That's Jake in the top hat.
It was incredibly and unseasonably hot, and Item, despite coming out full of excitement, drew a dog and then lost her mojo. I had my usual experience of drawing in public, especially when Item is around, which is a real *nuisance*: I just can't relax at all. But finally The Boy took Item to the library and I did one sketch I liked before rejoining them.
In the afternoon, I took Item to the Book Nook in Hove, where they were reading stories and giving prizes to anyone who came dressed as a princess. Town was heaving with police, so it wasn't the best day to try to get right across town: we were just behind the protests, but there was a consolidated march comprising anti-cuts folk, Smash EDO, Reclaim the Streets, and general May Day protests, and the police obviously weren't taking any chances. It was quite scary leading a 6 year old through areas where the shops had closed up their doors and battened their windows, and police were lined up shoulder to shoulder, and other mounted police were walking through; on the other hand, on the way back, any danger had completely passed, but we did see a hen party one of whose members was carrying a 6ft inflatable penis, so dangers come in all shapes and sizes.
The buses were all held up and when we did get on, our driver obviously felt he was going to get beaten up if he asked people who had been waiting so long for fares. We'd only waited six minutes, but we still got a free ride.
As for the bookshop event, Item was thoroughly peeved that she only had a fairy outfit (Tinkerbell, given to us by a classmate), though I love the look of her in it with her stompy boots and a stripy t-shirt underneath. And she still got a prize.
Here she is trying on hats and handbags in TK Maxx. I'm putting that down on the "hours' worth of free entertainment" list.
