I went out to dinner with the relative plus one, as well as her old friend who lives in London and is an academic. The old friend has recently moved to a university I was once employed at, so we shared some gossip about members of her department-to-be. We met at Bobo Social, which is […]
Steak and marrow
We went last night to Hawksmoor. The steaks were excellent as ever, and I ordered some roasted bone marrow to top mine, but the service was surprisingly poor. The bone marrow arrived long after the steak, one dining companion’s medium raw steak was medium or more, and generally it was hard to catch an eye […]
A vision, thwarted
I had a vision of a top suitable to wear with loose, short trousers but that was not a snug crop top. This was a vision of a loose button-down collared shirt, down to the hips, and cinched at the waist by a wide fabric belt. With this vision in mind I went to Covent […]
Football
I watched (part of) my first World Cup match today. The Gentleman Friend is very keen on the sport, though in recent years has been thwarted by important matches playing only on paid sport channels, and a dislike for pubs and bars. But the World Cup is playing everywhere and tonight was the first England […]
City stroll
We met friends from Malaysia at the Quality Chop House, an old favourite, for lunch. They were doing Sunday lunch, which was very good (despite my disinterest in Sunday lunch) but not quite as spectacular as I remember it. Whether this is because of Sunday lunch or that it has gone down in quality, I […]
Deptford
With an overseas relative visiting, I took the opportunity afforded by someone who didn’t know London distances to propose we visit the Cockpit Arts open house in Deptford. We had been regulars at the Holborn open houses back when we lived around the corner in Bloomsbury. It proved quite easy to get there: the DLR […]
Borough market
We went today to Borough Market. As I told my companions, when I had lived in London, in Bloomsbury so reasonably close by London standards, visits had always been to get groceries, not to graze (which is not the Gentleman Friend’s preferred mode anyway). So it was practically the first time I was doing as […]
Ending
I redid much of The Astrolabe today and am generally happy if not enthusiastic about it. The one major bit that remains is the very ending. I know where it finishes and what I would like to convey but it’s not particularly striking or interesting, and perhaps a bit abrupt. Hopefully it’ll just come to […]
Cambridge suburbs
I went to my accountant today, who has rooms between Milton and Cambridge. I hadn’t known that a new train station has opened only 20 minutes away, so got a return to the main station and then walked 45 minutes each way. Not that I minded, as it was a pleasant walk, especially on the […]
Guests
The guests have arrived – a young relative and her boyfriend. She works for a well known international body and he is a journalist. They went out for brunch with friends today and returned late for dinner and rather wobblier than I like – I find it a bit undignified, but can never quite disentangle […]