Fantastic Beasts – Antony Simpson – Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

A Wonderful Wedding and The New Fantastic Beasts Film

By AntonyFriends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Love & RelationshipsNo Comments

Sue & Iain’s Wedding Was Wonderful.

This weekend I attended a wonderful wedding. My Auntie Sue and Iain, her significant other for more than a decade, got married on Saturday (17/11/2018).

The ceremony took place in a lodge in a local park. The ceremony was lovely and emotionally touching. The groom and his best man had personalised cufflinks with images of deceased loved ones on. The bridal party had images of deceased love ones attached to their flowers.

Afterwards we went outside for photos. The day was bright, with clear skies and only a little cold. Then it was off to a venue to eat.

The venue had been decorated in a Beauty & The Beast theme with a high level of attention to detail.

After the meal there was an opportunity to talk, drink (the bar was open from our arrival), allow brief speeches and be entertained by a superb singer. Many took the opportunity to offer the happy couple their best wishes and blessings for the future.

The evening arrived as did some more guests. There was plenty of entertainment: face painting for the children, a Caricaturist doing quick portraits of Sue and Iain and many other of the wedding guests, a DJ, a soft-of sweet stand, a sort-of photo booth, the opportunity to write in the guestbook and the opportunity to write wedding wishes on wooden hearts that were posted into a frame.

Everyone at the wedding party was relaxed, enjoyed themselves and celebrated Sue and Iain’s commitment to one another. It was essentially a celebration of their love for one another. I felt fortunate, privileged and honored to be invited to share their special day.

On Sunday, mum and I went to the cinemas to see Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Gindlewald.

The-Crimes-of-Grindelwald-cinema-poster-November-2018

Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald (cinema poster).

The film was awesome and well worth the wait. I’m taking part in the #ProtectTheSecrets, so I can’t write more about my thoughts. As doing so would lead to me giving away plot points.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Sunday 18 November 2018

Harry Potter Studio Tour and London with Mum

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

This week mum and I went on a coach trip with National Holidays. We went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and spent some time in London city centre.

Here are some collages of photos from the Harry Potter Studio Tour, click on any photo for full size image:

The Goblet of Fire Photos.	Forbidden Forest Photos.
Hogwarts Express Photos.	Props Photos.
Weasley Shop Props.	Knight Bus Photos.
Inside Privet Drive Photos.	Other Cool Stuff Photos.

Even though mum and I had been before, there were plenty of things we hadn’t seen on our last visit. I’ve only included photos things we didn’t see last time in this blog post. Things we didn’t see last time included: The Goblet of Fire, The Forbidden Forest, The Hogwarts Express and inside Privet Drive.

There were plenty of things that we saw last time. I was great to see that they had significantly increased the interactive activities for visitors.

It was brilliant to see that they are building an extension to include things from the new Fantastic Beasts films series (of which there will be 5 films).

Here’s one final photo of Mum with a Hedwig puppet. We took a similar photo last time, how many times do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition?

Mum with Hedwig Puppet.

The next day mum and I were released into the wild of London city centre. We saw the Houses of Parliament, the scaffolding-covered Big Ben, the High Courts and my favourite St. James Park.

St. James Park is a lovely park that is like a natural oasis within one of the world’s most busy cities. There’s a bit of a family story to St. James Park.

When my mum was a little girl, she lived in London with her mum and dad (my grandma and granddad). Every Sunday, while her mum was making the Sunday dinner, her dad would take her to watch the changing of the Guard and then into St. James Park to feed the ducks.

Here are some photo collages from photos I took in St. James Park:

St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (1).

St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (2).

Mum and I had a fantastic time and will no doubt do the trip again in a couple of years.

Mum and I did a similar trip at the end of 2014. You can read and see pictures here: London Trip, Part 1 and London Trip, Part 2.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 20 May 2018

My November

By AntonyAmazon, Friends & Family, Health, Life, Pets, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments

A lot happened in November. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. Here were the key events:

4th November 17 – I went Smoke-Free, Day 1. Smoke-Free Logo	5th November 17 – I was given the cold shoulder by Dylan. He just walked away from attention to sit with his back towards me. I called him by his name and was ignored. Blanked by Dylan.
6th November 17 – My week made with the arrival of my pre-orders from Amazon. My Pre-orders: Despicable Me 3 and Monster by Michael Grant.	11th November 17 – I tried on silly Christmas hats! Silly Christmas Hats!
12th November 17 – My lovely Grandma passed away. I am sure she is missed dearly by all who knew her. I am also very lucky to have some wonderful memories with her. My Lovely Grandma.	14th November 17 – I went to the GP about an abscess in my groin. I was given oral antibiotics and told if it gets any bigger I must go to A&E to see a Surgeon.
15th November 17 – The abscess had doubled in size. So went to A&E, was given a dose of IV antibiotics and eventually saw a Surgeon. They decided to operate first thing the following morning. I had been Nil By Mouth since arriving in A&E at around 1PM and had not eaten since breakfast. They let me go home well after 9pm to eat, rest and with instructions to fast from 3am and be back at the hospital for 8am. Oh pink…just my colour.	16th November 17 – The day of the surgery. All of the NHS staff were kind, compassionate and understanding. But communication could have been better. I arrived on the ward at 07:50am and was instructed by a Nurse on the night shift to wait in the waiting room, while the early staff had handover. The night shift Nurse didn’t tell the day staff that I had arrived and meant I ended up waiting over an hour. Apparently staff had been looking for me everywhere. After the surgery, I didn’t know whether my open wound had been packed or not, because it wasn’t documented in my notes. It has been uncomfortable, a bit tender and at times painful. I have thanked my family and Steve who have been amazing in supporting me pre and post surgery. The surgery and waiting for the open to heal has been very frustrating for me. Everything has had to be put on hold. I’ve had to rest and haven’t been able to do very much apart from watching Netflix, reading and napping. A huge positive is that I have remained Smoke-Free throughout.
17th November 17 – I became super excited after watching a video clip that revealed the title of the new Fantastic Beasts (Harry Potter) film: The Crimes of Grindelwald on Twitter @BeastsMovieUK. The film will be released on 16.11.18.	22nd November 17 – The day of Grandma’s funeral, which was really a celebration of her life. The service was touching and well attended. Grandma’s family and friends came together afterwards to share memories and the many things they will miss about her.
25th November 17 – Day 21 of being Smoke-Free. Smoke-Free Logo	29th November 17 – Last day working at my old job. I will miss the people and liked the work, but am excited to start my new job.