Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

I went up to London this morning to see the ceramic poppies in the moat of the Tower of London. By now you must have heard all about these - to mark the centenary of the First World War, ceramic artist Paul Cummins has created these poppies which are progressively going to fill the moat until there are 888,246 poppies representing each British military life that was lost in that war. Then after Remembrance Sunday the poppies will be sold off at £25 to raise money for six service charities. I will buy a poppy, as I think it is a brilliant reminder and a wonderful cause.

The installation is remarkable - the way the poppies flow over the grass like a field of blood has the exact impact that was intended. The only problem was that it was not good for photos as we were facing into the sun - if anyone does want to go see these, rather go in the afternoon when you are not looking directly into the sun. There are more poppy photos here. I did not know which one to choose but I liked the contrast of this scene with the modern Shard rising into the distance.

Then I went across to the West End to meet Gavin for lunch. Next week it is our wedding anniversary and he is away -again (he was away last year too). We had a wonderful lunch to celebrate, at a French restaurant near his office. We sat outside in a pretty courtyard and had the most delicious food, and we could hardly imagine that we were in the middle of a bustling city as it was all so very pleasant and relaxing.