Lloyd Square, Islington

We had a late lunch (late because we had spent a busy morning doing not very much) and then went out for our daily stroll. Along the way I took this photo looking west along Lloyd Avenue. You can see the Post Office Tower in the background.

This is a typical Georgian residential square with fine terrace houses built around a central garden girt about by iron railings. In many cases, these gardens have reverted to Council control but Lloyd Square’s garden is still accessible to residents only.

Incidentally, Georgian houses can usually be recognized by two characteristics: firstly, that the windows on the top floor are smaller than those on the lower floors and, secondly, that they have a basement with its own entrance, accessible by an external staircase. This leaves an open space below pavement level for lighting.

We thought we might buy take-away coffee at Myddelton’s Delicatessen but it turns out that they close at 3pm on Saturday so we were unlucky.

It is a fine sunny day today with a pale blue sky. I was very warm despite having only a light coat on. It would be a perfect day for one of our exploratory outings but those are off the agenda for the foreseeable future.

We followed a roughly circular route, in a clockwise direction, which brought us onto Pentonville Road via Penton Rise.

There were quite a few people about on the main road, some of them shoppers coming from the local branch of Tesco. Most played the game and kept their distance.

It would be easy to become neurotic as a result of feeling confined and these daily outings help keep up morale.

It has been some time since I posted here and if you have given up on me, I do not blame you.

I ceased posting before the Covid-19 crisis became apparent. One reason was that my intention of “posting on the hoof” turned out more energy- and time-consuming than I had anticipated. Quite often I would return home with a batch of photos and have to compose my post retrospectively, reviving the problems of time and energy that had caused me to close my old blog. To be honest, the pressure of this became too much and I gave up trying. Not that we stopped going out and about. No, that continued (until Covid-19 shut us down) but I simply could not find the courage and energy to write about it and take photos. I took a holiday, you might say, and this threatened to become permanent.

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic has of course changed everything. We can no longer travel about but are confined to home except for the daily outing we allow ourselves, either to take a walk through the quiet back streets for air and exercise or to go to the supermarket for needed supplies. As a treat, we may call in at a delicatessen near us for take-away coffee.

By the time the lockdown was imposed, Tigger was already working from home. Each day, Monday to Friday, she would enter her “office” (the the settee in our living room), fire up the company laptop and log onto the company VPN to carry out her tasks in communication with colleagues also working remotely. This Friday, even that changed: along with numbers of her colleagues, Tigger has been “furloughed”. This means that she is not allowed to log on and do any work, though she has been invited to log on for the daily briefings for her team.

Life has changed radically as a result of Covid-19 but I need not stress that point because you and the rest of us are all in the same boat, so to speak, and you understand the situation as well as I do. Our daily life no doubt reflects yours unless you are one of the “key workers” who still go out to work or a member the never-sufficiently-praised NHS personnel, daily fighting the global enemy on the frontline. We must see to it when this is all over that they receive the rewards and gratitude that they so deserve.

The Internet has of course come into its own and sites such as Facebook have never been so busy. Some of the blogs that I follow have become more active. (See under Blogroll in the sidebar.) One of these is Brighton & Hove’s (Discover) blog which frequently publishes articles about its collection, exhibitions and other topics of interest. (I grew up in Brighton and retain an affection for that pleasant and dynamic seaside city.)

A number of friends have been keeping in touch with me through email and if you feel like commenting on the blog or merely passing the time of day, you are welcome to leave a comment or use the contact form or the email address given in the sidebar under Contact. I will always reply.