Variety is the spice of life

This week has been a varied one.  Early in the week I dodged the showers and walked into town and noticed these lovely dog roses along the way,

On Thursday I went to London to meet up with a friend - this is Oxford Street and that number 10 bus (if you click on the photos you will be able to see them enlarged) is the one I have just got off.  It was great to see all the flags flying in the breeze. 

 We had lunch In Marks and Spencers and wandered along Oxford Street to John Lewis where we had a sit down and a cup of tea overlooking Cavendish Square then took a bus (what a blessing bus passes are for us oldies!) to the Albert Hall - seen here.  I remember going to a Methodist Youth Club jolly here many years ago back in the late 50s I think it was.  This time we didn't go in but crossed the road to Kensington Gardens.

Leanne on her blog Tales of Simple days commented recently on a photo of San Francisco saying she would hate to live in a city as there is no green - well Leanne there is plenty of greenery in London.  Did you notice the tree in the Oxford Street pic and Cavendish Square which we overlooked as we took tea in John Lewis is another little green oasis too. 

Hard to imagine we were within feet of a busy main road as we walked through the park. The dense greenery blocking out the sound of traffic.. 

We came out onto Kensington High Street where we browsed some of the shops and then after yet another cup of tea we parted to go our separate ways and I walked from there back to Hammersmith where I got my bus home.  Every time I go to London I come away thinking I must come back very soon as I never seem to see all I want to see - it was an opportunity to catch up with my friend whom I see rarely so naturally we spent most of our time sitting down drinking tea or eating lunch etc but I will go back very soon as with a day return costing only £15 by coach it is not an expensive day out.

Coffee with a friend in town on Friday and then some shopping on Saturday.  How much nicer to do some of our shopping here rather than in the supermarket.  This is Red Barn Farm shop which we discovered recently and now that we no longer have an organic veggie bag delivered each week (the couple who farmed and delivered have given up sadly) we go here for our veggies instead.

Milk anyone?  It's wonderful to buy really fresh veggies and milk and to know exactly where it's come from.

I got some rhubarb and with it I made rhubarb and rose petal jam this afternoon.

I only had rosa rugosa petals to use as we don't have any "proper" roses in our garden and although they are perfumed I don't think they are as highly perfumed as the ones I used last time I made this some years ago.  My old cook book does however say that in wet seasons the jam may take longer to reach setting point and this was certainly the case today so maybe in wet seasons the flowers don't have as much perfume either.  I noticed earlier on that the apple blossom didn't seem as wonderful when I sniffed it as it usually does.

However my efforts produced 3 pots of jam and a tiny sample sized one too!