Trains, Planes and a Cattle-Truck...

...Were the modes of transport most in our minds today. (O.K. the cattle-Truck was a bendy-bus but you get my drift).

One of the delights of living in the Finsbury Park area is how easy it is to get out of it. Travelcards in hand, a quick bus ride from the end of our road to Camden Road British Rail (Silverlink Metro) and we were on our way to Kew for the Royal Botanic Gardens. The train ride is only half an hour, with services every 20 minutes or so.



(The planes are one of the less attractive features of the day out. The proximity to Heathrow airport means that any day in the Richmond or Kew area vibrates to the rhythmn of heavy jets coming in to land every 30 seconds.)




The day was blustery, but sunshine broke through enough to re-assure that spring really is underway. At this time of year the bulbs are the most notable of the plants, with crocus, tulips, daffodils and fritillaries all showing well.

One other bulb that featured in our afternoon was the wild garlic. A couple of stems made a delicious savoury relish to the cheese and ham sandwiches we had brought along.

My catering plans went quite smoothly, apart from discovering that I had neglected to pack the plastic bottle of milk to put in our flask of tea. The mishap necessitated a tactical visit to one of the cafes to stock up on little cartons of milk. As my wife ordered a Latte and I ordered a black coffee any observant member of the waiting staff would have rumbled us immediately when we headed for the milk. Luckily our little act of larceny went unnoticed, and we departed with our pockets full of semi-skimmed.

Following on from my last post I am pleased (and somewhat surprised ) to be able to say that whilst in the café we shared what has to be the best commercially produced scone we have ever tasted. The size of Frank Bruno’s fist, and pleasantly rough-hewn, the scone was simply first class. (And relatively good value at £1.40). Sad foodie that I am, after I had cut it into quarters I instantly regretted not taking a photograph of its majestic presence. My English reserve prevented me from going back to the counter and photographing the others. This blog is not likely to turn into Egg Bacon Chips and Beans.

In the words of Wallace we had “A Grand Day Out”. A day of filling our lungs with fresh air and our eyes with nature’s glories. We headed back to the station with the coarse cackling of Ring-Necked Parakeets and the laughter of Green Woodpeckers in our ears.