Wintermission

After 10 days without getting out on the bike, due to aches and pains and ice/slicks incompatibility, I'd been getting myself ready for a ride. Now that the temperature is getting milder - hell, it's not even freezing now - I thought that this could be the day for a relaunch. So, lying in bed this morning, I found myself actually planning a ride. And then I looked out of the window. Ok, the ice had mostly gone, but this morning's winter instalment was a fresh coating of wet snow. A tougher person than me would have said, ''It's only a bit of slush,'' and would have got the bike down the stairs. And that's fine for tougher people but not for me. So, instead of smoking more and more roll-ups sitting in front of the computer, I resolved to walk to Canary Wharf instead. My (nominal) reason, apart from the obvious ''get out of the house and get some exercise'' one, for going there was to get some Tewkesbury mustard from the Waitrose that's secreted away in their basement. (Mustard is becoming a big motivator this season.)

Apart from the general quietness brought on by the acoustics of snow, Docklands as a whole seemed almost deserted and definitely muted. I imagine hushed conversations along the lines of ''If the bank relocates to Geneva, I'm going to have to take a big hit selling the apartment....'' and such forth. Of course, they're probably all just talking about Premier league fixtures and the Winter skiing trip but, as it seems such a world away from Deptford, I can only try to imagine.

On the way back, I took a detour round Asda (no complaints about their cycle parking - because although Asda do not seem to have a green sign for bikes, the stands are numerous and unmissable). I discovered, in passing, that they also have an ''Extra Special'' brand of Tewkesbury, and couldn't help buying another two jars. From there, I went round Mudchute farm. Some of the Mudchute area is almost rural - it seems both miles away from the financial centres and miles from the pretty urban parkland of Greenwich. You could almost imagine yourself in the (almost) countryside.
And here a llama stands before a cloud-shrouded city skyline with little care for the textiles futures market.Finally, on the way back before the 100 steps of the south lift of the foot tunnel, here's a photo of Trinity Hospital, looking as under-sized and dainty as ever next to the oversized brutishness of the old power station. And it's got itself a white topping for the day.