Scenes from an Uber

Sophie and I caught the train down to London today just before 10am, after enjoying a coffee and muffin at the quaint little Harry Potter café at the station. The train had started out in Birmingham and it was packed to the gunnels. It was even difficult finding a place to stand, let alone sit! There was the odd seat dotted about but I preferred to stand, and when we arrived in Milton Keynes and another load of people got on, it was even worse! 

Luckily, the driver really put his foot down and we arrived in Euston earlier than scheduled. We ordered an Uber which took us to Vauxhall where we were visiting Tate Britain. It was a long journey, made worse by road closures and terrible traffic but it was great to look out of the window and see the London street scenes. The fog had cleared to reveal a beautiful day, and when we arrived I took a photo of the lovely old building:

The gallery contains art from about 1500 to the present day and is very interesting. First up was another coffee and a shared piece of cake in the vaults of the building. It was lovely and quiet!

We'd dropped off our coats at the cloakroom and I gave a £5 donation, which was worth every penny. In the main gallery was a huge procession of sculpted pieces that we left until later. From a distance, it looked quite spooky, but more of that in a minute...!

We looked at modern art first, and for one minute I thought we were back in Figueres, in the Salvador Dali museum:

Hmmm!

There were some interesting pieces in this gallery, and it was lovely to wander around, having a good look at them all and trying to figure out what the artist was trying to convey.

Mark Gertler 1916

The painting above depicts people during the First World War on a Merry-Go-Round, their mouths open in silent screams, witnessing the horrors of the war and not being able to stop it. I found this very interesting but Sophie wasn't so keen. We saw two Ben Nicholson paintings, and sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and then we moved into the older parts of the gallery, which were more to our taste.

I loved some of them. Here are my  favourites:

Winter Work by Sir George Clausen

I loved how the artist captured the little boy's expression

A quite macabre painting of a husband, his dead wife (on the bed) and his new wife.

We both enjoyed wandering about and really getting close to the paintings. Some were protected by glass but others weren't, and we were surprised that nobody had stopped and searched us before going in, after what happened with the Van Gogh paintings at the National Gallery. Obviously, we didn't look like eco-warriors!

We went right back to the 1500s and then had a look at the Hew Locke installation, The Procession, which was incredibly fascinating but creepy! I wouldn't want to be around them at night!

The figures were all life-size, and being dressed in normal clothes made them even creepier as if they were going to move at any minute! What does it mean? 

"The Procession invites visitors to reflect on the cycles of history, and the ebb and flow of cultures, people and finance and power."

So, there you go!

By now we were flagging a bit, so we retrieved our coats and went outside to summon an Uber. It was a beautiful, but chilly day and we stood and waited, gazing out over the river and some familiar landmarks.

Our Uber took us to Inko Nito, a Japanese restaurant in Soho. Sophie had been once before and said the food was fantastic.

We were shown to a high table with bar stools and given menus. I think Sophie had already decided what to have, though, the tasting menu!

We ordered a bottle of sparkling water, and Portuguese white wine, and sat back, ready for a feast!

Our starters: 

Edamame with ginger, soy and sea salt

Yellowtail sashimi

Three sashimi selection - tuna, yellowtail and salmon

Crab and salmon tartare with rice crackers

Spicy tuna tempura

Next up:

Japanese breadcrumb fried chicken with peanut, chilli garlic and yoghurt

Steamed prawn and leek dumplings with ginger and yuzu

Chicken yakitori

The next:

Beef cheek and butter lettuce wraps

Salmon fillet

Tenderstem broccoli with onion wafu

Aubergine with garlic lemon miso and spring onions

The dessert was cheesecake with strawberries and oats.

The food was out of this world and everything had such an intensity of flavour. The only dish I wasn't keen on was the aubergine, which was a bit slimy! It was all presented beautifully and the staff were lovely and friendly. It was bliss to sit and enjoy the delicious food and watch the comings and goings of a busy Soho street.

It was getting late and dark, so Sophie paid the bill (she's getting a generous Christmas bonus from work!) and we hailed another Uber to take us back to Euston. The streets were dark, with the occasional brightly lit-up shop window. Christmas had definitely arrived! I absolutely love watching the street scenes out of the taxi window:

Scenes from an Uber

Euston was as busy as ever, and we managed to get on a train just before 5pm. We grabbed seats and the journey seemed to go very quickly, Keith was there to meet us and it was heaven to get home and relax after our busy day! It had been so enjoyable but we were shattered!

Royal connections

Yesterday, in the newspaper, I saw an article about Camilla's new "Queen's companions" and one name rang a bell. I met Sarah Troughton's brother, Matthew, in Nepal when I was 19 and had a sort of a holiday fling with him... 

He didn't tell me at first who he was; he saved that for when we were at the highest point of the trek and he said his family were in Debrett's, the guide to British Aristocracy. I didn't believe him, and it was only when I returned home and checked, that I found out it was true. Although we got on well in Nepal (apart from the odd tiff) and stayed together to go white-water rafting after the trek, I realise now that the gulf between our backgrounds was way too wide, and a long-term relationship (not that it was on the cards) would never have worked. I have no idea what he's doing now, but his sister has done very well for herself!

But that's not the only connection to Royalty - when we ran our soft play business, Earl Spencer (brother of Diana) would regularly visit with his children, which was always lovely. I have memories of him sitting quietly reading the newspaper while children screamed and ran about all around him!

Anyway, back to the present! Today has been quiet and uneventful and we have had thick fog all day, making driving conditions horrible. Sophie finished at 4pm, and it was great to look forward to a day off tomorrow, and a trip to London. We had an impromptu wine night and a delicious dinner of breaded pork escalopes which were lovely and crispy - I think we managed to get it right for once!

Not a great start to the week!

I had an awful start to the working week, with heavy fog on the journey, and a car whose driver was clearly nervous about the conditions, driving at 30mph on a 60mph road. There was a convoy of cars behind and because of the lack of visibility, nobody dared overtake! There was also a broken-down van on the Moulton roundabout, adding to the woe of the Monday morning commute!

Sara is off all this week, and I was supposed to be having the day off the phones, but Kathy came in at 9am and said she didn't think she'd last the day as she had a cold and cough. And boy, did she cough! She really should have stayed at home! Even Emma came in and said she had a headache so what a great start to the week!

I was off the phones until 3pm when Emma had to go and work on reception, so I managed to get the emails sorted and all the films until January input onto the system. Kathy went home at lunchtime - I hope she feels better on Friday as there are just the two of us working!

Sophie made a delicious chicken fried rice dish for dinner this evening and we threw a load of veggies into it as well as the breast meat. With the addition of spicy chilli and soy sauces, it was the perfect comfort food for a chilly Monday evening!

Grey Sunday.

The weather today has been horrible with grey skies and a chill in the air all day. I took Sophie to the station at 9am as she was going on a first date with a man she had met online. They were off to the V&A in London, followed by lunch. I was very glad she was going down by train so I wasn't as nervous today! 

After dropping her off I returned to have breakfast with Keith and to enjoy a second cup of coffee with the Sunday papers. Although Sophie had done most of the clearing up last night, there was still a little bit to do which I sorted out after breakfast.

After tidying up and doing several loads of laundry, I caught up with my blog and managed to finish adding my Greek diary to the book I'm compiling for Mum and Dad. I used Sophie's laptop and sat at the kitchen island which felt a lot more comfortable!

Sophie texted me to say she was getting back to Northampton at about 6pm so both Keith and I went to get her and we were amazed at how busy it was! There was a constant stream of cars picking people up or dropping them off. Sophie appeared looking happy and on the way back home we heard all about her day. She'd had a lovely time and was sure there'd be a second date in the pipeline!

Keith didn't feel like eating this evening so Sophie and I shared the remainder of the casserole from last night and enjoyed a couple of glasses of red wine. We watched an episode of Escape to the Chateau, and looking at the food that Dick was preparing made us both yearn for some good French gastronomic delights!

The cat slaves' dinner

I had a great night's sleep last night and woke up at 7.30am feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead! Sophie went to the gym to do two yoga classes, and I made a start on preparations for tonight. I made the chocolate bread and butter pudding, tipping the rest of Sophie's rum into the chocolatey, creamy mixture and then pouring it over the slices of bread which I'd cut into little triangles. It sat on the worktop for a couple of hours before chilling in the fridge.

As well as making the dessert, I prepped all the ingredients for the casserole, and Keith peeled a load of vegetables. When Sophie returned, all she had to do was prepare the casserole and then leave it to cool before we re-heated it later.

I cleaned and hoovered the conservatory and set the table, helping Keith to extend it so all seven of us could fit. We even moved one of our armchairs into the room so our guests could sit and relax before dinner. It can stay in there as the space left will hold our Christmas tree from next week! Unbelievable! It only feels like a few weeks since we took it down!

Having people for dinner in the winter is much easier than in the summer when the sun shining through the windows highlights the dirt and bird poo! I also didn't have to worry about the garden looking a mess as it would be lovely and dark! While I was working away, I saw, to my dismay, a rat scuttle across the grass. No matter how many times we try and despatch them, they just keep on coming back!

Keith went to see Sileby play in the afternoon, Sophie painted my toenails and then I cleaned the rest of downstairs, giving the cloakroom a really good going over. The house did look lovely, and I put the main heating on, as well as the fire in the living room and the heater in the kitchen. The last thing I wanted was for people to be cold!

Sophie and I seemed to have more time today, and after I'd showered and dressed, we sat at the kitchen island with a glass of wine and some nibbles and had a chat. I lit all the candles and Sophie put her summer playlist onto her Echo to play while we were eating. All done! And the casseroles (Michelle had veggie sausages in hers) were cooking gently in the oven.

Richard and Michelle arrived first bearing wine and flowers, shortly followed by Paul and his new partner, Sharon. We gave them drinks and they went to sit in the conservatory while Sophie finished the preparations for dinner. We managed to get everything onto the table, and they all tucked in! I hadn't made a starter as I thought the meal was hearty enough - 18 sausages had gone into the casserole dish along with pancetta and two cans of butter beans.

It was a great evening, and everyone raved about the food, which was lovely. The conversation flowed and we even listened to some music that Richard had composed, which was very good indeed. Our friends left at about 12.30am, but Sophie had already gone to bed - she's going down to London tomorrow on another first date and is catching a train at 10.30am. Good ol' Mum is taking her so I didn't want too much of a late night either!

It's Friyay!

I felt a bit bleary this morning and was glad it was Friday. Sophie hasn't been to the gym for two days now as there was no hot water there, vital for when she showers after her workout or classes! It's put our routine out completely!

Work was fine and I was kept busy with emails and phone calls. It was lovely, at 4pm, to look forward to the weekend, even though I knew tomorrow would be busy getting ready for our friends coming around. I sped home in the gathering gloom and relaxed until Sophie arrived. We opened a bottle of white wine from Emporda and started watching a film starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock, but it was a bit too silly, so we switched it off.

Keith came home a bit early as England were playing the USA this evening. It was a dismal game with a 0-0 finish and I'm glad Keith went to watch it upstairs. We weren't allowed to watch the latest episode of The White Lotus as we had to wait to see it with Keith, so we watched the first one from series one instead!

A tale of two shops.

Last night we finally made a decision about what food we're serving on Saturday to the cat slaves. We had made plans to put on a buffet as Michelle is vegetarian, but that always works out way more expensive and I never know whether we have enough (and it usually works out that we have too much). I wanted a warming casserole and we decided to cook the Hairy Bikers' sausage casserole, with mashed potatoes and vegetables, followed by one of my favourite desserts, Delia Smith's chocolate bread and butter pudding.

Keith agreed to go and do our normal shop this morning, and then he would return with me this afternoon when I'd finished work. Mum had given me a list of things she wanted as well, so I had a lot to get!

Work was busy as I had two days' worth of cash-ups to do, and all the customer service emails. Sara was just as busy as me, inputting the new prices which will take effect from the 1st of December. 

At 2pm I drove home, and Keith and I immediately went out again to Aldi first, and then Tesco where we bought all the ingredients for the meal on Saturday. I also filled a basket with the things that Mum needed and decided, madly, to do the scan and shop rather than go through the checkouts, even though I had several items that had security tags on them. I still beat Keith, though!

We returned home with all the bags and put everything away, impeded by Monty who insisted he was more important than the shopping and wanted feeding NOW! I turfed him out until we'd finished!

Keith cooked dinner tonight while Sophie and I indulged in an episode of Holiday Homes in the Sun and when we went in to help him finish the meal, the kitchen was full of smoke from where he was cooking burgers in a pan. We decided, there and then, to only do steak and burgers in the summer when we can barbecue them and keep the smells outside!

Plans postponed.

Sophie was going to a prison near Sutton in south London today and catching an early train, so I took her to the station at 6am and we arrived with plenty of time. She was meeting some colleagues at the prison but was still a bit nervous about going on her own. This was the first time she'd been to prison since before the pandemic, and I think she missed Sharon being with her.

Mum and I were supposed to be going shopping at Rushden Lakes today, but she was worried about leaving my Dad who wasn't well, so we postponed it and I said I'd go and visit them in the afternoon. 

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I tackled the filters in our extractor fan and cleaned the walls and lights in the kitchen. How I contained my excitement, I'll never know! The filters weren't too bad and came out of the casing easily. According to the manual they're supposed to be cleaned every two months! It's been just over a year since they were installed, but they certainly weren't filthy!

At 2pm I drove over to Kettering and took a flask of tea with me. I bought some little chocolate cakes in the Co-op as a treat for Mum and Dad and spent an hour with them. My Dad didn't seem as confused as Mum said he was, and I suspect he had another urine infection. He doesn't look after himself and doesn't drink enough, which is naughty of him. And he doesn't get up and try and walk enough, either!

Sophie texted me to say she was getting the train home, so I left, picked Keith up and we drove down to the station. She was walking out just as we arrived so brilliant timing for once! We battled our way through the traffic and went home to relax. Sophie had treated herself to a Shake Shack burger for lunch but still wanted dinner with us!

It was lovely to sit in the kitchen, hear all about her day and enjoy a drink!

Little grumbles.

After a quiet morning at work, our management team sent out emails to our members with the news that their monthly price was increasing - by 49p. Not a huge increase, but we had a sudden flurry of cancellations with some people realising that they were still paying for a membership they probably hadn't been using. We call these members "sleepers" as they carry on paying but never go to the gym. I'm just glad I'm not at work tomorrow, as I have a feeling it will be busy with people either moaning about the increase or cancelling altogether!

I do sometimes wonder whether running a gym is a good idea. We get new members gushing about how they want to change their lives and exercise, but a few months down the line, they've fallen by the wayside. We have a core amount of members who always attend (like Sophie at Virgin) but the vast majority of our members don't actually go much at all.

So, it was with relief that I left at 4pm and drove home, almost in the dark. The weather has been horrible again today with more high winds and rain forecast for the rest of the week. At home, we put the heating on as the house felt cold.

Dinner this evening was a chicken and bacon pasta bake and it was delicious with enough leftovers for lunches. Sophie and I watched Escape to the Chateau and marvelled at how Dick instantly builds things for Angel... she is a lucky woman!

Trying to concentrate...

Sheila is off this week so it's down to me to do the daily cash-ups at work. Our new photocopiers/printers have been very fickle lately, and some of the centres haven't been able to scan their cash-up sheets and till readings. I did what I could but Sheila will have to try and sort it out on her return.

I needed to concentrate on this job as it involves a lot of figures, but our office was very noisy today, with loud conversations going on and a lot of cackling and shouting. I answered the phones for the first half hour and then went off until lunchtime to finish the cash-ups as there was no way I could do them in between answering calls. Today is the worst day as I had the busy weekend to sort out, and tomorrow should be a lot quicker.

The weather today has been truly horrible with lashing rain and high winds. When I arrived home Sophie texted me to say that she had offered to take a colleague home, the maintenance man who looks after the building. She knows him quite well, but to say I was unhappy about the situation was the understatement of the year! When she told me he lived in Irthlingborough, way out of her normal route home, I was really quite angry with her. The A45 is a busy horrible dual carriageway and with the weather, I thought she was mad. When she eventually arrived home after her roundabout route we had a few words, but she said the journey was easy. Hmmm! 

A new project.

I've spent another day in the house, not going anywhere at all! It didn't help that I woke up so late (I'm not going to say the time as it was very late!) so the time today has flown by.

I did heaps of laundry, pottered about and started a new book for my parents, chronicling our holidays over the years since our first trip abroad in 1980 as a family. I doubt I'll have it ready for Christmas, as I need to write up some old diaries and scan lots of photos, but it will keep me busy!

Although the weather was sunny in the morning it clouded over in the afternoon and we had rain. The sky went a funny colour as well, almost as if it was going to snow! I had planned on watching a cheesy Christmas film in the afternoon, but I wrote my blog instead and recorded it to watch later.

Sophie had volunteered to cook dinner tonight and she made, from scratch, the most delicious chicken casserole with dumplings. She made the casserole sauce herself by frying onions and mushrooms and adding chicken stock and white wine as well as herbs. She can certainly cook that again, and it smelt lovely when she was doing the preparations.

We played two games of Scrabble with a bottle of white wine and listened to our Spain Summer playlist which always brings back good memories. I made the dumplings and we served the casserole with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was truly scrumptious!

 

Pottering about.

Sophie went to the gym to take part in two yoga classes this morning, leaving Keith and me to potter about, have several cups of coffee and a light breakfast of toast.

I hadn't got any plans for this weekend at all, which was lovely, and just how I liked it! I did clean downstairs, though, and I suddenly realised that we have Monty's slaves coming for dinner next Saturday, so I really need to make some kind of plan about what we're eating and drinking! I left the conservatory until next weekend when I'll give it a thorough clean. We need to make sure it's warm as well!

Sophie came home at lunchtime, made herself a sandwich, and we sat and read the newspapers. Keith went to see Sileby play in the afternoon and he was chuffed as it was a local Derby, with his team playing away at Moulton. He knew this afternoon wouldn't be called off as they play on an all-weather pitch.

I carried on pootling about and had a lovely soak in the bath. We put the heating on as there was a brisk wind blowing outside, and I knew that Keith would be chilled to the bone when he arrived home.

Dinner tonight was steak and chips, so Sophie and I drank a lovely bottle of Lebanese red wine with our two games of Scrabble (I won both) and then we cooked. We decided to put the steak in the oven even though Keith had said he was going to barbecue (I didn't think he would!) along with black pudding and stuffed cheesy mushrooms. The meal, Keith and I thought, was delicious but Sophie said the steak was overdone, which it probably was, but it still tasted lovely.

After we'd eaten Keith and I watched a silly film called Phantom of the Open about a crane driver from Barrow-in-Furness who kept gatecrashing the British Golf Open back in the 70s and 80s. I remember it being on at the cinema and I'm just glad I didn't pay to watch it!

Chillin' on a Friday night!

Work was quiet today and I ran out of things to do apart from scanning all the cinema box office returns to the computer. This is a noisy job, though, and I was mindful of when my colleagues were on the phone! Sheila gave me two holiday activity classes to input but they are the only ones we're doing this Christmas. The shortage of staff is certainly having an effect on the business.

When we emerged at 4pm it was almost dark and it's hard to believe that a few weeks ago we could sit outside in the sunshine in France! Sophie finished work at the same time as me, which was a bonus. We could start Wine Night early!

We drank a beautiful white wine from South Africa called Bon Afrique which we will definitely buy again. It was 14% so we treated it with respect! While enjoying our wine we watched a 1986 film called Pretty In Pink, featuring one of my favourite bands, The Psychedelic Furs.

Keith came home, we ate a simple dinner of baked potatoes and then caught up with the latest episode of The White Lotus. It's definitely turning out to be a must-watch series!

Braving the traffic.

Sara was off again today, babysitting, so I looked after the customer service emails and did lots of orders. Things are definitely quietening down now and I managed to catch up with everything easily. I'm going to have to ask Sheila for some more work soon!

At 2pm I dashed off home, checked my own emails and then went to collect Mum to take her to have her nails done. She said that Dad wasn't well and had a pain in his hip, causing him discomfort. She had asked if a doctor could come and see him, so I hope they arrange that soon.

We drove back over to Northampton and saw Natalia straightaway. Mum had her nails painted a gorgeous glittery brown, so she was very pleased. We made an appointment for December and January and then set off back to Kettering in very heavy traffic all along the horrible A43. Is it me or has the traffic become much worse lately?

I dropped Mum off and headed home where it was lovely to sit and read the paper with Keith in the kitchen. He made me a drink and we relaxed until it was time for dinner. Sophie was out with friends so we had prawn salad and delicious brown, crusty bread.

Sophie wasn't late home tonight, thank goodness, and we have one more day of the working week before the weekend! Yippee!

Dodging the cyclists in Cambridge.

Sophie had today off and we'd made the decision to go to Cambridge for a change. The weather was supposed to have been wet but we were very lucky and saw sunshine and blue skies!

We set off at about 10.30am and had an easy journey on the updated A14. I wanted to do the park and ride, so we headed for Madingley Road car park, left the car and boarded a bus with a grumpy driver. Sophie asked for two adults and "an old man" and rather than chuckle, the driver demanded Keith's bus pass, which he doesn't have (and don't think ever will!). The last time he was on a bus was at the airport going to a plane!

Grumpy then charged us a reasonable £8.40 return for all three of us and we sat and waited for ages before he was sure there was no one else in a hundred-mile radius that wanted to board. The journey wasn't long and we alighted in the town centre, close to the river and lots of shops, pubs and cafés. 

First up was coffee, of course, and we chose Fitzbillies for a drink and a warm sausage roll. It was a lovely café, a bit on the pricey side, but the coffees and sausage rolls were delicious. They sold their own tee shirts, coffee, tea, preserves, biscuits and mugs and the range of food on offer was great.

There were a fair amount of students visiting and I noticed two girls carrying book bags - one emblazoned with the Shakespeare & Company logo (a famous bookshop in Paris) and the other with Daunt's books. I felt a certain amount of envy - how lovely to be a student at Cambridge studying English literature!

After our snack, we visited a nearby charity shop but Sophie was unimpressed. We then had a wander through the town centre, dodging the many, many cyclists who were speeding about. We really had to be on our guard as they were everywhere, and the worst ones were the delivery drivers using electric mopeds or scooters, which were silent. They would have done a lot of damage if they'd hit us as some of them were travelling at speed.

It hadn't really been our intention to shop but Cambridge is blessed with some lovely stores and there was a market taking place as well. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day so we were very thankful!

All the church railings advertise local events

Gonville and Caius College

King's College Chapel

As Keith was with us, we didn't do any shopping but it was still lovely to look around. We found an Anthropologie store and just had to go in, but the prices were very steep! I was looking for a gift for Andrea as we are doing a Secret Santa the next time we meet in December, but even my £15 wouldn't have bought much!

After looking around the shops we decided to have a drink and called into The Bath House, tucked away down a side street. It was lovely and cosy inside with dark walls and ceilings and subtle lighting. We ordered two mulled wines and a pint of beer and took a seat overlooking a large group of people.

It was lovely to sit and relax for a while and Keith seemed happy with his beer, an IPA. We chatted and absorbed the lovely atmosphere, sipping our drinks and discussing where to have lunch. Sophie wanted to go to The Punter where we'd been on New Year's Day a few years ago so we checked how long it would take us and set off.

The sun was still shining, lighting up the leaves of a beautiful tree nearby:

More posters and bicycles!

We headed down to the river and crossed over a bridge. Although this was a footpath, the number of people on bikes was staggering - and they were cycling very fast. One wrong move and we would have been mown down!

We crossed over a road and took a path that skirted college grounds. Thankfully, the bikes here had to go on the road so we had a bit of a respite! The Punter wasn't far and luckily they were open and serving food until 3pm. There was no bar service so we were shown to a table by the window and our orders for drinks were taken. Sophie and I both had a half-pint of Guinness while Keith had the "strongest "beer available!

We had planned on having sandwiches, but the menu only contained meals so we chose fish and chips (Keith), burger (Sophie) and sausage and mash (me). I was having a very porky day!

The food and ambience were wonderful and we had a lovely late lunch sitting by the sunny window. Sophie and I managed to find room for pud - chocolate and orange mousse and an orange and almond cake served with mascarpone.

After our meal, we strolled back towards the centre of town and waited at the bus stop. We had about a fifteen-minute wait, plenty of time to watch the comings and goings of the locals, most of whom were astride bikes or scooters. And it wasn't just students riding them, people of my age were on them as well!

Back at the car, we gave Trish instructions to get us home and she took us on a winding country route to the A14, passing through the lovely village of Madingley. Unfortunately, she hadn't been updated so she was a bit unsure of how to actually get us on the busy road! We could see it, we were driving parallel to it, but we couldn't seem to get on it! Luckily, we soon saw signs and joined the very busy route west. It was getting dark and the road was a mass of car lights. Every now and again you can cross this hugely busy road, and I think anyone who does needs their heads examined!

It was bliss to get home, turn the heating on for a while and relax!