Sometimes, it makes the world of difference to just take time off.

It doesn't have to be a lot of time.

It can simply an hour to yourself, in a quiet little spot with breakfast.

The EEWI coffee mornings are my favourite time of the month. I always arrive at least half an hour too early, and I get to sit down with a coffee and watch the world go by. It's a rare treat at the end of a busy month, and I look forward to this little "time out" as my once a month treat.



This month we met at Larder, a little restaurant on Globe Road in Bethnal Green. It's very pretty inside, the staff are welcoming, and the toast is delicious. You can always judge a restaurant or café by the quality of its toast, I think.

I find good toast is deeply satisfying, and is even better with a knob of butter and a small pot of home-made jam. I rather like that Larder serves their toast only with a knife, forcing you to use your hands to eat and enjoy a quintessential toast tradition on your quiet Friday morning.

Larder filled up rather quickly, and the lovely Colleen and Janet joined me for slow Friday morning musings on poetry, the seaside, and overlockers.

And who can resist a trip to Prick Your Finger when visiting Globe Road?


Shelves and shelves of beautiful yarn, each with its own story. Ask and ye shall receive, as Rachel, Prick Your Finger proprietor, tells you the history of each shade, each ball, each sheep.


With varying weights, colours and wool mixes, the Prick Your Finger yarn collection is like a treasure trove of texture. And they don't mind at all if you touch everything in the shop.


I bought this. It's a collection of (approximately) metre-lengths of yarny oddments. There's some ribbon, some ric-rac and some pearls. The colours all coordinate perfectly. They hang rather beautifully as a decoration, I'd imagine, or you can knit them up into something a little mad. You could also knit something sensible in a coordinating colour and weave through the various bits of treasure in a fit of imaginative creativity.

As much as I'd love to keep it, I bought this perfectly pink bundle for somebody special who loves pink almost as much as she loves cupcakes. I hope she'll love it.