Cycling from West Acton to POSK and back

I have just come back and cannot wait to tell you how many interesting people, places and events I saw while running a few errands in the Acton and Chiswick area this afternoon.

I checked if the Oaktree Community Centre conversation class ads were in the right places:

When doing a selfie with Carrie Reichardt's cab and studio in the background I met one of her neighbours pulling a large suitcase. He was very friendly and spoke highly of her.

Carrie is really popular in the area, people appreciate her for what she does and what she stands for which is good to know. At the Oaktree Community Centre I saw many people wearing similar purple garments setting up one of the rooms. It was for a family function, I gathered and asked no more. Well, on this occasion I preferred not to interfere.

The mosaic bench as always attracted me so I stopped to read yet another of many stories that it holds.

I also photographed the recent of London Hedonists plaques on the house where the sponsor of the mosaic cab lives. Have I yet told you how I met Hazel at The West London Trade Unions Club in Acton High Street last year, Dear Reader?

As I was taking pictures, a group of people came out of the adjacent house. I felt the need to explain why I was photographing the building. They never noticed the plaque before, imagine that! How could I not tell them why she got a local blue plaque, who Carrie is and what she does and that living here they may want to know about ARTification, and maybe take part in our projects! I left the posters with Hazel's neighbour. She promised to pass them on to the 'Militant Botanist'.

I would have made it to the Lara Restaurant near the Turnham Green Station without stopping, but the cheerful colours of the unknown to me antique and pet-related shop simple dragged me in. And the shop name: 'RAG N' BONE', like a popular singer Rag & Bone Man!
What a discovery that was! And I met Mandy Pritty, an artist illustrator whose works I'm pretty sure I had seen before.

 You can see Mandie sitting by the entrance. We chatted a bit and hence I got a link to her website (see above).

 Once I got inside I kept taking pictures as I do.

If you need anything for your four-legged friend, head for Mandie's shop:

As I was taking pictures by St Michael and Angels I was approached by a man I saw at a barber shop near Mandie's. Now he knows I take pictures, but doesn't know about my picture-taking fasting when my phone camera got jammed. That was hard.

Lara serves really nice Turkish food and is a really nice place. Although my friend there turned out to be on holiday, but still I managed to leave some of the ARTification and Citizen 2020 posters along with my Ealing Walking, Talking and Exploring Group ones.

At the Polish Cultural Institute in Ravenscourt Park I wasn't lucky. The receptionist on duty put away my posters for the manager to approve of displaying them (or not). That means that the Tuesday tour of Polish South Kensington will not be advertised there in time. Pity.

While there I had a quick look at the temporary exhibition at the POSK Gallery and also at the PMS Bookshop. Looking through the album of Polish artists in London I noticed two pages on Mr Sergiusz Paplinski. Only a teenager, he thought against the Germans and after the war swapped the gun for a paint brush becoming a painter.

I was moved to find out that the works at the gallery were by a Polish painter who died young.

                    

Then I was going back via Ravenscourt Park and took a poor quality picture of my favourite tree there:

 Bedfod Park is not a park, here is proof:

 

I tried to capture the beauty of wisteria more than once. No luck!

Soon I was entering Acton Park. It must be nice to live in a house next to it:  

Churchfield Road - how not to stop by such a sight:

Yes, you can see water cascading onto the sofa with a strange object on it!

I was kindly invited inside along with my bike by Sophie, an artist herself. The exhibition I was about to see was of works by Linda Lieberman.

I'm glad Sophie persuaded me to go downstairs and see more. It was well worth it.

When I returned she was talking about the exhibition to some other visitors.

And this is what the gallery is called:


I was there long enough to meet Nathan who runs this great local venue. We had met before and I kind of knew that he is rather tall but when this time we stood next to each other I had to look up to see his face towering above me I realised how tall Nathan is.

Later, back home, I was in the garden and captured the low sun. Everything looks better then.

However, there were some worrying details to document going up the stairs to the flat:

Are we safe????