But I Smile Anyway…

As you may have seen, I have been busy on my exercise bike, this evening, pedalling away furiously, even in all this heat, as I may have overindulged a little today!

It all started quite normally.

A leisurely wake up, appreciating the last few days of the school holidays, and a late breakfast.  Followed by reading of posts, and reading on my Kindle, lounging on the sofa, as you do.

Then Hubby Dearest came and asked what we wanted to do today.

While we were sorting the children’s rooms out, we hadn’t had a chance to take them anywhere fun, and the holidays are coming to a close soon enough, so we thought we could pop out for the afternoon.

The kids wanted a trip to the swimming pool, or the paddling pool out, Lil man wanted to go to the Cricket nets (a real fun family day!) but Hubby Dearest suggested visiting a Dog Home!

No, don’t get all excited, we haven’t come home with a Punjabi mutt to match Sonu Singh!

Hubby Dearest would love a dog dearly, but right now it doesn’t feel right. It would be unfair on a new pet to be settling in, and we are all back at school/work, but the children do love animals too, and they are always asking why the local pet shops don’t have cats and dogs.

We could have been sensible and found a place to visit that was in Kent, but we decided to go to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, in London!

So after lunch, we got into the car and off we went!

It was 2pm so we had two hours to at least get there, and we aren’t far from London…but there is always traffic! And don’t forget the heat! The AC decided to choose today to play up, and even with windows down, we were hot and bothered!

Lil Man was quite excited to pass The Oval Cricket ground on the way too!

At 3.30pm we pulled into a parking space conveniently close by, and paid for an hour’s parking (£2.50! Exhorbitant!) And our little adventure began…We had around an hour to go and visit both the Cats and Dogs.

Image from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Website

I was not allowed to take photos inside, but oh, the little faces on the animals there! I think, if we were a little softer, and had we been there a tad longer, we would have been registering ourselves as a rehoming family… and would have ended up with at least 2 dogs and 3 more cats!

The kids where in their element!

They were flabberghasted at the fact that these animals needed homes. I think it was a good life lesson, taking them there, to see that you can’t make certain decisions light heartedly. So many of these animals were left there by people who couldn’t cope… And how stressful for the pet, who is used to their home, and then ends up in a pen, with all these strangers, however nice, looking after them.

We managed to drag ourselves away from there, just about and set off home, at around 4.30pm. And the wonderful bit of technology we call the Sat Nav decided to take us on a scenic route, all the way through the Centre of London!

Past the Houses of Parliament, the Shard and some intriguing ‘men’ climbing up a wall holding instruments!

It was 6.30pm and we had only got as far as Greenwich, near the O2, due to crazy traffic, so Hubby Dearest made a good call to stop there for dinner.

So glad to be out of the sweatbox, I mean car!

We went to Jimmy World Grill and Bar. It’s a huge World Buffet restaurant with Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Mexican and American cuisine… hence the manic cycling when we got back!

That’s how much I ate… oops!

And after eating we needed to get back to our real furbaby Sonu Singh, who had been waiting at home patiently…

But I had to take this photo of the masks on display in the restaurant!

I love a good mask!

The sky was starting to get a little duller, and as we walked to the car, Lil Princess spotted the Canary Wharf skyline.. “Look, Daddy! There’s your old work!” Hubby Dearest looked over wistfully… I think even though working from home is a wonderful thing, he is missing life in London too!

(Oh, and £6 parking for 2 hours!What is it with London and crazy parking fees?!)

Canary Wharf

And now we are home, the children are asleep, possibly dreaming of new pets, and they have already mentioned going to the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home branch they ahve in Brands Hatch, closer to us, tomorrow!

But I would hate for our lil furbaby to think we are forgetting him…

Sonu Singh, we love you lots and lots, and you’ll always be our favourite kitty!