Reflections on Hatton Garden

Spent Saturday ring shopping in Hatton Garden ... some experience ... won't share details of our recommendations just yet. Suffice to say amongst the gems (pun intended) there are some horrendous shops. full of 'bling', fronted by hedgehog-haired sales-boys and black-jacketed door staff. rings are plucked from behind crushed velvet curtains amongst silk flowers and acres of faux-marble. Despite today's reports about the decline in our high streets, there's something to be said for regional shopping. That said, the more 'bespoke' services offered on Hatton Garden are worth looking in to ...

Two other interesting developments this weekend (aside from telling all her family about the wedding) ... got Ben Folds new album Songs For Silverman and discovered (through an occassional dabble in to genealogy) that relatives of mine who met in the late 19th Century in London actually had common ancestry in the small village of Padbury in Buckinghamshire. Nothing like a bit of home-counties incest to brighten a weekend. Haven't listened to Mr. Folds yet but, if colleagues are to be believed, I shouldn't be disappointed.