We Sang It Loud We Sang It Clear

Donald Trump's Not Welcome Here

That was one of the themes of the wonderful anti-Trump demonstration we joined in London yesterday. The crowd was phenomenal, good humoured and extremely well behaved. 

We caught the train from Ipswich along with many others. It was a glorious day so we walked the four miles from Liverpool St and enjoyed many of London's sights and a quick snack in a lovely Waterstone's cafe before meeting up with the marchers in Portman Square.

 

Although I (not Marion I hasten to add) am a paid up member of the Lib Dems, we can in no way be described as political activists but we both felt sufficiently motivated to show that we hate everything that Trump stands for and ,hopefully, make him aware that we won't stand for his ugly and divisive politics by attending our first demo ever. 

I've seen reports putting the crowd at 75,000. I've been in football crowds of 100,000 and I'm absolutely certain that the numbers were almost double that.

Here are a few photos from the day and some of the banners and placards that caught my eye.

One of the many fart references

Donning my Suffolk League Of Angry Women T-Shirt 

Donald Lookalike

Yoda's view

Short and to the point

My view entirely

Pussy messages aplenty

A very English and polite message

My personal favourite

A rare selfie

She really isn't nasty you know

Not an official placard but it made me smile

Short but sweet

Sure there were only 75,000

A memorable day. Our first demo but, in the current political climate, unlikely to be our last.

And we wake up today to be branded by the Mail as part of a "rent-a-Leftie mob." I'm no fan of Corbyn and am more of a centrist than left wing. To call this a "mob" is a disgrace. I know at least one Antiques Roadshow expert was there (one of the most genteel and polite people you could meet). To describe them as rent-a-leftie beggars belief. No wonder the country's in a mess when rags like this pedal their bile.

In other news we were saddened to see England lose in the World Cup

But at least we had this wonderful view at half time to compensate.

I said in a recent blog that Marion's been hard at work in the garden. On days like today you can see the fruits of her labour.

Writers don't often mention their three star reviews but I was rather touched by this one. 

We've got an early start tomorrow as we're driving to Southport to bring my mum back to Suffolk for a few days break. The forecast is for 30 degree plus temperatures. Perfect for driving a 92 year old for four hours.

Some Lazy Hazy Days Of Summer

It's been absolutely roasting since we got back from St Andrews and we've enjoyed a couple of fairly lazy weeks in the sunshine getting back on top of the garden and mostly pottering about, reading and managing to find time to finish the crosswords (me) and Sudoku (Marion) in The Times.

We have managed to get out of the house a couple of times. Marion's car was due to be serviced so we spent an enjoyable morning basking in the sunshine on the much underrated Ipswich waterfront.

Last week we were invited to London by Cumberland Place Financial Management (who manage our money) for their summer party. They've had some great venues for these parties over the years and this one was no exception. 

Arriving early in Liverpool St, we decided to walk to Trafalgar Square via St Paul's. It was a good walk with plenty of sights to take in and it passed an hour or so before we were due at The National Portrait Gallery.

Here we were treated to a fabulous array of nibbles and canapés plus a wonderful assortment of cocktails and fine wines (sadly driving prevented me from taking advantage of this).

We were given a private viewing of the gallery's Michael Jackson On The Wall exhibition.

Off the wall would have suited better.

Jackson actually commissioned this portrait before he died. I think Freud would have had a field day working this one out. It was a very interesting event even if the art was somewhat strange.

I said we've been doing some reading and must mention this book, The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas. It's not particularly highly rated on Goodreads but I loved its filthily anarchic style and look forward to reading more by this author. At the moment I'm almost through reading Matt Haig's How To Stop Time - an interesting idea and an easy read.

We had to turn to Twitter and Instagram for help when this mysterious bloom arrived in the garden. We hadn't planted it and didn't know what it was but thanks to the wonders of social media we knew a few minutes later that it is a Yucca. Not sure what we're going to do with it yet. 

On Sunday it was time for our grandchildren Catherine and Teddy to have their birthday party. It's not their birthdays yet but with school breaking up and friends due to go away they wanted to hold it when their friends could make it. The theme was "Glow In The Dark" and a local club was chosen for the venue. 

The children's talented granny made costumes from material that glows under UV

And great fun was had by about thirty kids aged from two to about seven

Some of the older kids loved it too.

It was a great theme, the entertainer who provided the disco and bubbles/snow machine was brilliant and the food provided by Paul and Josephine was amazing.

Even the cake fitted in with the scheme.

We're off to London again on Friday to join the protest rally against Trump. I'm wearing the Suffolk League Of Angry Women T-shirt in support of a friend who can't make it. Should be an interesting day.