A Day Off with Charlie

With Bethie out of the country, the steady output of Charlie photos from Milton's Manor is likely to ebb.  I don't have the knack that Bethie has for documenting the babe's goings on, but I did take few photos today (some blurry, but what can you do).

I took the day off of work so that Charlie could spend some time together.  She wasn't quite as eager to get started: she slept until 9:15!

The rest did her well, and she was soon up and in her usual excited mood.

Fortified by banana mush and a bottle of milk... 

...we put on our coats and headed to the Tube.

We took the Northern Line to Stockwell, changed to the Victoria, and set off north to Oxford Circus.  Charlie was very excited to see the shops.

But shopping can be exhausting, and Charlie called it quits in the Selfridges food hall.  How any kid of mine can fall asleep in the Selfridges food hall, I don't know.

While Charlie slept, I pushed her back to the Tube.  We passed roasting chestnuts, but as I had some of these last week in Paris, I did not partake.  I did, however, note that they are only £1 here but 4 Euros in Paris (OK, what is the keystroke for the Euro symbol on a US keyboard?  I think it may be time to invest in a UK keyboard...).

Oxford Street is easy to hate and easy to love.  It's crowded with people wandering in zig-zags on the sidewalk (the part that's easy to hate), but few places feel more quintessentially London.  It's a really tremendous shopping area, too.  I also think it's built in an infinite loop.  I'm not making this up: you'll pass three Uniqlo stores, two H&Ms, and countless Starbucks between Oxford Circus and Bond Street tubes, which are less than a mile apart.

 When we returned home, Charlotte and I had tea.  For C, this meant yogurt.

And some water.

Some other stuff happened, including a great Skype with Bethie and a Chex Mix delivery visit to the Hallidays', but perhaps the only thing requiring a photo was this apparently ownerless pink dog doing its weekly shop at Sainsbury's.

Grocery Shopping in London

One of the recurrent warnings we received from people when we told them that we were planning to move to London was that London is an expensive place to live. True enough, we discovered, depending on how you live. If you're one of those people who is accustomed to having a roof over your head, indoor plumbing, and running water, then yes, London is an expensive place to live.

Thankfully, groceries are on balance far less expensive than in the United States. Bethie and I do our shopping at Sainsbury's, which is roughly equivalent to a Safeway: reliable, with some nice things, but certainly not fancy. It's only a short walk away, which is its finest point.

A few weeks ago, I went to Sainsbury's to pick up some toothpaste. I saw on the shelf a tube for 17p (about 27 cents), under the brand "Sainsbury's Basics." The description read: "Simple formula, still with added fluoride." Good enough, I thought, and headed to the registers with my purchase.

I have always taken a middle road with regard to the "cheap brands" at the grocery store. I love to cook (and to eat), so I'm happy to spend more for good food. On the other hand, where I don't think the product will harm me or the taste of what I'm cooking, I'll consider the store brand. So, for example, generic ibuprofen, but organic chicken.

All of the Sainsbury's Basics products are packaged in white, orange, and yellow, with a description in this formula:

A bit/not quite/etc. X,

still Y.

For example:

Fine, right? If you pay less for peanuts or cashews, you expect they will be small and/or broken. This also seems OK to me:

Cute. What about this one? Maybe less OK?

Or this?

"Less white" seems OK, but I don't like being reassured that my food is "still alright." This is what "less white" instant potatoes cost:

I will pass on this:

If it's not so nutty, what is filling up the jar? And for mozzarella, do we need to assure the customer that the milk is "from cows?"

Why does this take "a few minutes more?" I'm not going to find out.

And I'm not sure what to make of this:

I concluded that I probably won't be bringing home too many Sainsbury's Basics products. The toothpaste is serviceable, but we'll spend a bit more on that next time (it is "not minty enough, still cleans teeth"). And we'll avoid pasta that is "not really made with wheat, still technically food." For some things, though, the Sainsbury's Basics brand appears to do the job:

As a final warning to you, always read your labels. I expect that most dish soap will have all sorts of nasties in it, but the description of this one made me look a little closer:

I'm not sure what other "promises" I'm looking for from my dish soap, but I know that one of them is to not add formaldehyde to the solution:

What I've learned so far . . .

-John Lewis department stores far surpass any other department store I've been to. They have seven floors of shops and restaurants. We purchased our couch there. (It should be arriving on Tuesday! Woo hoo!)

-I have no idea how to work my washing machine. Not a clue. It is currently full of clothes and detergent but I can't get it to work. It lights up, but won't turn on. Blergh.

-Ikea is just the same in the UK as it is in the US except they offer donuts instead of cinnamon rolls. Oh, and they deliver!

-Coffee makers are a bit hard to find here. There were about four or five at John Lewis. If you are looking for an electric kettle, however, you will have no problem finding the perfect one. There were well over twenty different options.

-There are lots of kids and babies in our neighborhood.

-To touch on the previous observation, I will also note that if your child is screaming on your afternoon walk (despite having recently eaten and having recently had a diaper change), and there is no obvious place to sit and nurse her (without going into a cafe) it appears to be okay to nurse her in your local Sainsburys.

-I can't find the battery charger for the camera and the camera is dead. :(

-Alba Pizza is some of the best pizza I've ever had.

-I have no idea how to regulate the temperature in my shower. I think it is just going to be easier to stick to baths (good thing I'm bath person!).

-If you lock the door to our flat from the outside, there is no way to open it from the inside unless you have a key. This could be a problem if someone is ringing your doorbell (to deliver your new iPhones) and you can't find a set of keys!

-Last, but not least, I've learned that Charlotte's playmat allows me to get a shower AND breakfast! I have even had time to do a little organizing, emailing and blogging. :)