Lost in London (Part 2)

 The Changes

One of the first things I did when I arrived in London was find my flat! It's in a place between Wimbledon and Putney called Southfields. What I love about it, is that unlike anywhere else in London, it has a small village feel. My flat is 5 minutes walk from the lawn tennis club that Wimbledon is famous for, and 2 minutes away fro Wimbledon Common. Within an hour cycle are about 10 parks, including the massive and deer filled Richmond park of Fenton fame. 

The flat is quite cozy, though it lacks a living room. It had a modern and quite spacious kitchen with attached balcony. Even better is that my room links directly on to the balcony, where I have put in effort sculpting a bit of a garden. I have all sorts of plants in there that the local wildlife love. When it was still winter, I had a few bluetits (I think) living in the birdbox and pinching seed from the feeders. Pigeons are the main visitors now, alongside mischievous squirrels and the adorable neighbourhood cat, named "Creepy" by one of my old flatmates (who didn't like cats). Below are a few pictures of the flat.

Why did they put a wall in between...

Creepy, sneaking in.

My Garden :). I repaired the rocking chair.

My room, with a picture of Radjabikey.

My Gran's blanket :). Couldn't be without it.

I've gained a real passion for taking cycling trips and walks. The seasons have changed fiercely since I arrived, and so I have become familiar with the world in both drought and snow. Below are some pictures of my favourite sights on my trips:

Snoooooow

Brilliant Dog in Wimbledon Common.

Some Deer in Richmond Park

Geese swimming in Barnes

Westhumble Station, only 15 minutes south of Wimbledon, but out in the middle of beautiful nowhere.

Brighton Pier

The Bridge crossing St James' Park

Wimbledon Common in Summer

Deer in Summer

Further up the Thames

Next to Hampton Court

 I have discovered the wonders of west end shows, oh me oh my. I've been to several performances with my choir, taken part in a 10k run for charity, had a couple tap dancing lessons, tennis lessons, games of badminton. I even went for a game of 5 aside football that almost killed me. In addition to this, I found my way inside the Houses of Parliment when I went to see another PhD student talk about some of her research.  No I did NOT steal a bottle of water....

Triforce Tennis

Inside the Houses.

Definitely not a bottle of House of Lords water.

A rainy day with the choir.

Giving it our all!

Bit sore from cycling

The Lord's chamber

The start of my Jubilee celebrations. Don't worry, I was miming to Floo'er O' Scotland.

View from Boxhill, looking towards Brighton.

My hair has changed a little, too.

Oh aye.

Though I still spend a lot of time on my own, I've managed to go do some brilliant things with friends both old and new :).

Band night at the Windmill in Brixton

Keri and I, off to see Wicked :)

Torun gazing over Kingsmere.

Flora and Steve

The poetry book given to me by Ieva, my Latvian friend who will not be photographed.

My first West end show :)

The Southampton Norwegians.

Flatmate Jamie with me at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

My old flatmate Kate and I enjoying cock'n'balls ice cream.

I'll fill you in on more recent happenings in part 3 :).