Today is the first day when the government’s new and much criticized rules for easing the lockdown come into force. I am not going to comment on this (you’ll no doubt be glad to hear 🙂 ) as there is enough information about this in the media. “Social distancing” is still meant to be enforced and so, for us, it has made little difference so far. We are still keeping our distance from other people.

As the title indicates, it is not a very cheerful day with regard to weather. The sky is cloudy and the temperature stands at 11° C (52° F) but “feels like” 2 degrees colder. The damp atmosphere makes it feel chilly.

Squirrel finds a treat

We spotted this squirrel, sitting on the kerb, happily chomping on some titbit that he had found. Our presence didn’t disturb him in the least, perhaps because he was more concerned by the pigeons that were circling him, looking enviously at his snack.

Strategic withdrawal

The pigeons wouldn’t attack the squirrel but if he were to drop his prize they might well be able to grab it from him. He decided to move to a position beside the railings, probably because, here, they couldn’t surround him as they could on the open pavement.

Continuing our walk (and dodging other passers-by as we have become accustomed to doing) we made our way gradually towards – you know where – yes, the deli!

Original tiling

Many, perhaps most, of the houses in this area have plain concrete front door steps but I think this is only because in the nearly two hundred years since they were built, the steps have worn down and been repaired or replaced. Some, like this one, still have the original tiling or perhaps a facsimile replacement.

When the houses were built in the first half of the 19th century, the new owners would have been shown a catalogue in which they could choose alternative designs for such details as tiling and the pattern of ironwork in the railings and in front of the windows. Some of these differences from house to house can still be seen today.

We collected our coffee from our friends at Myddelton’s and then made for home. Despite wearing my winter coat, I was glad to be indoors again!