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.

This morning, we went to Sainsbury’s for our weekly shop as usual.

Baron Street

It was a sunny morning but still a little chilly.

Farmers’ Market

The Farmers’ Market looked thin on the ground compared with its usual turnout. Perhaps some stallholders were taking a holiday after their busy Christmas and the New Year.

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s was averagely busy and we soon collected all our purchases.

Chapel Market

Here I am passing through the main market on my way to Mercer’s for our takeaway coffee, thus completing the Sunday morning ritual.

Aboard the 73

After lunch we set out again, catching a 73 bus.

A crowded Oxford Street

We left the bus in Oxford Street which was (for me) uncomfortably crowded.

Bright sky, dull streets

We walked along Oxford Street towards our intended destination. The sun was shining fitfully but the streets were already gathering shadows.

John Lewis, the light well

Our goal was John Lewis’s department store, where we took the escalator up, up and up to the fourth floor. I took a photo looking down the light well and the people on the ground floor looked like ants scurrying about.

The wool department

We came to the wool department because Tigger has agreed to crochet a hat for a colleague and needed to find wool of the colour required.

Wool, wool and more wool

Here we find wool of every colour and every thickness. There are bewilderingly many shades of every colour. Tigger photographed several skeins and texted the photos to her colleague for approval.

Huffington’s

After this, we felt we deserved a cup of tea and withdrew to Huffington’s, one of the in-store cafes.

The piano plays itself

We were intrigued by this piano which looked as though it was being played by the Invisible Man because the keys were being depressed and it was making music.

Order at the counter

A notice bade us wait beside it until called forward to the counter. When our turn came, we placed our order and paid and were instructed to sit at a table. Then our order was brought to us.

Tea and blueberry muffins
Photo by Tigger

We had tea and blueberry muffins.

The sun has set

By the time we emerged from John Lewis, the sun had set and electric lights were taking over from daylight.

Aboard the 7

There was one more thing to see before we returned home. So we caught a number 7 bus.

Marble Arch

The bus brought us to Marble Arch where the object of our search was to be found.

The Marble Arch Mound

The object in question was the art (?) installation known as the Marble Arch Mound. Is there a point to this eccentric and useless structure? Some people presumably think so. Today is its last day so we have at least seen it though I cannot say that the experience struck me as in any way meaningful.

Aboard the 205

We now started our journey home. We took two buses in succession, the second of which, the 205, brought us back to the Angel and home.

Thus, we have come to the end of the unexpected “holiday” that we enjoyed, courtesy of Omicron. Tomorrow, Tigger returns to work and I have an appointment at… No, I will recount that in due course, so watch this space!

It’s a dull, wet day today but not as cold as recently. We set out cheerfully for Walthamstow where we hoped to visit an art exhibition.

A dull wet day

We caught a 205 in Pentonville Road to start our journey,

Figures by Stik

The bus took us to Shoreditch where we see these figures by Stik. This used to be a lively area for street art but since then the artists seem to have moved elsewhere, leaving just a few remnants of their works.

Aboard the 55

Here we boarded a number 55 bus which would put us on the way to Walthamstow.

We stopped off in Leyton

We stopped off in Leyton for a coffee break in a branch of Costa Coffee.

Aboard the 97

After coffee we braved the rain again to catch a 97 for the rest of the journey.

Waltham Forest

We left the bus at Waltham Forest,

The William Morris Gallery

We walked to the William Morris Gallery where the exhibition we wanted to see is being held. It is entitled New Arts of Young Poland 1890-1918. Admission is free and photography is allowed without flash. Below are a few of the works we saw, by no means a representative sample in such a wide-ranging exhibition.

Gallery staircase

Having viewed the exhibition, we descended the Gallery’s elegant staircase and went out once more into the rain.

Gökyüzü Turkish Restaurant

One of the advantages of visiting Walthamstow is that here we find a rather fine Turkish restaurant called Gökyüzü. We have had lunch here several times before. The food is good, with a fair number of vegetarian dishes, and they have plenty of staff so that you never wait long to be attended to.

Salad and bread

Before even asking what you want, they bring you Turkish bread and salad (free) and then…

More salad

…some more free salad! Also in the picture is a glass of ayran (drinking yogurt) and a cup of Turkish tea. (Your first cup of Turkish tea is also free.) When Tigger asked for ayran, the waiter was surprised and asked her – half in fun – whether she was Turkish!

Turkish lentil soup
Photo by Tigger

They make a very good Turkish lentil soup here and we both ordered it. As it happens, we were not very hungry (perhaps the ginger biscuits we had had with our coffee had spoilt our appetite). Thus Tigger made do with soup, bread and salad while I followed my soup with…

Grilled halloumi

…grilled Halloumi.

Starting back

From the restaurant it is just a few yards across the park to the bus station where we were just in time to catch the first of our buses for the journey back to the Angel.

This was our first ramble of any distance for quite a while. As a result, we are both rather out of condition and found today’s outing rather tiring. Will we recover our form again? I certainly hope so.

Today’s outing was short because I am waiting for an important phone call and would rather deal with this at home.

Islington High Street

We started by walking along a busy Islington High Street. The sun was shining but it felt very cold.

Marks & Spencer

We first visited Marks & Spencer in Chapel Market, specifically the food department, where we bought a few items.

White Lion Street

After our visit to M&S, we walked first along White Lion Street. This is the quieter end of that street. The other half leads to the High Street and carries a lot of traffic because there is no left turn at the end of Pentonville Road and vehicles are directed along Baron Street and White Lion Street instead.

Penton Street

White Lion Street leads into Penton Street. This street and the other Pentons and Pentonvilles in the neighbourhood are named after Henry Penton (1736-1812) who owned and developed the area in the 18th century.

Crossing Pentonville Road

Penton Street leads to Pentonville Road at the covered reservoir, placed here because it is the highest point of the neighbourhood.

Amwell Street

Amwell Street contains houses (some divided into flats as is common in our era) as well as shops and other businesses, including the George and Monkey pub.

The business in Amwell Street that we visit most often is of course Myddelton’s deli. We had been there only rarely before the pandemic and the imposition of lockdowns. Our “exercise” outings during lockdown found a natural focus in the deli. As suppliers of “essential” goods, i.e. food, they were able to stay open when other businesses were forced to close. We called in regularly and have continued to do so ever since.

It was too cold today to sit outside so we bought our coffees, chatted briefly with the friendly staff, and then made for home, clutching our precious cargo.

The Curvaceous Tree

In passing, I photographed my favourite, the Curvaceous Tree, which, thanks to winter, currently stands revealed in all its curvilinear, if skeletal, glory. I wonder whether the tree is looking forward, as I am, to it being clothed again in opulent green dress.