The Pirate Queen, Ms F, struck a bargain with her captives, Sev Blackhair and Short Kash Silver, whose ship, the Golden Grind, she had plundered earlier in the afternoon.

In exchange for their freedom, they were to carry the Pirate Queen's treasure chest aboard their vessel, sail it to a location of her choosing, and bury it where no one would ever find it. The chest contained not only treasure but also Ms F's flamboyant pirate attire, relics of her swashbuckling past.

The Queen had decided to retire from piracy—at least for a while—and lie low to evade the pirate hunters on her trail. Wise as she was, Ms F believed that good fortune is earned through good deeds. True to her word, she released the crew of the Golden Grind and even gifted them some of her old pirate outfits.

Their final task was to sail to Covent Garden and donate the clothes to Oxfam, buying the Pirate Queen a little good luck for her retirement.

And that's exactly what they did.

For Sunday afternoon, Sev Blackhair enlisted himself to serve on board the Golden Grind, a very busy merchant ship that sailed between East and West London, trading with anyone who had some cash on them—even pirates!

Blackhair sailed with Captain Short Kash Silver through Bloomsbury with a cargo of rum (or maybe it was ginger beer?) when they were attacked by the Queen of Pirates, Ms F. Ms F plundered the Golden Grind's cargo hold, taking, among other goods, potatoes, green beans, eggs, oatcakes, and, of course, the ginger beer.

The fearsome buccaneer single-handedly captured Blackhair and Short Kash Silver and refused to release them until they had repaid her with a favour.

Oh the irony...when I arrived at Mr T's the first thing I noticed was that his hall carpet had disappeared - apparently he'd suffered a (plumber induced...he was not happy) flood, due to a blocked drain courtesy of his upstairs neighbours, and the resulting clearance work had caused the backed up waste water to eject itself from every plughole in his flat. Fortunately it had all been cleared up. Compared to this minor drama, today's shopping trip was a piece of cake.

There was a noticeable police presence all along Tottenham Court Road this afternoon, accompanied by sirens and a lot of hi viz - seems they were targeting the souped up electric bikes, and judging by the number already chained to a flat bed truck, were having some success.

Souped up was also Mr T's top request as he'd missed a shop last week and so had "broken into" his emergency supplies - in this case tins of vegetable or chicken soup from M&S. Once found, it was a slow amble back via Holland&Barrett, Tesco and eventually Lidl to complete his list - sadly there was no washed Spinach to be found on the shelves today, so Mr T will be back to giving the leaves a double rinse in the sink before consuming for his tea.

This lovely group made their usual fabulous difference.

As this summer's annual London Permaculture Festival approaches, we made the venue feel spic and spam ahead of the big day :)

Thank you, everyone!!

Ms F settled into her new routine of cheese souffles and new, exciting types of cheese. This time, the substitute for much missed Cornish Yarg was Wensleydale with cranberries. Ms F's shopping list also continued to feature the posh strawberries for four pounds. In the absence of her favourite Buxton still water, I had to resort to purchasing a six-pack of Volvic. Although the weight must have been the same as Buxton's the water felt much lighter. I didn't break a sweat while walking with the six-pack and the rest of the groceries to the fifth floor - but I certainly did later, on the Piccadilly line to West London!