Hackney – Page 14 – slightly weird

9th April 20189th April 2018

Cheese! A new friend, Mare Street Market, Aunt Kay, and another doll

Monday, 29 April, 2018

The cheeses I made are coming along. I had a terrible time trying to work out which cheese was the blue one since they both have blue mould. I don’t want to think that they are both blue now but I did in the end pierce the bluest looking one (at the bottom) and will hope for the best. The French cheese meanwhile is ready I suppose and I need to leave it at room temperature, perhaps on Thursday. It looks a bit crispy to me but who knows! It may end up to have a soft oozy heart!

**The white and the blue cheese at three weeks**

I may have made a good new friend, Shahanaz from my Bump Buddies course. I’m quite fascinated by how different she is. It’s the first time I’ve had an intimate conversation with a Muslim woman, at least one who wears a scarf and conforms somewhat to her culture. And yet she speaks very openly, swears more than I’d expect, and has very quirky and non conformist ideas. She wanted to try ‘real coffee’ so our first venture – one of many, I hope – was to Pacific Culture Club. We each ordered a brownie and she insisted we also share an almond croisant. The brownies were the fudgiest I’ve had in London but the croissant was nowhere near as good as the ones I’ve had in Toronto.

I was explaining to Shahanaz that I had bad hair days almost all the time and that I sometimes just wanted to cover my hair like she does. She admitted that it was good she could cover her hair and not worry what it looked like but then smiled and said ‘but I have bad scarf days!’ I laughed! Apparently, sometimes she can’t tie her scarf properly and just can’t get it right. She told me that on special occasions Muslim women ‘bling up’ their scarves and she had trouble doing that herself. Also a story of how one friend got a tan that was in the distinct shape the scarf framed her face with and how they had all laughed. She’s a strong and funny woman.

Speaking of coffee, I was very pleased to see that the E8 coffee van is doing OK despite Black Sheep Coffee opening just opposite his pitch.

I popped into Mare Street Market for a coffee. It was less busy than on the weekend. A good coffee but the price of cake to go with it was over the top so I stuck with just a drink and taking some photos. The menu from the Open Kitchen looks really nice, though. Intrigued by the burrata and the sundaes.

On the weekend I went to see my aunt Kay. The journey was horrific. I left the house at 9:15am in the rain and wasn’t sure I could make it to Stratford for the 10am train I had spotted going to Westcliff. I made it just fine but the platform wasn’t one I was familiar with and the board didn’t know a train to that stop. There was a platform announcement about Southend and it went so fast, I didn’t hear it properly but I did know I had to get on the train to Shenfield and change there.

When I was safely on the train I looked online, as the announcement suggested, and saw nothing about this change so I called – twice. And got nowhere. The first person was completely clueless about the names of the stations and what to do and kept insisting on giving me train info for trains that had left Stratford two hours earlier – as if I could travel in the past. I decided that the best bet was to ask at the station. I was sent over to a rail replacement bus and off we went. And went and went It was a very long journey to Southend Victoria. I started to feel quite travel sick and almost despaired of ever arriving. But we did, almost three and a half hours after I’d left my house. Only then to be told that the taxi would be a 25 minute wait.

My aunt and I went to a Chinese buffet for lunch. It wasn’t bad. We chatted and later talked quite a bit about our mutual family. My aunt is also my cousin – my first cousin once removed, or my mother’s cousin. That confuses people and sometimes make them gasp since it sounds illicit. It’s not. Simply put, Kay (my mum’s cousin) married my dad’s older brother, Eddie. It was at that wedding that my mum and dad met properly and began a courtship.

I absolutely hate going up in the lift to her place but once up there it’s a great view over the Thames estuary, where it flows into the North Sea. It fascinates me that this sea narrows down to the great River Thames and when I’m standing on the banks in London, it’s part of that body of water that I’m seeing. I suppose I’ve never thought of the rivers and seas flowing into each other, like great veins of water around the earth.

My newest doll is a bit shy despite her bright colours.

1st April 2018

Passover Shopping, Mare Street Market, and the first Seder Night

Saturday, 31 March, 2018

On Wednesday I went with Lisa to do her Passover (Pesach) shopping. We drove into North London through the back streets that she drives with great confidence. I know I will never know London like that! That morning I’d decided to wear regular shoes and set aside the boots. And I wore a sweater and a jacket. I felt free until I went out. The rain began to pour down and the wind blew and I wasn’t dressed anywhere near to appropriately. In fact, I was freezing and my day had hardly begun.

Close to where we were going we got stopped by some cops and had to park at least a five-minute cold and wet walk from where we needed to go. There had been an accident – a car had ploughed into a shop window and the whole frame was taken out. Lisa heard later that two pedestrians had been hit. I did feel like a ghoul taking a photo but anyway, I did!

In the end, we got falafels from a little place Lisa likes. I did enjoy the experience. Hot falafels were poured into bowls at the end of a long salad bar with all the usual (and unusual) falafal fixings and you helped yourself. We ate them on the go. Delicious!

But we turned back from that area. It was pointless shopping when we would have had to carry the groceries so far. We drove instead to an area Lisa had taken me before. It has the unlikely name of Temple Fortune. (This conjures up a small town in Thailand and not North London!) We shopped in one little grocery store where we bought mostly matzo. Then stopped by the bagel bakery where I got 8 little cookies and some cheesecake. They turned out to not taste very special for the price.

A cold, wet adventure! Oh, and I fell on the wet sidewalk. A lesson in not swapping boots for shoes too early in the year.

Last week I had two aborted attempts to go to Mare Street Market. The first because Instagram had led me to believe it was opening on Monday – I was greeted by a notice saying ‘Open on Wednesday.’ Then Krish and I walked over on Thursday in the rain but didn’t really stay since he couldn’t deal with the crowd and the noise. So I took a few photos and will go back between now and Tuesday, when they will still have the 50% soft launch prices. I can’t resist a bargain. Maybe I’ll even go twice!

**Some views inside Mare Street Market**

The Mare Street Market is occupying a building that used to be the housing benefit office. It was a depressing, shabby building at best. The renovations to turn it into what’s described as ‘a curated space in Hackney for eating, drinking, and shopping.’ If you click on the link above there are some photos that do this space justice but I took just a few of my own.

At 50% off, I do think I might go twice. The menus all sound fantastic and will probably seem too expensive once the soft launch ends, I assume Wednesday.

Passover was approaching and Lisa had plans to go to family this year. No invitation pending, my brother John suggested I look into a community seder. It took me a while to decide but in the end I said yes to going to the one I contacted. Continue reading

1st April 2018

Hackney Museum visit, the role of women in Hackney

Thursday, 29 April, 2018

We have a lovely little museum inside the Hackney Library. RIght now they have an exhibit called ‘Making Her Mark: 100 years of women’s activism’ which will go until 19 May. Hackney has a history of women making their mark in London and in the UK.

**The museum entrance, Daniel Dafoe a Hackney resident, and an exhibit**

In the 1600s Hackney was known as the The Ladies’ University.’ By 1694 three of the thirteen well-known ladies’ boarding schools in the country were in Hackney.

In 1783 Mary Wollstonecraft, a radical author and philosopher, opened a school for girls in Newington Green. She wrote what is considered the founding text of feminism and inspired women’s suffrage campaigners. She argued that women were not naturally inferior to men, and it was a lack of educaiton which stopped women from fulfilling their potential.In 1824 Fleetword House, Stoke Newington became the Newington Academy for Girls. It was run by Susanne Corder, who broke new ground by teaching subjects like astronomy, chemistry and physics to girls. The area was home to many hugely influential women writers. These include some of the earliest champions for the universal education of women, an idea then viewed as radical and dangerous.

**The early Hackney activists along with a modern poster from Sistah Space, which supports African heritage women & girls affected by domestic or sexual violence/abuse/FGM**

Even without the parliamentary vote, Hackney women were shaping policy in education and poor relief from the late 1800s as elected representatives on school boards and as poor law guardians. Following the Qualification of Women Act 1907, women played an influential in Hackney’s local politics, both voting and standing in local elections. In 1910, Nettie Adler was elected as the Progressive Party candidate for the Central Hackney Division of the London County Council.

Over the last hundred years, women from a wide range of political parties stood for election i Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington. Though today only 32% of MPs are women, both of Hackney’s elected parliamentary representative – Diane Abbott and Marg Hillier – are.

Born in London to Jamaican parents, Dianne Abbott was the first black woman to become an MP when she was elected to represent Hackney North & Stoke Newington. Abbott’s career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster County Council. She was active in the Black Sections movement within the Labour Party campaigning for greater ethnic minority political presentation.

So I’m a proud female Hackney resident. The area keeps changing but throughout history it’s always been cutting edge, a neighourhood were being different and being brave has been embraced.

**View from the library towards the Hackney Empire**

A greyish day from under the Empire awning

And today’s Hackney continues to change. Yesterday in Dalston, I noticed this! How have I missed the announcements? Now Hackney has two M&Ss. Amazing!

8th March 2018

Off to the doctor, Shacklewell, and another doll

Monday 5 March, 2018

I went to the doctor early in the morning. Doctor appointments in London are ten minutes long. It’s very short. Today I pushed my luck and got a few extra minutes. My original plan was to get some referrals to other areas but suddenly at the end of last week I got a very itchy rash over my whole trunk and one arm. I looked like I had measles. The doctor told me that the rash was a usual thing after a bad cold or cough and gave me antihistamine pills and ointment. Instant relief! The rash is still there but fading slightly. I’m a hypochondriac. I had ‘given myself’ several serious illnesses before this benign diagnosis.

Around by the clinic, there are some brick-cobbled streets filled with terraced cottages. I would love to see inside them. I have a romantic dream of having one become available to me…somehow. The cottages were built in 1881, 1882, and 1884. How do I know? It says so! (Hmm, are there some from 1883?)

Just around the corner from the doctor and through the rows of cottages is a lovely little coffee shop, Mouse and da Lotz. I somehow imagine this being the names of two Australians having an adventure in London! Don’t ask me why. They make lovely coffee!

**A great coffee with white chocolate and raspberry loaf**

There are still quiet hours at home. And time to make another doll!

**Sunny day for the robots and the unfinished naked doll**

**A saucy doll with some detail to show the bloomers!**

25th February 201825th February 2018

Housebound and Votes for Women

Sunday, 25 February, 2018

Its been a mad few weeks. I was housebound with either a mild flu or a nasty chest virus. After a week, I went out to an event at the Hackney Museum — Making Her Mark: 100 years of women’s activism. Not feeling as well as I’d hoped, I didn’t take a lot of time in the exhibition and managed to sit through a presentation called Radical Portraiture, which examined various portraits of women involved in the early days of feminism – a movement which has strong roots in Hackney. All of this led to women finally getting the vote. Apparently, there were many years before that where a large percentage of men couldn’t vote either – it was considered a privilege only for the upper classes of Britain. I plan to go back and look more closely at the exhibit and visit some of the other events during Women’s History Month (March 2018) – it’s the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which gave the vote to some women for the very first time.

**Some of the exhibit at Hackney Museum**

I had booked a table at the new Brook vegan restaurant for Lisa and me. We ordered four dishes, two of which I quite liked. I’m not a keen fan of veganism – in this case there was a little bit too much deep frying. I think the brunch menu might be better, with some fresher, more salady options!

**Our ‘tapas’ meal at Brook – my favourite was the squash crostini**

I really wasn’t well enough to be out yet but it was a welcome change from my housebound existence since this started. I no sooner began to feel more myself than Krish got sick too. What a crazy month for the two of us!

Being sick did mean I was home a lot and I made a new doll and a Valentine’s heart for Krish.

Two sides of a Valentine's heart — **Two sides of a Valentine’s heart**

My newest doll is a study in orange and purple - love that combination — **My newest doll is a study in orange and purple – love that combination**

I had two events this month that I wanted to be well enough to attend. The first was an assessment day for a new volunteer position with Bump Buddies I’m considering becoming a mentor and, when trained, Ill be paired with a mother-to-be, who is in need of extra support. I’m not sure how I will feel during the training. My knowledge is pretty strong but needs a bit of brushing up. Also I have zero clue about the experience of pregnancy or childbirth in the UK. Localising what I already know will be my biggest challenge, and that includes finding some humility, as well as learning to listen and adapt what I know to this new environment.

The assessment day went pretty well and I’ll be going every Wednesday and Thursday until 15 March for a four to five hour session each day. A bit daunting. I was probably thirty years older than the oldest person in the new mentor group so fitting in will be the other challenge.

My other event was Esmeralda finally making it back to the UK after being away for fourteen years. We spent part of Thursday and part of Saturday together, exploring a little. I’ll save that for the next blog post.