Nina's Blog - Saturday 30th May 2026

Saturday 30th May 2026, 13:48

On emerging from the leafy section of Waterloo Promenade I continued along the Promenade to Limpenny Street which curves to meet Forest Road West and across the the road I saw a mural

As I got closer i noticed the library where I picked up the Travis Alabanza book.

I'll have to visit and drop off a few books, none in the same genre though so I'll have to make up in quantity what my portable library lacks in appropriate focus.

Saturday 30th May 2026, 14:11

I'm posting all this self indulgence from the Blend café where I've just got a half of Neon Raptor IPA, really quite pleasant. The plate held a pork sausage roll and the cup was an Americano



Today's outfit is two shades of pink



When the nicely curvy young waitress at Blend brought my coffee to my table she said how she loved my pink outfit!

I had been a little concerned that this skirt might be a little too little but as I walked past Primark I saw a black girl in front of me with a skirt so short I could see her cheeks without having to get down low.

Because I was thinking the skirt might be too revealing I wore knickers instead of a thong when I left the hotel. But after seeing the the black girl striding through the streets without a care I decided that I should revert to my usual thong. I always have a spare one in my handbag in case of elastic failure. So when I found another White Rose charity shop with another one pound bin I took the opportunity to change my undies when I tried on a couple of items. Bought a dress, not sure if it was a mistake, we'll see tomorrow perhaps.

Saturday 30th May 2026, 13:35

From the rec. the 'route' took me along Waterloo Promenade, a very pleasant green space between two terraces of houses.

Saturday 30th May 2026, 14:02

On my way across the recreation ground I did a little exercise

Saturday 30th May 2026, 13:02

After the Market Square I strolled further on thinking I might have coffee and a snack at the Hockley Emporium but they don't open until 12:00 so I turned round and walked back down Pelham past Faraday's.

As I was passing Faraday's there were three men sitting on ground leaning against the wall of Faraday's talking quite loudly. Then a particularly deep voiced one shouted across to me saying "You're looking fantastic". Spread his arms wide with both thumbs up, and gave me a broad grin.

I turned, smiled, and said thank you. Carried on walking down Pelham until I came to the junction with Thurland Street where there are some quite comfortable benches. I'd already walked about 6 000 steps so a stop to watch the world go by seemed quite sensible.
The book is None of the Above, Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary by Travis Alabanza. I picked it up at a little free library that had an assortment of books that would probably only be found in a few cities.

Saturday 30th May 2026, 12:53

Instead of visiting the piercing parlour I turned around and just wandered aimlessly for a few minutes and then decided to see if anything was going on in the Old Market Square. It's full of stalls about energy efficiency, supporting people with money troubles, gardening, etc.

Not really all that interesting to me specifically but good to see nonetheless.

Saturday 30th May 2026, 13:21

My walk from the hotel to the centre always goes past the Forest Fields Recreation Ground where the Goose Fair is held. Today I decided to take a wide loop around the town by walking through Forest Fields and then just wend my way zig zagging through the University Quarter.

Forest Fields is mostly just a big empty green with a pavilion and café on the south side and marked sports fields at the east.

It's a very pleasant place spoilt by shocking amounts of litter. On my diagonal walk of a couple hundred metres across the grass I found three of the handles used for flying kites and I could have filled a carrier bag with bottles and cans if I had one. But if I had collected them there was nowhere to dump them, all the litter bins were overflowing