Rookery robin

The robins were very much out and about Streatham Rookery this lunchtime. I treated Fred to a coffee and toastie and, mid-scoff, watched a large, young dog gallop across the outdoor seating and straight into the cafe. It was lured outside again with treats. Its owner/walker appeared a minute or two later, calling and looking around. I pointed her towards the cafe. Clever dog wrangling cafe snacks - it’ll remember that trick! The owner/walker said it was just a puppy (albeit the size of a small horse!)

Fred’s feeling a bit better today - a good sleep and the cough seems less. He took a PCR test this morning, despite the lateral flow test being negative. Over in Basingstoke, my brother’s in the same boat - feeling ill, negative lateral flow test, and awaiting a PCR result. The queue for the testing centre at Streatham Common was the longest we’d ever seen! More people are wearing masks when walking about now, too.

After work, I met R in Florentine for coffee and cake. The cakes are SO good there. We carried on our chat at the cinema cafe covering everything from 90s bands to Swedish heavy metal to middle names, family history and, of course, cats. R made Fred lentil soup from her mum’s recipe. He’s looking forward to seeing how Jordanian lentil soup differs from the British version. For a start, R says to add a teaspoon of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon before serving. Mmm