Lifestyle – Page 12 – slightly weird

16th June 201818th June 2018

Quiet days

June 11 to 17, 2018

Nothing new and exciting last week but I did manage to get out.

We decided to attend the Dalston Pasta Festival. It had been advertised as having food, drink, music and demonstrations. So off we went.

Sadly, the festival didn’t look so good once we got there, although it was well attended. There were a couple of pastas on offer. One with a tomato and pork sauce, and one that was with ricotta and zucchini. Neither one looked very good. Krish asked if the pasta was homemade and was told it was, although we could clearly see the commercial packets stacked nearby. We decided not to have any. There was a small stage but no acts were up and no sign of any demonstrations.

We left the pasta festival and headed off to Gillet Square.

Gillett Square has been 25 years in the making.The idea, which began in 1993, was to make a new town square. In fact, when you walk into the square, that’s exactly how it appears.

There’s an open area and several kiosks (added in 1999). There’s also a ‘culture house’ and the Vortex Jazz Club.

In November 2006 Gillett Square was opened as the first of the London Mayor’s programme of 100 new public spaces for London. It can be a very lively area and seldom empty.

**Real community spirit at Gillet Square**

**A brunch place in a yard off Gillet Square**

We were sitting here last week and heard a really loud thud/crush. A small car had somehow mounted onto the traffic island, knocked over one of the markers and the beacon had been completely laid flat. There the car sat, leaking petrol, while a woman and a small child were helped out of the car and onto a chair from one of the cafes. And there they sat.

The tow truck arrived but had a lot of difficulty getting the car up onto the flatbed truck. Eventually, they managed to move the car diagonally away from the markers and beacon, which were stopping it from moving. Almost immediately a crew arrived to start cutting and welding and putting things to rights as best they could. That was enough excitement.

**The car knocked down the island. The driver is sitting on a chair looking on**

**Hard at work taking care of the beacon**

There’s been quite a bit of sun and on one sunny day I remembered to photograph one very pretty house not too many lots away.

Mostly, though, it’s been a homey week, not getting too far away. Next week might be a bit busier, but not as far as I know!

**A lazy dim sum lunch with a good dish of kai lan**

**Taken on 11 June. The tree coming back to life**

14th June 201816th June 2018

Old Street and Palatino – in pictures

Thursday, 14 June, 2018

Thursday, I went to the doctor to get another blood test. I was relieved to hear the phlebotomist I didn’t like the last time was away. The replacement nurse was great. Blood taken and off I went.

I was meeting my friend, Tom, at a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for quite some time, Palatino in Clerkenwell.

Old Street is a nice Shoreditch street with a lot of interesting things to look at and some good cafés. There’s also some cool architecture and street art (which I’ll photograph when I’m not rushing off to a meeting. However, the station and the roundabout aren’t very nice.

Along the way to Palatino, which was a longer walk than expected, there was a lovely little garden.

Palatino has a great Instagram feed. All their food looks great. Every time I see something like that, I’m curious to see if they can live up to the photography. The space is on the ground floor of a new block of flats. As you walk inside, there’s a desk for residents and the co-working space on your right and the restaurant is on the left. It’s a bright and modern place so it’s easy to sit and relax and wait for Tom, who has to come from South East London.

The food was very nice, not spectacular. I started with the Anchovy, stracciatella, toast followed by a tender Pappardelle with a pork and beef ragu – half size. Finally, we splashed out on dessert. Mine was an Apricot, Hazelnut and Rosemary tart. Tom thought there was too much rosemary but I quite enjoyed the combination. His panna cotta with strawberry was also delicious. The service was friendly and efficient. It’s a good place for lunch with friends.

On the way back in the bus, I came across this shopfront. I was tired and actually fell asleep for a stop or two. The next bus was packed to the door and I was happy to get home.

7th June 201811th June 2018

Mare Street for plants, Bump Buddies event, and Pasta!

Thursday 7 June, 2018

We want to put plants on the windowsill now that we are opening the windows up. It feels like a lengthy process. So far all that’s happened is talking about it. Such is life with a perfectionist. Let’s make this so!

Plan: herbs on the kitchen windowsill – parsley, basil, rosemary…so far. I think also thyme, oregano, and sage, perhaps coriander – not sure. In the living room a mix of green plants and wildish flowers plus lavender. Instead of a box, we will have pots grouped together.

There are some nice plant shops on Stoke Newington Church Street and I can go there today or tomorrow and pick some things up. But I’ve also noticed from the bus a place called Hackney Flower Warehouse so I decided to pop along there in a quiet time to see what they had to offer.

The shops are at Victoria Park Road right by the Regent’s Canal. It’s old school Hackney in this neighbourhood.

**The flowery plant here really makes a difference to the old building front along Mare Street**

Regent’s Canal stretches from the Grand Union Canal at Paddington in the West to the Limehouse Basin and the Thames in the east It’s 13.8km (8.6 miles) long. It also runs parallel (just a dozen metres away) to the house I grew up in so it’s an old friend. While the Grand Union Canal can be wide and surprising with its greenery and wildlife and majestic views, Regent’s Canal is like an everyday Londoner. There are factories, derelict stretches, ordinary homes – modern and old, and walkers, runners and bicyclists along the way. Building began in 1812 and the first stretch was open in 1816. The part that runs through Hackney opened in 1820 so almost 200 years ago.

On the Regent's Canal Bridge at Andrews Road — **On the Regent’s Canal Bridge at Andrews Road**

It can be very picturesque along the canal, with its greenery and barges but not everywhere. Going through Hackney Wick it can be a real mess with the expected graffiti everywhere. This section is a mixed bag.

There’s a fair bit of construction on the east side. I wonder what they’re planning.

I see there’s a plant warehouse on my side of the street so I wandered around that a bit. Some really nice big plants and containers, a bit on the pricey side. I headed over to the flower warehouse and look around. It’s a nice feeling that everywhere in the world, when you step into a florist, the warm damp smells are the same. It’s quite heady.

Nothing blew me away here. I walked around a few times, seeing the options and making mental notes of what might be nice. The prices here are pretty good. In fact, they are about on par with Columbia Road Flower Market – three or four small plants for £10 – and it’s a lot less crowded! Noted! I’ll see what I can get along Stoke Newington Church Street and perhaps return to fill in some gaps.

Enough flags? Along Mare Street — **Enough flags? Football frenzy along Mare Street**

6th June 20188th June 2018

Hackney Downs Park, Upper Clapton

Wednesday, 6 June, 2018

I’ve been making two dolls in sarees for Shahanaz. It was a real challenge but I now know how to wrap a saree, not that I’d like that headache too often! And to be really honest, after making so many cute dolls, I didn’t like them very much at all by the time I’d finished. So I asked Shahanaz to meet me so that we could rip out a few stitches and re-sew until they were right.

We were meeting on Hackney Downs since it’s halfway between us. I don’t go there so often these days.

**Tennis courts at the Bodney Street entrance**

**Mosaic, a mental health social enterprise inside the park**

Luckily, Shahanaz didn’t want too much to change. We changed the position of the shoulder areas and pleated the back a little and then we took a photo of them on the bench with their optional head scarves. Usually, we go for coffee – She’s discovering coffee! – but it’s Ramadan so I hope our next visit together is a bit more delicious.

**The finished dolls ready for delivery, and my feet!**

Krish has had a bad back ache for about a week. This is from an old injury that every now and again flares up. The usual announcement is a loud yell from the bed when he can’t move or get up from lying down. He’s reluctant to talk to doctors about anything and it might take a while to book an appointment, attend it, and get attention. So I suggested he try the Osteopaths at Core Clapton, where I went last year for a nagging shoulder pain. You can book online and there are often same-day appointments. I booked one for him for Wednesday, when I could go with him.

It’s a ten-minute bus ride away in Upper Clapton on Northwold Road so we headed up there and went inside.

**Somewhat minimal but flexible space at Core Clapton**

Several squinty minutes with the registration form later, he was in there while I waited and wandered around a little. Core Clapton is designed for accessibility. They have a range of pay what you can services and the atmosphere is casual but definitely not amateur. The fact that a smiling Krish emerged 45 minutes later and booked another visit was a huge relief! And it was a lovely day so we walked home.

**The Crooked Billet Pub, Upper Clapton Road**

**Clapton Station, one stop away from my nearest station**

Slice of a building - looks flat from the front! — **Slice of a building – looks flat from the front!**

Clapton Pond - not sure why it's called a pond! — **Clapton Pond – not sure why it’s called a pond!**

Along Upper Clapton Road is The Round Chapel. The impressive building as we know it today opened in 1871 but it began in 1804 when it was a nonconformist, congregationalist church in 1804 at the nearby Old Gravel Pit Chapel. The Gravel Pit Chapel was in turn a breakaway group from the Ram’s Chapel in Homerton.

Hackney has had a lot of groupings and regroupings since the 17th century, since it was always a nonconformist area. These churches didn’t conform to the rules of the Church of England. Abney Park and Bunhill cemeteries, for example, were nonconformist burial grounds – both within Hackney. There were also three nonconformist academies – Homerton, Newington Green and Hoxton – which produced nonconformist figures like Daniel Defoe, and hymn writer Isaac Watts.

By 1868 the population had more than tripled and the much bigger Clapton Park (“Round”) Chapel was built. The population of the area grew massively and more houses sprang up.Then at the turn of the century, the congregation dwindled as people moved away to the outer suburbs.

The Chapel is a Grade II building, in the top 4% of protected buildings in the UK. This is in part due to its architecture – the unique round shape and its cast iron columns, controversial since they were typically used only in music halls and railway stations. Today the Hackney Building Trust has taken over the main auditorium and some rooms, while the adjoining Old School Rooms are kept by the church. The building was refurbished and is used as an event and workshop venue.

30th April 2018

Beginnings, endings, we just keep on keeping on

Monday 30, April 2018

Two big events happened.

One was the tree pruning in front of our house, the second was my aunt’s birthday.

When we first moved in, we were told about the enormous tree in front of the house. It’s apparently four or five hundred years old and, as such, it’s protected – it can’t be chopped down. However, its branches covered a lot of airspace – perhaps four or five houses wide, taller than our four storey house, and some branches reaching to the middle of the busy road.

**Spring time growth, as viewed from the front step**

**Only just starting to get leafy, the tree dominated the street**

The tree is protected but so are humans and buildings, and it was clear that those branches would soon be poking someone’s eye out or creeping into the rain gutters and roofs. It’s been three years and the tree had remained as is. We grew to love watching it bud, flower, and then dwindle during that time. During the summer, the leaves were so resplendent that we couldn’t see across the road any more. This was offset by this flat never becoming too warm during hot days.

Late last week, we noticed that there were some Parking Supension notices and we wondered if our tree’s time had come. A couple of days passed. On Saturday morning, we noticed three small trucks parked outside and a police line tape at the middle of the road to stop traffic on our side. Ominous.

We expected that one to two meters of each branch would be pruned. What happened felt like slaughter. The very first branch was cut back to just a stick. Every branch and twig with leaves was gone. And so it continued. At the half way point we thought perhaps they’d leave a canopy but the men climbed higher and higher and within a few hours the tree was a ‘skellington.’

Those lovely branches and leaves gone and I have to confess I felt bereft. Friends assured me it will grow back but I’m certain that hundreds of years of growth won’t be replaced in weeks and I don’t expect to see leaves this season. Then, if I do, I shall consider them gifts. It will grow back for sure but a shadow of its former self.

My new robots' view — **My new robots’ view**

Tree from the other side of the road - scene of slaughter — **Tree from the other side of the road – scene of slaughter**

No more birds, although the butchers left two nests – thank you. And thanks (no thanks) to damaging the palm trees that have been there for more than a hundred years, thanks to Loddiges.

Here’s to new beginnings! Continue reading “Beginnings, endings, we just keep on keeping on”