Notice the accessory that everyone in this picture has?

An umbrella.

You'd think that, given that it was drizzling when we left home for the station this morning, we'd have taken something water-proof with us. Especially considering that we planned to walk just over a mile from King's Cross station to the British Museum. We did actually contemplate taking umbrellas with us as we were walking out of the front door, but, for reasons which escape me now but which must have seemed rational at the time, we decided against bringing them.

That is why we were vaguely soggy when we arrived at the museum after walking a mile through light drizzle, and also why we resembled a family of drowned rats when we arrived back at the station in the late afternoon after walking a mile in actual rain. We amused ourselves on the train by ruffling what remains of Bobby's hair. It's very cool; when you run a hand over the top of his head, all the water droplets fly off and his hair is magically dry. (I should add that we had the carriage to ourselves).

Aside from the umbrella fiasco, this was actually one of our better-organised trips. Unlike most other trips we've taken to London, we did not have to sprint for the train. Instead, we were able to board the train in a civilised adult kind of way. We also remembered to pack a picnic lunch, and so did not have to go through our normal hideous process where we unsuccessfully try to convince the kids that no, it's not actually lunchtime, and that even if it is, they aren't really hungry, and that even if they are not only hungry but about to expire from starvation, they don't really want horrendously overpriced food from the museum cafe. Instead, we had our own sandwiches (very nice, cheese and mango chutney) and blueberry muffins (really yummy, made by me at eight this morning). I had run out of both butter and margarine (while we're on the topic of organisation ...) so this website came in very handy. You can plug in the ingredients you have, the ingredients you don't have, and the type of food you want to make, and voila, it comes up with suitable recipes. Incidentally, I really appreciate the way that most museums and art galleries here have a place where families can eat packed lunches, so (if one is organised) one can avoid the money-trap of the gallery restaurants.

The museum itself was great. Well worth braving the rain for. We liked the Africa gallery best.





This tree - called the Tree of Life - is made out of old weapons. There was a project in Mozambique, organised by Christian Aid I think, where people could hand in their guns and get tools back - things like sewing machines and bicycles and building materials. Some of the weapons were dismantled and used by Mozambican artists to create works of art.

We also got to see someone doing a giant calligraphy demonstration.





This actually made us feel a bit uncomfortable, though, because every time the guy made a brush stroke, he looked intensely despondent and worried, as though he'd messed the whole thing up. Eventually we wandered off; we found his anxiety too stressful to watch.

And finally ....






The reading room in the British museum. The books go all the way around the circular room. Imagine actually studying in a place like that. Though maybe you would become immune to the wonderfulness after a while.

All in all, a very nice day. And now we are about to watch Kinky Boots, which is supposed to be fairly light and amusing, in the vein of Calendar Girls I gather.