Today being Sunday, we went off to do our weekly shopping in Sainsbury’s. I was curious to see what difference was made by London’s insertion into Tier 2 of Covid restrictions. As I rather expected, none at all. Many people have grown blasé and are no longer taking precautions. Even businesses, no doubt tired of trying to persuade their customers to behave, are also not applying the rules as rigorously as they should.

Art on a lamppost
Photo by Tigger

On the way to the shop, Tigger photographed this œuvre on a lamppost. It is a schematic drawing in black and red over a sheet of text in Latin. I have no idea of the name of the artist or of the intended meaning of the piece.

Chapel Market

As we usually do, we went through Chapel Market. There was quite a good showing today as there usually is on a Sunday.

Buskers and audience

A racket of electric guitars (surely one of the most obnoxious “musical” instruments ever invented), boosted by amplifiers, announced the presence of a pair of buskers. They seemed to have attracted a pair of fans but I was happy to move on out of noise range.

When we reached Sainsbury’s, we found there was a queue which we of course joined. I thought at first that this was because Sainsbury’s were regulating the flow of customers into the shop but when the queue as a whole started moving forward, I realised that the queue had formed because the shop wasn’t yet open. Now that it was, everyone hurried inside without much regard for social distancing.

Nice idea… if it actually worked
Photo by Tigger

Having completed the shopping run, we retired to Pret A Manger in the Angel Centre for coffee.

Like many cafes and restaurants, Pret displays a QR code to use with your smart phone to record your visit in line with the principals of “track and trace”. A good idea, don’t you think? Well, yes, a very good idea, except that the wretched thing doesn’t work. We tried with both phones and a barcode/QR code app on my phone and all gave the result “Not found”. Refer this to my remarks at the end of the first paragraph.

Update October 19th: We learned today that the reason why these QR codes no longer work on our phones may be because they have been altered to work only on phones that have the official “Track and Trace” app installed. This is presumably a move to coerce people into installing the app. I rather think that the result will be the opposite of that intended.

Dachshund

This rather plump Dachshund (who, if he becomes much plumper will have trouble reaching the ground) was accompanying a family in Pret.

Do you remember, as do I, how dogs used to be strictly forbidden in food shops and places where food was served? At most, guide dogs might be exempted from the ban but all others had to stay outside. These days, I see more and more dogs in cafes and restaurants and wondered how this has come about. The answer apparently, is that the present legislation on the matter was passed by the EU in 2012 (revised 2014) and specifies hygiene regulations for establishments selling food for consumption on the premises or for takeaway. It does not prohibit the presence of domestic animals on the premises, merely requiring the management to ensure that said animals cannot access the stocks of food.

And so to home. We were sitting quietly, minding our business, when I became aware of a clicking sound. Click! Click! Click!… Not being able to see any cause of such s noise, I went to investigate.

Water in an electric switch
Photo by Tigger

I found puddles on the floor of the hallway and bathroom. The clicking was caused by water dripping from the ceiling onto the flooring.

Our upstairs neighbour was flooding us again! Yes, AGAIN!

This is the fourth or fifth time he has done that. How he does it, I don’t know, but suspect he leaves the bath running and either forgets about or falls into a drunken stupeur.

Once again, I hurried upstairs and hammered on his door.

“You’re flooding us again!” I shouted through the gap in the door that he barely opened.

“I know,” came the muffled response, “I’m-sorry-and-will-pay-for-any-damage”, a litany I have heard too many times before to be impressed by.

Because the water is coming from above, it risks shorting out the electrics. The switch in Tigger’s photo is for the fan in the bathroom and an ominous buzzing noise was coming from it until I flipped the switch.

The ceiling and walls will eventually dry out but who knows what invisible damage might have been done? I am half expecting the lights to suddenly fail with a bang and a puff of smoke.

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p align=”left”>One such incident can be forgiven (I myself once flooded our downstairs neighbour) but when it happens again and again, my capacity for forgiveness becomes exhausted. If today’s accident was not the straw to break the camel’s back, any repetition certainly will be.

It’s that time of year when vaccination against the expected bout of winter flu becomes available. We received text messages some weeks ago reminding us to make appointments and, of course, we did so.

Before the pandemic turned the world upside down, we would share an appointment at our GP surgery and go in together. This year, for whatever reason, this was not allowed and we had an appointment each, 45 minutes apart.

Red berries
Photo by Tigger

Mine was first and I toddled down to the surgery, not sure how things would be organised. First, there was a queue for admission but as vaccination takes hardly any time at all, this filtered through quite quickly.

Once through the door, I was met by a nurse who had me sanitise my hands and then sent me to the reception desk to check in. The desk used to be open above counter level but is now enclosed with transparent screens with small rectangular apertures for passing things to and fro – a sign of the times.

The receptionist couldn’t find me on her list and started searching the records. In the event, it didn’t matter because the “needle nurse” became free at that point and I was sent straightaway to her.

Spider building a web
Photo by Tiger

The waiting room had been emptied of all seating and one corner had been screened off as the vaccination centre. A nurse was ready and waiting, like the spider waiting for the fly. In I went.

I had taken the precaution of dressing in such a way as to be able to bare my arm quickly and without completely removing any garments.

“Have you had a flu vaccination before?” I was asked.

Oh yes, many times. I presented my now bare arm and in seconds the job was done.

“Go to the door at the back,” someone instructed me, “and wait for Nichola to call you.”

This intrigued me because the job was done so why would anyone need to call me?

Berries and leaves
Photo by Tigger

I sorted out my clothing and did up my coat, looking around and wondering which of the hurrying people was the fabled Nichola.

“Are you ready?” asked a voice behind my left shoulder.

“Er, yes,” said I, turning to discover who had spoken. Apparently it was Nichola, who had been patiently waiting, unnoticed by me, while I dressed myself in leisurely fashion.

Her job, it turned out, was to conduct me through the corridors to the back door from which I was evacuated back into the outside world, thus avoiding contact with incoming patients.

Then it was Tigger’s turn. I accompanied her to the surgery, joined the queue with her and left when she went in.

We had agreed that I would go to Myddelton’s deli, buy coffee and sit at one of the outdoor tables until Tigger could join me. However, knowing from my own experience how quickly they were working, I deliberately dawdled.

It turned out that I was right because I had not gone very far before I received a text from Tigger saying she was out and on her way. I retraced my steps to meet her.

Together, we went to Myddelton’s where we drank coffee, sitting at a table on the pavement and comparing notes on our respective experiences.

Autumn trees in Friend Street

The pictures of course have nothing to do with the narrative but have been included for decoration. We took them as we went about this morning.

Today is another dull and uninspiring day and we lingered at home until lunch was disposed of. Then we went forth, partly for exercise and partly to buy a few needed items of shopping.

A dull and uninspiring day

But first, as usual, we paid our ritual visit to Jusaka for coffee. That was our first visit. I’ll come to the second in a minute.

Cat in the window

Walking along the High Street, dodging as best we could the crowds of people who seem never to have heard of social distancing, we spotted this window display. “So what?” I hear you say but as car lovers (“cats” including everything from domestic moggies up to tigers), we found ourselves amused by this representation of an arched-back cat.

As an aside, it seems that the shops are already preparing for Christmas and their displays reflect this.

Chapel Market

We turned into Chapel Market and found it quite busy with a good turnout of stalls. The market undergoes busy days and less busy days without me ever managing to work out what the pattern is or whether there even is one.

Iceland

Our destination was not the market itself but Iceland. The supermarket, that is, not the country, though that too is a very interesting and picturesque place to visit as I found out some years ago. (That was pre-blog so I never wrote about it. It was an episode in my previous life.)

What did we see in Iceland?

Mince pies
Photo by Tigger

We saw that Iceland too is already beginning to prepare for Christmas. There were mince pies (above) and…

Christmas cakes

…and Christmas cakes. By the way, does anyone actually like mince pies? My mother used to make dozens and dozens of them at Christmas and I was forced to eat the wretched things. I hated them then and still can’t face them.

Something that is odd about this rush to Christmas is that we have not yet reached Hallowe’en and the shops are also stocking the usual junk for that festivity also.

Orange fez
Photo by Tigger

In our way back to Jusaka, we spotted this man wearing an enormous orange fez. Tigger managed to snapshot him between passing buses. Why the fez? No idea; maybe he’s a fan of Tommy Cooper.

So why were we going back to Jusaka? Because we suddenly realised that we hadn’t paid for our coffee. We sometimes pay when ordering but other times, if they are busy, they wave us to a seat and bring the coffee when they can deal with us. (They know what we want and the order is always the same.) In that case, we pay on the way out. That scenario was repeated today except that we forgot to pay and so went back to rectify the fault.

That short outing was all we managed today. Let’s see what tomorrow brings…

London is preparing, and therefore so are we, to enter a Tier 2 lockdown from midnight on Friday. Among the new rules is one that we should avoid “unnecessary” travel and not stray beyond our locality “unless absolutely necessary”. We reckon that if this restriction is necessary from Friday night then surely it is necessary now. In view if this, we made today’s little ramble strictly local.

We started at Jusaka

We started (as those who know us will have guessed) with coffee at Jusaka. Coffee bars are still allowed to open, fortunately, as this is one if our little pleasures.

We next crossed the road into Duncan Terrace. We came here often on our lockdown rambles but today I had a special reason. A corespondent recently asked me about a certain address in this row and, in researching it, I learned that these houses had been built in two waves, numbers 1 to 10 first and 11 onwards some time later. I wanted to see whether it was possible to spot the difference.

Numbers 10 and 11 Duncan Terrace

The above photo shows the putative “join”. It is to the right of the left-hand front door, visible between the two parked cars.

And yes, you can see the difference. Though the bricks are the same snd have weathered to the same colour, you can see a vertical line in the brickwork and differences in the styling of the building. For example, look at the first-floor windows: on the left (number 10), they have straight tops (picked out in red) but on the right (number 11), they have arches. If you are interested in this sort of thing, you may notice other differences.

The house in question, number 12

My correspondent had asked me specifically about number 12 (see above) and so I was interested to see whether we could make out any indications as to its history. I could see none. It’s as plain, neat and tidy as its companions on either side. It’s not giving anything away.

Duncan Terrace and St John the Evangelist

We walked on along Duncan Terrace to Duncan Street. Before turning up this, I took a photo of the next section of the terrace and the sunlit tower of the Catholic church of Saint John the Evangelist.

The —-don Factory
Photo by Tigger

We used sometimes to eat at a small Chinese restaurant in Duncan Street. We knew it had closed down but we were trying to remember exactly where it was. It was here, and has been replaced by this curious establishment that seems to have lost its “Lon”!

The Tram Shed

We reached Upper Street where I photographed the venerable old Tram Shed, basking in the late sunshine. Trams used to run through Islington (and other parts of London, of course) until 1952 when they, and the electric trolley buses, were replaced by diesel powered buses, themselves now being replaced by “hybrid” buses running on diesel and electric batteries.

The Tram Shed is a reminder of the old times. For some years it accommodated an interesting collection of antiques stalls until the owners thought they could make more money renting it out to a sole business. A number of businesses have taken it on but none has survived for very long. I see that it is again empty. This must offer some grim satisfaction to the evicted antiques stall holders…

The Angel Centre

We passed through the Angel Centre, a place of shops, restaurants and a cinema. It is built on two levels and there are open areas and covered areas.

The Angel Wings are still there

The main open area is fenced off and some sort of building works are in progress. I hope this doesn’t mean that it is being built on as that will turn a pleasant open space into a claustrophobic closed one. The Angel Wings are still in place. Whatever you may think of them as art, they have become a familiar Islington landmark.

An aisle in Waitrose

Opposite the Angel Centre, in Liverpool Road, is Sainsbury’s and, next to it, a branch of Waitrose. This is where Tigger was heading.

Sweet biscuits
Photo by Tigger

We passed the shelves of sweet biscuits but ignored their blandishments. Our attention – I mean Tigger’s – was fixed on other things.

The tea shelves
Photo by Togger

Specifically, it (Tigger’s attention, that is) was focussed on the tea shelves where she hoped to find additions to what I am tempted to call her “Tea Library”, a growing collection of different types and flavours of Britain’s favourite hot drink.

Packing up in Chapel Market

The last leg of our homeward journey was through Chapel Market. A few stalls were still serving the remaining customers but the rest had either packed up or were in the throes of doing so. That must be one of the challenges of running a market stall as opposed to a shop. With a shop, at the end of the day you just lock the door whereas if you are a stall-holder, you have to set it all up every day and pack it all away at day’s end. With that and with being out in the open in all weathers, these stall-holders are hardy folk. They have my admiration, anyway!

It is now hard to recall the warm weather that we enjoyed but few weeks ago. We seem set for a typical British winter of mournful cold grey days punctuated with rain and gales.

On Sunday, we performed the usual shopping run to Sainsbury’s and spent the rest of the day at home. Shameful, I know 🙂

Crockery stall, Chapel Market

On the way, we passed through Chapel Market. There were more stalls today than the rather poor showing of recent weeks but it was nothing like we were used to in pre-Covid days. Will those happy times ever return?

Pret A Manger
Photo by Tigger

We realised that in our hurry to finish the shopping we had left a little too early: Sainsbury’s was not yet open. We went into Pret in the Angel Centre to have coffee while we waited. The scene here too was very different from what we were accustomed to. Transparent screens had been erected all along the counter to protect staff and at least half the tables and chairs had been piled in a corner and the rest spread out to allow for social distancing. In the circumstances, it is easy to feel depressed. This, however, is our reality now and we had better make the best if it.

This week, Tigger is going in to the office on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and while I could venture out on my own, I feel little inclination to do so.

Trolley packed with laundry

One job needed doing, however. We had accumulated a pile of laundry and it needed to be seen to. Tigger packed it into pillow cases and loaded these into the shopping trolley. On Monday morning (yesterday), I towed it down to the launderette in St John Street for a service wash. They weren’t very busy and so I was able to collect it, washed, dried and folded, later the same day. The provide a good and efficient service.

I think I have mentioned that St John Street slopes downwards from the Angel. The incline is fairly slight and you probably wouldn’t even notice it when walking unencumbered. But you do notice it when dragging a loaded trolley up the hill on the way home!

Today’s job was an errand in Amwell Street. Now that we are not taking our lockdown strolls around the neighbourhood, I have come to miss them. So on the way to Amwell Street, I decided to take a little detour – just for old times’ sake.

The “Curvaceous Tree”

I first visited the “Curvaceous Tree” that lives in the corner of the park in Myddelton Square. It has shed its leaves and is looking rather bare though surrounding vegetation provides a little cover for its nakedness. I am looking forward to the spring and seeing it dressed in fresh green leaves once more.

Myddelton Square garden

Myddelton Square garden tended to be crowded in the warm weather but was almost deserted today except for a couple of dog walkers.

I walked along the pavement beside the houses looking for the two cats that often peered at us through the open window but there was no sign of them. I haven’t seen them for quite a while and wonder whether they have moved house.

Myddelton Square

This is a view of one side if the square. You can see how dull and sad it looks under grey skies.

Cushions

While in Amwell Street, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the window display of cushions, as I have done several times before. This time, though, I checked the name of the shop, something I hadn’t done previously. It rejoices in the poetic appelation of Timorous Beasties.

Usually, the motifs on the cushions are all of the same kind, birds or insects, for example, but today’s collection is selection. Most are birds (though each one different) but the middle one shows a bee and, at top left, there is a squirrel. I am tempted to buy one in case they stop showing them in the window!

View from Claremont Square

Just as I reached Claremont Square on the way home, the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the scene with a pale sunny glow. I just had time to click the shutter before the sun disappeared again. I rather think we shall not see it again today!