A vintage-free weekend....

I admit I did go into a charity shop this morning and nearly got off the 134 bus so I could check out a shop on the Archway Road but other than that, this weekend is vintage-free.  A girl can only take so many fairs/shops/markets and I need to get my house back in some sort of order.  At the moment it resembles a student hovel so work has to be done.

So today, in view of the fact I'm doing nothing involving shopping or eating, I thought I'd ramble a bit about my new manor, Crouch End.  (See how how North London I am with my street speak!).

It goes without saying that I'm happy to be here.  Crouch End is just about one of the nicest places in London I could dream of living in, on a par with Highgate & Muswell Hill for me.  Yes, the rent is extortionate but with everything a girl could want in the way of grocery shops, cafe's and necessities just 5 mins away, I'm not complaining.  Buses are regular and take me everywhere I need to go and there are trees not housing estates!

I'd read about The Haberdashery (http://www.the-haberdashery.com/Home.html) before I moved here and couldn't wait to check it out.  In Middle Lane, it's a lovely little cafe' open 7 days a week from breakfast til 6pm.  They use vintage crockery to serve huge slabs of homemade cake on and sell handcrafted items among other things.  The nice thing about The Haberdashery is they really seem to be involved in the local community, putting on art exhibitions and once a month, Bar Boot where several shops in Middle Lane join forces and open up in the evening, putting on stalls which sell a variety of things.

One thing I'm certain of, Crouch End has no end of places to eat/drink/watch the telly folk go by.  Having said that, why do I never see OB from Hollyoaks or Tony Hadley or even Simon Pegg!  The best I've managed is Bob Stanley and Paolo Hewitt, and they're not even off the telly!  Anyway, I digress.  Everyone knows I'm a huge, huge fan of eating generally so I've probably moved to one of the best places imaginable!  There are at least 5 bakeries around The Broadway, another one of which opened up this week and another one which I will no doubt be purchasing from very soon.  I've learnt that Dunns Bakery (http://www.dunns-bakery.co.uk/) is a bit of an institution in this area and the smell of freshly baked scrumminess first thing in the morning must surely drag people in for their lunch before boarding the W7 to Finsbury Park and Victoria Line hell.  You'd think that all this competition with other bakeries would have a detrimental effect on these shops but it seems not - they're all busy all the time it seems.  Greggs seems to have an audience, as does Gails.

Shouts out to Sable D'or Patisserie (cakes in takeaway boxes), Adore Patisserie and now Gails Artisan Bakery.  Only opened this week, I dare you to walk past without drooling in the window at their award-winning cakes & breads.  I will be dropping by, with a large bag in hand, next weekend & I will be reporting back.