Royal / Cat wedding festivities at the Nag's Head Walthamstow

A few more photos of the fun at The Nag's Head:

Royal Wedding celebrations in Walthamstow

Friday 29th April 2011 was a historic day for British people as we celebrated the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I must admit having been a bit cynical in the run-up to the wedding, but watching the happy couple yesterday exchanging their vows amid all the patriotic pomp and pageantry of Westminster Abbey I found myself feeling quite emotional! As I was only a couple of weeks old when Charles and Diana got married in 1981 this was the first time that I'd really seen such a big royal celebration.

After the ceremony I decided to venture out to see how other E17'ers were enjoying their day-off in the April sunshine. First up was the Rose and Crown on Hoe street, who had closed off the side street next to the pub for a street party. They had gone for a family-friendly feel, with a barbecue, cupcakes and bunting decorating.

Later on we headed down to the Nag's Head who had been advertising a Cat's Wedding reception as their contribution to the wedding-themed festivities. The cat-loving owners had gone all out, and we saw photos of the happy feline couple, complete with veil for the bride and even a little dog for a best man wearing a tuxedo! The atmosphere in the evening was truly memorable, the pub overflowing with happy revellers crammed into every available space and spilling out onto Orford Road. We enjoyed some more cupcakes (this was not a good day for healthy food choices!) and sampled a couple of beers on offer at the Real Ale festival in the garden. By the time we left the wedding disco party was in full swing with plenty of impressive dance moves on show!

All in all it was a great day for the community, lets hope we can do something similar for the Queens Jubilee next year!

Lloyd park at Easter

What a difference a couple of weeks make! Just two weeks ago my usual walk through Lloyd park into town, I was wrapped up in my winter coat, watching the occasional hardy dog walker or jogger make their way across the muddy field. But not so today! Spring has definitely arrived, bringing with it waves of picnicking families, kite flying, and kids enjoying the new natural playground made from recycled fallen trees. Let's hope it lasts.

Location:Brettenham Rd,Walthamstow,United Kingdom

Windmill, 18 High Street Walthamstow

On Saturday night Robin, Jon and I went along to Windmill, the Portuguese Tapas restaurant in Walthamstow. The restaurant is 10minutes walk down the far end of the high street from Walthamstow central station, tucked away in a rather unassuming location alongside the Poundlands and Lidls that make up our rather dingy and dismal town centre. I always seem to visit on a Saturday night, where you have the added pungent bonus of navigating past all the street sweepers cleaning up the remains of cabbage and rotten fruit from the day's market. But I think it is well worth the trek! The phrase 'hidden gem' may be slightly overused but I can't think of a place more deserving of the title.

The menu is delightful - a mouthwatering selection of tapas style dishes all coming in at around £4-5 each. They are all bursting with rich flavour so two or three dishes each is more than enough! It is very hard to choose what to try, but after visiting 7 or 8 times now I have tried most things on the menu so I would pick out the following as my favourites:

Clams in hot and sour sauce - A generous portion of clams in a delicious spicy yet acidic sauce with red peppers and capers.

Grilled Chorizo - a whole chorizo sausage served on a terracotta griddle over a pool of flaming alcohol, a real show piece to impress the table!

Lamb cutlets - I often find lamb too fatty to be palatable, but here they serve perfectly lean lamb steaks on the bone in a rosemary and herb rub.

Feijoada - Chinks of melting slow-cooked pork in a rich tomato sauce with beans.

Custard tart for dessert - so good!

Two dishes each and dessert came to £12 each. We brought our own bottle of wine which is charged at £2 for corkage which helps to keep the price down, or often in the summer I have seen jugs of sangria on offer which are extremely drinkable and refreshing.

Windmil contact details: http://www.windmill-tapas.com/

Benchmarks at The Rose and Crown

The Rose and Crown on Hoe street is probably my favourite pub in Walthamstow. First of all its only a short walk from my house through the park. Secondly the new owners have put a lot of effort in to refurbish and rebrand the place as a theatre-pub. Tucked away up a tight staircase is a room above the main bar, which they can use for live music, plays or art exhibitions. We went last year to see the excellent musical 'Nine' by All Star Productions. They also have a monthly open mic stand up comedy night called 'Glee 17' which is surprisingly good although some of the performers look absolutely terrified and I can't help but feel sorry for them.

So last night there was a new play showing, 'Benchmarks' by Whats In a Name Productions. We went along with our new neighbours to check it out. The room was packed so we could only get standing tickets at the back which was a slight pain, but I was delighted to see the pub doing so well and hope that it will convince them to keep putting on shows like this and supporting local small theatre companies. The play itself centred around a park bench paced in centre stage, and told the story of six people whose lives unfolded in front of us as they met around this bench during the course of a day. We had the park keeper worried about keeping his job, a jogger trying to set up her own bistro, a middle aged lady whose marriage was falling apart, a teenage mum, a bag lady and the property developer wondering if he should buy the park to build on. I think the cast did a great job of keeping everyone engaged and I hope they will be back with another show soon!

La Duree macarons

I was introduced to this exquisite Parisian bakery by a French friend. Their speciality is the macaron (not to be confused with the English style coconut macaroon) which comes in a dazzling assortment of colours and flavours. Each little bite-size macaron is perfectly crispy on the outside with a squidgy sticky centre. Their outlet in Harrods and their tiny gilded cafe in Burlington Arcade are well worth a visit. at £7 per 100g, I may be developing an expensive habit!

Spring is here

So this weekend it finally felt like spring had arrived in Walthamstow. The daffodils that I had planted with the Friends of Lloyd park on a freezing muddy day in November were in full bloom, dazzling yellow in the sunshine. On saturday Kirsten came down for a girlie day out in London. She is looking beautiful and radiant at 5months pregnant. First off we hit Harrods - I hadn't been for a couple of years and we spent a while wandering around the chaotic yet amazing food halls before our usual trip around the designer shoe section. I bought a bag of macarons from LaDuree and we headed over to Hyde Park with Dominique to sit by the serpentine and soak up the sun. Just a couple of short weeks previously I had been the only person in sight by the boat house, but not today - people were flocking in from all directions and the greass was full of groups sitting around. The rest of our day was equally fab - cupcakes in Covent Garden, then a trip to selfridges for Kirsten to buy the Dior flip-flops she had been admiring in Harrods earlier. Watching the new Twilight DVD back at mine in the evening rounded off the day quite nicely!