I had a bed night, but not because of any noise, my knee was really painful and I had to get up in the night to take pills!! The ankle is still bad, but that doesn't really hurt when I am in bed. I strapped it up and didn't take the coach, I went to the South Quay DLR station and went to Greenwich, getting off at the Cutty Sark station. Very near to the ship, and the entrance of the underground walkway beneath the river. I saw a few cyclists go in, wasn't tempted to try it though!

That domed building is the entrance to the walkway, there is one the same the other side.. I had a wander around and popped into the market, but it is not fully operational on a Thursday. I walked up to The Queen's House, which had paintings in, and the house itself is interesting with a fascinating history.

The view from the house was good too.

The Great Hall was not huge, but quite striking.

Lots of paintings, mostly portraits and naval scenes. This bust of Sir Walter Raglegh in terracotta was eye catching.

Made my way back to the hotel after I had grabbed a bit of lunch. Went and had a swim again this afternoon. Looking forward to dinner, and packing to do tonight.

This room was quiet and so much better, I slept well. My ankle has swollen up a bit and is quite painful, but after a good breakfast and rest took the coach into the city today. I got the undergrounds to the V &A, such a long walk along tunnel to get there, which wasn't too great today. The Beatrix Potter display was on the third floor and was actually very disappointing as it only had about ten drawings and paintings. They were very good though, loved this little mouse.

Looked at a few galleries, costume, jewellery and sculpture. I thought this silver swan was very impressive.

I decided that as it was such a clear, bright day I would make my way to the Shard and then back to the hotel and not wait to be brought back by the coach. On the underground some lads came on and were playing music, they were great!

The chap with his back to me was playing a saxophone and the one in the jerkin was the singer. Mostly appreciated and they got a reasonable collection! At the Shard I went to the loo on the 68th floor, that was an experience, this photo was taken while I sat on the loo!!

I got another visitor to take a picture of me, that was good.

I have had a swim and will rest now as my ankle really is quite sore at the moment.

Had a seriously bad evening night, the water was tepid so a practically cold bath and then when I went to bed there was a continuous loud hum from somewhere outside, but in the night I was up and down seeing if it was inside!! Ended up on the floor as far away from the window as possible! Had to be up early anyway because of the early breakfast slot. Went to reception after breakfast and explained the situation, I had looked out of the window and was above the heating or air conditioning set up. Anyway they changed my room but that meant I had to pack everything up again and move it myself. I think this room seems quieter, fingers crossed! I had a bit of a wander round before my brother and his wife arrived just after 11 am. We walked to Canary Wharf and had a bit of lunch there and then we set off for the Emirates Air Line. Fantastic, will try and post a couple of pictures

After that we went on the Docklands light railway which I had taken a photo of earlier.

Even had a quick swim when I got back, so a pretty good day although the ankle has not been at all happy. Lovely to have such a nice time with Brian and Hazel.

The free wifi is very limited here so will just do a picture free post while I am away. The coach left at 7.20 am and we eventually got to the hotel at 6.10 pm, so a long day, but I did doze quite a bit while we were travelling. We did pick ups at Filey and Bridlington and then at the services which amusingly were Woodall Services. Apart from living in Woodall Avenue I have never heard of it anywhere else! I rained really hard and only stopped as we were in out way to the city centre. That was a surprise really, and we only had a couple of hours, the coach was parked on Park Lane. I had a wander round Hyde Park, then walked back down Park Lane. There was a great war memorial in the middle of the road dedicated to animals that lost their lives in conflict. I had a coffee in Park Cafe, which in part of the Dorchester group. They didn't have a loo but I was allowed in the actual Dorchester hotel to use theirs, shown in by a smart footman!! A cuppa now and get ready for dinner, which is at 7.30 for out group, and breakfast is at 7 am!! Maybe I will have the energy to add a photo as well tomorrow, but don't hold your breath.......

The weather has been pretty miserable today, grey and wet with no sign of brightness. I have had the day indoors, might have ventured out if it had cleared up a bit, but had stuff to do, getting ready for the trip to London and getting my case packed. Also did a bit of housework so that I come back to a fairly tidy place, I hat coming home to chaos, even if it is my chaos!!I have now watched all seven seasons of House, a very good program, still not sure if I love or hate him, but great acting from the whole cast.
I did a bit more to the jigsaw this afternoon, but have packed it all away tidily for now. I sorted out some of the main labels of important points of interest. They are separate in one of the blue trays, really pleased I got that sorting and storage set as it does make it easier when you are leaving a puzzle 'in progress'.
The asparagus fern that I have seems to really love it's position out on the landing. I have had one get a ridiculously long frond before, that I had going across the ceiling, but have never had one produce quite so many long fronds as this one.

The arrangement of plants I had at Christmas and then re-potted have been mainly successful. The peace lily is doing well, which I am happy about as I really like them, the little fir tree and the ivy are also doing well, but the cyclamen has died. I have never been successful with a cyclamen yet!

There is limited wifi at the hotel this week in public areas. Will take the chrome book and hopefully do the blog, maybe not with photos. Will do some longer, pictorial posts when I get back if that is the case.
Looking forward to the final Sherlock tonight, should be good.

I caught the bus into town early, I had a list of things to get and do and had arranged to meet Darren at Sainsbury's at 1  pm so that we could have lunch and do a bit of shopping. My phone was completely dead this morning, which was unusual as it usually holds the charge really well. I really need to have a working phone next week, because I will be away and also in case the hospital phones, so decided to get a sim so that I could put it in my old phone as a back up plan. They guy in Vodafone was really helpful and since getting home I have got it up and running. I also visited the mobility centre, who were also very helpful, and they think I should definitely push for hospital transport to bring me home after the surgery, but have also given me the number of Dial a Ride as a back up. I went in to see Georgia on the Clinique counter, she will be on a different counter when I get back from my trip. She gave me some samples of stuff that I use which was really nice. It seemed warmer to me today, because the wind had dropped, but the puddles were ice not water, so it had obviously been a really cold night. I got a couple of items in the sales and a jumper for Darren in a shop that was closing down. Then I set off to walk up to the supermarket. Passing the little park opposite the railway station the water was icy apart from round the fountains.

I did a bit of the shopping before Darren arrived and then we had lunch. I was over tired and over tired by then and was really pleased to get home and sit with my feet up and watch a bit of House. My phone seems to be holding the charge now, so I may not need the back up one, but will take it with me in case next week.

                                                            Winter arrives!The Marine Drive was closed last night because of the expected huge tides and stormy weather. In fact it was still closed today and I have been told that most places have battened down and have storm protection up. First thing today the snow had arrived and the wind was up again.

I have been concerned about getting up the stairs when I have had the surgery, much as the nurse had been dismissive and said I could 'hop' up as long as I had someone with me. There is a banister one side, but quite high for me. I tried the going up normally on one leg and could not get enough purchase to manage even one stair. So sat on my bottom to see if I could come up that way, the stairs are quite steep and again, I could not get enough purchase to even lift myself one stair. We will be looking into other ideas, once I am up here I will be fine as I won't have to go anywhere until I can weigh bear a bit. After that somewhat unsuccessful experiment I thought I would catch the bus and go to the studio, The snow was melting fast but the paths had been icy and the lawn out front still had bits of ice all over it.

Sandy had no other customers in at the studio and I had decided to paint the large elf that I purchased before Christmas. Sandy did a bit of painting as well and we had a couple of drinks and a bit of lunch. It took me over two hours painting and he is now ready to go in the kilm.

Sandy had a tooth out a couple of day ago and she has an infection in her mouth so I minded the studio while she went off for a dentist appointment. I cut through to look down at the sea on the way home, the amount of foam was quite spectacular today and the tide was right in again.

Took a few photos, quite a lot of other people were there with the same idea, and the traffic was much heavier than usual due to the lower road being closed.

I had a cuppa and a chat with Tina when I got home, before she went away for her training weekend. I have watched a couple more episodes of House and must now start thinking about what I want to take with me on my coach trip next week. Will finish with a wintry sky.