Ramadan lights

London, for the first time, has put up Ramadan lights to celebrate the holy month. I was able to go and see them near Piccadilly Circus, and in the daytime the lanterns, stars and moons shimmered and sparkled. I wasn’t able to stay until dark when they light up but I was delighted to see these wonderful lights celebrate a special month in a city as great as mine.

Winter Lights 2023

With the winter days and nights being cold and dark there’s usually not a lot of motivation to do anything or go anywhere. To help with that Canary Wharf in London decided to hold a Winter Lights event, after a 2 years break due to the pandemic. I always enjoy art events so my sister and I decided to go take a look.

It was cold up so we wrapped up and went around to each of the 22 light installations. Some were really busy and it took us a couple of hours to get around to them all, but here are some of the ones I liked best.

My favourite was probably this giant floating Earth in the middle of water. I loved how it lit up in the dark.

I also really liked the glass elephants and the spinning top which reflected pretty lights around the room as it spun.

The coloured lights in the water creating shapes in the fog was fun to watch and the colourful benches were back too, always proving popular.

My sister and I enjoyed this event and it was a nice, free, family event that brought a bit of colour and creativity to winter.

Giant bubbles

Giant bubbles have appeared outside one of London’s famous landmarks – the Leadenhall building, also known as The Cheesegrater. The bubbles are an art piece called ‘Evanescent’ by design studio Atelier Sisu. The idea behind them is to entice people back into the city after the last few years and appeal to our childlike wonder and universal playfulness.

These bubble installations have been spotted in other major cities around the world too and I thought they were a lovely idea and were a pleasure to see.

Goodbye 2022

Today is the last day of 2022. Reflecting back across the year, I didn’t have any grand plans at the start but it feels like it’s been an eventful one. I was finally able to travel abroad after a very long time and I managed to gain some new qualifications after a lot of hard work. There was also an addition to the family in my new little nephew. I hope the year was a fulfilling one for all of you, whatever you did.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the year gone by and as we move into 2023, I hope it’s a year full of good health and happiness, and everything we all want it to be. Happy New Year.

Cold Snap

We’ve had an usually cold December in London. I woke up one morning to find everything covered in frost. It did make for some cool finds in the garden though.

I found white threads around the garden and upon closer inspection saw they were in fact spider webs!

And this poor rose looked quite beautiful but sad as it was covered in ice

It turned even colder in the following days and we had a good dousing of snow that was quite unusual. I didn’t venture out much but it does look so pretty and calm.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe this Winter amidst any snow and blizzards that may arrive.

Chelsea in Bloom 2022

The Chelsea Flower show takes place in London every year, showcasing beautiful gardens. To coincide with the event, businesses in the borough of Chelsea and Kensington hold an alternative floral art show called Chelsea in Bloom. Shopfronts are decorated with pretty displays and this year’s theme was the ‘British Icons’, to celebrate all things British and the Platinum Jubilee. My sister and I went to have a look at what creative designs would be on display.

There were so many displays but here are some I liked the best. Some displays were truly creative, like this Spitfire one, and other’s really detailed like the emblem with the horse and lion.

I really liked the display outside the Royal mail, Postmen on ladders and a collection of the iconic red postboxes. And the biscuit Buckingham Palace was artistic.

One of my favourites was this Queen’s head outline in different colours, I thought it was simple but really pretty.

I thought the bus was iconic too, and I really liked this floral tunnel with top hats, pocket watches, teacups and cards. It was super busy so only managed to get a couple of photos.

These cakes on a giant cake stand was another of my favourites, I thought it was really creative and very British.

Here are some more icons, The Beatles and Elton John, and representing fashion, Vivian Westwood. I thought the upside down table, chairs and cakes was cool.

I really liked the giant 50p coin, simple and fun. Paddington bear made of flowers was lovely too.

Another of my favourites was the Mini Cooper on show. It was quite a big display with flower hearts surrounding it.

These are only some of the displays we saw, there were many more with floral archways and window displays. It was really nice to go and see these imaginative displays, especially after it was cancelled for the last couple of years. The winners have been announced on the website.