Just in case to are wondering what happened at 3 pm today (see yesterday’s post), here is a short account.

Having previously timed the walk to the dentist’s surgery, I could plan to arrive just a few minutes before the time of my appointment. I know they prefer you not to be early but, on the other hand, there were bound to be some formalities. There were: the receptionist checked my temperature with one of those gadgets that looks like a cross between a torch and a pistol and asked if I had any Covid symptoms.

I was handed an envelope file with my details and instructed to proceed. This is where things went a little wrong. I thought the receptionist told me to take the second door on the left. When I reached it, there was a staircase leading down to what looked like a storage area. That couldn’t be right, could it?

While I was thus floundering, a member of staff appeared and I explained my dilemma. She directed me to the second floor (my hearing loss leaves vowels perfectly clear but confuses consonants, so that floor and door sound the same.)

I climbed the narrow staircase as though engaged on an ascent of Annapurna and arrived reasonably puffed. I still wasn’t sure I was in the right place but as there wasn’t anywhere further to go, I waited to see what would happen.

What happened was that, after a while, a door opened and a dental nurse ushered me into a small dentist’s surgery. Still somewhat out of breath from the climb, I explained why I had come and submitted myself to the ministrations of the dentist.

After considering the case, the dentist explained that as the tooth already had a large filling, to do a “proper job” would need a lot of work and several visits. “Which you probably don’t want at this stage,” he concluded, echoing my thoughts perfectly. We agreed that he would do a “quick job” that would last for a while and reconsider if and when, as was likely, it would eventually fail.

“Quick” was the right word because barely had he started the work, so it seemed to me, when he pronounced it done. I cautiously enquired whether I should refrain from food and drink for a while to let it settle. No, said he, “Just act normally”.

Upper Street

I descended the steep and narrow staircase and exited into the bustle of Upper Street.

St Mary’s Church Gardens

As yesterday, I went into St Mary’s Church Gardens to calm myself down. It’s quite a pleasant park despite being rather small.

One of the fine old trees

There are several fine old trees in the garden. I don’t know how old they are but guess they must have been here when the original church was founded in the 18th century.

Gravestones stacked along the perimeter

As is usual with city burial grounds that have been turned into parks, the gravestones have been removed from their original positions and been stacked along the perimeter. These gravestones gave me the strange feeling that they were waiting for something.

Tomb left in place

Some of the larger tombs have been left in place like this one. It presumably once bore an inscription but, if so, this has eroded away and all the surfaces are blank. We tend to think of stone as permanent but, of course, it isn’t: stone too decays in time.

Strange little building

In one corner of the garden is this curious little building. I have no idea what its purpose is. Could it once have been a coffee kiosk? Whatever it’s for, I have never seen it in use.

Drinking fountain

Nearby is the old drinking fountain. A dog lover has placed a bowl beside it to enable dogs to quench their thirst. This, and the puddles around the fountain, suggested that it still worked. It can be induced to produce water by turning the knob on the side but the water is now reduced to a trickle.

St Mary’s Church

To conclude, I took a quick photo of St Mary’s Church and made my way home. As before, I passed through Angel Central, where I had another try at photographing some lights.

Decorative lights, Angel Central

These were steady lights, not changing lights, and so easier to photograph.

From here I was soon home and, taking the dentist at his word, I made a pot of tea. So far, the “quick job” reconstructed tooth is still in place.

For evidence that human beings, far from being perfect creations, are at best a work in progress, you need only look at our teeth. It is hard to imagine a worse design and easy to think of much better ones. The effort of doing so, however, is hardly worthwhile as we are stuck with the teeth that evolution has given us and that’s that.

These and other related thoughts accosted me this weekend when I became aware that a piece was missing from one of my teeth. Although the tooth was not hurting me – at least, not yet! – I knew I must have it attended to and the sooner the better.

Though I would not say that I have a phobia of dentists and dentistry, the thought of lying helpless in that reclining chair while various metal instruments probe and dig about in my mouth makes me feel very nervous. Not that I am particularly ashamed of that: I never claimed to be made of the stuff of heroes, after all.

I should have called for an appointment yesterday but kept putting it off. I told myself that Monday is a busy day for doctors and dentists as people seek attention for all the things that have gone wrong over the weekend and the telephone lines are often jammed. The real reason for not calling was, of course, that I needed to psych myself up to do so.

There are two local dentists from whom I have sought treatment in the past. Deciding which one to call this time provided further excuses to delay doing so. Eventually, this morning, I called the first one. I called three times and each time, after a few rings, the line dropped. A supersstitious person might have seen an omen in this, rather than the simple annoyance that it really was.

Next, I toyed with the idea of calling the second dentist but, then, instead, decided to present myself in person. There were two reasons for this. Firstly, my hearing sometimes makes phone calls difficult, especially if the line is bad or the other person has an accent. Doing business face to face is less fraught. The second reason was that I knew that this dentist, unlike the other, operated a walk-in service on some mornings and I thought if I was lucky, I might be seen today.

The last time I visited this dentist, we patients had been contrained to wait outside on the pavement until called in. That was during lockdown and was a reasonable precaution for the time. Would I have to wait outside again today? Happily, no: the surgery has two doors, respectively labelled as entry and exit. When I approached the counter, I was sternly told to treat my hands with the gel provided. Having done so, I could state my business. It helped that, as I had been here before, my name was on the records so I was an existing customer rather than a walk-in. A broken tooth? Very well, 3 pm tomorrow.

It is a little disappointing that I wasn’t seen straightaway (it turns out that the walk-in service has been discontinued, having fallen victim to the pandemic) but tomorrow should be fine. I can now try to put the matter out of my mind until it is time to return for my appointment.

Out into Upper Street

I left the surgery (remembering to leave by the door marked “Exit”) into a moderately busy Upper Street. According to the Met Office, the sun should be shining from an unclouded sky but that’s not quite how it was in reality. Cloudy with sunny intervals would be a better description.

St Mary’s Church Gardens

To calm myself down, I thought to take a stroll in St Mary’s Church Gardens which are nearby. The garden was, of course, originally the graveyard of the church, in proof of which a few tombs have been left in place, whether as a themed decoration or because they were too complicated to remove, I don’t know. There were people sitting on the benches and quite a few dog walkers whose charges were running about having a high old time.

Puddle

The puddles and the mud on the paths left no doubt that there had been heavy rain during the night. I could possibly have found a vacant bench to sit on but in fact preferred to start back for home.

Rear entrance,Angel Central

I passed through the shopping and entertainment site called Angel Central, entering from the rear. I stopped to take a photo because there were tubular lights flashing different colours. Unfortunately, the photo does not show this. (Don’t say I never show you my failures, only my successes! 🙂 )

I decided that in return for sorting out a dentist’s appointment, I deserved a reward. Accordingly, in Chapel Market I made for Costa.

Coffee with a view

I ordered my usual black americano and, as I had a free drink on my club card, didn’t need to pay. Bonus! I was lucky to find a table at the window, giving me coffee with a view.

Now you don’t see it…

As I sat down, a window cleaner appeared and covered the window with foam!

Now you do!

Fortunately, he soon scraped it off and the outside view was restored. (That’s the window cleaner, on the left.)

Afterwards, I walked back through Chapel Market and decided to take a photo. Then this happened:

Intrusive cyclist

The market is closed to vehicular traffic but too many cyclists seem to think that doesn’t apply to them and ride through the crowds in the market, often dangerously fast. Every day I meet cyclists riding on pavements and on pedestrian crossings and ignoring the traffic lights. Unsurprisingly, there are accidents when cyclists come a cropper in trafiic or, worse still, collide with pedetsrians, sometimes with fatal results. It’s one thing to encourage cycling in the name of some vague ideas about promoting health and reducing polllution but this needs to be accompanied by appropiriate enforcement to make sure that cyclists follow the rules and suffer the consequences if they do not. Otherwise, they become a menace on two wheels.

Chapel Market (as it should be)

This is the photo I meant to take, cyclists permitting.

From here I returned home for lunch and to await Tigger’s return from work when I can boast of my exploit in making an appointment with the dentist!

At least, that’s what we are telling ourselves.

Beautiful skyscape

After lunch, we set out, going first, as we usually do, to the deli for a coffee. The plan was to go on from there, taking a bus ride to a destination Tigger had in mind. So far, the weather looked suitable, and I took the above photo, so enchanted was I by the blue sky and large white clouds.

Outside the deli in Amwell Street

We sat outside the deli with our coffee and thus far the weather seemed to play along with our intentions.

I have mentioned before that Amwell Street is in the unusual situation of having not one, but three men’s barbers. From where I was sitting outside the deli, I saw that the two nearest were both open for business. On Sunday. How usual is that, I wonder? Or is it because, with so much competition, they feel the need to stay open as many hours as possible?

Looking back along Amwell Street

After our coffee break, we walked up Amwell Street to catch a bus to Tigger’s mystery destination. So far the sky looked friendly enough.

Looking east

By the time we started along Penton Street, the first disquieting signs were appearing. Looking east (above), the sky looked fine. But…

Looking west

…looking west, we saw an altogether more ominous sight. Which way were the clouds moving? Why, west to east, of course!

Waiting at a bus stop

We reached a bus stop in Tolpuddle Street where we could catch a bus to Tigger’s goal. With eyes eyes fixed on the east and hope in our hearts, we waited.

The bus came, we waved it down and… Guess what? Tigger realised she had forgotten to pick up her Oyster card for the bus! Regretfully, though in view of the approaching dark clouds, not all that regretfully, we decided to call it s day and return home.

Lock-ups and car park

We walked through this – as far as I know, unnamed – road, leading to Sainsbury’s car park. On one side are the backs of houses along Chapel Market and, on the other, lock-up garages or storage locations. Some of the market stallholders use these for keeping stock.

Looking out of the window now, I see that it has indeed rained but that the sun is shining again. Should we have insisted on carrying through Tigger’s plan? Well, never mind, it’s pleasant too to return home, relax and make tea!

I hate to say it, but the last few days have brought intimations of approaching winter. I am one who feels the cold and have added layers both in my clothing and on the bed. Though the sun was shining at intervals this morning, this did not counter the downward shift of the temperature.

The Farmers’ Market

Whether it has anything to do with the weather, I do not know, but the markets, both the Farmers’ and the regular market, were especially busy today.

No takers for outside service

Unsurprisingly, there were no customers at the cafe’s outside tables (or the pub’s). Having outdoor seating at all was an innovation brought about by Covid-19 and it will be interesting to see whether it survives the winter.

Same story at Mercer’s

At Mercer’s too, it was noticeable that their outdoor tables were empty of customers.

Sainsbury’s was also somewhat busier than it usually is on a Sunday morning. Possibly that had something to do with ominous signs caught in camera by Tigger:

Empty shelves
Photos by Tigger

Some of the shelves in Sainsbury’s were empty. We’re used to seeing the odd gap in stock here and there but this number of empty shelves is unusual and concerning. Is it an omen of worse to come?

At the checkout

The queues at the checkout were linger than usual for the early hour. I wonder whether people are becoming nervous about shortages and are stocking up.

Going through the market

As usual, I hurried through Chapel Market with the cup holder, heading for Mercer’s, while Tigger followed with the shopping trolley.

Through the window at Mercer’s

By now, the sun had put in an appearance and was making the scene look more cheerful while perhaps taking some of the chill out of the air. As a result, Mercer’s outside tables were now occupied. (Tigger is waiting off to the left but you can’t see her!)

Coffee in hand, we made for home. After a little rest, we will have lunch and then perhaps go out again. The weather forecast is cloudy-sunny but with a threat of rain. Let’s see if we can dodge the rain and make the most of the sunshine!

Despite the dark clouds and threat of rain, I went out this morning to check the route to an important appointment later today. Along the way, I encountered this appealing creature and managed to snatch a photo before passers-by caused him to flee.

Squirrel

So where was I going and why was my destination important enough to persuade me to brave a possible downpour?

The answer is that, being classed as “vulnerable”, medically speaking, we have been invited by the dear old NHS to apply for booster vaccination against Covid-19 and that the vaccination centre where we have our appointments is one that we are not acquainted with. Our appointments are at 5:40 pm today and Tigger is at work in the City until 4 pm. She should reach the Angel in plenty of time for us to keep our appointments – always supposing there are no delays. Making sure we know how to reach the clinic, without getting lost and in the shortest possible time, is obviously a wise precaution.

My first attempt to find the location of the clinic was to open the Apple Maps app on my phone. This has previously proved effective in not only showing the location of a place but also in detailing the route and even the numbers of the buses to take us there. Alas, this time, Apple Maps flunked completely: it could not even find the street, never mind the clinic itself.

I also have Google Maps on my phone. Would this succeed in finding the clinic? Yes, it would, and it plotted the route for me on the map. It was this route, which is entirely on foot, that I wanted to check as well as the time necessary to cover the distance.

The route according to Google

From the bus stop in St John Street where I shall meet Tigger, it took me 12 minutes 54 seconds to reach the clinic by Google’s proposed route. In fact, Google takes you on an unnecessary loop near the end of the route and we can by-pass this, saving several minutes. The rehearsal was a success and let’s hope the actual event is too!

Later…

Clinic entrance

I met Tigger at the bus stop and we set off for the clinic. After my morning explorations, I was able to lead us faultlessly to the unassuming doorway of the clinic. We explained that we were early and offered to go away and return later but they were happy to receive us. The clinic was virtually empty but for staff and we were seen to straightaway.

Everyone was friendly, polite and kind. Our details were recorded and this is where we scored the bonus: would we, they asked, also like a flu jab? Would we? We would indeed! We had been expecting to have to make an appointment for this at our GP surgery but having them now saved both time and energy.

I had dressed in such a way as to make it easy to bare my upper arm. Because of the extra jab, I had to bare both arms but that hardly mattered. The injections were delivered expertly and I hardly felt them.

Kennedy’s, Goswell Road

Afterwards, we treated ourselves to an early supper at Kennedy’s restaurant, a little further down Goswell Road. It’s actually a fish and chip shop and fish restaurant but they have two vegetarian options, halloumi and chips or tofu and chips.

Inside Kennedy’s

The restaurant wasn’t very busy and we were soon attended to.

Halloumi and chips with mushy peas
(and salad!)

I wasn’t intending to have salad but when the waiter offered it, my conscience piped up and said yes! 🙂

St John Street

We now made our way home, crossing St John Street and…

Spa Green Garden

…entering Spa Green Garden. We crossed Rosebery Avenue and walked up Arlington Way to Myddelton Passage. You can guess what claimed our attention here.

The pub vine

We had watched the progress of the pub vine from winter bareness, through the bursting out of new leaves and the triumphal appearance of bunches of grapes. The grapes are now all gone, harvested, no doubt, and many of the leaves, once green, are turning brown, a strong hint that winter is approaching.

We continued on our way, confronting the hill that leads to home. The weekend starts here but first, we have a relaxing evening indoors.