By the time we had finished lunch, it was 2:30 and as the deli closes at 3 pm on Sunday, we would have to hurry if we wanted coffee. We made it in time but too late to sit outside the deli and so we carried our coffee to Myddelton Square Gardens.

Feeding frenzy

We sat on a bench under the trees and Tigger produced food for the wildlife. She was hoping to feed the squirrels but they are rather elusive and seem nervous of the pigeons. We tried to keep the pigeons occupied on one side while attracting the squirrels on the other but we were unsuccessful in this.

“My friend” arrives
Photo by Tigger

The one-footed pigeon that I had fed before (see Feeding the birds) arrived in a flurry of wings. He, or rather, I think, she, must have recognised me and was confident enough to perch on my knee again.

Feeding the pigeon

The pigeon was happy to eat from my hand.

Portrait

This is a quick portrait of “my friend” 🙂 Yes, I know we’re not really friends and that the pigeon loves the food and not me but it is a relationship of a sort and valuable as such.

A view from the bench

The garden is a pleasant and peaceful place. Many people come here, some alone, some with friends or partners and some, if course, with dogs, but it remains peaceful.

Rear of St Mark’s Church

When the seed was used up but we had a few nuts left for the squirrels, we moved to a different bench near the rear of the church, hoping to be closer to the squirrels, but we were no more successful in attracting them.

Gardening tools

We noticed that there were a lot of gardening tools lying around and a couple of people doing gardening work. They were obviously not Council employees but members of the local community. It’s nice to think that the local people are helping to maintain this lovely asset.

Keeping an eye on us

As we left the garden, we noticed that the pigeons were keeping an eye on us and following from a distance, probably in case we had more food to share.

Electra passes

Walking through the square, we spied Electra performing her circuits, going round and round.

Pretty window box

My final photograph was of this pretty window box in Chadwell Street, no doubt a contender in the window box competition.

Though cloudy, the weather today is warm and (so far) dry, which in these islands, counts as a plus, I suppose.

Cloudy skies over White Lion Street

As is usual on a Sunday morning, we were heading towards the emporium of Sainsbury and company to perform our weekly shopping run.

The busker

In Chapel Market, a rather mournful-sounding busker was adding to the noise by singing to a guitar.

Interaction

As I stopped to take a (discreet) photo of the musician, there occurred a strange interaction between him and a passer-by. Is this music criticism in action?

Farmers’ Market

As I took this photo of the Farmers’ Market, the person in red trousers suddenly noticed me and did a quick dash away from the camera. This often happens, as if people are afraid of being caught on camera. Very occasionally, I have been challenged by people who have taken exception to being included in a shot. As it usually takes them a moment or two to realise I am taking photos, I have formulated the following rules for street photography:

1. Take the photo carefully but quickly
2. Do not make eye contact with anyone
3. Move quickly on

Outside tables, Millennium Cafe

Despite the cloudy weather, the Millennium Cafe had plenty of customers for its tables outside. They were keeping the waitress busy.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s was not very busy and we had only a few items to collect so had soon finished.

The market wasn’t very busy

The market, as I hurried through to pick up our coffees, was not very busy, either. What determines how busy shops and markets are and why is there so much variation in customer numbers? I suppose the answer is that random movements of people cause ebbs and flows in numbers without there being any specific reason governing the whole.

Coffee in hand, we returned home where we will have lunch and then decide what to do with the rest of the day.