Having been tied up with this and that I’ve hardly been out of the house of late, apart from a meal out for my birthday and a quick trip out last Sunday, so feeling like I was suffering from cabin fever I set forth to discover what Portobello Road Market was like on a Wednesday.

Bit quiet isn’t it?  Compared to the throngs of crowds on a Saturday.

There are many lovely shops to discover, even though I spent a solid five hours exploring I’ve only scratched the surface.  This shop was cute, Biscuiteers iced biscuits from Beatrix Potter’s childhood characters.

And a wonderful seaside display.

Down a side street I discovered Books for Cooks, 

A treasure trove of just cookery books, absolutely incredible. And, they test recipes from the cookery books  in their little cafe at the back and three courses is £7.00, I didn’t try but it all looked and smelt lovely.

There was the ribbon shop to admire

and fresh flowers.

Lovely peaches and apricots

and cherries

and huge globe artichokes.

The colour and size of these radishes just blew me away. 

There were enchanting headdresses

and beautiful scarves.

A wander into Cath Kidston revealed this bus stop sign, it did make me giggle.

And I have several friends who would love these pretty aprons whilst baking their bread.

La Cava a Fromage  this cheese shop was simply mind bogglingly excellent, absolutely extraordinary.

To illustrate, this is just the selection of the goats cheeses.

And if I’d thought I could have got this extremely ripe Gorgonzola home without it completely dissolving in the heat, I would have bought it, either that or asked for a spoon and some good bread, it would have made the most perfect of impromptu picnics. 

And then I found Hummingbird Bakery, and this time I managed to get into the shop, last time the queue was a mile long.

And then there was the import decision making process of which piece to take home.  Should it be the Red Velvet cake.

Or the Rainbow cake.

Or perhaps the Lemon and Raspberry Ripple cake.

But then I found my one true love, the Chocolate and Malt cake, you should have seen the slice that she cut, it was huge.

All Saints have a very impressive selection of old Singer sewing machines.

There were some lovely old signs, who wouldn’t want a children’s stop sign for their children to play with.

I loved this pig,

Just wonderful bric a brac.

at every turn.

I do think Clarabelle was a very fine pig.  Wouldn’t that look lovely in your kitchen, I’d love it.

The cherries are just starting to ripen, I’m sure the blackbirds will love them.

This almost unseen sign is a real treat.

A shop selling sneakers,

that goes on and

on.

That huge piece of cake made it home and I ate it for my supper,

and to add balance tempered it with some bright spears of asparagus

and fresh cherries.

And now to stretch out with a new cookery book and a new to me food magazine.  Such a lovely, lovely, blissful day.