Settling into a London spring, and groceries

London has turned on some wonderful weather  - glorious spring sunshine, and mild temps. For London, the temperature over 20C, is regarded as really warm. I walked in the Embankment gardens and found many in the wonderful rows of deck chairs, which adorn many public parks all over the country. That is a sign the city is expecting summer very soon. It has been a Bank Holiday this weekend -with Monday holiday bringing many more in to the capital. Crowds are everywhere, and  listening to all the languages being spoken, brings to mind how many nationalities have gravitated to this country from all over Europe, Africa and elsewhere.
We have been settling into the apartment, and part of the process is the grocery shop. The supermarket has self checkouts, and encourages people to use them It has been a very interesting process for me - not having use of them at home. You feel quite bewildered at first, wonder where to put the items, try to find barcodes on items, work out where the bread rolls are on the list of items - B or R - it was R.Then you have to pack them properly, it wont let you scan another item till it is in the bag! Then paying - card or cash - feed the notes - not so tricky, then drop some coins -amazing process  - it sorts them no matter how many you pour in - no dockets , just a 'thank you for shopping at Sainsburys' . I now understand far better the feeling some library patrons must feel, when using our process for the first time - it is a niggling feeling of inadequacy at not feeling confident in doing something very ordinary - checking out books, or buying groceries - part of everyday life you want to feel confident with. On the plus side, I had a lovely assistant who talked me through the process, when there were questions, and that is what I think we do well, at Bayside - offer the help to make the process easy and give people confidence.

 I've included a little of the wonderful spring that is still in the city and country-the perfume from the blossoms and flowers is beautiful as you wander among the gardens.

 


Here are also a couple of  views of  a new skyline of London, with the Shard making it's mark on the sky, and there is a new figure taking shape - a block commonly known already as the 'cheese grater'. London is offering a variety of new buildings reaching skyward, like a different set of Lego. There is the Gherkin, the Shard, and now a cheese grater - So much more to investigate in this amazing city
More soon