We both went out today but not together.

I had – so I believed (and still believe) – an appointment at the dentist’s at 3:30 this afternoon. Also we needed some shopping. If possible, as well as shopping and dentists, we would like to fit in our daily coffee as well! Working out how to arrange all that – and lunch – into a practicable pattern posed something of a conundrum.

We started with Tigger on her own making a mid-morning dash to fetch coffee from a coffee shop in Pentonville Road called Saint Espresso. Having coffee in the morning for once doesn’t hurt. In fact, it makes a change. The coffee is quite good, too.

Next came lunch and then I prepared for my trip to the dentist. This is where it all went wrong and left me feeling frustrated and annoyed.

Let me say that when the dentist’s appointments were arranged by phone, I wrote them down on my notepad and read them back to the receptionist for her to confirm. I say that so you will understand that I am not delusional, that the appointments were actually set.

As I hate to be late for appointments and as at the dentist’s they sometimes ask me to fill in a health form, I arrived 10 minutes early. I found the door locked. The receptionists (three if them), sitting behind a counter at the back of the reception area, made hand gestures – what was I supposed to make of that? – but made no move to admit me.

Eventually, one of them deigned to approach the door but did not open it. Instead she shouted through the crack in the door. Wearing hearing aids as I do, I find it hard enough to follow normal face to face conversation, never mind conversation through a door.

I said I had come for an appointment at 3:30 to which my interlocutor replied “You’re much too early, Come back at half-past.” Much too early? Ten minutes?

Somewhat irritated, I did go away and then I returned at exactly half-past.

Somewhat reluctantly, I thought, they let me in and asked my name and business. Then came the killer: You do not have an appointment today!

So there it was. Having been shouted at through the door and been turned away for a paltry ten minutes and having to come back, I was now told there was no appointment at all! All that coming and going was for nothing.

I was somewhat upset and resentful, to put it mildly.

I returned home, where Tigger helped me calm down, and tried to relax over a cup of tea. We will wait and see what happens next Monday when I supposedly have another appointment. I must remember not to be early!

That left the shopping. For this, rather than Tigger going to the shop in person, we fired up the trusty Chop Chop app and entered our list of 20 items. Within 30 minutes or so, came a ring on the door bell and there they were, our two bags of groceries. Shopping by remote control – it’s the modern way, don’t you know!

Isn’t it nice when things work as they’re supposed to?

Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) 1694-1778

Note
Voltaire was a member of the group known as les philosophes (“the philosophers”) who supported the Enlightenment. Jean Fréron was a reactionary critic who thereby attracted Voltaire’s ire.

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!