Heatwave... really?

from The Guardian 27/6/09: "Hospitals were put on high alert today as the Met Office issued its first ever heatwave warning, designed to signal impending extreme weather events. Temperatures are forecast to reach 33C this week and it is thought that the UK could be placed on the highest level of the government's Heatwave Plan by midweek, a category that denotes a state of "emergency"." You can probably guess what I'm thinking, so I don't think I need to comment : )

coffee, films and stuff

I mentioned nude espresso in my last post - this photo is snapped from their website. Dwayne and I were there on Wednesday morning - me because I had worked some late nights and was enjoying some time in lieu drinking coffee and reading the paper (luxury!); Dwayne because he was interviewing film producers! Yes, he's been helping A4ID get organised to have a short film made and wonderfully some good film producers have come forward offering to make it free. More on that as it gets underway.... BUT back to coffee... when we first arrived in London and Dwayne didn't have a job, he researched and then plotted the pitifully-few good coffee places onto GoogleEarth (with sampling wherever possible of course!). He has passed it on to so many people I think he should start selling it.

The street where we live...

We live in a tiny cobbled one-car-wide dead-end lane, near Brick Lane, London's most famous stretch of Bangladeshi/Indian eateries. We live in the only purely residential block in the street. We are joined by a Primary School, a printing business, a homeless men's residence, a community centre/aged care/residential facility, a pub and a carpark! Our residence is also first stop on the various Jack the Ripper walking tours that run year-round. The fact that our building has 1886 on the top of it and is located in the area where some of the murders apparently took place has something to do with it but I suspect being in a quiet generally car-free is more the reason. We overhear the guides tell their groups how our building was built by a philanthropist for prostitutes to live in and get off the street, or how it was a 'doss house' for the poor who could only afford a few pence for the privilege to hang asleep (?!) over a rope strung from wall to wall to avoid being arrested for vagrancy... Maybe some of it is true. Despite the views of many about living in Tower Hamlets, London's most deprived borough, we love it! We like being close to Liverpool St's transport hub, I can walk to work in 10 minutes; we love walking along Whitechapel Rd on a Saturday and being the only white people in sight, mingling among the saris and hijabs, the live fish and crabs in buckets, the bright and unfamiliar fruit & veg; we like passing the big Mosque on the way to the best 'Asian' food in the UK at Tayyabs or Lahore Kebab House and coming back past 'Baraka' restaurant (really!); we enjoy the Indian sweets in the Brick Lane shops (avoid the restaurants though!) and Bangla City with its 5kg bags of spices, huge tubs of yoghurt, okra, durian and metre-long frozen fish; we are members of the local library (great for travel books of course); our favourite local coffee shops are 'nude espresso' and 'Taylor St Baristas' (run by Aussies and New Zealanders respectively - of course!); and when friends visit from abroad, they always want to see Spitalfields Market and the Columbia Road flower market (pictured) - and we can just pop around the corner to join them. We are very lucky.

Organic Deliveries

When we arrived in London, we were struck by how many Fairtrade options were in the supermarkets and how organic produce was also very common. We had been trying to buy local, seasonal produce but we were finding that nearby markets often didn't sell local fruit and veg. So, this year we have been getting fortnightly deliveries of organic fruit and veg from Abel & Cole, which is usually locally grown. It's certainly more costly but we hope it's helping to improve what we eat. I'd guess we probably also eat more veg than we would otherwise so that's got to be a good thing. It's also introduced to things we'd never heard of before - like black salsify (see photo), purple-sprouting broccoli, new varieties of melon, and various green cabbage and lettuce-like things! Today we got fresh broad beans in their pods. Yum!

Test

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Mudchute Farm

I've loved horse riding since my grandfather took me out mustering sheep and cattle at my aunt & uncle's farm near Goulburn throughout my childhood. There I rode happy and free in the wide open space and dreamed of growing up to be a farmer ('not a farmer's wife!', as I'd say). But whenever I went on horses trained in the English style I lost some confidence from the different use of the reins. Well, living in England seemed to be the perfect excuse to learn to ride with hands held high and without the security of a western saddle. Hyde Park seemed a bit expensive and on the other side of town, so I was pleased to find Mudchute Park & Farm, a little cheaper and closer, surprisingly alongside Canary Wharf's skyscrapers. So, on as many Sunday mornings as we have free and can afford, off I journey to what has become somewhat of a haven for me to join 3-4 others for adult horse riding lessons. I feel like I've been on a holiday as I return, usually pleasantly tired and mulling over where my legs and hands and back should be next time to improve my posture and chances of staying on... and working towards my goal of being able to jump! Once Dwayne comes along with me, I can put up a photo but so far, this is just one from the Mudchute site to give you a feel for the park/city contrast...

A4ID

I thought I could explain who I work for here. Thanks to them we are even in the UK at all since they got me the work permit! (I'm sure they'll never do it again given it took 5 months to process...) I work for a small UK charity called Advocates for International Development. My role is to manage the broker service, which enables organisations pursuing the UN Millennium Development Goals (addressing global poverty in some way - but it includes environmental challenges and the developed world making necessary changes too) to access free legal services through the partnerships we have with law firms, legal academics and barristers. So, these tiny and large organisations contact me, I help them work out what it is they need and how lawyers might be useful (both traditional legal things like helping with employment, contract, tax, property issues, and also broader rights-related research and analysis, like looking at how a UN Convention might be applied in many countries). Then I circulate the requests to A4ID's Legal Partners who can elect to do the work if they have the expertise and capacity needed. I then connect the lawyers to the organisation and away they go (well, I stay in touch in case there's a problem and to see how the work goes). That's one part of the work. Then there's the education programs (or 'programmes' as the English would say) for lawyers on development issues [Dwayne & I did the year-long course which was fantastic] and for development professionals on legal issues. And the awareness-raising through events and smaller group meetings. In July, Archbishop Desmond Tutu is coming to speak for us in St Paul's Cathedral on the Millennium Development Goals to about 2,000 people! We're looking forward to that. Dwayne's been the photographer for most A4ID events this year which he has really enjoyed - the Tutu event will be his biggest job yet! The training programme we went on has been a great way for us to meet people we like and find interesting. Most of our new friends have come through it. The friends that came for dinner last night were from the course.

Easter 09 Adventure - Day 5

Short notes from Easter Monday (13 April 2009) - and the last day I wrote notes that trip... it did continue for another week but hey, I was on holidays...!

• Found a place that produced its own cider, liqueurs, ginger whiskey, strawberry champagne and also super lemon curd ☺ • Explored Exeter’s Old Quay and the outside of the Cathedral. • Lots of driving all the way from Dorset across Devon and Dartmoor National Park and into Cornwall. • A quick car stop to take photos at one point drew the attention of the local miniature ponies who barrelled towards us! • Stopped for a short walk at Steps Bridge. • Could see for ages in Dartmoor. It reminded us a bit of Australia because it looked dry though we doubted that it actually was. Ponies and sheep wandering through. • Arrived about 6:30pm at Boswinger YHA. Twas pouring. After a nap, found a local pub (at Garron Haven) with lots of local boys and girls. Felt ancient comparatively. • Made a yummy dinner of pasta and pesto, asparagus (still delicious!) and pork/apple/sage sausages – the best ever! [yes, we think about food A LOT] • Loving the fact that we still have so much holiday to go! Loving sleeping for 8-9 hours a night. Going to bed early. So good.

Easter 09 Adventure - Day 4

Quick notes from Easter Sunday (12 April 2009): • The weather was bright and sunny and we felt so happy to be driving and enjoying the outdoors. We drove to Portland Castle in the morning then on to Lulworth Cove from where we went kayaking with 4 others plus our Jurassic Kayak Tours guide along the Jurassic Coast, seeing fossils (mainly trees rings) and the spectacular coastline of worn away Portland stone and limestone, including the famous Durdle Dor which from our side of the water looked remarkably like a dragon drinking – the legend goes that St George wounded the dragon who then went to his favourite part of England to die and he lay down to drink water from the ocean and then died! We kayaked under the ‘dragon’s neck’ and pulled in to shore for a rest. On departure we pointed our kayaks down the slope of the beach (of pebbles) and got a great push so we zoomed down and into the water! • We tried to get fish & chips at a few places before finally eating them at West Bay in view of a gorgeous sunset. • Played Take Two over apple pie back at the YHA. • A fabulous day.

Easter 09 Adventure - Day 3

More brief notes (re Easter Saturday, 11 April 09): • After breakfast & check-out, we went back to the Needles, walked out to them and visited the Old Battery at the end of the point. From there, we could look back at the famous multi-coloured sand cliffs from which children make layered sand bottles. • We made the ferry journey back to the island – this time enjoying the strong hydraulics that moved us and a whole layer of cars up in the air to allow another level to load. • We snaked our way gradually west, avoiding the coast. Some jotted memories about that day: • seeing a deer bouncing off through a paddock when we turned off a road so Dwayne could take a photo • foals, lambs, calves, baby rabbits • the humble pride of the man who ran the shop where we bought some delish coffee and pasta • Yellow fields of rapeseed(?) • Cabbage, bacon, walnut pasta for dinner – at Litton Cheney YHA • Funny manager at YHA who Dwayne thought lacked personal boundaries since he did someone else’s puzzle ☺ • driving after dinner (Dwayne teaching me to drive a manual - aahh!) to the coast at Abbotsbury and walking down to the beach past a farmhouse where I was just a bit concerned they’d shoot us! Fortunately we were in friendly England with all things walker-friendly. The sunset was tranquil and beautiful, drawing the light out until after 9pm...

Easter 09 Adventure - Day 2

More quick notes from our Easter trip (re Good Friday, 10 April 09): • The hostel room had a splendid view over the hills and water though it was raining a little on our awakening. • We decided to put off our walk and stuck to the car for most of the day because of the rain. However, we ended up driving right around the whole island. • We joined the English Heritage group at Osborne House and then enjoyed looking through the gardens, Swiss Cottage and the House itself which was filled with Victoriana furniture. I particularly liked the final room which was filled with objects given to Queen Victoria from people from India. There were detailed delicate ivory carving, marble inlaid work, and silver work. Exquisite. The whole room itself was cream in colour from about waist height over the ceiling and covered in intricate carving. • The daffodils and blossoms were marvellous everywhere we went. • Later in the afternoon I thought we’d be driving along a superb part of the coastline but unfortunately we ended up in such deep fog or cloud for that section that we could barely see a few metres ahead of us! • We had bought a whole Cowes sea bass earlier in the day and so roasted it whole in the oven for dinner that evening. I think it must have been one of the most splendid meals ever cooked in a YHA! Couscous with okra, whole stuffed fish, and wonderfully fresh asparagus – the first of the season, grown through seaweed apparently, bought that afternoon from a garlic farm! By the way, at the garlic farm, Dwayne tried some Dragon’s Blood – some sort of chilli paste – that was so hot that he immediately started crying! A little girl walking past in the shop looked so horrified when she saw him appearing so upset that I felt I had to explain to her what was wrong! Her mum then was explaining why this big man was crying in a shop! We also bought some fabulous chutneys and pesto sauce. • At the north of the island we stopped and walked through Cowes – bought the fish, and some swimwear (so we had something to wear kayaking the following day!) – and some of the Isle of Wight blue cheese that is supposed to have won best English cheese award. Unfortunately we found a parking ticket when we returned to our car! • Dwayne ran over a rabbit [that's all I recorded about that - not that exciting really] • After dinner, we drove to see the sun set behind the magnificent white 'Needles', the long white peninsula which is probably the Isle of Wight's most renowned natural feature.

Easter 09 Adventure

At Easter, we drove to the south west of England over 10 wonderful days. Here's some of my notes made on 11 April about Day 1 (9 April 2009): • We used a StreetCar hire for the holiday. Dwayne discovered when picking it up from the next door carpark that it had a flat tyre which hadn’t been changed by the previous hirer. So, he changed it and found that we had to drive to a garage in Hammersmith to have the flat one repaired and the spare changed. • ...which meant that we were running very late and that we wouldn’t make our car ferry booking at 4pm. This was made additionally stressful because WightLink said that all ferries from Lymington (pronounced Limmington) were booked out for the rest of the day due to the Easter break. In the end, we were lucky and managed to squeeze into a later ferry to my great relief. • On the way to Lymington we were stunned to see ponies just meandering over the open fields and at times, as they willed, across roads. There were no fences and they wandered past pubs and whatever else was along the way. • I later discovered the story of New Forest – which today (11 April) we traversed much more extensively – whose rules were founded by William the Conqueror of 1066 fame, who instituted that commoners living in the Forest can let their ponies, cows and sheep graze on it, they can collect firewood and dig for clay. And to this day some take up this option – well, at least the first part. Apparently about 200 people graze about 5000 ponies and cattle on the land year in year out. Each Autumn there is a round-up of all the animals, they are checked for good health before winter, they are branded by their owner and their tales are clipped to signify the appropriate levy has been paid. Amazing. It’s illegal to feed them and they didn’t seem very keen on trying to be patted! • On entry to the Isle of Wight, we drove around the coast to the west and south and found our YHA at Totland Bay with only a little trouble. After settling in, we walked up to a local pub for some lasagna and steak & kidney pie. We were so tired after the debacle with the flat tyre so we were quickly asleep in our hostel room.

Living in London

thought it was about time I explored the world of blogs. I was inspired by a friend's blog about her trip to Uganda. London might not be quite as exciting but it's still proving to be full of adventures... so here goes... Lis