Someone...

...wanted to say "Hello".

But then got a little shy.

This is "JJ" and he belongs to one of my colleagues. He wanted to show 'Lunch Lady Jan' just how smart he looked in his doggy bandana...

 ...but then had second thoughts and got a little camera shy.
However, it wasn't long before he got over the problem...

...and was getting up close and personal with the lens LOL.

JJ has certainly fallen in love with his bandana - doesn't he look smart.....................................

"Little boxes...

...made of..."

The box that we made as the base for the parchment project was such a nice idea that I thought I would have another go at making one.

The box is constructed from 300gsm smooth white card and covered with PP from a paper stack that I bought in Poundland (the stack was one of several A5 sized pads that they had and the paper is actually very good quality).

Here is the resulting 'make'...

 ...I didn't have any very fine magnets that could be used as a closure and Velcro was also too thick so I raided my ribbon stash.

The inside of the box was covered in the same PP...

...although I did consider using a contrast.

A lovely sturdy little box - perfect to pop a gift or some fancy chocolates in and still have a cute storage box afterwards................................................................

Messing about...

...on the river - part 2.

Get those kettles on as here are the rest of the photos.

The Olympic stadium is now the home of West Ham United football club...

 ...but it remains one of the big venues for a variety of events held in London - there are a few BIG name concerts being held there over the Summer months as well as numerous sporting events.

 

Elsewhere in the park there is a lot of building going on...

...some is 'repurposing of buildings used during the Olympics...

 ...and much is new build.
The team were amazed at how much was going on...

 ...right on our working doorstep.
The river is beautifully maintained...

 ...which is a very different story to how it was found when development started...

...as this whole area had been a dumping ground for centuries due to its closeness to the City of London. Thousands of tons of contaminated ground had to be removed & cleansed whilst the river itself had to be cleared of thousands of shopping trolleys, cars and numerous in-exploded bombs from WWII.
Construction around the park is moving at a pretty rapid rate...

 ...and cranes  are everywhere on the skyline.
The Orbit was the end marker of our tour...

...and we headed back to the moorings. The park has a large number of sculptures...

 ...these are called "The Pencils" and mark the side of the waterway.
Back on the jetty we made sure we had details about coming events...

 ...and took a last few photos...

...and bid farewell to our guide...

 ...and skipper.
The Orbit was constructed especially for the Olympics and is a prominent feature in the park...

...it is one of the largest free-standing sculptures.
The edge of the park is still a massive building site...

 ...and this area is known as the International Quarter - many large businesses will be re-locating here from the City of London.
The Aquatic Centre is now a busy part of the community...

 ...standing next to the walkway that takes you into the par.
The view across the park towards London...

 ...is ever changing as new buildings join the skyline.
Everywhere is being maintained beautifully...

...and even the entrance into the Westfield shopping complex is beautifully planted.
The is "The Street"...

...original open to the sky, it has now been covered over so that folk can make use of the outside space despite the British weather.

We had a fabulous afternoon and we're all looking forward to the new tours that will be starting later in the year............................................................

This time a week ago...

...we were anticipating our team building event.

(Lots of photos so you might want to grab a cuppa).

Our office is just across the railway line from the Queen Elizabeth Park (Olympic park) and we had been planning on taking a river boat trip through the park since last year but by the time we had a date that everyone could make, the tours had closed for the Winter.

The tours reopened at Easter so we were able to organise our team outing.

We decided to cut through the residential area by the office rather than battle with the crowds in the Westfield Centre so this was the first view of the park from the road...

 ...the Olympic Stadium is now the home of West Ham United football club.
We go quite 'up close & personal' to the Orbit...

 ...which now has one of the longest slides wrapped around it (quite expensive and not something most of us would want to do).
We needed to be at the boat before the tour time to confirm numbers so some of us dashed ahead...

 ...the rest brought up the rear.
The boat moorings are in what is called "Waterworks River"...

 ...and easily accessible.
Whilst waiting for the others to catch-up, we spotted a mummy duck and her babies...

 ..."Dad" was waiting ahead of them and "Mum" was trying to ensure that all 11 of her brood were present & correct.
The tour boats can accommodate 60 people...

 ...there were 10 of us and we had the boat to ourselves.
Hot & cold drinks were available (including booze)...

...and although it was a lovely bright day, the wind had an edge to it - so tea & coffees all round.
The boat slowly makes its way through the park and there is a commentary about what is seen...

 ...and how the park has tried to be as eco-friendly as possible by providing nesting boxes for bother birds and bats in the underside of all the bridges that cross the river. Lots to see...

 ...and lots of interesting facts as we poodled along.
This is where the Waterworks River joins the River Lee...

...there is a lot of work going on around this lock and an extended tour will be available later this Summer.
Despite the horrid weather forecast we had a lovely time...

 ...and the sun was shining off the water.

 The amount of land cleansing and replanting that took place in the park is astounding...

 ...and at every point of the tour there was something to see...

...even these magnificent reed beds.

These photos take you to roughly the half-way point - I'll share some more photos tomorrow...............................................

Fundraising for the RNLI...

...is still going strong.

I sent out an email to everyone at work asking for donations that we could use as raffle prizes and folk certainly 'stepped up to the mark'.

These were the photos I took just before the Easter weekend...

...and there have been a few additions since. People are so very generous.

What with end of year performance reviews and a complete restructuring of our line of business things have been a little slow on the charity front. However, even with just the trickle coming in from book & craft sales we have managed to almost reach £900. It is hoped that our raffle will boost interest and we should make the £1000 by the end of May - fingers crossed.

I have to say a very BIG thank you to everyone who has contributed to the fundraising.

It has been an interesting year of fundraising - book sales, craft sales, shipping forecast sweepstakes, raffles and afternoon cream teas - all done without any 'hard sell' as I didn't want folk to feel pressured into participating.

I will be continuing with the fundraising for the RNLI as I think it is a very worthy cause - I just need to come up with some ideas for the coming year to keep interest high..........................................

Shh, do you think....

...anyone will notice me?

I wonder what I can get up to.

I see that 'Mum' has a new mug for her breakfast coffee...

 ...but there doesn't seem to be a picture of me on there.
Okay, so the seeing out of the windscreen isn't a problem...

 ...but I'm not sure I can reach both the steering wheel and the pedals. Perhaps it's better if I sit here...

 ...then I can navigate.
Help!!!!...

 ...I'm being swallowed by mum's bag (I wonder what she does with all this stuff).
Phew, managed to get out of the bag...

 ...let's see what is on the 'web' today.
Oops...

...I didn't mean to drink it all - do you think she will notice?
I wonder what is in here...

 ...gosh it's dark!
Look who I found...

...looks like Sniffer wanted an adventure too. Perhaps if we both climb back into mum's bag we can have a snooze (and we can hide because it looks like she is coming this way).

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fun Red Nose Day on Friday. Didn't they do well raising over £73million. They had a cake competition at work and then sold the cakes and I know some folk had children taking part in various things at school so it looks like everyone had a great time for a very worthy cause. Now I wonder where that monkey has got to as I was hoping to take some photos....................................................................................

Have you got...

...your Red Nose?
 Yes, in case you had forgotten - today is "Red Nose Day". The day when folk do something 'funny for money' to raise cash for good causes.




There have been some weird & wonderful performances by celebrities on the BBCs dance & sing programme and I'm sure there will be plenty more fun things to watch tonight.



There are 9 regular noses to collect this year and then there is the 'grey' limited nose of a Frankenstein type character. I've managed to get 7 of the main 9 noses but no sign of the limited edition.

A colleague kindly gave me a PG Tips Red Nose Monkey (PG Tips is a teabag brand). I must remember to take some photos of what he gets up to today.

If you have events going on today at work or at school, I wish you all well with your fundraising and hope you have a fun time..........................................................