trashy girly mags and tim tams. Thanks Karen! A girl after my own heart!

shop 'til you drop

This weekend we undertook a manic shopping expedition as we realised that Woz was in desperate need of clothes. Our usual haunt is Oxford Street in central London which has anything and everything you could possibly want but is jam packed with Christmas shoppers this time of year. The thought of navigating a buggy through the crowds was unbearable so we decided to head out to Bluewater, a shopping centre in Kent which gives Chadstone a run for its money. In size it would most probably be comparable, but unlike Chadstone, Bluewater boasts a chaplaincy service and a place for peace and quiet which consists of a listening space and a space for reflection. Quite frankly, I think Chadstone is seriously lacking in these services. I know I have been almost inconsolable at times after discovering I had bought an item at full price only to find it on sale at another shop on the other side of Chadstone. If only I had have had a chaplain to console me I may have had the strength to resist the double choc, choc chip muffin I immediately consumed upon my findings in an effort to stifle my grief.

Anyway, although busy, it was nothing on Oxford Street and we navigated the buggy around with ease, managing to find loads of clothes for Woz. One our pursuits was a new suit. As I was waiting outside the change room of a clothing store while Woz tried on a suit we were told to evacuate the shop immedately as there was bomb scare. We were told to leave everything, so Woz came running out of the changeroom in a suit and bare feet with his shoes and clothes in hand. We scooped Nate up and made our way out to another part of the shopping centre which was deemed safe with all the other shoppers. We wandered around for a while (with tags hanging out of Woz's trousers and jacket!) wondering if we'd be let back in to return the suit and for Woz to change his clothes. After clearance from the bomb squad an hour or so later they re-opened the area (turns out it was a bag of post which hadn't been picked up!) and Woz marched back in with his suit. In all the rush we could easily have gone home with the suit and to be honest didn't think the staff would have even been aware that he had been there as he'd taken his own clothing out of the store. Of course we didn't entertain the idea of not paying for it but when Woz returned the staff were very impressed to see him and had been placing bets as to whether he'd come back!

how we change ...

Anyone who has known me for very long will know I am always cold. Yesterday I headed off at midday to meet Woz for lunch at work. I was wearing a thin t-shirt and another equally thin long sleeved t-shirt on top when I powerwalked past a digital sign on Tottenham Crt Rd which displays the current time and temperature. It was 9˚ and I wasn't even cold! Granted I was setting a decent pace, but if I was in Melbourne I'd have a hat, scarf and gloves on and be complaining to anyone who cared to listen about how bitterly cold it was.

bonfire night

Tonight is Bonfire night and as I write this I'm sitting at home in front of our fire looking out the window at a spectacular show of fireworks. They've been going for a good hour or so now in all directions and as we have the glass roof over our sofa we're able to see the whole thing. Beautiful.

Although the official night is tonight, the fireworks have been going off constantly for the last week or so and last night we headed down to Ravenscourt Park with friends to see a firework display and warm ourselves by the humongous bonfire. Nate slept through most of the show courtesy of some baby ear muffs which was a relief as we weren't too sure if we were being a little too ambitious in taking him. Our first Bonfire night in London as this time last year we were riding home from a weekend trip to Northern France on our motorbike watching the fireworks from a distance.