London Week 1: Getting the Hang of the Housesit

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We arrived at 6.15am and headed for our housesit in Herne Hill.
It was a half hour walk across the bridge to Vauxhall Station to catch the 196 bus to Herne Hill.

On leaving the bus station we read a notice alerting that there was a possibility of all underground tube lines would stop because of strike action from 4.30 pm until the end of the next day. This meant that busses would be to full capacity and there would be chaos travelling from the city I thought to make a note to avoid city travel for the next 2 days.

It was great walking through the city with absolutely no traffic around. It was possible to look around rather than to try to dodge crowds and the person walking extra slow in front on the narrow pavement. Vauxhall bridge highlighted the problems of crowding. Litter everywhere! We were almost the only people crossing the bridge and the city was so quiet at that particular time but the sheer depth of the trash on the bridge told a different story.

I was proud of my research as bus 196 took us right to the door of our housesit within half an hour. On the way I did a mental note of the directions to Brixton from where we would be living so that I could return later by foot.

Everything was as to plan and the keys to the door fit without a hitch. Climbing the stairs to the apartment and I saw Fly, the dog, looking confused and shocked to see strangers entering his house, so we sat by him and gave him time to accept us. As we were doing this someone walked down the stairs. I expected this to be one of the daughters who was to stay the night so that Fly would not be so concerned of their leaving so early but surprisingly it was our host walking down the stairs. There had been an air traffic controller industrial dispute in Greece and their flight had been cancelled and rescheduled for the next afternoon. She was so disappointed as they had only been told at 9.30 pm, the night before they were due to leave in the early hours.

We took Fly for his morning walk in the park while the rest of the household continued sleeping. This was to start to get him familiar with us.
It was a bonus to have help and advice with Fly until we got used to his routine. He had suffered a fall down some stairs the previous day and was now too scared to walk down stairs anymore. His 18 year old legs were now too unpredictable, so it was best not to risk it anymore. Tomas carried him down and this created a bond between them so he then realised that he could trust us and we would be having his best care as our concern.

In the park he trotted alongside another woman who knew him and her pack of 3 dogs ranging from teeny to Fly sized. Fly seemed to keep up fine but his back paws started scraping upon return when he started getting weary.

We had a cuppa together, fed the pets then slept off our travels in the loft room until 2 pm when we re-emerged slightly more energized.

The whole family was home for the day, so Tomas and I headed to Brixton to make some space in the house and to get orientated. It was obvious we were still tired and this seemed to be the story of our lives lately. Just having recovered from one trip a week ago and then we hit the body again with another overnighter. Anyway the Brixton library was a good place to take it easy. Then explored the markets.

We were our host's guests for this night. It was a huge bonus to get first hand training on Fly's care. We also had the privilege of getting to know our housesit hosts better. Had it have not turned out this way we would not have seen them at all on this visit and would have arrived after they left and left before they arrived at the end of their holiday.

It was a yummy curry for dinner and then we experienced the complex relationship between the cat and dog. I was amazed at how much energy Fly had for herding Alice, the cat, like she was a sheep. There was also such jealousy over any attention she may get during his presence. Alice seemed to play up to this and even tried to antagonize him.

Day 2
Thursday

I got up early to shower before 5 others might be waiting at the bathroom door. It gave me a chance to have breakfast with Charlotte. Once the others got up it was mayhem in getting ready for their trip to the airport so Tomas and I took Fly out for his morning walk. The tribe left at 10.30am after which we cleaned the house, hung the laundry and made ourselves familiar with our new space.

We then walked across Brockwell Park to Brixton again to do supermarket shopping. Tomas went back early and I wandered around the market stalls and the crowds.

In the afternoon we just enjoyed having our own space.
Summer had returned and although it wasn't burning heat it was pleasantly warm. We had a bicycle that we could use but it was way too high for me and couldn't be adjusted but nevertheless I went for a 20 minute explore with it before we took Fly for a late evening stroll in the park.

Fly's farting was so bad in the evening that we decided if we walked him more regularly he wouldn't have to stress his bowels so we took him for a late walk. It saved us from being gassed in our sleep and made him more relaxed. This became a regular habit and the farting wasn't such an issue over the next weeks. He got at least 3 walks a day from then on. A walk in the morning, pre-dinner and again pre-bed and sometimes if we were home during the day he would join us in the park. Brockwell Park was such a great asset to have, so easily accessible.

I think that after this day we finally got the hang of it and we all started to relax. Now we knew what the pets needed. We knew what made them comfortable and secure. The routine that we settled into made us all more relaxed. On reflection I am glad that we had 2 weeks here, rather than one because too short an amount of time would have been stressful for all. It was these few days that gave us the confidence in managing and getting to know them. We learnt a routine they liked and this gave us the ability to confidently leave them for longer hours during the days of the second week and know that they would be OK.

A younger dog would not have been such a concern but because of Fly's age and the fact that he had recently fallen down the stairs made us more cautious.There was no garden attached to the terrace house that Fly could access and he had very little space to move in the house because of all the stairs. This meant his walks were even more important. He was doing well and was amazing for such a healthy age.

Day 3
Friday

Contemplating what we should so today we decided that we would get organized and make a list of what we wanted to explore in London. We had 2 weeks so there wasn't a need to rush straight out and sightsee. We were enjoying being near the beautiful park and the company of the animals. We were also enjoying having so much space to ourselves after such a long trip.

Fly trotted around the park in the morning at a speed that surprised us. He seemed to be very spritely this day. I get the impression that he felt that he had purpose and a job to do in the park and this was one of the reasons that kept him living.
As he walked through the park he felt it was important to identify what other dogs had been in his neighbourhood and then to leave his mark so that they were aware that he too had been there. I think he felt it was his responsibility to the household to do this. He took delight in meeting other dogs and their owners although I began to understand that his fascination with meeting people was in discovering whether they had any dog treats in their pockets.

After breakfast and some more research we decided to explore our own local. This meant that we would not be away from the pets for to long and give them more of a chance for them to trust us. We walked through Herne Hill Central and then continued to the Dulwich Picture Gallery not really knowing what to expect when arriving.

The gallery houses works of art collected by art dealers for a Polish king but ended up being donated to the community. In the complex was an indoor and outdoor cafe and the public were welcome to spread picnic rugs under the trees in the grounds. We lay in the shade for a few hours and i picked whatever mulberries I could reach from the trees.

When we returned to the house we were surprised to find Fly standing at the top of the stairs waiting for us. Considering his age we would have expected him to sleep all day and this is what we were told that he did.
Before and after dinner we took him for a walk in the park and I took to brushing him. Once brushed his coat was shiny and soft and he looked even younger. It also seemed to relax the power game being played between Fly and Alice because as he was being brushed he really didn't care much about Alice. Otherwise he would be continually jumping up and chasing her away from our attention. I could see how much he loved being brushed.

Day 4
Saturday

It was apparent at how much less productive the days can be when we have access to internet, television and Netflix. It had been a while since we had so much indoor distraction. It was a novelty for us to have so much choice to watch. Having the company of animals also made it easier to feel that we were being of use by just hanging around, especially when they liked us being around and followed us everywhere they could.

This day was one day that we just couldn't get going and then when we did all we wanted to do was get back to Fly and Alice.
After feeding them breakfast I calculated how many cans of dog food remained and found that we were about 6 days short of food. We searched high and low because I wanted to be absolutely sure before letting anyone know. I let Charlotte know and she had a friend deliver enough cans for the next week.



Sunday

A very pleasant, sunny and relaxed morning. We trotted out with a very energetic and happy Fly to the Sunday morning car boot sale by the Brockwell Lido.

The Lido was an outdoor swim centre and we planned to try it out sometime but maybe not on this day as there was already a long queue outside and it was also ridiculously busy inside the gates.

Fly wandered with us around the car boot sale and then we stayed in the sunny park for a few more hours.

By the time we got back to the house it was almost lunchtime. We had lunch on the sunny back deck with Fly and Alice. I chatted over the rails to the downstairs neighbour, who was renovating. She wanted to sell up and move somewhere with more space. She was tired of her job in central London and selling would give her the chance to pay off her mortgage, move out of London and retire early.

In the afternoon we visited Herne Hill markets, spending much of the time on their free, sunny deck chairs listening to music before wandering through the overpriced stalls.

Fly,'s evening walk in the busy park was, once again spent trying to direct him away from trying to scavenge food from picnicking groups of people. He was on a mission.

It was 7.30 pm in the park and I realised how lucky we were to be still having long days. It wouldn't be long and we would be back in the southern hemisphere. At this time of year in Adelaide and New Zealand we would be having to turn house lights on at 5pm. I appreciated how lucky we were to be in this situation.

Just as the sun was setting and people were heading home from the park we borrowed some roller blades from our housesit hosts and gave some new muscles a workout along the tracks. I was a little rusty, but it was fun.

In the evening while watching the movie "Hector's Search for Happiness" Fly still had energy to chase Alice around the lounge and kitchen and try to round her up.
This was the warmest day and night that we had in London during our fortnight. The pool at Brockwell Park would have been nice to visit but it was so crowded it didn't look comfortable.

Monday

Tate Britain
Westminster Parliament Buildings
Big Ben
St James Park



It was time to venture a little further from our neighbourhood, so at about 11am we got going on foot along back streets towards Vauxhall Bridge, following the route that the bus had taken when we had first arrived. I wanted to get a feel for my orientation, exercise and try to burn some energy. It took about an hour which was not much longer than the bus would have taken.

Once we got to Brixton back streets were difficult to follow so the walk was not so picturesque. The next few suburbs coming closer to the centre appeared overcrowded and dirty.
It wasn't until we crossed Vauxhall bridge that the streets began to look broader, more generous and tidier.

Before entering the Tate Britain gallery we sat in the park beside and ate our lunch and then wandered through a few halls of galleries exhibiting mainly historic British paintings. At 1.15pm I noticed that there was a tour so we joined. I thought it would be better to learn something specific rather to just be wandering through the whole gallery aimlessly and not really know what we were looking at.

The tour was studying the works of Henry Moore, mainly sculpture and was very interesting.

We then aimlessly continued wandering along the Thames until we were allured to walk on by some amazing architecture. We then found ourselves amongst masses of other camera snappers in front of Westminster houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
Not far from there until we found ourselves back at St James park. We recognized having been there before. Some pelicans were feeding themselves on massive fish. The crowds were entertained by watching them repeatedly regurgitate the same fish with the added suspense of whether they were then going to loose it to another bird or pelican.

We got a few spits of rain on the way back and despite my confidence that I was heading in the right direction on the way back I actually managed to get way off track and probably doubled our walking distance.
Despite the added distance I got home feeling fine but Tomas was absolutely shattered. Foot massages all around in the evening as well as thorough brushes for Fly and Alice.

Tuesday

Sydenham and Dulwich Woods

We had been speaking to someone who knew Fly in the park Monday morning and he had mentioned that we should visit Dulwich woods for a natural woodland walk.

After a Google search I learned that it was a small area of historic woodland that was where the elite Londoners used to take their horses for their hunting expeditions. I also discovered that, coincidentally, there was a 1 hr talk at 2 pm about the Sydenham and Dulwich Woods at a local library.

Tomas took the bicycle and I grabbed the kid's scooter and off we went. For a short time I was self conscious about what I must have looked like pushing a scooter and then decided that it really didn't matter and I was having fun.

The talk was great! We learned how difficult it has been to hang onto this small, special area of woodland after so many pressures for it to be redeveloped. It was great precursor for our walk through the woodland and we could certainly see how great the pressures on retaining the areas must be as they were indeed very slight spaces. There was very little of the woodland space in which you could not be aware of the surrounding infringements.

We got home about 5pm. It was easy and fun with our wheels. Took the dog for a long walk in the park, had dinner and watched part of series 3 of Orange is the New Black on Net Flicks.
I brushed Fly all evening, so he was happy and relaxed. He was not at all fussed at whether the cat was getting any attention.

Wednesday

Cycle and Scooter
Natural History Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum

We have now already been here a week and not much more than a week remaining. The clever idea for Wednesday was to walk to the Natural History Museum using the successful method from yesterday. I would take the scooter and Tomas the bicycle.
The downstairs neighbour suggested a walking route to the city but I got a little off track again and the route turned our to be 3 times longer than it should have been but it certainly gave us the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with different suburbs of London.
We would have left the house at about 10.30 and got to our destination at 12.15 and then there was another half-hour queue at the door of the Natural History Museum.

Once in we sat and ate our lunch and then walked around the exhibitions. Tomas got much more into it than I did. I thought that all the exhibitions were great for kids but I lacked interest for them. It was school holidays and very crowded. By 1.45pm I had had enough. Tomas spent another half hour in the queue for the dinosaur exhibition and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. There I joined the 2 pm Theatre and Production tour and 2.30 British history tour, both of which I enjoyed. It was just a teaser and I hoped I would get the chance of returning again.

The trip back was much easier. Tomas towed me on the scooter along the Thames walking path and then we walked through Battersea Park and into Clapham Junction. There we sat for a while as it looked like a lovely area.
From there it wasn't so far to Brixton from which we were familiar with our way home. Tomas went ahead to walk the dog and I followed about a half hour later as I stopped it pick ripe blackberries in the park.

The exercise was good for me today. I enjoyed seeing all that we saw and spending so much time in the outdoors as well as seeing the museums. It was a tough day but really productive and certainly not boring. Now we have tomorrow to recover as the forecast is not looking great.
Fly seemed to be having a bad evening though as he was quite a lot more unstable on his back legs than he had previously been for his evening walk. We petted him all evening.

Thursday

Rained all day so we had a well deserved complete rest day. Did laundry and watched movies and kept the animals company, which they well appreciated.
Fly had loads of walks and had no problems today. It is amazing how much energy he has when he knows you have treats in your pocket. He is an absolute star for an 18 year old.
Much to my horror Alice brought me a mouse as a present which I desperately tried to rescue. It hid behind the bookshelf and she wouldn't leave stalking it. I had to lock the door to the room and keep her out to give the mouse respite. I hope it has found its way to safety overnight.

One more week to go before we leave and tomorrow we begin our full- on sight seeing schedule.

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Comments

[Sue]

London calling
Fantastic! Really whetting my appetite and making me yearn to be there. I wish we had overlapped as I would have loved to take you places. You really have explored the local area.