A day at Petersham Nurseries, working I might add, dispensing horticultural advice and bon-mots to a pretty happy crowd – weather warm but not too warm, a good breeze, plenty of plants to pretty the place up, time to talk to the customers – and keep everything watered – and time to make a few changes, create a few new displays. The seasonal clock has well and truly shifted towards High Summer with our sights on the Autumn finale and there is such a choice of plants to fill in any border gaps, add colour and heat to the late summer borders and revv up the excitement in the garden, terrace, balcony and window box. Love it!
Meanwhile we partook of a gourmet tour of London’s East End with Eating London Tours – several hours and eight culinary stops starting at Spitalfields and taking in Bangladeshi culture around Brick Lane, the Huguenot Silk Weavers houses that are now commanding £3M+, and the artists that have moved into the now very gentrified area, and also around the site of the old Trumans Brewery (a new location to me) with a left-field arts scene, food and markets galore – and down through Hipster Shoreditch. Fantastic!
http://www.eatinglondontours.co.uk/east-end-food-tour/
A bacon sarnie at St Johns Bread and Wine – https://www.stjohngroup.uk.com/spitalfields/
Bread and Butter pudding at The English Restaurant – http://www.theenglishrestaurant.com/
A cheese tasting at Androuet – http://www.androuet.co.uk/
Fish and Chips at Poppies – http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/
A beer at The Pride of Spitalfields – with Lenny the Pub Cat – and a menu featuring anything with chips or beans at about £3.50 each …. https://twitter.com/lennythepubcat?lang=en-gb
A curry at Aladins on Brick Lane – http://aladinbricklane.net/
Beigels at the 24hour/7day week East End institution – https://twitter.com/beigelbake?lang=en –
Salted caramel tart at Pizza East … http://www.pizzaeast.com/shoreditch
The Old Truman Brewery – http://www.trumanbrewery.com/
The Old Spitalfields Market – http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/
With apologies for the strong language …!
The Teddington Gardener 