Today Llandavians are encouraged to pull out a pen, paper or camera and record what they see. The “Mass Observation” project aims to record history by drawing on hundreds of people’s diary entries, photographs and video recordings. Anyone can participate.
Editor of Llandaff News, Joni Ayn Alexander, took the opportunity to pop into one of the local cafes this morning. Here’s what she observed:
9:20 am at Garland’s Cafe on Llandaff High Street
It’s a grey day. Clouds overhead only showing off patches of blue sky. But no rain. Not yet.
I’m sitting in Garland’s cafe. It’s a new addition to the shop, which sells flowers off the High Street and posh bits and bobs — mostly for women — inside. The cafe is small and modern with Ikea-like white chairs. The extension to the shop was only built recently.
I feel a bit bad. I ordered a skinny mocha, and the young girl at the till thought they’d run out of skinny milk. So she sent the other young girl across the street to the Spar. I can hear the cafe manager telling her there was some in the other frig upstairs. The girl’s shy, excited smile looks muted now.
I’m sat outside in the garden. The table is tiny and would struggle to fit another person’s coffee or tea and treats. That’s probably because I’ve piled the table with a scone, a mocha, a camera and my notebook. A big wasp buzzes behind me in a tiny terracotta pot of lavender I can’t quite smell.
The first young person I see — other than the cafe girls — walks out of the parking area off the High Street. Cars begin to fill the space. Typical. Even in the height of summer hols.
It’s dead quiet outside. Just a whir from the traffic on Cardiff Road, the occasional car door shutting, and chirping birds. Oh! Voices! Construction workers walk by. One young lad tells the other his mate’s driven from the east coast to the west coast — of America, I presume.
A young mum follows behind with two children grasping her hands. She peeks into the garden of Garland’s to see me, nose in my notebook. The little boy stares quickly with wide eyes and a pacifier lodged between his lips. They hurry off.
The clouds are beginning to look more ominous. No more blue sky finding its way through. The closest I’m coming to sunshine is the picture of a smiling sun that’s blocking out what light there is on a passing car. I’m just glad I brought my brolly.
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