Saturday 1st July 2023

Woken around 0630 by the sound of conversation outside the bedroom window...sounds as though someone had turned up at the church and was prepping for a wedding...or a funeral, or something. Got up around 0900. Had cornflakes for breakfast...we'd brought two little mini boxes back from the B'n B we'd stopped in at Llangollen last week. Decided to venture east to investigate a Japanese Market Festival that was taking place in Dalston. Took a No. 263 bus to Highbury & Islington, then caught the Overground two stops to Dalston Kingsland. Walked up to Shacklewell Lane. The festival had been crammed into a very small space fronting the old Factory, which is now a cafe with pop up arty shops...the woman running the Festival has a vintage kimono shop on site...it was uncomfortably busy. We stayed and watched the rather amateur Chindon Yeah's, a band of flamboyantly costumed female 'musicians'...they paraded around the factory space a couple of times, leaving a smile on everyone's faces. We walked up Stoke Newington High Street, stopping for a coffee, and Aki bought a pair of summery slacks from the Retro Vintage clothes shop.

We lunched at Cafe Z...I had yumurta with feta and sucuk. Very tasty. Bumped into Stephanie in there...she was sat reading a play she was interested in auditioning for at the Tower. We caught a No.106 bus back to Finsbury park, and bought some groceries at the Turkish shop on Seven Sisters Road. Had ourselves a light dinner...I put together a ham and mozzarella salad. Walked up to the North Nineteen to see Rollo and Louis play some blues. Ben and Gayu from No.38 were already there, as was Lynne from upstairs, who had brought the dogs, Ziggy and Boston. The boys played "Walkin' the Dog" in their honour! A few of Rollo's harmonica pupils turned up, and there was a brief harmonica jam involving about five of them...a cacophony of harmonica players! Got home around 0015!