London in the Springtime

It's been school half term here so my youngest and I were both at home with recently retired husband. (His profession meant he retired after a set number of years. He will be getting another job...)
We've got lots of house projects going on this spring including changing the windows. I'm not ecstatic about all that uPVC but the existing windows are ridiculously draughty and inefficient and so old you can't just change the glazing. Upstairs gets particularly cold and damp- we've had a few issues with mould growth- and I'm hoping that it'll also help our energy use. A man from the next village is going to do it (his children went to school with ours) and I'm pleased to pay him rather than a national company.
This means making sure the poor man can actually get at the windows though, so it's inspired some tidying and decluttering. A few trips to charity shops, some stuff listed on Facebook and Freegle and passing things on to friends and we're getting there.

Wild garlic beginning to show

The weather has been settled, with a couple of lovely Spring days, so I also got out in the garden and tidied up a bit and turned the compost as furry visitors appear to be taking far too much interest in it. I tried to make sure the heap was evenly wet as I made it last year but there were still soggy patches and some very dry areas so it was good to mix it up even if my back regretted it later.

Big plans for the garden this year include more vegetable beds and generally sorting out the top part of the garden which is currently a square of scruffy grass with a couple of plants around the edge. I know what I like in gardens and I love actual gardening but do struggle with garden design. It always ends up a bit ad-hoc. I know I want to give the lawn some shape, make the beds bigger and create some pathways so I keep drawing plans on scraps of paper. I need to keep some lawn for the dogs and to fit a two man tent on. In the meantime...

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

We had a day trip to London that was fun. Son was working so four of us went and had a great day. We walked miles, enjoyed poking around parts we hadn't seen before and ate lots. I lived in London in my early twenties and my Dad's family is originally from the East End (though my Dad was brought up in Finchley, North London) and I do find there's something special about the city. I'm quite happy living surrounded by fields and sheep but I enjoy the buzz when I'm there, and the multi-multiculturalism that is missing from my rural area.

We headed for Old Spitalfields market for lunch and ate from the street stalls. The girls shared an Amazonian wrap stuffed with vegetables and cheese. The wraps were made from ground cassava, water 'and love' which clearly made all the difference because they were really good, Husband and I had smoked beef in flatbreads from the stall next door which he'd wanted to try since he saw it a couple of years before. Luckily they were also as good as the smelled.

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Between Old Spitalfields and Brick Lane. One of these was for sale if you can find the best part of £3 million

We explored a bit and then the other 3 managed to squeeze in a beigel (yes, beigel not bagel) from the original shop in Brick Lane. There's always a queue out of the door, but as service is brisk (!) you don't wait long. And Nathan in the kitchen at the back was kept on his toes bringing in supplies when stocks were running low. Brick Lane is where beigels (never bagels) are thought to have originated.

A primary school on Brick Lane

Views from the river bus of the North Bank.

After a lot more walking and a trip on a river bus we had a walk around China Town although we didn't eat there this time.

I have decided I really don't like the one way system in the Loon Fung supermarket and after 30 years of (admittedly intermittent) patronage I'm going in a different shop next time. Far too stressful!