Friday, the 1pm train to St Pancras is cancelled so we have to catch a local train to Doncaster, then take an East Coast Mainland train to King's Cross. We get there in less than two hours and London is even warmer than Sheffield... Into the underground rail system... Hammersmith and City Line to Edgware Road... An American woman drops her Oyster Travel Card as she leaves the train and it drops onto the track. She tells me she had paid £200 for it that very day. We wait till she has found a member of staff to help her... Then on to The District Line to West Brompton... We walk along Lillie Road and stop at a toy shop... Buy Zachary a wooden spinning top, a "Playmobil" human figure with a dinosaur and an inflatable banana... Ian is bringing Zach along their street in his pushchair... He has been at nursery school all day...Ian makes us a wonderful vegan Caesar salad with mushrooms, tofu and homemade wholewheat croutons followed by Sarah's lovely rhubarb crumble... I visit the nearby "Bedford Arms" for the first time... two pints of "London Pride" then back... Saturday - Shirley and I walk to "The Half Moon Cafe" on Fulham Palace Road for brunch while Zach is having his midday nap...We spot "Core Femme" outside Charing Cross Hospital...Later 74 bus to Bishop's Park... There's a sandy beach there and children's playgrounds. Local people having outdoor time with their kids... Nearby The River Thames flows and we go up the bank to see it. There's a nice breeze as a team of eight rowers go by on their way to Putney Bridge... We buy some supplies from "Costcutter" then it's back to Ian's house... Evening meal for Zach, then bathtime and bed... All weekend Zach has been saying "pider" - pider, pider, pider because he has been shown one and it really interests him but also "moth" for two or three moths are resting on the ceiling... Maybe he will be an entomologist... Ian orders a Lebanese meal which is delivered after half an hour... Lovely wraps and tabbouleh with hummus, babu ganesh and flatbreads... I watch Trump on television saluting his birthday parade - a guy who dodged the draft for heaven's sake and his sidekick Angry Hegseth looking like a clown who is out of his depth... Sunday morning toast and coffee... I opt to remain out back in the sunshine reading my book while they hot foot it to the Waitrose in Chelsea for more vital supplies... I doze and when I open my eyes they are back... It's Father's Day and Ian makes a lovely vegan brunch with roasted tomatoes and chick peas plus a tofu version of scrambled egg with sourdough toast... Goodbyes then bus back to West Brompton... Tube back to St Pancras where it is chaotic getting on the 15.32 train back to the land we call Up North... Delighted to bag two seats in Coach B and we rattle along home - Shirley knitting and me reading... Kettering, Leicester, Loughborough and Derby... Sheffield buses along Ecclesall Road are in short supply so we spot a taxi and climb aboard...£10...then cheese on toast before I catch my bus to "The Hammer and Pincers" quiz... The word of the weekend is definitely "pider" (Adult English: spider)...
from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/TuSeRJU
