Soak up the sun

A blazing hot weekend full of sunshine and blue skies. Sitting on the top of Primrose Hill late Friday afternoon, the whole of London stretched before me; the whole of summer too. Cocktails by a canal, sweet-sour and thick with ice. Sorbet colours scattered through the city, hot pinks and flaming oranges in the chestnut blossoms and the new piece of graffiti to replace the Chalk Farm Banksy. A London Fields BBQ on Saturday afternoon, charcoal smoke, scorched sausages, and a bare-footed game of frisbee. Back outdoors again Sunday, Hampstead Heath, swimming with ducks in the Hampstead Ponds then drying slowly in the sunshine at buttercup level*, long grass prickling bare legs, sun-cream sticky. Strawberry split ice lollies dripping down hands, French cricket as the sun began to drop in the sky, and managing not to be the sunburnt one at work this morning. Bliss.

* been longing to lay myself down in some long flower-strewn grass since Nath's post last week.

Down at the Farm

A trip south today to Mudchute City Farm on the Isle of Dogs. Greenery and calm under grey skies, to the backdrop of Canary Wharf and London's financial district. Lunch and a hot chocolate as the heaven's opened briefly, then outside to walk round the nature trail and coo at goats and donkeys and a couple of rather large pigs in the farmyard area. M tells me that my overly hyper enthusiasm for the baby animals is like a twelve year old's. Well, what's wrong with that?

A birthday, and uncertainty

Teacups, Cupcakes is one year old today. I was meant to be going out for cocktails in the East End tonight (not related, but appropriate somehow!) but I have a cold coming on and have to go into work on Sunday and be on call tomorrow so tonight am just planning to run myself a bath, have a long soak, then curl up with a bowl of pasta and The Importance of Being Ernest on DVD for a bit of light relief. The uncertainty of today's election result has left the country in limbo somewhat, and the anticlimax, with lack of definitive outcome as yet, seems to have left everyone a bit glum.

Thank you though to all those out there reading, following and commenting on my humble little blog, you brighten up my days even when the state of the nation fails to!

Democratic Duty

Tomorrow morning I am waking early to vote before I head to work. It feels like the night before Christmas and the night before a visit to the dentist all rolled into one...

Only the second General Election I have been eligible to vote in, but the mood is one of uncertainty and it seems no-one knows which way it will swing.