A Sunday Cycle Ride

On Sunday morning, OH and I decided to cycle up to Hackney Bridge, a place we visited a week or so ago for lunch. It has a flea market on a Sunday, as well as lots of lovely places to eat. We left the dog at home, as it was so hot and off we went.

First stop was the flea market. It's only been going a few weeks and is quite small.  Maybe a dozen stalls, mostly selling jewellery or vintage clothing or other items. I bought myself a hematite thumb ring. It's a grounding and protective stone that dissolves negativity and imparts confidence.  Who wouldn't want to benefit from any or all of these properties.

We then stopped off at an old fashioned photo booth for me to take some passport photos. I've not sat in one of these for decades, but I was hopeful for the outcome. Unfortunately, it completely overexposed all of the pictures. They came out like this:

OH paid, so he will now need to try to get a refund, which is annoying. Not to be defeated, I went back into the booth and used the white backdrop to take a decent enough selfie to do the job. I now just need to make the application.

We then had another Mexican chicken bowl for lunch. I took a picture this time as it was so tasty. Probably not too many calories either.

From there we cycled off to a new vintage shop that we spotted a few weeks ago. There was a small bar outside, so OH sat outside having a drink, whilst I went in to take a look. It's on the canal near Hackney Wick, for anyone who knows the area.  They had a very well curated selection. There wasn't much in my size unfortunately, but I did come away with one item. It wasn't cheap, as vintage clothes aren't these days. I won't tell you how much. I bought it for it's very simple construction, and because I hope to replicate it using fabrics from my stash. I'll do a separate post about it when I've tried to do this.

From here we cycled on to the infamous Victoria Park, built by Queen Victoria for the benefit of the poor of the East End of London. It borders with Hackney, Bow and Bethnal Green and is a lovely big park, very popular in the summer and was very busy with people milling about on a hot summer's day. There were lots of food stalls around the pond area. Ideal to come and get something to eat and chill. We used to come to this park a lot when LB was little, as we lived closer then, but I haven't visited it properly for a long time. 

We cycled virtually right around the park and then came out onto Well Street Common, another local green space, albeit smaller. 

It just happened to be the day of the Annual Well Street Common Summer Fair. This was an event that we regularly used to come to when LB was small. Lots of local people running table top sales, food stalls, plant stalls, small makers market, that kind of thing. It's a lot bigger these days, with a main stage and the local Cycle club even had a circuit laid out for children to race around on bikes. OH went over, of course, as he knew the organiser, whilst I mooched around the stalls spending a few pounds on a couple of plants and having a go on the tombola.

I came away with a Boysenberry plant, which is supposed to be a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. It's only a small plant, but I thought I'd give it a go for £5. I also bought this sempervivum, complete with babies for £4, as I don't actually own one of these. I may separate off the babies and grow them on.

We then finally cycled home. It wasn't the most frugal outing, but sometimes it's good to support local businesses who are trying to make a living. The things I did buy, I was happy with and am hoping will be very practical or beautiful.

By the time we got home it was 2pm and I'd done the equivalent of over 5000 steps, plus we'd had a lovely time too. Another little trip down memory lane, but lots of different memories. It's nice sometimes to visit old haunts. LB is coming home next weekend. I'm looking forward to having her home for the summer. I've missed her. She's feeling a little homesick too, so I think she'll be happy to be home for a while.