Monday Again?

We had a very nice weekend.

Friday night we went out to dinner and the plan was to catch the late fireworks at Bishops Park in Fulham. So after dinner we walked across the bridge and came upon closed park gates and half a dozen policemen. Apparently they no longer hold late fireworks, only the family show at 7 then they close the park. I was SO SO disappointed! In my 5 years here I had yet to attend a fireworks display for Guy Fawkes Night (also known as bonfire night).

Here's an explanation for this 'holiday' that I found online:

Bonfire Night is also known as Fireworks Night or Guy Fawkes Night. It's a British tradition dating back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 which aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I.

Plot

The conspirators were Roman Catholics who wanted to restore civic rights to members of their religion. The plot was set for the State Opening of Parliament since all the members of the House of Commons and Lords, as well as the King, would be present. Gunpowder was hidden in a vault beneath the House of Lords.

The plot was foiled when an anonymous letter was sent to Lord Monteagle, a Catholic, warning him not to attend the opening. The letter raised suspicions and a search party was dispatched. Guy Fawkes was caught as he prepared to light the fuse on 5 November. He was promptly arrested and tortured until he named his fellow plotters.

Then and Now

To this day, it is customary for the cellars in the Houses of Parliament to be searched by the Yeoman of the Guard before each State Opening of Parliament. The anniversary of Fawkes' arrest is celebrated each year by with fireworks and bonfires on which effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned.

SO in conclusion- I'm still not sure why we celebrate that a guy almost blew up parliament, but didn't. But it's a fun weekend! There were TONS of fireworks displays for practically the whole week!

Saturday I watched Abby all morning then met my friend Sue for dinner.

Then we JUST managed to make it to Battersea in time for the fireworks with 2 other friends. It was a great show - and only £5 - and I'm glad I can now say I HAVE seen Guy Fawkes fireworks:)

Sunday was a day to relax. I made pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting and ohhhhhh were they yummy! Only bad thing was I couldn't find canned pumpkin (it's VERY hard to come by in this city) so I had to make it from scratch. Probably a good thing though cause they turned out SO nice!

I also caught up with Eva for a coffee and we stopped to pick up Abby a cool new scooter which she loved (once she figured out how it worked)!

(this was just the test one they had in set up in the store - the one she got is pink!)