Frozen South

Pond frozen over this morning. I purchased some more fat balls for the birds but they never seem to have birdseed any more in the pound shop. Exhausting day yesterday, so much so that I felt quite unwell in the early evening and crashed into bed at 8pm. I had done my usual paper collection in the morning at the shopping centre and after coffee with Nicos set off for Tate Modern. I met Francesca and the group evaporated so we went to have a coffee in the cafe, which was quite relaxing, so I sketched out of the window, not that there was much to see. We then staggered off to the Founders Arms and did quick sketches of the view over the river with punters in the foreground. I had to leave early as I had to be at the Waterloo Gallery, but arrived early in the event. The paintings had already been hung and were looking good. Artists began to turn up and there was a session of questions and answers about some of the work followed by a vote for the favourite piece and glasses of wines and snacks. I suddenly became quite exhausted and caught the bus home in time to feed the Kookster and have a quick snack before completely crashing out. I suspect I had done too much walking and standing around in the cold. I was much more cautious today, and after feeding the beast at 6am I fell asleep again until 8.30 so I must have been really tired. Today I just had a huge brunch at Toulouse Lautrec, did a lightning sketch and have vegged out. Nicos went off early to look for a room in a flatshare, and returned triumphant, so he will have somewhere to stay when he returns to the UK. Fantastic, I thought it would take him ages to do.

I forgot to mention I saw this rather ludicrous umbrella handle sticking out of the bin at the end of the road, above.