Wednesday again, and I’m only just getting my thoughts together for this post, it seems that time is still something eaten by this pandemic. But the past week has seen even more what used to be normal activities take place, including a weekend visit to Norfolk to see my parents, a day out of the house and getting into the habit of baking bread again.
The latter never seems to hang around for long though!
We had a random midweek day off, and managed to time it to coincide with some lovely blue skies, and feeling the need to do something, we headed out for a walk along the Thames Path. We used to cycle that way pretty regularly and I was interested to see how it had changed, especially the section closest to the Thames Barrier.
As we were on foot, that’s where we planned to start so took a more direct route there. MOH still cycles this way occasionally and shared information about a new walkway, which is where some of the pictures of the pigeon cruise were taken from.
But to get there we walked through an old industrial area, which looked stunning in the sun. I’m under no illusion that it would have looked a lot less ‘Cuba-esque’ on a more dreary day.
It’s about to be redeveloped, and has the real potential to become a thriving community, adding to the arts centres and local businesses located close by. I hope it doesn’t lose all of its character, though the greenery sprouting from the building probably won’t survive.
We forget don’t we, what we have on our doorsteps - It was good to remind myself of views like this as we walked towards Greenwich. I have plenty more photos, so expect a couple more posts yet.
We stopped for lunch in the pub, our first visit since they reopened here. Sitting outside, enjoying the view and a pint it was almost believable that life was normal. Though there were new ways of operating - everything ordered through an app, not going to the bar etc. - which weren’t immediately clear or obvious, but we got there. By the time we arrived home, we’d clocked up over 22,000 steps and was a little pinker from the sun than we’d have liked. Neither of us were up for much active gardening, and so spent the late afternoon with our feet up and enjoying the weather.
We headed to Norfolk at the weekend to see my parents, our first trip since the middle of March. It was good to see them in person (obviously) and good to have a wander along the front, although it was way busier than anywhere I’d been for a while, which was a little disconcerting. The black clouds were looming though, and I think most people were heading home to stay dry. Not quite so for us, but luckily, as the rain started we were close to a small and pretty much empty cafe, so stopped for an ice cream and sheltering under their cover.
Mum and dad have been on a bit of a clear out mission it seems, going through their loft and finding some absolute treasures, like the masterpiece above. I’ve no recollection of it, but it was assumed to be mine, as my brother commented that he didn’t think he could draw that well now, let alone then. I think we do lose our drawing skills, or maybe it’s our confidence to draw, that we lose?
We left with more than we arrived with, including our first runner bean of the season, which were promptly eaten with pasta the very next evening. I don’t think mine will be far behind either, so that’s good too. They are one vegetable we rarely, if ever, buy and I’m mildly amused to see them in the shops too. They are somewhat of a family tradition, and it won’t be that long before our freezers fill up with sliced beans, just so there’s enough to ‘see us through’ and for Christmas lunch too.
There was more excitement in the greenhouse too when I checked it early on Monday morning - my tomato plants finally have a flower. We might have tomatoes after all…