Today was generally less artsy than yesterday, although the weather itself was an entirely new art form to me.
Woke up at 4:30 in the morning and was a bit furious about that, I haven't seen 4:30 in the morning in ages, but when you're this far north, it seems more like 6 in the morning. At 11 pm this evening there was still light in the sky.
So basically at that time I just lazed around for a bit and finally went down to have some breakfast.
Ate the four cheeses again and this time I think I can list them:
-English Cheddar (A bit different from American Cheddar, but still good)
-Double Gloucester with Spring Onions and Chives (So delicious)
-Red Leicester (I think it may be my favorite of the bunch, but I bought a whole second package so I can eat them as much as possible to find out)
and
-Wensleydale with Cranberries (Not my favorite, but good still, it was great with apples this morning)
After breakfasts, my hosts left to go to Sweden, so I've the whole house to myself. I decided to go into town and look around in some of the shops, pick up a couple of things. I first went to this little art store that we passed in my short introduction to Wimbledon yesterday and I bought some matryoshka tissue paper, it's very cute. Then I stopped into the book/magazine/stationary store and bought a folder for any paperwork I may need for school, and some cute notecards with a sort of watercolor poppy motif.
I then pressed on to Whittard and bought several teas, plus the "Time for Tea" tin set they sell (it is too adorable to pass up). After that I stopped at an electronics store and bought an alarm clock and some batteries. It was kind of a surreal experience. They basically have all of their stock stored away in the back, and what you do is you look through a paper catalogue or computer to find what you are looking for, and then you order it in the store, and then you wait for your order to be ready (mine took 3 minutes). Kind of odd, not something you would usually find in the states.
My first grocery trip went quite well. I went to Sainsbury's and bought some delicious looking things. It's really very nice that I will have a kitchen while I am here, because I hate the idea of being fed cafeteria-style food every day or eating out every day. For lunch I bought a sort of pasta salad that had a tomato and herb sauce, red onions and cheddar cheese (would have preferred mozzarella or parmesan to be completely honest) but it was still good. For dinner tonight I made myself some smashed potatoes, boiled peas and a chicken breast (which I bought pre-roasted at the store).
Everything is within walking distance which is nice, the tube stop is about 7-10 minutes away from my house, based on how quickly you walk, and the neighborhood seems pretty safe. The houses are very close together, so I've already met one neighbor on one side, and the other one I'm sure I will meet soon enough.
As far as art goes, Jack Smith died recently, so why not say something about him. Smith was one of the co-founders of what was called The Kitchen Sink School, a name that the press gave to them based on the styles and objects used in their works (as in everything but the...). His earlier work is sort of pseudo-realist, and very interesting indeed, and his later work is certainly more abstract.In other art British art news, The Tate Modern has returned 10 tons of Ai Wei Wei's sunflower seeds to one of their gallery spaces.
