A Perfect London Day

All the jams, preserves and lavender bags have been sold. I’ve done my stint at playing shop for another year and the produce of the farm has gone to many, many homes.  So that’s great.

I woke up this morning in a perfect holiday mood. A day off I decided.  So in blazing morning sunshine, I zipped through the streets of Primrose Hill to meet Sally at Germano’s cafe for a breakfast catch up.

And ambling (at a brisk pace) past some rather fetching window boxes, I went down to South London to visit another Sally in her beautiful shop on Bellenden Road for a lavender delivery and a chance to buy christmas presents.

I did admire this rather sweet attempt at prettying up a deciduous tree in someone’s front garden en route.

And then back to the centre of things to see the Australia Exhibition at the Royal Academy. It was a fascinating afternoon of gorging on art.  Apparently it’s the first time the galleries in Australian have curated a chronological collection of Australian art from the early settlers to the present day. I hope it tours.

It was one of those sunny winter’s day that made you skip across the parks and smile benignly at all the tourists and other Londoners drinking in the views.

Most people stand on the bridge in St James’ park and snap like mad at Buckhingham Palace at the end of the lake. But I much prefer the opposite view. (But I did check the flag pole to see if Her Maj was at home.)

That’s a tradition you just can’t shake. A bit like humming along to the theme tune of Test Match Special when it comes on the radio and you can’t wait to hear the overnight cricket score.

With all these hours of walking I suspect I won’t be able to stay up tonight until midnight to hear Day Three of the Ashes test. Never mind. There’s always tomorrow.