OK, let me clear up one little misconception right away. I have been reliably informed that cranberry sauce is in fact readily available in England, despite what I said yesterday. Dave confirmed he bought it through Ocado (a grocery delivery service) and in fact they had several different kinds. I could have sworn we struggled to find it in years past but maybe I'm thinking of the American, jellied, can-shaped variety (which I love, BTW). At any rate, I certainly did not mean to speak ill of the wealth of opportunity and consumer choice here in Ye Olde Albion.
I barely left the house yesterday. I had grand plans to meet my boss and co-worker in Kensington, and while I was at it I was going to walk Olga in Hyde Park. But my boss texted in the morning and said my co-worker couldn't make it because she had an Ikea delivery scheduled, yadda yadda, and the weather wasn't great anyway. So we called it off.
I had already cancelled Olga's dog walker, but I rang them up pronto and they put her back on the schedule with no problem. Which meant I was off the hook.
I had more post-Thanksgiving cleaning -- laundry and dishes -- and it wasn't until about 2 p.m. that those poor machines finally got a rest. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading "The Sleepless Moon" by H. E. Bates, an old book I picked up in a charity shop for a couple of pounds, and settling our hotel plans for our Christmas visit to Florida. Dinner was turkey, of course!
(Photo: Near London Bridge station, last weekend.)
Great top picture today. It's symbolic of our modern world in which people only seem to be together in the here and now as their phones transport them to other, perhaps better places.
ReplyDeleteI like Mr. P's assessment of your photo.
ReplyDeleteNice to have a change of plans sometimes which allow you to be a bit lazy. You can think, "Well. I tried." And so you did!
Weather here is gloomy today and I think it's going to rain. I am going to make pancakes for August and his grandfather and then we shall see what the day holds.
We had some of that jellied cranberry sauce where I went for dinner. I actually love it too. I spent yesterday prepping for my dinner party tonight. I have cookie dough ready to bake, potatoes scrubbed and ready, Brussels sprouts trimmed and halved and bacon wrapped dates all ready to pop in the oven.
ReplyDeleteI also did some black Friday shopping but I didn't plan it that way. My friends prompted my to buy my airline ticket for a trip to Oregon in May and I also bought tickets to see "The Nutcracker" and "Handel's Messiah". It's been a while since I've seen either of those so it's time to do it again. But, that was the extent of my shopping. No fighting the crowds for a bargain for me.
I love that photo.
I had no plans yesterday but I ended up digging up more weeds in another section of the day lily flower bed and then I took the dog for a long walk.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you caught some bad press on the cranberry issue.
ReplyDeleteYP got serious today and hit the nail right on the head. Great picture that tells a story of our modern life.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo. Captures the times we are living in so well.
ReplyDeleteI make my own cranberry sauce, and I wonder why? The jellied canned variety is just as good.
ReplyDeleteYou know it was a good dinner party if you're still washing dishes a day later :)
ReplyDeleteI have read sleepless moon, it was beautiful in its descriptions of the area and time but that was one sad woman,
ReplyDeleteyou were very busy with after Thanksgiving clean up,, its always so much work,, worth it though,, I have heard many say cranberry sauce is difficult to find in the UK, family and friends bring it home to the UK from Canada when visiting us!
Oh, no, I had a totally different feeling about today's photo than what Mr. Pudding saw. A landscape of angles and shadows, and hard surfaces, but the cold steel is painted a passionate red and the light is so warming against the harsh geometry, and in the middle are two humans, warm-blooded beings, the softest things in the frame, touching, together, and reaching out (on their devices) to other humans because that's what we as social creatures do, we crave contact -- and there it is, physical and virtual. I like to think that they are sending John Gray a message of love and support as part of his internet tribe, just as we all gather here as part of Steve's pixelated posse.
ReplyDeleteI think your photo is full of humanity, in the best sense of the word, in a strange harmony with a cold, angular, industrial context (because that's where we all live in the 21st century). I find it kind, and thoughtful, and even sentimental.
YP: It struck me as so odd that they were standing back-to-back. I think they must have been looking at maps and trying to figure out which way to walk.
ReplyDeleteMs Moon: I did try! I suppose I could have gone to the park even without meeting my co-workers, but that seemed like a lot of trouble.
Sharon: Hope the dinner party goes (went?) well. And good for you for organizing your trip and your holiday entertainment!
Ellen: Weeds never stop, do they?
Red: I know! Seemingly innocuous comments can really get a person in trouble. :)
Catalyst: Thanks!
Robin: Thanks again!
Colette: Yeah, making homemade seems like a lot of trouble for little result, unless you have a really unusual recipe. One of my relatives used to make it with orange rind. I was never a fan.
Jenny-O: Definitely!
Laure: Wow! I'm impressed you've read this book! I thought I was the only person on the planet still reading H.E. Bates. Yeah, Constance is definitely unhappy!
Vivian: It's fascinating how two people viewing the same photo can come away with different messages, isn't it? The beauty of photography, I think.
That’s a stunning photograph and quite beautiful. I too saw connection in the body language of the two people and the way they touch but what a powerful metaphor for our times you’ve captured in that photo.
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