A quiet(er) day and a few words on dogs...

Only two pictures today, I'm afraid, and both of food. Thought I'd give you fair warning. But that doesn't mean today was uneventful, not at all. Today was the the first free day we've had, no class, no planned excursions, so it was kind of a nice change. There were also only two of us here at the flat today; my friend Meredith and I. Our other two flatmates were both gone, one for the entire weekend visiting relatives, and the other just for today on a trip to Paris. So we went and walked around Portobello Market this morning. That place is wonderful, so many things to see, so many stands with food, clothes, antiques, you name it. I love just wandering around. And it's literally a block from where we live. This afternoon, we took the Tube to Camden Market, which is another market, quirkier than Portobello. I think I prefer Portobello, but Camden was an interesting place to be. And all these food places have extensive displays in the windows, so it's always tempting walking down the street. We took a few steps past one bakery, stopped, looked at each other, and immediately turned around and went in. They had so many things, it was hard to decide! But, I did decide (finally); this cheese, potato, and onion pie, which was completely delicious:

And this, which they called a "Truffle", but I don't know about that. The rest of it is sitting in the refrigerator right now. I haven't made up my mind about it yet. It's chocolate, but it's got raisins in it. And you know how I feel about raisins cooked in things. Anyway, I'll probably give it another try later this evening:

So I'm currently attempting to get some work done on my 3,000 word essay that I have to write for my class. That wasn't working so well this evening. So I went for a run. Didn't get lost, so that was an accomplishment, I thought. And then I spent some quiet time in our garden. I think I'm going to try and do that every evening. It's a great place to sit quietly and think, or meditate, or pray, or just enjoy the smell of the roses and the quiet. I love it.

This is slightly out of place, but I have been wanting to say a few words on British dogs. Which is important, I think, as someone who has spent extensive amounts of time around these creatures in the past, and as England seems to be a hub for dogs and dog-lovers. There are dogs everywhere. Everywhere. Now, there are lots of dogs at home. But American dogs are completely different from British dogs. First of all, the breeds here are very different than what I'd see at Petco everyday. Very few of these fluffy little shih-tzu/designer fluffball things. Lots of terriers, which is an automatic plus in my book. Terriers are one of the best types of dogs, in my opinion. They have brains, which is helpful. Large terriers, small terriers, smooth-coated, wire-haired, purebreds, mutts I've seen veritable herds of them around here (literal herds, I saw a guy walking 5 dogs the other day). The second important point about British canines. They are very typically British. Meaning, they are polite, keep to themselves, and comport themselves in an admirable manner. Many people walk their dogs without leashes around here. The dogs will sit outside the supermarket while their owners shop. When they are on leashes, there is none of this pulling and choking business. Well, for the most part; there are a few belonging to a particular German hound breed that I have seen that don't follow this pattern. But that is to be expected of them, as you well know. So that is my short dissertation on the Dogs of Britain. I am well pleased with them, and with their owners.

And that is all for today, I'm going to go work on my essay now, and hopefully make some headway with it. Thank you for staying with me on this adventure, you all are in my thoughts and prayers!! Ta ta for now!!