owls Archives – This, Tatt, and the Other

On Saturday I had a fabulous afternoon seeing my home city through tourist eyes; looking at it in a way I don’t generally experience.

And it was brill.

It started from the desire to go owl hunting – The Big Hoot has scattered hand painted owls all around the city to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They’ve been around since July, but I haven’t had chance to get into the centre of town to check them out (although I did see a couple locally about a month back).

So off we went, with no particular plans apart from to find as many owls as we could and then see where the day would take us.

One thing you forget, walking round Birmingham with a purpose in mind, is how beautiful some of the architecture is.

Floozie in the Jacuzzi

Town Hall

St Philips Cathedral (with added owl!)

Museum and Art Gallery

Council House

One such piece of architecture is the new (ish) library. I never truly appreciated what a structure it is. In the past I would have classed myself as not being a fan, but for the first time I went up close and personal and was astounded. The circular metal cladding gives the building an industrial feel.

Inside, all the escalators have futuristic blue lights.

I didn’t realise until recently that the building has two outdoor viewing platforms, with gardens.

The views across the city are pretty cool.

Out of towners often think of Birmingham as being dull and bleak, but there are flowers everywhere.

And miles of canals.. Hard to believe that I’ve lived in or around this city my whole life and didn’t actually realise how beautiful the canal area is.

We found about 30 owls altogether, here are some of my favourites.

Night owl

Bob the Bat

Clash

Tick Tock

I love living in Birmingham!

Do you ever look at your home town through fresh eyes?

I’ve had a stunning weekend of doing very little. Weekends like that are few and far between – we seem to have so much on this year. We were supposed to be out for a birthday on Saturday night but we were both feeling pretty burnt out from work and family stuff and just life so we made the decision to stay home for some much needed R&R. It was a good decision.

Here’s a pictorial round up!

Baked lamb with potatoes and stilton – I’ll post up a recipe for this, it’s so so good.

Breakfast on the balcony

Enjoying the view

Reading chick lit in the sunshine

Still on the balcony, even in the dark, just add hoodie and burner!

Popping to the local shops, wearing straw and stripes

Owl spotting – check out the Big Hoot (most of the owls are in the city centre and I haven’t had chance to get there yet but there are the odd few dotted around on the outskirts, these are in Kings Heath).