another park, another sunday…
Having now been happily ensconced back at home for three days and with (to the best of my knowledge, and at the time of writing) another nine to go before hurtling off again in the direction of the capital I am feeling smugly, contentedly lazy, and with the sun shining and the cool sea breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees outside, there could be no better time to enjoy a some fresh air and a leisurely wander around our lovely town. Being up with the lark for a change, I today decided to run a few errands and have a rare girly browse around the shops before the football – the occasional desire to blaze a trail through the high-street à la Gok Wan was upon me, and since I have always been partial to a nice new frock I made it my mission to obtain a pretty cotton maxi dress for the hot weather which should have been a fairly straightforward undertaking, given that my height theoretically renders every garment intended to fall below mid-calf suitable.
Unfortunately it also means that the racks of lovely tiered, smocked, and cheerily floral printed dresses available as far as the eye could see were completely unsuitable, all being at least four inches too long and in trying just dragged about the floor in my wake. Admittedly my friendly seamstress up the road would have had no trouble altering the length but the momentum was lost, and crestfallen, I shuffled sadly into the final port of call (my teenage favourite Miss Selfridge), whereupon I unexpectedly walked straight into a sale rack containing a lone size 12 maxi from their Petite range in beautiful soft rose-printed cotton, which fit perfectly and only cost forty five quid. Once established that I was definitely awake and the clothing gods had smiled on me, I celebrated immediately over the road in the Marks and Spencer food hall, home of the celestial Iced & Spiced Soft Bun and where my favourite microwaveable dim sum are currently three packs for a fiver; having now returned home to eat sweet-chilli-dipped prawn dumplings in my pyjamas and watch football on television, in the unlikely event that a branch of the Hummingbird Bakery is about to open next door to my apartment (or better still, in it) it would probably have been the perfect Sunday. Or at least, as anyone who has also been watching the football will know, it was.
On to travel news, and I have been busy making arrangements for my next few visitings; I will be landing in Glasgow on the first of August for a couple of days of exploring indoors and out, and have arranged my next London dates shortly after on the eighteenth. Since I will be persona non grata at my usual digs in Pimlico until the temperature drops a bit, I will be staying – fear not – in a spanking-new (and anyone wanting to test this theory is welcome to do so) and decidedly swanky-looking 4 star hotel close to Waterloo and judging by the maps almost overlooking the London Eye, although as anyone who has ever stayed in a city centre hotel knows, the premium attribute known as ‘View’ has far less to do with the building’s location than it has to do with the positioning of the windows and I cannot be the only person to have excitedly dashed to open the curtains of a nicely appointed place only to be face to face with a brick wall, the rubbish bins or most memorably, the DLR.
To this week – I will be in Scarborough for prebooked incalls each day except Tuesday, and whilst there are visitors dotted evenly throughout, I am not envisaging an activity-filled week and will be out and about enjoying the weather now that the number of World Cup games per day is down to a more sensible level. Therefore as ever, short notice appointments will be even less available than usual (if such a thing were possible) and please do not be surprised to find that I am answering the telephone from a location other than my living room, or that it is being switched off strictly at 8pm. The quantity of ‘NR’ (non reader) numbers in my mobile is currently increasing at a hellish pace, and whilst I appreciate that the people who would fall into that category are the least likely to be reading this, it is becoming a real pain and since one of the greatest benefits of the wonderful world of self-employment is deciding one’s own hours, I am saving them the trouble.
Next stop – the beach!
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