Fri 1: It rained today. It's not going to rain again this month, other than a brief sprinkle in three weeks time. It's going be England's driest May on record. Best get busy with that watering can. Sat 2: It's taken until today to notice that the date on my wristwatch has been wrong for the last nine weeks. This is because a) it doesn't recognise February 29th in leap years b) I've been wearing it a lot less recently. Sun 3: Bus Stop M has lost its maps! I don't know when this happened because I haven't needed to stand inside the shelter for weeks, but both of the spider maps have vanished. The glass remains intact. Mon 4: Shopping update: Yet again my local supermarket was out of carrots, apart from a few loose ones so I bagged those. But when I cooked one it was absolutely vile, like chewing paper, which I suspect is because it was very old and should never have been on sale in the first place. Still, at least that was only 27p wasted. Tue 5: Five planters is all it's taken to block Old Ford Road to traffic, creating safe passage for cyclists and pedestrians across the Hertford Union Canal. It's that easy.
Wed 6: This time last month I had a view of a public space from my back window, which meant I could watch people wandering by and get a sense of what was going on in the wider world. Since then spring has sprung, the leaves on three trees have grown and my view is now entirely obscured, making me feel a lot more cut-off. It'll be at least six months before I regain my visual connection. Thu 7: Jay Foreman's published a new video, a follow up to last month's Why does London have 32 boroughs?, this time entitled What's wrong with London's boroughs? If you're an administrative pedant, or just someone who enjoys good-humoured presentation knee-deep in facts, you should watch it. Fri 8: My spring cleaning has reached the stage where I start sorting the bagful of old cables that once used to connect something, power something or recharge something. I suspect I can throw almost all of them away, but I worry that one of them may be potentially critical so I haven't dared chuck any yet. Sat 9: TfL closed Heathrow Terminal 4 station today because it has no longer has any flights, but Piccadilly line trains still go round the loop empty otherwise Terminal 5 would be overwhelmed. Sun 10: After my Cup Final post, a fan got in touch and asked whether Arsenal was the furthest tube station from a bus stop. After referring to a previous post and undertaking some additional research, I can confirm that...
a) The tube station furthest from a bus stop is Moor Park (1300m) b) Within London, Barons Court is the tube station furthest from a bus stop (400m) c) No tube station in London is a longer walk from a bus stop than Arsenal (550m)
Mon 11: Just before lockdown started I went to my local library and withdrew four books. I've only just dared read the novel about viral infection. I'm still halfway through the sci-fi anthology. Two paperbacks remain untouched. Unless they extend the return date again, I have until 1st July get them finished. I should have borrowed more. Tue 12: In Hackney Wick I found five books laid out on a wall beside a bus shelter, presumably left for passers-by to take away... The Da Vinci Code, Wolf Hall, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Wuthering Heights and 2001 A Space Odyssey. I was struck by how almost-perfect the selection was as a compact cross-section of mainstream popular literature. I didn't take one.
Wed 13: Shopping update: Forced to buy organic carrots, there being no alternatives. On the plus side, non-luxury peanut butter was back on the shelves. Also hurrah, no queue whatsoever at the tills. My chat with the cashier was the longest face-to-almost-face conversation I've had in weeks. Thu 14: Managed to find a half-mile-long path in the Olympic Park I hadn't walked along during the last two months. Chalked that up as a win. Rewarded with a low-swooping heron. Fri 15: Mid-afternoon an unseen technician flicked a virtual switch and my email address of 23-years-standing was switched off... the sad ultimate consequence of a company buying up the company that bought up the company that bought up the company I started out with. Changing your contact details on two decades of online accounts is a right pain. Sat 16: The Eurovision programme they screened instead of Eurovision, for insurance reasons, wasn't as uplifting as proper Eurovision would have been. The Icelandic entry is easily the best Eurovision song in years, so I'm gutted it never got a chance to win, but at least we didn't have to suffer the misery of it only coming second. Sun 17:Update on previous post: Spotted the Bow Roundabout duck on St Thomas Creek, basking on a safety boat tied to a skip. My thanks to the reader who waited a week to tell me "the Bow Roundabout duck is actually an Egyptian goose", because I was able to email back confirming that an Egyptian goose is actually a type of duck. Mon 18: Smashed the walls of my lockdown box by walking once round the edge of Victoria Park. Passed 217 joggers along the way. It's OK, they were easy to dodge, it's a brilliantly spacious park. Tue 19: Watched a bumblebee flitting between my geraniums, which almost makes up for the fact my iris has shrivelled.
Wed 20:Update on previous post: The white vans gathering in Cooks Road every morning appear to be mustering to deliver parcels for Amazon. A steady stream of vans floods out at 9am, and another at 10.30am, which can be a devil to cut across. Maybe your replacement gadget passed through here on its way to your front door. Thu 21: Before today I had never walked along Red Path in Hackney Wick, nor even realised it existed. Partway along you get a great view of the entrance to the A12 Eastway Tunnel. But don't rush. Fri 22: Shopping update: Several of the customers in my local supermarket were walking out clutching a pack of sandwiches, a bag of crisps and a can of Red Bull, so I guess the idea of shopping "as infrequently as possible" went out of the window sometime back. I've managed to keep my number of shopping trips this month down to three. Sat 23: Met up with BestMate on Three Mills Green, at the regulation distance, and pretended that having an hour long chat was perfectly normal. Discussed the flights he's not going on, how his family's keeping, lockdown hairstyles and Dominic Cummings. Outdoor meet-ups are going to be a lot harder in January. Sun 24: Took yet more photos of a bridge near home I still haven't written a blogpost about yet, but if I ever do I'll have over 50 to choose from. Mon 25: First thing in the morning, it being a warm sunny bank holiday weekend, many litter bins beside patches of grass were overflowing with empty pizza boxes, paper cups and plastic bottles. Mile End Park was a particular mess. If you'd seen it, you'd have tutted.
Tue 26: The Archers' new monologue-heavy episodes have received a fair amount of criticism, mainly from people who couldn't have written anything better themselves. Wed 27: Spent the afternoon filling binbags with piles of paperwork that used to be essential for work purposes, or least potentially useful, back in the day when photocopiers ruled the office. Thu 28: All the goalposts on Hackney Marches have been taken down, greatly inconveniencing local youths who'd been tying springy cables to the crossbars and using them as temporary gyms. Fri 29: I haven't seen a proper advert on the digital billboard beside the Bow Flyover for weeks, only exhortations to appreciate our NHS carers, so the UK advertising industry must be in deep trouble. Sat 30: Two buses follow the same route from Bow to Ilford. From today travelling by route 25 (via the front doors) will cost £1.50, but travelling by route 425 (via the middle doors) remains free. Sun 31: Not only has it been the sunniest spring on record, May has smashed it out of the park. These are London's hours of sunshine every day this month.
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
5
11
0.5
8
11
14
12
11
12
4
6
8
4
12
11
6
8
11
12
14
12
7
10
6
14
11
6
12
15
15
15
That'll be 304 hours in total, whereas the May average is closer to 170. The last non-sunny day was 28th April, and before that you have to go all the way back to 19th March. What a sad waste... (or perhaps a lot of Britons have avoided skin cancer).
