Birthday; impending dentistry

Took the afternoon off on 12 August to go and watch the last part of The Hobbit trilogy with Ray. We were both left distinctly underwhelmed by the film; the story really doesn’t merit having been stretched out into three parts – or at least, if you’re going to, spend the extra time on the characters and fleshing out interesting strands of the story. Battles, and the build up to them, are officially Not Interesting. Well, not to me, anyway.

Ray shared the news that he has been successful in securing a mooring at Enslow Marina on the Oxford Canal, so will be leaving the Thames & Kennet sometime during September – date to be fixed partly depending on the weather. I vaguely know the stretch of canal as he and I went for a walk near there a few years ago. He didn’t seem fazed by the prospect of the longer distance he’ll have to drive to work, but I guess will see how it works out in practice.

Spent a few hours at Gail’s husband Rob’s 40th birthday party a couple of Saturdays ago, though he isn’t actually 40 until mid-September. It was one of those parties containing different categories of guests, none of whom knew each other, so there were the inevitable little factions. Ruth’s mum and aunt were both there, so we spoke to them for most of the time, though I did dimly recognize one guest as working for Reading Borough Council (as does Rob), as I think it was him we saw about our Building Notice for our once-planned upstairs bathroom. The occasion did feature a hog roast with some pretty excellent crackling.

Kyoto Garden

On the Sunday and Monday we had an overnight stay in London, as last year, to celebrate my birthday, again staying in a Premier Inn on the Sunday night, this time the London Holborn hotel. We started by getting the bus over to Kensington High Street and seeing if we could visit the Kensington Roof Gardens – sadly not, as they were closed until the following Wednesday, but they sound worth a visit. They are on the roof of the building that evidently used to be the department store Derry & Toms, according to Ruth’s aunt, who evidently remembers it - as it closed in 1973, I don’t. Also hadn't realised that Barkers had now closed, though thankfully the spectacular building is still standing. I used to go to Kensington High Street reasonably regularly in my late teens and early twenties - partly because of the now long-closed Kensington Market, where I bought a little black jacket with now-unfashionable shoulder pads, which I still have - but haven't been anything like so much in recent years.

We walked down the High Street and had a look at the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, though it was rather crowded. Then – claiming birthday dibs – I made Ruth walk down to the King’s Road, which I thought a pleasant stroll through posh streets, including The Boltons, but she confessed partway round that she isn’t quite as enamoured of just walking around in London as I am. This is a serious blow - though as I am not quite as enamoured of browsing shoes, handbags and jewellery as she is, it probably evens out. We did stop for a cup of tea en route. Made the discovery that Heal’s on the King's Road has closed its doors and seems to be becoming a Metro Bank – how sad. The Tottenham Court Road branch appears to be still there at the moment. We had a browse in Peter Jones as Ruth is on a quest for a new handbag, and also in Peruvian Connection, where she bought a dress. Then caught a bus across town and checked in at our hotel on Red Lion Street.

We made our way down to Soho in the evening for a cocktail at Balans, the bar opposite Comptons that we’d been to previously. This time I had made my mind up to have a cocktail, and decided beforehand to go for a margarita, being the only cocktail I’ve so far tried that I’d order again. However, in a fatal moment of trying to vary things, I went for a frozen rather than a classic margarita and decided to have it flavoured with passion fruit, with the result that what arrived just looked like a helping of sorbet, albeit alcoholic. Perhaps I’m not cut out for cocktail bars. The three young chaps at the table next to us were sharing a bottle of rosé, so perhaps we should have gone for that. Afterwards we wandered round trying to identify somewhere to go for dinner, and made the somewhat odd decision to try Garlic & Shots, a low-key looking establishment that looks a bit out of place among the mainly quite smart restaurants in the area. However, it was a bit of a laugh: remarkably dim lighting, pleasantly cheap yet drinkable house red, pleasant serving staff and an informal atmosphere. We did indeed have some delicious roasted garlic, accompanied by garlic bread, to start. For a main I chose the baby back ribs, though ended up envying Ruth’s steak.

On the Monday morning I’d booked us in for breakfast at the Darwin Brasserie at the Sky Garden, which I’d only been dimly aware of before but my colleague Jill had been there with her family a couple of weeks before and recommended it as somewhere to go. Having been there, it’s certainly an amazing space with incredible views – we were lucky to go on a clear sunny morning – though I thought the term ‘garden’ somewhat overblown – it’s really more in the way of a bit of planting. A few pics here. We had a nice if expensive breakfast at a table with a great view. Only downside was the un-warmed croissants, which I duly left a comment about in a TripAdvisor review. Well, you have to, don’t you.

After leaving the Sky Garden we checked out and made our way over to Tate Britain – where I’d not been for a number of years – to see the Barbara Hepworth exhibition ‘Sculpture for a Modern World’. Some beautiful pieces on display. I’m keen to see the Sculpture Garden at her former studio, but that does necessitate organising a trip to Cornwall, which I haven’t done yet.

Episode of toothache a week or so ago in the molar that was diagnosed with a crack earlier in the year (bit down on something, possibly a salt crystal, in tooth with large filling; X-ray subsequently showed crack under filling; dentist made woeful noises about possible root canal needed in future). Partly in fear of likely cost of major dental treatment and partly due to thinking that I really should register with a dentist in Milton Keynes, I made attempts to register as an NHS patient with a dentist here – however, despite having spent a lunch hour going in and filling in their registration form, they still haven’t confirmed that they’ve registered me. As a result, when toothache became worse a couple of weeks ago I panicked and booked an appointment at my private dentist in Caversham. My usual dentist was away and I had to see her stand-in, a chap named Peter who suggested that my toothache might be due to bruxism (apparently the latest buzz thing in dentistry). He even gave me a Post-It with 'Bruxism' written on it, so that I could Google it. As I was visibly sceptical, he hedged his bets and gave me a 7-day course of Amoxicillin as well, thus possibly contributing to the apparently rampant problem of over-prescription of antibiotics – though in my case no one can say that I demanded them, as I don’t think I’ve taken antibiotics since childhood (if then). I dutifully finished the course, and my toothache did wear off about halfway through the course, though whether because of anything to do with the drugs, who knows. Saw my usual dentist Jill earlier this week, who confirmed that bruxism was NOT a likely explanation of my toothache and suggested various treatment options. Have said I’ll go away and think about it.