Wiggy's smalls

Today I watched some paint dry, and you know what, it's not that bad! Actually, it's exceedingly more riveting than the other things on the list of boring things to do which included such gems as 'clean the bathroom cupboard out' (yep, still not done that one), or 'tidy the desk drawer' (tedious) or 'dust the shutters' (painful) etc. So, I settled on painting the bottom of the fireplace which I broke up with a quick burst of washing Wiggy's smalls in between coats to mix it up a bit.

I also, devised a new treat system for the day today so that it wasn't all about chores. I had to do a couple of things for the shoot on Friday and thought that if I did them by 3pm then I would treat myself to some fresh Hackney air and if I was really lucky, a Mocha. If I was a donkey, the humble Mocha is my carrot, no doubt abut it. It was actually very lucky that I had the treat system in place as I'm not sure, without the promise of a hot drink, I would have got anything done. Today, I learned that I am very bad at working alone at home. When I worked in an office the thought of being able to work from home sounded like the most amazing thing ever. And I suppose it is in the sense that you can pretty much do what you want, but also, it's so damn distracting! There's too many records to listen too at home, and too many recipe books to dribble over, and too much left over christmas cheese to eat. It made me miss the PA I used to work with who used to let me hit him with my plastic ruler. That was pretty much my only distraction when I worked in my old job in an office.

I also learnt something interesting about travel Insurance today. While booking our Insurance for Sweden it would appear that our policy covers us for £200 per day if we get kidnapped. I think that's a pretty sweet deal, so if anyone wanted to kidnap me I'll split it with you. Just saying. Thinking about it, a couple of days locked in a cupboard would cover the cost of that wretched root canal.

Anyway, after the chores etc, I did venture out and was totally spoilt by 2 delightful coffee shops 5 mins from my flat! Who would have thought this was possible in Hackney?! Not me. The 1st one, I had visited last year after stumbling across it in Time Out, however The Notorious W.I.G found the staff so rude that we forbid/forbade/forbad (?) ourselves to ever go back. We had given them two chances as we thought the first experience was an unfortunate one off, but the second time was worse. So the "2 strikes and you're out" rule came into force. However, since I was Wig-less today, I thought I would give them one more try out of goodwill and found the staff delightful.

Wilton's Cafe on Wilton Way is a funny little place. It's in an old shop on a bit of a scruffy residential street with not much else near it, but it's definitely worth a visit as the coffee was delicious even if the staff are a bit hit and miss. Wilton's is also the home apparently of London Fields Radio. I don't really know what this means since I only seem to listen to Paul O'Grady on Radio 2 these days, but I suppose it's quite interesting to have a radio station round the corner....?

http://www.londonfieldsradio.com/cafe/

The cafe decor is pretty nice too, although you can't tell from their website, and was designed by a local couple who work under the name of The Dog and Wardrobe. They not only design interiors but they also have a pretty juicy shop on a Saturday off of Broadway Market. I heard about them quite coincidentally as I purchased 2 rather large and very camp plaster plaques of Her Majesty The Queen (...?) from them last year on eBay and discovered they were up the road. Luckily I have since been banned from eBay so this wont be happening again. The Dog and Wardrobe pretty much have my dream set up actually. Big flat full of cool furniture with shop underneath selling cool stuff on top of a very cool job. Me = Jealous.

http://www.thedogandwardrobe.com/

When I was walking back from Wilton's Cafe with my delicious (9 coffee beans out of a possible 10) Mocha, I found another Cafe! On the same road! Which I had never seen before but I reckon I will be visiting soon as soon as I earn another treat. It was very cute, and full of amazing cakes. I have no idea why I have never found this place before but it made me very excited. Not only will it be a nice place to go but also I reckon its a sign that Hackney is finally on the up. Yippppeeee!

http://www.violetcakes.com/about/