While I've been regaling you with tales of hold music and antique lawnmowers, Dave and I have been having a pretty quiet weekend. On Saturday I took Olga out for a long walk northward to the Clitterhouse Playing Fields, a large grassy tract where, as you could infer from the name, lots of kids play football. Fortunately Olga was tired enough by the time we got up there that she didn't go after anyone's ball. (I think she's growing out of that. She's more mellow these days.)
We also stopped to check out the graffiti at the Cricklewood Millennium Green (above), a small park with a big litter problem that's not depicted in this photo.
On Saturday night Dave and I went to dinner with our friend Chris, and the pub got so loud poor Dave could barely hear us. He just sat across the table and nodded now and then. I'm not sure he was absorbing any of the conversation, but I'm also not sure he minded all that much.
Yesterday I took Olga on a short-ish walk through the cemetery and Fortune Green. The butterfly garden at the cemetery -- a patch of wildflowers in a far corner -- is looking good and I think I need to go back there for some pictures. I saw a bright orange, jagged-winged comma butterfly in our own garden a few days ago, but it flew away before I had a chance to get the camera.
I also worked on our application form for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the U.K. The form is 88 pages!! Most of it seems like it doesn't really apply to us -- it has to do with people who own companies and are here for entrepreneurial reasons -- so I don't think we'll have to fill out all those blanks, fortunately. We're supposed to meet this morning with our HR director to make sure we're not missing anything major and our documentation is in order.
Our inquisitive neighbor, the one I have dubbed Mrs. Kravitz, had a couple of workmen in her back garden yesterday, hauling dozens of bags of gravel or something in and out. I'm dying to know what she's doing over there. (That turns the tables, doesn't it? I'm Mrs. Kravitz now!)
The word "Stop" is prominent on that wall. I wonder what lies beyond it - clearly something unpleasant or dangerous. Perhaps Boris Johnson's favourite nude sunbathing spot.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a lovely weekend and I'm sure you'll find out what your neighbor is up to eventually.
ReplyDeleteA comma butterfly! Amazing! Get us a picture of your own if you can.
ReplyDeleteWe are all Mrs. Kravitz at one point or another.
I'm with Dave. If I'm in a noisy place I hear next to nothing. They really make you jump through the hoops if you want to live in a different country. why does it have to be so complicated. when my Grandpa came here in 1904, he just walked right in...no fuss, no muss!
ReplyDeleteI can't hear a thing in loud restaurants. In fact, I'm starting to not be able to hear in a lot of different scenarios. Roger and I sometimes hold a funnel to our ears and say, "Hunh?" We laugh and laugh! Looking forward to seeing the Comma Butterfly.
ReplyDeleteA peek over the fence might be in order! An 88 page form sounds very daunting to me.
ReplyDeletePlease do report on what Mrs Kravitz is up to! And to what does the "sole" in your title refer? Am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteYP - EWWWW!
ReplyDeleteMike has trouble hearing these days, and especially in a noisy restaurant. We usually don't even try to talk. Yep, we're that couple on our phones while we sit across from each other. Ha!
My husband is hard of hearing at the best of times, but in a noisy place it is futile to even try to communicate because then we're both deaf :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting wall. I wonder why some of those words were important enough to write there.
YP: Cricklewood seems an unlikely place for Boris to sunbathe, nude or not. Especially right by the railroad tracks.
ReplyDeleteE: I could just ask her, I suppose!
Ms Moon: Yes, it's human nature. I suppose that's why the character of Mrs. Kravitz is so legendary. We all see a bit of her in ourselves.
Red: Yeah, no more quick and easy immigration registry!
Robin: I think we're going to have to rank our local restaurants in terms of their volume!
Sharon: When no one's looking...
37P: "Sole" is one of the graffiti tags on the wall. All the words in the title are tags from that wall, in fact. :)
Bug: Funny! I feel compelled to try to converse in a restaurant. Maybe I should just give up that compulsion!
Jenny-O: Graffiti artists adopt a name, or "tag," that they spread around. These are just tags. I don't think they really mean anything beyond that.