Poppies in the Moat

This scene has already been blipped many times, and as the number of ceramic poppies grows day by day up to 11 November, it will become ever more impressive as the Tower of London is finally completely surrounded by 888,246 poppies. Here a river of red pours into the moat from a window in the Tower, the Shard towers above, and a solitary archer directs his arrow downwards from the battlements. 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' is an installation marking 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1, and there will be a poppy for every British and colonial fatality. It is attracting large crowds, mostly hushed and awed by the sobering scale of the sea of blood red.

I say mostly, because there were the inevitable and ubiquitous smiling selfies being taken with the red backdrop. Curiously, the appreciative crowd at Kate Bush's Before the Dawn concert in the evening were universally respectful of the request to leave the camera phones in bags and pockets.

This was Wifie's birthday, and by some miracle I managed to get a pair of tickets to see Kate Bush on the third of her 22 nights at the Hammersmith Apollo. This was the reason we travelled to London, a once in a lifetime chance to see her perform after a gap of 35 years. After so long, with expectations so high, she had a lot to lose. But she didn't disappoint, what started as a well-drilled recital of some of her popular songs progressed into an intense piece of musical theatre, with lighting, sound and visual effects that left the audience enthralled and frequently stunned.

A day of contrasting emotional experiences for Wifie and me. But a very memorable trip to the big city. A big thank you to Emma and Chris who looked after us when we there.