We performed our usual shopping run this morning and returned home to put away the spoils.

The clock tower in reflected light

After lunch, we set out again, starting our journey at the clock tower where we boarded a 394 single-deck bus. This threads its way along a complicated route, terminating at Homerton Hospital. We, however, did not travel quite that far.

Almshouses now Museum of the Home

We came here, to this impressive three-wing set of almshouses founded in the early 18th century as a bequest of the will of Sir Robert Jeffrye. Today, the building is part of a complex constituting the Museum of the Home. It was until fairly recently called the Jeffrye Museum but then the founder’s reputation suffered an eclipse owing to his connections with slavery. His name was removed from the museum’s name though his statue, with an inscription, still stands above the main entrance.

Entrance hall

We have visited this museum many times but this was the first visit since the complex was enlarged and remodelled. Admission is free but thanks to Covid, you need to book a time for your visit. Our time was 3 pm.

Take a seat

I appreciated the old museum for its display of room settings from Tudor times to the modern day. They are still present but the enlarged museum displays much more than it used to with examples of the furniture and other contents of the home through the ages.

Cleaning implements

As well as a broad range of objects found in the home, there were videos to watch and information boards to read. I, though, was impatient to see my favourites, the room settings. I will show you just a few of these, so as not to bore you.

A hall of 1630

A parlour of 1695

A parlour of 1790

A parlour of 1870

Loft style apartment of 1998

The Chapel

In the centre of the main wing, accessed through the main door, lies the chapel. It was a condition of being admitted as an occupant of an almshouse, that one attended Sunday services in the chapel.

Molly’s Cafe

As you might expect, there is a cafe attached to the museum. You have to leave the museum building and walk to what was once an independent pub but has been acquired by the museum and converted into its cafe.

Tea and lemon drizzle cake

We ordered tea and lemon drizzle cake for two. I was rather surprised at the price: more expensive than our cooked lunch at Cafe Sizzle yesterday. Still, I suppose that compensates for the free admission.

A park with ancient trees

In front of the almshouses, separating them from the road, is a broad garden or park with ancient trees. No doubt the occupants could sit out here on warm days without being troubled by the traffic on the road.

Moon over the museum
Photo by Tigger

The stop for the 394 bus to take us home stands conveniently in front of the museum. We had a 10-minute wait for the bus during which time Tigger photographed an almost full moon over the roof of the almshouses.

The bus duly arrived and carried us along its tortuous backstreet route back to the Angel and home. It was good to see the museum again, especially the room settings which always fascinate me and are for me the main attraction.

It’s cold today and feels even colder. Tigger has had a tiring week and so we stayed at home all morning like a pair of bears in torpor.

We roused ourselves around midday and decided to go for lunch. But where? Happily, we both had the same idea. Before the pandemic we often went to Sizzle Cafe in Chapel Market but hadn’t been there for a long time. Today seemed a good day to renew our acquaintance with this notable eatery.

Sizzle Cafe

The cafe was fairly full – unsurprisingly, because it’s a friendly place, the food is well cooked and the prices moderate.

Chapel Market

Afterwards, we walked along the “other end” of Chapel Market (the end where there are shops but no stalls).

Godson Street

We cut through into White Lion Street along this pedestrian-only lane called Godson Street.

Penton Street

We entered Penton Street and followed it down to cross Pentonville Road and enter Amwell Street. And you can guess where we were heading in Amwell Street:

Myddelon’s deli

Yes, we paid our usual visit to Myddelton’s deli where we bought coffee take home. I rather think that that’s it for today. We shall stay at home for now.

Tomorrow is another day and we will see what it brings.

It’s another sunny day today, though cold. We have arranged to meet in a street called Minories. Tigger will make her way there from the office while I travel in from the Angel.

Pentonville Road

I went to the bus stop in Pentonville Road to catch the 205 that the bus app on my phone told me would arrive in a few minutes. At 3:45 the sun is still shining but the streets are already filling with shadows.

Aboard the 205

The bus arrived early and off we went, heading into the City..

Passing Liverpool Street Station

We passed Liverpool Street Station.

St Boltolphe Street

I left the bus in St Botolphe Street, crossed the road and…

A narrow way

…passed along this narrow way, which led on to…

Minories

…the street called Minories.

St Botolphe without Aldgate

Behind me stands this church called St Botolphe without Aldgate which gives its name to the aforementioned street.

The Hilton

I found Tigger in front of this building, the local Hilton hotel. They were advertising free pastry with coffee so in we went.

Clean but lacking character

The decor was clean and bright and the furniture comfortable but it was lacking in character. We ordered coffee and were informed that they had “run out of free pastry”. I suppose we should have walked out, having been inveigled in under false pretences, but we ordered coffee, anyway.

We ordered coffee

The coffee was average and the price slightly above average but, then, it was the Hilton.

Duke’s Place

We walked a couple of hundred yards to a bus stop in this street, called Duke’s Place. I don’t know which duke it purports to honour – I’ll look it up later.

Aboard the 135

We boarded a 135 bus which took us to Old Street. We hoped to find supper there.

Pizza Union

Leaving the bus, we entered Pizza Union and ordered a Fiorentina each.

The pager

They hand you a pager and you take it with you as you choose a table. When the pager buzzes, you take it to the counter to collect your order.

Pizza Fiorentina
Photo by Tigger

I have to say that the pizzas that we had today were the driest, hardest pizzas I have ever encountered. We had difficulty cutting them even with the serrated knives provided and had to pull them apart. Maybe we should have returned them.

When we left Pizza Union, it was dark outside and we had a busy road to cross to reach our bus stop. Have you noticed how pedestrian crossings are never just where you want to cross the road? That must take special planning.

Aboard the 214

We made it across safely and reached the bus stop at the same time as a 214. We went aboard and it carried up up the hill to the Angel and home. As I often say in a Friday evening post, “The weekend starts here!”

When Tigger is at work, I have to keep myself occupied. Today I had two activities to keep me busy. Both were local and so the photos are local too. You may have seen these scenes before.

My first occupation was to return my books to Finsbury Library and perhaps borrow some more. I passed through Myddelton Square where this cheerful sight caught my attention.

Pigeons bathing

Heavy rain had left a large puddle on this corner as it always does but now the sun was shining and some of the local pigeons were taking the opportunity to enjoy a bath. Rather them than me in this cold weather! They seemed to enjoy it, however.

Myddelton Passage

I walked through Myddelton Passage where the sun was shining on the houses but leaving deep shadows where it could not reach. I like these quiet streets where you hardly ever see another person.

The pub vine – is it dead?

The last time I came here, the pub vine still had leaves even though they were turning brown. Today there are no leaves and the vine looks like a dead thing. I shall watch it anxiously until the spring when – I hope – it will flourish anew.

Spa Green

I crossed Rosebery Avenue and entered the small park called Spa Green. The trees are bare of leaves but they seemed to gather and hold the sunshine in their branches, shining with a different kind of beauty.

A plume of steam

In St John Street I stopped to observe this tall building. It seemed to be breathing, its breath making a plume of steam in the cold air.

The campus clock tower

As I arrived, the venerable clock attached to the City University building chimed the first quarter (it was 11:15). This university has buildings all over London but few are as handsome as this one.

Aboard the 153

After visiting the library, I let myself be tempted to take the bus for the return journey – lazy, I know.

After lunch, I set out in my second activity – to collect the laundry that I had deposited on Monday (see Dentist and laundry).

The moon over the square

I again passed through Myddelton Square but this time noticed a gibbous moon shining palely in the sky above it. You may be able to make it out near the centre of the above photo.

Sunlit trees in Myddelton Square Gardens

Here too the bare trees seemed to collect the sunshine in their branches. Perhaps the vitality and warmth of the sunlight will encourage them to start growing leaves again. (Yes, I am in a hurry to see the end of winter and the return of more amenable weather!)

Sun shining through trees

The laundry, packed into the shopping trolley, was heavy and I took my time dragging it up the hill to home. I stopped to admire the sun shining through the trees of the gardens and making silhouettes of the trees and the church. Beauty is to be enjoyed wherever you find it.

Tigger returned to work today, leaving me to occupy myself as best I could. As it happens, there were two items requiring attention.

Pickering Dental Surgery

The first brought me here, to the Pickering Dental Surgery in Upper Street. One of my teeth had been troubling me from time to time and it transpired that root canal work was required. Today was the day appointed for this to be done.

Out into Upper Street

The session lasted perhaps an hour or so. While I cannot say the experience was pleasant, it was not painful as the area of my mouth surrounding the target tooth was number by injection. I was glad when it was finished, though, and I could escape out into Upper Street.

Fox on the Green

As I reached Islington Green, I paused to take a photo of the pub whose address is 1, Islington Green. It is a rather splendid building with a history going back at least to the beginning of the 19th century, though it has possibly been rebuilt or remodelled at some point. The fact that it possesses a clock (sadly, not working) shows that it has enjoyed affluent times. An outline of its history and some photos of its appearance in past times will be found on this Pubwiki page.

Colourful Chairs

Further along, my attention was caught by these chairs outside a restaurant called Desperados because they were so colourful. On a dull day like today, we can do with some colour!

Upper Street Bookshop

I don’t know how long this shop has been open but we first noticed it a few weeks back. Rather unimaginatively named Upper Street Bookshop, it doesn’t seem to have a website. There is a long-established branch of Waterstones at Islington Green but, in an age when bookshops are becoming an endangered species, the arrival of a new one starting up is worthy of note. I wasn’t in a mood to go into the shop today but we’ll definitely take a look at some point.

On reaching home, I rested for a while. It may seem odd to say that reclining in a dentist’s chair is tiring but it felt so to me. Perhaps it’s the nervous tension that saps your energy. Having rested, I turned to the second of today’s items requiring attention.

The laundry

That item was the laundry, skilfully packed into the shopping trolley by Tigger and now needing to be trundled round to the cleaners.

A victim of Christmas

In Myddelton Square, I passed this Christmas tree. It was bought, decorated and made much of but then tossed out as garbage. It is so wasteful every year to kill so many young trees. It’s time we thought of better ways to celebrate Christmas that don’t involve such waste.

Angelz Cleaners

This is where we take our laundry at present. They wash, dry and fold it and so far have not lost any items, unlike one of the shops we tried previously.

Squirrels in Myddelton Square Gardens

In the way home, I walked through Myddelton Square Gardens and stopped watch a couple of squirrels. The tree has a hole in it and someone places nuts in it for the squirrels. The squirrel hanging further up the tree had come down to visit the larder but the second squirrel chased him away.

To the victor, the spoils

The second squirrel, having chased away the competition, settled down to enjoy the spoils. I just hope that when he’s had enough and departed, there will be some left for the other squirrel.