I decided to have a wander into Shoreditch to see what I could see, I’d heard tell of a gorgeous shop more on that tomorrow and knew that there would be other lovely things to discover.  And as I was padding around I decided to stop for a coffee and not knowing the area decided to take a chance on these doors.

Which was a good decision.

The espresso was delicious and the home made granola bar was just the right level of stickiness but not too sweet packed full of nuts and seeds – and only 90p!  The perfect amount as a pick me up,  but what I haven’t really explained was the real treasure inside.

When I arrived the bar was full of nuts and seeds and yoghurts and fruits and breads and all sorts of other breakfast goodies, which I didn’t photograph, but when I was leaving they had cleared and replaced all those lovely goodies with lunch.

The lunch is based on self service by the plate, ALL of the food is made in their own kitchens, nothing is bought in, their view is healthy, seasonal, balanced. I would have stopped for lunch, it looked delicious. They also made me feel very welcome, there was no rush to hurry me out, I was allowed to be in my own space and ponder my own thoughts without interruption, and they were quite happy to allow me to take a few pics, whilst carefully explaining their ethos and their reward system, which is very generous  – you can’t say fairer than that.

They have two rooms to choose from, both of which are very cute, with art on the walls to buy, kitchen equipment, their own tiny bookshop and cordials, mixers, pale ales and wines.

It was so nice to chance upon the Counter Albion,  one just never knows what goes on behind closed doors.

Then I found the bigger doors on the way out, so if you come from another direction this is what you need to look for.  Try it, it was just lovely.

I’ve always had a yearning to do more with clay, no I haven’t watched the latest series on television, more from lack of time than anything else. When I was a child I was quite good at making pots and playing with glazes and then I took it back up whilst pregnant with son no.2 but a deep vein thrombosis and several weeks in hospital put paid to that.  And then life moved on.

During September I killed two birds with one stone, I headed out to see The Geffrye Museum of the Home which was lovely and had been on my to do list for quite some time whilst at the same time allowing my inner potter to revel in all the shapes and glazes at the pottery exhibition, Ceramics in the City 2015 as part of the London Design Festival.  A lot has happened since September and paper work and notes have long since been misplaced, but it would be a shame not to at least have the tiniest of glimpses.

And whilst looking around the various rooms devoted to the history of the domestic interior. I came across this marvelous painting.

With the inscription,

A Life Well Spent, 1862 – Oil on canvas, by Charles West Cope

This young mother is depicted as the Victorian ideal – surrounded by her well-behaved children, she is usefully employed in the economical task of knitting socks.

So fishing my knitting out of my bag I thought it only right and proper to spend a little time in the beautiful gardens of the museum working on a sock of mine.

I love the Southbank in London, I can devote whole Sunday’s to it on hearing its siren call.  It is of course impossible to capture the flavour of it in one blog post, it is simply that big which much going on.  Here is a brief flavour of an evening spent wandering its very pleasant bank.

I always feel very invigorated when I’m crossing over the Thames, I’m not sure if its the fresh air or that apart from the Thames I’ve never crossed, on foot, another river so wide.  I just shiver inside with delight.

And it is always so busy.

Even when darkness is mere moments away.

Which gives great interest, I am always curious as to what other people are up to in a city as busy as London.

The view changes by the second.

I must say my boy is looking very much a cockney lad again (his mother was cockney although she’d never admit to it!). Through him I can see his ancestors working on the docks and railways, sturdy little men doing an honest days work.

It is lovely to see Trafalgar Square at any time of year, but I particularly like it at Christmas, you see I’ve only seen it at Christmas for a couple of years and I’m always bowled over by just how big that tree is. Hubby and I started on our first leg of Christmas journeys here as I was eager to see just what the tree was like and to end our adventure we had to come back to see it in the dark.  It was magical, enjoy.

I had a quick trip around a local supermarket with hubby just as they were reducing their fresh groceries for a quick sale, when the shop assistant plonked four bags of nice looking limes into the reduced section for two pence a bag. I blinked and then grabbed them.  I was working on the premise that I would worry about what I was going to do with them later.

After rescuing two glass jars that were nearly empty washing them and then running them through the dishwasher to sterilise, by far the easiest method, I prepared the limes.  Some recipes call for the rind to be grated, I prefer my curd super smooth. So I squeezed my limes with my teak lime squeezer, it does such a brilliant job, weighed out my sugar, beat my eggs really well, the more you beat them the less risk of solidified white bits and cut my block of cold butter into small cubes and measured out a level dessertspoon (not tablespoon) of cornflour – this just stabilises the mixture and makes it much less likely to curdle.  Then I put all of the ingredients in a saucepan, placed on a medium heat, stirred all the time with a wooden spoon until it thickened, turned the heat right down, let it blip, blip, blip, whilst stirring for another 30 seconds to a minute and turned it off the heat and potted it up.

It made two jars with just enough left over for a taster.  Having seen it settle down, I’d say fill the jars as much as possible, the egg must give it a rise or something because it sinks right down when it is cold.

Ingredients.

10 Limes

5 medium eggs

14 oz caster sugar

250g unsalted butter.

1 level dessertspoon cornflour

It has to be said there is a fair amount of window shopping to be had in London.  Even I suspect with the deepest of pockets much of the time is spent wandering around.  If I’m in the centre of London and need a little shopping therapy my favourite place to mooch around is Liberty, I just love the whole shopping experience, the Tudor revival building with its central light well where one can gaze onto the other floors,  the smells of polish and perfume, leather and wood.  Luxury goods are lavishly displayed all around and the gentle sound of feet walking on solid timber, it simply fills me with joy. I feel invigorated as I leave, even if I don’t make a purchase.

Liberty at Christmas is just wonderful, there is so much to love.

On Sunday after much adventuring we stopped by Caffe Concerto in Northumberland Avenue, just off Trafalgar Square for a very welcomed treat. Hubby chose coffee, which he declared delicious and as I can’t drink coffee that late in the day, it was 8p.m., I’d have been flying all night with the tawny owls, I settled on a restorative glass of strawberry and prosecco rossini, which was as hoped, delightful. We had gorgeous cakes, after a 7.5 mile hike around London we thought we had earned the calories and a very pleasant hour was spent listening to a duet played on a baby grand and a violin.

I know people whinge about Caffe Concerto as being a tourist trap, but really where else is there in the centre of London that isn’t.  The decor is wonderful, we had excellent service, the cakes are lovely, the coffee is good and the prosecco was cold, the atmosphere was just charming and the loos were spotless and they were open for coffee and cake at 8 p.m on a Sunday, what more do you need?

I know this post is very overdue and I was going to let it slide, but hubby has asked me about it three times now and the last time this weekend he sounded rather sad.  So for you my darling boy, may I present my photos of the Apple Watch’s installation in Selfridges Windows. I agree it is absolutely stunning.