Today is a day of cloudy sun but fairly warm and suitable for a pleasant stroll. We were a little later than usual and headed straight for the Angel crossroads, it being a Jusaka day, as far as coffee is concerned. Guess, then, our shock when we saw this:

Jusaka – closed!

Yes, Jusaka’s door was firmly closed. Is the elctricity still off or has some other emergency occurred? We shall not know until tomorrow or Monday, if then.

A quick look at the time showed that it was nearly 3 pm, when Myddelton’s closes over the weekend, and we had no hope of reaching them in time. Unless… Unless, as sometimes happens, they have a lot of customers and are kept open longer.

There was no point in hurrying, so we took our time and looked at the scenery around us, as we usually do.

What tree is this?

As we approached Myddelton Square, we noticed the colour variation in one of the trees. I am only too aware of my ignorance of things botanical and that I do not know what kind of tree this is. Anyway, it seems to be in the process of preparing seeds. Here is a closer view:

Seeds

The brown items certainly looklike seed pods. If you know what sort of tree this is, please be kind and tell me in a comment!

As it was Saturday, there were quite a few people in the gardens but one person in particular caught my attention.

Gymnastics?

This person had adopted a strange position and was remaining fixed and still. Is this some sort of gymnastic pose? I doubt whether I could lie like that and it looks at first sight as though he has just had a terrible accident. What people will do in the name of “Keep Fit”, eh?

Ground Control

We thought about hurrying down to Myddelton’s in case they weree still open but it seemed hardly worth it, especially as leaving Myddelton Square brings you out into Amwell Street very near this establishment, Ground Control. It seemed best to buy our coffee here for once. We have been here before and had breakfast here one day. “Ground Control” is of course a rather feeble pun on the idea of coffee – coffee grounds, to be precise.

A notice on the window allows only one person at a time inside and so Tigger went in while I remained outside. There are other notices stuck to the window, including this one:

Optimistic notice

At times like these, a little optimism goes a long way!

The George and Monkey

Across the road, the George and Monkey pub was doing plenty of business. I couldn’t see from here whether they had entrance-only and exit-only doors like the Shakespear’s Head (see yesteday’s post).

George VII postbox

On the pavement nearby is this double pillar box, bearing the cipher of George VII, showing that it has been here since before 1910. On top is a broken bracket but if you know what it is you might be able to see that it is oriented towards the property next to the coffee shop. Back in the 1940s or 50s, there was a scheme to put a pointer on top of every pillar box pointing towards the nearest post office. It was never a very useful scheme and all the signs, with rare exceptions, have been removed or broken, often leaving bits of the bracket behind. The orientation of this one is explained by the fact that the shop next to Ground Control used to be a post office. It was still here when I first came to Islington (2005) but was subsequently removed, much to the disgust of locals.

Priority notice

I happened to spot this sticker on the pillarbox, indicating that it is a “priority postbox”. I had no idea what this meant and had to look it up at home. Apparently, certain postboxes have been designated “priority” for use in returning people’s Covid-19 test samples, which have to reach the laboratory as soon as possible after production. Live and learn.

Croissants

While waiting for the coffee to be dispensed, Tigger was also taking photos inside the coffee shop. She sent me two of them. The above is a reminder of the day we came here for breakfast and ate their remaining croissants. We sat in embarrassed silence as customer after customer requested croissants and was turned away!

Clock and coffee pictures
Photo by Tigger

On a wall is a slightly uusual clock and, beneath it, a twelve-frame poster showing coffee production. The scene is set in Ethopia, which is explained by the fact that Ground Control is part of an enterprise called The Etgiopian Coffee Company.

The clock is worth a closer look.

Weather clock
Detail of the photo by Tigger

As well as the time, the clockk gives an indication of the weather. Could be useful, I suppose. At the moment of the photo, it is showing a blue sky with clouds in the lower frame and, in the upper, the word “Fair”. A reasonable description of the weather at the moment!

Carrying our coffee, we made for home, bringing today’s outing to an end. Tomorrow, we shall see what tomorrow has in store for us!