A Banksy Summer...

Just two days after seeing the Banksy in Walthamstow, Ashlynn and I set off to see a few more for what later turned out to be an entire series of animal murals popping up all over London. 

These monkeys appear to be swinging across a vine below the train bridge crossing over Brick Lane, an area known for street art.

Later we made our way over to St Paul’s to see this City of London Police Box that Banksy had covered with piranhas....

...which was my favorite of all the Banksys that popped up in London in 2024.

By that time, it was surrounded by barriers and had multiple guards trying to prevent onlookers from getting run over in the street. 

 

Above and Below...

Jimmy was excited to find an affordable and removable solution to create some shade on our terrace so that he could work outside on warm days. He was thrilled to find some thick curtain rods left on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. He bought some long thick plastic pipes at the hardware store to zip-tie to our railing, into which he inserts the rods and then attaches a camo netting. 

Jimmy’s office actually doesn’t have enough desks for everyone, so he has to work from home once or twice a week. Nice that he has the option to work outside.

August 11, 2024, was warm enough that a bunch of kids went swimming in Shadwell Basin despite all the warning signs forbidding swimming. 

That evening we went for dinner in Soho with Ashlynn and some of her friends before heading to the venue for that evening’s DJ set. Other than having security at the door, it wasn’t obvious upon entry that Cuts was more than a hair salon, We went down some stairs into the basement which is used as a small venue for music, comedy and community group gatherings.

Ashlynn was thrilled to DJ side-by-side with Bud, who was known as Rosie when the two of them co-managed the community radio station in Glasgow.

It was cool to see her brother again, who we had met in Holland when the two of them stayed with us in March 2023. 

After their set, Jimmy and I headed home from Tottenham Court Road Station, which has some very cool mosaics... 

…and long tunnels. 

 

More Street Art...

Gods Own Junkyard was in an industrial park with several small brewers and distilleries with colorful entrances.

We also passed some cool street art on our walk back to the station. 

That evening we hosted Julie, Thomas and Alan for pizza and cocktails on our terrace.

 

Neon Museum.

Our main destination in Walthamstow was the Neon Museum...

…known as Gods Own Junkyard. 

We truly enjoyed exploring this eclectic gallery of custom neon signs.

 

Street Art in Walthamstow...

Ironically, I had already planned for us to go to Walthamstow on August 10, 2024, when I learned that there was a new Banksy in this northeastern part of London. After walking through the extremely underwhelming Walthamstow Market, which is Europe’s longest outdoor market, we headed to Bonners Fish Bar.

We weren’t the only ones visiting this fish bar on a random neighborhood street corner. 

Any idea of having a fish lunch was quickly shattered as the shop was shuttered for the summer. What a lost opportunity for the owners, who later learned that their chippie had made international news. 

Love how Banksy incorporated the sign so it looks like the pelican is grabbing a fish from it. 

Our long walk around the Walthamstow Wetlands and to a unique gallery also passed by some other cool street art...

…and this Mini Food Bank Project where people could leave canned food for others.

Since most of Walthamstow is full of modern suburban homes and apartment buildings, this Tudor building really stood out.

 

Highs and Lows of 20th Year - Part 2

We are happy that once again our list of highs is much longer than our list of lows. Much of this list again focuses around traveling, our favorite thing to do:

• 20 years of living in Europe!
• 20 years of living car-free
• Jimmy/Melissa Travel: Belgium - Belgian Nash Hash in Ardennes, back to Brussels for BMPH3 Xmas Party Weekend; Denmark - Melissa tagged along on Jimmy’s business trip to Odense, weekend in Copenhagen with hashers, great Copenhagen H3 trail through a beautiful cemetery; England - weekend in Penzance to see Veronica off from Land’s End, day trip down the Thames on the Waverly Steam Ship, night on Camilla + Tristram’s farm, City H3 Away Weekend in Bournemouth with great trails; Germany- dancing on bench at beer festival in Munich, great trails at German Nash Hash in Bad Tolz; Netherlands - Panorama Mesdag; Naturalis; going on Bootjuh with Reinhardt + Inga; great FILTH trail; Paris - 5 wonderful nights in a studio in Montmarte courtesy of a kind harriette, Notre Dame, introduced to searching for Invaders (mosaic street art), great Paris H3 trail, lots of wandering; Scotland - Burns Night Hash Weekend with Glasgow H3 in Dunoon, 2 nights with Mirka in Stonehaven with nice long walks and a hash with Mearns H3, 2 nights with Marianne + John in Aboyne with cycling and hiking; Shetland - Simmer Dim Hash Weekend on summer solstice with amazing trails and fun party
• Jimmy Travel: Aix en Provence - train across France, fun with colleagues after business trip; Brussels - finding another spa; The Hague - snuck into NCIA Christmas Party and managed to remember most names; Wales - new festival tent for Lovetrails (music and running festival), 27k trail much better than last year
• Melissa Travel: England - visiting Veronica in Exeter, hashing with Isca H3 in Exmouth, Totnes Christmas Market, spending 2 nights at Sally + John’s; Netherlands - spending quality time with Georgia, Johanna + Terri, special tour at Mauritshuis; Scotland - visiting Ashlynn in Glasgow and seeing her perform twice with water; staying with her in Bonnybridge for dogsitting; another fun visit to Gillian’s in Edinburgh
• Family Travel: England - met Veronica at the Scottish border at the end of her ride and spent 1 night in Carlisle for celebration dinner; Scotland - 3 nights in cabin at Glen Tanar Estate for David + Tamsin’s wedding, hike around Loch Kinord and Falls at Burn O’Fat, family photography team
• Veronica Travel: England - camping under apple orchard trees in blossom, cycling in the Yorkshire Dales, girls trip to the Cotswolds, backpacking and photography trip on Dartmoor, week at Dreda’s farm, visiting Fiona in Nottingham with Ellie, gave seminar at UEA, RGS Conference in Birmingham; France - Food + Communication Conference in Lille; Scotland - Lois’ wedding, seeing Sam in Edinburgh
• Ashlynn Travel: Berlin - visiting Soso and Nick; DJ on Tour - Berlin, Italy; Italy - 3 nights in Tuscany after festival; Scotland - Glencoe with Maya and Til; Loch Tae with Fletch; free accommodation in Skye for one week
• Melissa/Veronica Travel: England - met up in Lincoln for 2 nights, Extreme Rock ‘n Roll Circus
• Veronica/Ashlynn Travel: Scotland - backpacking in the Cairngorms 
• Family: together again for Christmas in London; fun shows including naughty panto; Boxing Day breakfast on 40th floor; birthday high tea on 38th floor of The Gherkin; climbing up and over the 02 Arena (pictured); Jimmy being dragged on stage at Shitfaced Shakespeare and dressed as a Ghostbuster
• Jimmy/Melissa: cool art exhibits; tour of Big Ben; thrilled that our rental agreement has been extended two more years; discovering Hackney Wick; seeing more of the girls
• Jimmy: exciting things happening at work with DIANA OS; reaching Eurostar Club Level unlocks making travel nicer; having the time to add new features to Harrier Central; organizing London Marathon Beer Stop; cycling into London with Veronica; pulled off organizing a great away weekend despite only a small group of helpers
• Melissa: finding a partner in crime (Liesl); great day hikes with AWC London; seeing Veronica speak at the RGS; new TV
• Veronica: surviving her fieldwork 2,014-mile cycle ride, meeting lots of cool people along the way, and the kindness of strangers; family at beginning and end of the ride including a surprise by Ashlynn; 5 years of Coves to Cliffs; book club; Rugby World Cup with Annabel; speaking on main stage of Royal Geographic Society (RGS); conferences; Wicked double feature; fun dating with new confidence; another year with zero flights; nice not having to move; enjoying English cheese; Swiftageddon; spending lots of time with friends; skinny dipping in the Serpentine; introducing Andrew and Hannah to the hash
• Ashlynn: getting her Master’s degree; starting a label with new best friend; lots of DJ gigs; releasing first compilation; playing after all-time favorite producer and watching her dance to Ashlynn’s set; DJing at festival with 100,000+ attendees; DJing at festival with Veronica watching; full expense paid trip to play at festival in mountains of Italy; releasing first track and hearing it on NTS Radio; live performances including with water and singing; Stranger Things Live; dogsitting; teaching biology online; first play in Glasgow
• Visitor count up since moving to London: Ashlynn; Carolyn + Zach; Fenella + Matthew; Kelly, David + Madeline; Phil; Veronica; Vivynne + Tony

 

Highs and Lows of 20th Year - Part 1

Hard to believe that we’ve lived in Europe for 20 years as of November 22, 2025. Once again, the four of us weren’t together then, but were reunited for another Christmas in London. We reflected on our year on December 29 at a Vietnamese restaurant called Sprigs. As usual, here are our lows first:

• Political situations
• Climate change
• Ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine
• Immigration rhetoric from Labour Party
• Missing Kati
• Jimmy: drama at work distracts from the mission; manager leaving; spending six months of coding to rebuild  Harrier Central due to tech changes; running injuries at end of year
• Melissa: continued lack of discipline to update this blog; Georgia passing away; missing a Eurostar journey due to own stupidity; receiving call from a crying Veronica; missing King’s Day festivities in Holland due to catching Covid 
• Jimmy + Melissa: finding mice in our flat; lack of communication from Brett
• Veronica + Ashlynn: too long since visiting Holland
• Veronica: having her heart broken; Leah leaving Exeter; endless transcription of interviews with farmers; feeling a bit lost about food post her epic cycle ride; UK higher education system in decline
• Ashlynn: drama from middle-aged white men in the music scene; having to move from her nice flat in Glasgow; ongoing Ciaran drama; visa stresses; ongoing health issues with medications not working; tour in Japan cancelled; jobs in her field requiring a driver’s license; data hiccups for thesis; bickering of new roommates