Hot Chocolate, Shiny Stars & Richmond Park

On Saturday I was reminded of some of the people that make life wonderful. It's a sad fact of human nature that we seem to take those closest to us for granted. Anyway, it was a glorious winter's evening on Saturday and the air was crisp and bracing. I sauntered around Camden, gazing at the Nepalese hats and multicoloured scarves covetously. I spent a comfortable half-hour digging through vintage comics at Mega City, scrounging for Betty Paige postcards and paging through all the latest graphic novels. After a failed attempt to see the Lord Mayor's fireworks from Primrose Hill, I sat down on a park bench with some of my closest friends, and drank large mugs of Starbucks hot chocolate ( which we had laced with large dollops of Whiskey). It was at this point that I realised my pockets were filled with confetti in the shape of shiny stars that I had once used for a series of thank you letters. They were tumbling from a small hole in my left pocket, but for a brief moment, while my whiskey-addled brain tried to make sense of the event, there was a kind of magic about the evening. It was then off to a really good pub, where I had some of the best fish and chips I've ever eaten and a glass of 'OK' red wine.

The next day involved a fairly early wake up call (for a Sunday ^^) and then a slog to Richmond Park with my fold up bicycle. This truly was the highlight of my weekend, as much as I complained along the actual cycling bit. Richmond Park is beautiful - especially at this time of the year. One of my companions, who has a talent for creating culinary delights, packed some fantastic sandwiches and good cheese, which we ate balancing on rather wobbly benches. We were lucky enough to see both Red and Fallow deer - the stags are especially majestic. Then it was off to The Swan, to sip cider and munch crisps infront of a blazing fire. When the weather is permitting, London is one of the most beautiful cities I know. I was going to take pictures...but plan to go back next Sunday to do this, my words cannot possibly suffice.