Suspicions

I took a hiking backpack today on my weekly shopping trip to Dalston. It seemed like a good idea because I had three bags full of unwanteds to take to the Oxfam store and I wanted to bring a big load of groceries back.

I also took cardboard for recycling. Our building doesn't recycle cardboard or plastic bottles and I usually end up carrying it halfway across London to drop in a bin on the way to work.

After a few false leads I remembered that there was a bin for cardboard on Ridley Road and took it there. As I opened the bin a market stallholder walked past and said 'You won't find anything in there mate. It's just rubbish, only cardboard'.

I hoped he thought I was a freegan scavenging for ideological reasons rather than someone homeless and desparate! That will teach me to go several days without shaving.

After dropping my donation at Oxfam I headed to Sainsbury's. As I went through the door I noticed the security guard perk up and make some hand signals to the staff on the cigarette counter.

In the spice section a few minutes later, I felt that someone was following me. I looked up and a Sainsbury's employee (disguised with a civilian jacket and empty trolley) quickly diverted her gaze towards the tinned tomatoes.

Was it just the backpack or do I look genuinely dodgy? Eitherway, appearing destitute has advantages. After Sainsbury's I went to pick up my bike from the shop where I'd taken it to repair the damage caused by an aborted theft attempt outside the Barbican on Sunday. £3!

A weekend in London

The camera has been replaced so here's a record of last weekend:

Saturday evening on the South Bank...


returning via Waterloo Bridge.




Sunday morning strolling down Ridley Road in Dalston.




and Sunday afternoon admiring open gardens in De Beauvoir Town...


before returning home along the canal...


to admire my own garden again.