Spaciousness

OK, yesterday was AMAZING. A full Saturday with nothing to do! The spaciousness of an unplanned, unscripted day -- well, it's something to revel in.

I took Olga on a long walk around the neighborhood, where we enjoyed the autumnal sights. The creeper vines along the trash path were blazing brilliant orange, and the path itself looked cleaner than usual. Apparently there was a public cleanup effort not too long ago. (Also, I've learned this is officially called the "Black Path," bordered as it is by black walls -- a slightly more dignified-sounding name than mine.)

This house has some terrific Chinese lantern plants growing out front. (I could not for the life of me figure out how to take this picture without including the recycling bin!)

We also found some colorful advertisements in the window of a shuttered cafe near Fortune Green:

We had a good walk.

Then I read two New Yorkers and about 75 pages in my book, which I hope to finish today. I did laundry and repotted that orchid I found on someone's trash pile last week -- I'm not sure it's going to make it, because the roots don't look too healthy, but we'll see.

Finally, last night, as an early birthday celebration, Dave took me out to a hotel bar purported to have the best martinis in London. (My actual birthday is this coming Wednesday.) It was quite a glam place, with low lighting and stylish music. The table next to us kept ordering drinks that came in weird glowing boxes or mounted on what looked like very expensive toy Transformers. I stuck with the more traditional gin martini with olives, accompanied by snack plates of spiced tuna tartare and avocado tacos, and tête de moine cheese, fig and walnut. Dave teases me when I drink martinis -- he says I get chatty. We spent the evening pondering travel plans for next year. Sri Lanka? Brazil? South Africa? We'll see what the budget permits!