Kite Festival, Coombe Abbey Country Park

Look, up in the sky. It's a bird. No, it's a man... It's Superman. :-) We were in Coombe Abbey to check out the Kite Festival. There were not many people cos the weather was quite temperamental. Huge colourful display kites  and inflatables of various sizes and shapes were fluttering away, helped enormously by the strong winds.

Kite-making and kite-flying demonstrations were held. It was fun to see people learning to fly them. I think the main problem was trying to keep them afloat.

Then we went in search of the Monk tree. Actually, it's a carving of a Cistercian monk from a giant redwood. Artist John Wakefield was commissioned to create the piece and several others in 1996. To turn a dead historically important tree into public art is indeed a remarkable way to conserve it. I'd great fun persuading my darling Kevin to pose. Doesn't he look coy? Thanks Babe.

We decided to walk back through the arboretum with a collection of fantastic stately 100 year-old trees.  We also passed formal Victorian gardens with impressive bedding displays. The Cistercian Abbey adjacent to the park dates back to 1150. In early 17th century the Abbey and its surrounding lands were purchased by the Craven family who owned it for the next 300 years. In the 1960s the park was opened to the public and the Abbey transformed into a hotel.

And today Nicole Cooke claimed Britain's first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics in a thrilling women's cycling road race. The Welsh rider timed her finish to perfection and clocked three hours, 32 minutes and 24 seconds. Let the medals tally begin...

Also a relief to know that Georgia has ordered its forces to cease fire, and offered to start talks with Russia over an end to hostilities in South Ossetia. I think the world could not cope with another civil war.

Yesterday, CC and I had our monthly fix at the Noodle Bar. We'd a great time choosing the dishes and I settled for the Fried Shanghai noodles with seafood special and Chinese vegetables. CC opted for egg fried rice with tofu and cashew nuts. We'd  dumplings for starters washed down with cups of steaming cha.

CC couldn't wait to upload what's going on in her life. She and P have been playing eyes with each other. What a way to go. It's still early days yet but I think there's a future in it. Watch this space. I might need a new hat soon...and Canada here I come.

We browsed the jewellers (she's already making plans :-)) and she showed me what she liked. P...start saving ASAP!!!

Under the watchful eyes of Lady Godiva statute, we watched a group of students from a local dance academy strutting their stuff. They were good with their street dance and body popping. They had a good crowd. I couldn't get any good photographs cos their movement was too quick and also there's always someone jostling in front of me.

Then we went shoe shopping. A girl can never have enough shoes. And we went through about 7 different shops before CC bought a very sexy 4inch black pumps from Barratts. I got a 2inch black sandals from Clarks. The best thing, they're on sale. We also tottered on 5inch stilettos in New Look just for fun. Man, you do feel good but where on earth would we go, how do you walk in them??? Our poor feet and pelvis were complaining like mad. It was very nice to be back in my red ballet pumps. Safe but boring eh...

It was also the start of the Championship opener between Coventry City and Norwich City. The Ricoh crowd was swelled by a party from Iceland who flew over in the hope of seeing Coventry's summer recruit Aron Gunnarsson making his debut in English football.

Ward's neatly taken penalty set the Sky Blues on the way and McKenzie wrapped up the points with four minutes left, shooting home to a deserved win over the Canaries. Well done.

The Ricoh Arena was also the first cashless stadium in the country. Supporters were able to purchase food and beverages from stadia outlets using a special customized card and cut down on waiting times, rather than having to rely on traditional cash. I guess this is as important as watching the beautiful game :-).