It's a Dog's Life

I'm an urban city dog out with my mum.

More Flowers

Very summery on her floral bike.

Mood of the Nation

This is rather how it feels at the moment.  A lot of repairing is badly needed.

Tropical London

An East End cafe offering an alternative to rain and grey skies.

Ted feels the love

… and it’s a bird, and certainly not your common garden bird by any stretch of the imagination … but I digress. This particular bird is called Jackdaw and it’s a very welcome addition to the Clapton restaurant and somewhat groovy jazz cafe music scene - eat your heart out Soho!!

A friend who shall rename anonymous (B) had been there a few weeks earlier and was so taken with the food and the place in general that she decreed that her birthday celebrations would be held there (a high honour indeed). What’s more after eating we’d all take advantage of the downstairs music space and dance the birthday cake off - live jazz or real vinyl nights - take your pick.

I got a rare opportunity to check things out early and chat to the chefs. Talking to them made me really look forward to dinner. Their passion for good food was reflected in their approach to sourcing their ingredients (as local and sustainable as possible) and how they look at what’s good that day, get inspired, and keep it simple.  Stick to 3 or 4 really good ingredients on a plate and let all the flavours shine.  As I watched them tending their creations I saw the world’s biggest ever whole unpeeled beetroot that had been slowly cooking away on a grill top since morning.

Chef said it would give it a sweet and slightly smoky taste and so I made a mental note to look out for it and where it would appear on the menu later. Their fermenting range of fruit and vegetables caught my ever alert eye and they enlightened me as to how they change taste and texture wise over time and how that gives them new ideas - who knew!! As there were quite a few of us for dinner we had a set menu with choices to cater for everyone. There is a larger menu with bigger and smaller plates and some lovely deserts – all “on the day" creations.

The food Ted if you will FHS ...ok ok … I had a mackerel croquette with a lovely fine crispy shell that gave way to a creamy textured filling. Then I spotted that the heritage beetroot accompanied by its yellow cousin and some crumbled frozen feta goats cheese was now a fabulous salad so I stuck my fork in and it was all the sweet and smoky deliciousness promised earlier!  My shorthorn onglet steak with wild mushrooms and black cabbage was perfectly cooked and just well ... really delicious. My neighbour had salmon and crushed potatoes and again the Ted fork plunged (politely of course) into a great reward ... everything was cooked with obvious skill and experience and a real feel for the ingredients.

Clearly loved cheeses that were at their absolute best for eating right now with crackers, followed by birthday cake, rounded out a terrific meal in very relaxed surroundings. The small but rather well formed wine list, good choice of beers, some great cocktails plus premium spirits enlivened an already very attractive picture...

Then we headed downstairs for great jazz and the dancing started … Jackdaw is planning evenings where the dishes are matched to wines from a local wine bar and even more live jazz.  Jackdaw is your quintessential local Clapton - they are open from breakfast till late and they give you exactly what you feel like when you wander in – they are local flavour, colour, and culture … if this was my local I'd be there everyday. 

Supernova

Love this play on image and text.

An Army of Gnomes

 Fiercely  guarding their property, the gnome army was out in force.  Flag flying, frogs ready for the second assault. Don't mess with us!

Cool Jazz

Cool Jazz at the Russet a place for art, food and fun.

Paper Flowers

Cutting, twisting, folding, hours spent with sheets of coloured tissue paper.  And here are the results.  

Hand Made

Learn a new skill and create hand made gifts for the family.

Delicacies

What ever specialist dish you are creating you will find the ingredients in London. 

Abney Park

I've just discovered the beautiful Abney Park, a combination of 19th century cemetery, woodland, and wildlife sanctuary.  One of the seven grand cemeteries created on the outskirts of London in the 1800's. The architects created it as an arboretum with 2,500 varieties of plants.  Lack of funds saw the park fall into disrepair and go into administration during the 1970's.  The London borough of Hackney took it over in the 1980's and have been working to restore the park to its former glory.

However, in this time of "profits rule" developers want to come in and build on the edges of the site.  The plans include a huge car park, supermarket and of course high rise apartments.  The 20% of promised "affordable" apartments will be in the £400,000 range.

The locals are outraged and fighting the development which they say will have a substantial adverse impact on the biodiversity of the park.  In addition they are concerned about the impact on the wider area, one of the few areas where independent stores are still thriving.

The locals are passionate about their park and have many activities throughout the year.  This weekend this included teaching people how to make Christmas wreaths.

They would like your support.  You can sign their petition here … you don't have to be a local to support this worthy cause.

Sweet Smelling Rose

If only you could smell the scent of this beautiful rose poking through the fence. 

Chained Up

Do not park here ... or you will be overgrown ...

Our Pad

Our house is a very fine house with our own entry.  We have a satellite dish that beams catworld direct to our screen.  We grow lots of catmint to keep us happy.  We're not too keen on intruders, so buzz off.

Relax in the Sun

It is the perfect day today to sit and the sun and read a book.

Rock Climbing

A castle and rock climbing?  What a surprise. Wandering around Hackney I stumbled upon a castle and went to investigate. The entire interior is rock climbing walls.  There are walls for the complete novice and walls for the truly ambitious.  They also run courses.  I liked the sound of the women with altitude course. 
 Enthusiasts of the sport are pushing to get it into the 2020 Olympics.

Grave

A sad end for someone's cycle.

The Family

A family of geese very wary of passersby.

Rusty Door

Decay has its own kind of beauty. What do you think?