What We Did During Half Term, By The Phantom, Aged 47 and 1/3

The Spring weather led us to a picnic at Kew. Foodwise, the highlight was the homemade bread rolls stuffed with char siu pork and piccalilli, all home produced. (Photo's promised next time I make the char siu (barbecued) pork).

We lost ourselves in the green jungles of the Temperate House


























And enjoyed the Green Fugue of the Hemorocallis




















Later in the week we went to the RHS spring show in Vincent Square.

This English Elm bonsai is less than six inches tall, pot included.

























And back home Tigger did his impersonation of Ming the Merciless, quietly plotting world domination from the safety of our sofa...

Wombling Free.....

Our part of North London is well served by public transport. We have buses running past either end of our road, a tube station ten minutes away, and Camden Road railway station a five minute bus ride away.

Camden Road is still a bit of a secret. It helps that it isn't in Camden Town. It's not even very close to Camden Town.

The train line that runs through it runs from grotty Stratford in the east to the splendours of Richmond in the west. In just over half an hour we can get from the grime of Islington to the rolling acres of our second garden, Kew.

I guess the Olympic sites now under construction in Stratford will produced more passengers in a few years time, but for now, even at half-term, you can still find a seat without elbowing your way onto the carriage.

The London Mayor, Cuddly Ken Livingstone, has recently added this line to his ever expanding empire. It used to be run by Silverlink, but is now part of "London Overground" The changeover only happened a few weeks ago, but some things are changing already. The stations on the line have all had a lick of paint, and the benches on the platforms have all been replaced.

Not for the better. Most of the standard benches have been replaced with these monstrosities...



Don't try and lean back.

What's even more annoying are the arm rests. They are far too low to lean on, even if you can avoid toppling over backwards. They seem to be placed there purely to stop anyone from stretching out along the bench. If the stations have a problem with people kipping on the benches maybe they should employ a few more staff.



A design blogger by the name of Dan Lockton has deemed these manipulative design concepts "Architectures of Control"... His article on benches is worth a look.

One redeeming feature (about the only one) is that the benches incorporate the London Transport logo stylishly at the ends...




























Now if only Ken could turn his attentions to the Plastic Flowers in the station hanging baskets....

And The Rain It Raineth Every Day.

The photo above was taken on our trip to the South Bank on Saturday. As you can see it rained somewhat.

(It wasn't really that bad, my better half was actually standing inside a water sculpture).

We found the book exchange hut, took a couple and left a book of our own. I ended up being interviewed on video for a film project on Bookcrossing. I guess they were probably on the lookout for someone suitably eccentric looking, then I turned up, wearing the T-shirt.

We finished the afternoon with an excellent lunch at the OXO Tower Brasserie. After the last few days it was lovely just to slip into the world of the beautiful people, the ladies who lunch, and just indulge ourselves and be somewhere else for a while.

I'm writing this on the laptop, slowly getting a crick in the neck, and cramp in my typing finger. I would sit properly and type with both hands, but Visiting Cat Bernard has me pinned to the sofa by using the simple feline tactic of lying on his back, paws up in the air, whilst lying along my legs.

The look of sublime joy on his face would not look out of place on a ceiling angel in the Sistine Chapel.

Tomorrow we are off to Hampton Court For the Flower Show. Normally one of the highlights here are the water gardens. I wonder if we will be able to tell one from the other. The forecast is for heavy, thundery showers. In defiance, the Legal Eagle and her Beau are going to be taking us there in the convertible. I hope they have been practising getting the roof up quickly. I fear they may end up with the only Volvo to boast an in-car swimming pool.

News and photos soon!

Life Goes On

Things are pretty grim at home. My Mother-in-law has not responded much to the treatment she has had so far. Repeated trips up to the hospital are wearing my wife out. At home there is always an anxiety. Always the phone going. Always the doorbell ringing.

Friends and relations mean well, but they don't appreciate the collective drain they impose upon the immediate family.

We need to get out and away for a bit, time to refresh our batteries.

My wife and I will be attending what is billed as the biggest Bookcrossing event ever held in the U.K. It's part of a literature festival on London's South Bank (Or Southbank, as I believe we are expected to call it). It's this Saturday, details here.

Even if we don't find any books (I fancy the Blake) It will be good to be in the fresh air. We'll probably go for a walk, and see if we can spot any metal men.