When we first arrived in the UK, the common topic in conversations with locals usually revolved around weather.  “Be ready for a lot of rain” or “why did you move to the UK? We have terrible weather” were typical comments.  After now almost 18 months of London living, I must say, I don’t know what the British are complaining about.  It is currently 55 degrees (13 celsius), bright clear skies and warming sunshine.  Meanwhile, back in the US, in our old hometown of Portland, Maine, they have endured a week of zero degree temperature.  That’s fahrenheit, or in celsius, -17.  While we do have a lot of grey, drizzly days, it is not nearly has terrible as I was anticipating.  Our grass stays green all winter.  I have yet to see even a snow flurry in two winters.  Julie’s LL Bean boots, meant for deep snow and hours of shoveling a driveway, are gathering dust in our bedroom.  It’s not so bad.

So today I decided to take a tour around our neighborhood of Islington and take some photos of our local parks were we bring our fur kid, Basil the beagle.  We have literally a dozen or so small parks or gardens within a ten minute walk of our flat. Some do not allow dogs, so we tend to frequent the same circuit of dog-friendly areas.  I know the Basil man enjoys the open Islington green spaces; more opportunities to eat some gross things.  So here are some photos of our ‘hood, basking in the warm rays of a winter’s sun, specifically, Thornhill Sqaure, Thornhill Garden and Barnard Park.  I did not even need a winter jacket, just a tee shirt and a zip up hoodie.  Makes London weather look better than most of the US doesn’t it!