Darkness

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

This was the color of the sky yesterday at 4:12pm.
And so the darkest day of 2008 has passed.

A Sunday stroll

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

I know, I know... not enough blog posts... bla, bla, bla...

Here’s a bit of weather-talk (and yesterday’s news): it snowed on Easter! Well, Easter Monday (which is a “bank holiday” here - making Easter a four-day weekend). One possible reason is that Easter came early this year, although in general it has been a particularly cold spring. Last spring was very pleasant but wound up leading to an awful summer. I’m hoping that the chilliness so far is a harbinger of warmth to come. Keeping fingers crossed. Knocking on wood. And stuff.

The wetness gave way to a nice Sunday this past weekend. I had agreed to a last-minute shift swap at The Food Chain, so I was down by Hammersmith Bridge in the afternoon. Steven & Chris came to meet me and we strolled along the Thames. Instead of heading west towards Chiswick, we headed east towards Putney. This proved to be a culinary mistake, as there are few decent lunch options by the river in Fulham (if anybody has information to the contrary, please let me know!). While River Cafe make tasty grub, it comes at a very steep price. We wound up at a pub called the Crabtree Tavern, and although what food they had was fine, the whole experience was bad to the point of tragi-comedy.

Anyhow, after lunch we continued through Bishops Park and over Putney Bridge. The sky was very beautiful, reflecting in the river and all. Try looking at this picture upside down!

So long 2006

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

The year’s last sunset from Fire Island Pines beach.

Kansas-Schmansas

Supposedly there are 30-some-odd tornadoes in the UK every year. Today’s was just a few blocks north of where we live, and was considered a “freak” occurrence because it actually caused serious damage. I didn’t see the funnel myself, but the sky did turn that weird shade of green, there was plenty of thunder & lightning, and our skylights & container garden were pelted with pea-sized hail stones, causing Olive much distress.

Cheese

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Corn, schmaltz, schlock, whatever. It was pretty. By the way, this was taken from our back deck, and the Trellick Tower is in the lower left.

Art out of life

Livingroom view

BikeQuest™ 2005

Yesterday I was supposed to be looking for a used bike, but somehow I never got around to it... Instead I spent the day searching for Cif Cream with Bleach. Steven & I made dinner when he got home around 7:30 or 8. When we were done it was still light out so we went for a walk. Along the way we passed this kooky house in Holland Park:

Kooky house

We crossed Kensington High Street and wound up walking all the way down to Earls Court, where we stumbled into The Coleherne, a gay pub.

Today I did make it to a few second-hand bike shops, but the cheapest one I saw was £150, which is pretty damn expensive for a used bike. That's practically as much as a decent new one would cost back home. I've seen 'em advertized for £70-80, so I'm gonna keep looking. Maybe it was a big mistake not to bring my bike with me this time around...

Steve Double suggested Loot and Craig's List, which I had already checked. He also recommended Gumtree, which I did not know about. Thanks, Steve! After bike hunting I went to wander around Vauxhall and Lambeth. Weird neighborhoods. Must've been bombed in the Blitz 'cuz there are warrens of quirky cute maisonettes abutting gigantic hideous metal skyscrapers. Quite a concentration of Portuguese shops & restaurants. The sky was very beautiful around 9:

Sky over Vauxhall

In the subway on the way home I spotted a really good one of these:

Tube art