tues, 30th - winter wonderland....

day 290:

woke up to a winter wonderland today.......

like my waxing lyrical about autumn (see day 239), no matter how many times i experience snow, i still feel like a giddy child when i open the shutters and see the world turned into a quiet and simplified landscape....

we didn't take Limi to the park....not that much fun when she's still mainly crawling...but i can't wait to do this with her (pic from last year).....

for some whimsically beautiful pics of this year's snow in Amsterdam, look here.

nov, 29th - books....

day 289:

Limi absolutely loves her books.....and it has got to the point where she says bububu after dinner for us to read a book to her.

favourites for her to read herself are:

• I like bugs (link) - beautiful, graphic, collage illustration by Lorena Siminovich and touch and feel
• I like fruit (link) - by the same author
• touch and feel FARM (link) - clean and simple graphics by Dwell Studio
• Little Duck: Finger Puppet Book (link) - she LOVES this book and gets excited EVERYTIME the duck puppet appears

more books are definitely on the Christmas list.

nov, 28th - sunday....

day 288:


i had a Limi free outing today, to use a spa voucher that i was given before she was born!! it was at a spa in town so i hopped on a red London bus and rediscovered the top deck.....it hasn't existed much for me lately....buggies are quite restrictive in the way....


took some snaps as we were bobbing down Bayswater Road....love the nostalgia of these pics. makes me think of Hyde Park 100 years ago....

nov, 27th - all i want for christmas.....

day 287:

is my two front teeth.....

i think that at least one is out (top left) but as soon as i try and look/feel limi goes into the defensive position....

and there's no getting past those 'paws'.

ps. jumper knitted by her nana.

nov, 26th - yoga babies all grown up....

day 286:

i've mentioned before, how lucky i am to have signed up to pregnancy yoga (see day 32). not only did we have the best teacher in Colwyn but i also met an incredible bunch of girls who have helped me with all the tough decisions (like bottle brands, lack of sleep remedies, schedule ideas and other unmentionable topics)

with some of the girls back at work, baby social schedules to consider and snow on the ground, it's been hard for us all to get together lately. today was a rare day........

we met up for coffee and the predictable exclamations of: 'my word, he's/she's grown!!!' (see day 19 and day 159 for a comparison)

[bonnie and mabel made it on 2 hours sleep due to teething]

it was strangely fortuitous that when we started yoga we were mostly all around the same stage of pregnancy and the babies were born within weeks of each other.

[colwyn, gabriel, bonnie, claire, aedan and lots of coffee....lots and lots of coffee.....]

hot topics today were careers, 1st birthdays and christenings.

[bonnie (the one on the least amount of sleep) wrangling the babies - mabel, aedan and limi]

[lizzie, emily, fiona and thomas...did i mention how lucky i am]

we tried to get a pic of all the babies.....which proved to involve a lot of wrangling....

a LOT of wrangling.....

seriously....never work with kids.....

[love aedan and thomas in this pic]

but we got there in the end.....

and even got a pic of all of us too.

[left to right: emily, lizzie, limi, dee, bonnie, mabel, fiona, thomas, claire, aedan, colwyn and gabriel]

nov, 25th - T3L: bird under the arches.....

day 285:

T3London - Bird Shop Under The Arches (Ginkgo's Gardens)

(*for a description of what T3London means, click on day 160)

Bird, is my kinda shop......it stocks found, reclaimed and revived interior objects, is housed in the cavernous arches of the railway line and you will only find it by strolling through the rows of herbs and plants found at Ginkgo's Garden Nursery. 

i have a definite love of shops in railway arches after visiting the Viaduct des Arts in Paris years ago - these are 45 studios in the abandoned viaduct Daumesnil which were scheduled to be demolished but instead, were renovated and now have an amazing collection arts and crafts workshops, galleries, furniture showrooms, a restaurant and a café.

Bird has this same industrial, workshop quality that showcases its' gems to perfection.

from French linen to medicinal jars, vintage buttons to quirky cards, industrial storage to jam jars, browsing through Bird is always inspiring.  

As the owners say: 

"Retro, vintage, industrial, a bit of 50s glamour, some retro camping cool, everything in the shop is bought because we love it and it taps into our enjoyment of using and owning things that have history and character. Well made, original and rare… it’s a birdy thing."

Basic Info:

Gingko Garden Centre

Ravenscourt Avenue

London 

W6 0SL

T. 020 8741 4065
bird@birdythings.com

Neighbourhood: Ravenscourt Park

Website

Nearest Tube Stations: Ravenscourt Park and Hammersmith

Highs:

- the scent from the herb plants that wafts into the shop as you browse

- the Dig for Victory cards that come with a tiny packet of carrot seeds/ Lashings of Ginger Beer that come with a sachet of ginger beer mix

- the quirky finds that you never knew you wanted

- enjoying a coffee at Ginkgo's Cafe after your shop

- the French linen

Lows:

- living in a Shoebox that can't accommodate the vintage French bottle rack

- feeling indecisive when there is so much to choose from

Tot Tips:

- easy to navigate with a buggy

- change facilities are available inside the Ginkgo's Cafe

- Ginkgo's Cafe is very child friendly with meals and a gated area

See you there!

nov, 24th - very first photos....

day 284:

these are Limi's very first, two photographs.....taken with my phone...all i heard was 'kerchunk', 'kerchunk'...it's obvious that her first body of work is inspired by Abstract Expressionism and the simple pallette favoured by Rothko and Kline....or perhaps she just accidentally pressed a few buttons....

ps. she's much better today. no fever and back to her smiley self.

nov, 23rd - one of those days.....

day 283:

yesterday, we had one of those days........

one of those days where the world (or at least West London) seems against you...nothing seems to be going right and you'd rather curl up with a blanket over your head and hide but instead.....you end up in a swimming-pool with a baby with a raging temperature.....

it's a day where the bus breaks down as you rush to get her home.....your husband is in India and you spend the night sitting up with a steaming baby sleeping on your chest.....trying to decide when is the right time to call the emergency doctor.

today is a new day. and Limi's temperature is down.....although it did reach a serious level at 2am....i'm still hoping that it was just a pesky tooth and not a virus with a longer term plan. 

anyway, i've booked her in to see the doctor later.

nov, 22nd - oh, if only......

day 282:

i discovered this incredible French designer through my new blog-crush.....

there have been moments in the last 9 months where i have definitely wanted to design my own children's range...if only to let Limi escape the frills, pink and polyester. but why bother, when le vestiaire de jeanne has created the exact clothes....only more beautifully, more simply and more frenchly than i could have imagined.

the designer Charlotte, a med student, originally started the line as a few pieces for her 6 year old sister, Jeanne....and posted the pics on a blog called - Jeanne's Locker Room...

and it has grown from there.


the clothes are amazing and the blog is too.....these are two wonderfully creative sisters, just take a look at their fantastic tree idea for Christmas...

all pics via LE VESTIAIRE DE JEANNE

nov, 21st - once i would have skydived.....

[indian wedding in punjab, 2004]

day 281:

A. is off to India for a week for work.....i love India.....i miss India......i can't wait to get back to India....

[golden temple, 2004]

but India longings aside.....i wanted to chat about the fact that i seem to have lost my edge....having a baby seems to have robbed me of my nerve. once i skydived (in fact more than once) and went wandering into the Tenderloin in San Francisco (okay that wasn't on purpose) and loved the thrill of doing something new and slightly dangerous. now....i feel like eating cheese past it's sell-by date is bordering on high risk. 

[udaipur, 2004]

Before-Limi (BL) i would have been thrilled for A. to be out in India playing dodge-cow/elephant-truck-bumper-car, eating street-food and stepping into a market to barter for my christmas gift.....but now i'm definitely more worried and i want him  to be cautious and stay away from the vindaloo. i hate it. it feels stereotypical. it feels sensible and boring. but i can't help it. thoughts like.....we have a baby who needs both parents safe and sound....not hanging from some strings and fabric at 10,000ft, frequently cross my mind. 

i was mentioning this to a friend who is also a new parent.....how i hated this loss of throw-caution-to-the-wind-and-dangle-from-a-cliff-face nerve and she said that studies have shown that it's necessary for kids to see this balance. by this she means that it's good for a child to see one parent taking risks and the other being more cautious. i would be interested to know if this can switch in different households....i mean who was the cautious parent/step-parent in the Earhart/Putnam household. 

[udaipur, 2004]

but anyway, i can see the logic and can start to understand why i suddenly feel the need to check the sell-by dates more thoroughly these days. i hope that at some stage A. and i can swap for a bit....he will check the cheese and i will climb into a small, two-seater plane and learn to fly

ps. has anyone else noticed this lose-your-nerve transformation?

nov, 20th - get this napkin off me.....

day 281:

Lissom will merrily sit and eat her food, humming along if she likes it...until....she's had enough...then it's

get this

bib

off

me

now

unless you then produce a piece of wholewheat toast or plain yoghurt........