Saturday, 17 July 2021

More Graffiti Art from Bristol St Pauls

As mentioned in a previous blog post, last week was the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic started that we went to Bristol.

Here are some more pictures from last week; and unlike this weekend it was raining. 
Before we get onto the graffiti art, its also always interesting to see the sticker messages.
This image speaks to me today.  It is scorching.  In fact it peaked at 85f today!  
A day for a outdoor vegetarian or veggie barbeque. 


I grew up watching Bruce Lee movies, courtesy of my Dad. 
I also recently read a piece by Bruce Lee's dauughter Shannon responding to Quentin Tarantino's . and his depiction of her father in the 2019 film Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
This is Anthonell Peggoo, a Black Bristolian who came to the UK when he was six years old being threatened with deportation. 

Sunday, 11 July 2021

Wandering Bristol St Paul's

As mentioned in a previous blog post, last week was the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic started that we went over the border into England and then Bristol

I  have missed really Bristol. 
Unfortunately, we only saw three of the Seven Saints of St Paul's, so our plan is to be more organised the next time we visit Bristol and locate them, as we found ourselves going round and round a couple of times. But if you can't wait for my next visit and want to learn more about the Seven Saints of St Paul's.  Here is a link to a piece Memorials and Black Joy in Bristol; and some shorts of each of the Saint of St Pauls.
I also loved this bit of art made from bricks.  There is one in my hometown, which i adore just as much. 

If your interested in Bristol Graffiti Art, you will may be interested in visiting some of my past blog posts below. 
This is a statue of Alfred Fagon - a Black British playwright 
Alfred Fagon was the first Black person to have a statue erected in their honour in the city. Unfortunately it was vandalised during the Bristol Black Lives Matters Anti-Racism protests.  I was pleaded to see it restored. 

Not far from Afred Fagon statue, we saw this mural. It reminded me of one in Glasgow at the Barra's Market.
Here is a close up. 
I

A rare image of me walking the puppy in St Paul's.  I must admit it's really hard to navigate the city streets with a puppy. I was really tired when we got back home.
We stumbled across a community cafe and thought we would stop for a bite to eat, but we were too early as this community cafe did not open its doors until mid-day, and it was a Sunday. 
So we sat outside, watching some local volunteers clearing up, bottles and rubbish from the communal green area.  I admired this is an image of ackee painted on the walls. I was reminded that i have a tin of it in my kitchen cupboards still to use - no doubt, it past its best before date. 
D spotted this mosaic work on the ground. It depicts a slave ship and the Bristol slave trade. 
A poster of Rosa Parks and the Bus Boycott's in the US.  Did you know in 1963 Bristol had its own Bus Boycott?!

Tuesday, 6 July 2021

In My Kitchen

So this week, I am on annual leave/vacation.  

We are just taking some day trips, here and there.  To be honest, i booked my days off  work at short notice that there was very little time to have booked anywhere for the week or a long weekend holiday away from home with a puppy.  We went to Bristol at the weekend, I do have some graffiti art to share, so do come back later in the week please.

But firstly some deliciousness from my garden plot.
A good looking bowl of strawberries. Enjoyed with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. 
First of the courgettes, some peas and broad beans. 
We went to Penarth and picked up this Konge Sourdough bread from a Danish Baker called BROD. It's really good, we will be snacking on it during the Euro 2020 tomorrow, when England play Denmark.  
We went to Pontypridd, where we picked up some cannoli with lemon cream and pistachio filling from a local baker in the high street . 
We also went to Llantwit Major.  I was tempted by some chocolate at a little shop called Stwff Stff.  I picked them both up with D in mind to share - Salted Caramel and Eton Mess.   As i write the names of these Welsh places, i realise that i have taken photographs of these places before and not shared here.  So i think additional blog posts are due when i am blessed with time to blog. 
Talking about being blessed with time to blog, its the same with baking for pleasure.  But i did find some time to make Johanna's Banana, Prune and Seed Loaf.  Of course I had to adapt a little to what ingredients I had at home, but not that much.  

I replaced the corn flour with additional plain flour and replaced the prunes with raisins.  Also, Johanna generously covered her baking tin with sesame seeds.  I generously scattered them on top of the banana cake. This Banana Loaf was one of the most delicious I've had in a long while; and D agreed too.  
Every other weekend, we have been eating a lot of croissants.  I think deep down we are both hankering for a holiday either in France or Brittany, with family and friends. These croissants cannot compare with a proper French pastry, they were adequate, but not flaky or buttery. 
In my kitchen we had tried another brand of plant based sausages. 

In my kitchen is this wonderful Welsh Artisan Soap.  I was gifted this hand made soap a couple of months back.  It is strongly scented, I am looking forward to washing my gardener hands with it very soon.