jan, 30th - tulle and lace....

day 698:

and here is the result of my Sunday.....cream tulle found in the fantastic Berwick Street in London and lace bought from this local fair.......

Limi wasn't convinced by all the tulle until i told her that it was her Alice-in-Wonderland skirt to wear to a birthday party on Sunday afternoon......

now if only i could find some vintage circus costumes to throw into the dress-up box....

jan, 29th - making sunday....

day 697:

i had a making Sunday......i'll post the results tomorrow.

in the meantime, since this post is a bit light on substance, here are a couple of things that have caught my attention lately.........

 - this beautiful short film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino via here

- the photography on this blog...blows me away

- this shop

- these copper pipe lights by Tamasine Osher via here

i hope that your weekend was creative and productive. x

jan, 26th - david hockney at the royal academy....

[detail from a David Hockney iPad drawing]

day 694:

i enjoyed a breakfast preview of the new David Hockney exhibition this morning. when the alarm went off and i looked out at the dark, wet, Winter weather, i was very tempted to hide under the covers and pretend that i wasn't a Hockney fan after all. but i'm so glad that i managed to haul myself out of bed and down to the Royal Academy in Piccadilly in time for coffee, trees and hawthorn.

what an astounding artist and man. i think that even if you are not a Hockney fan, you would still be completely blown away by this exhibition. the majority of the exhibition is made up of new work (created between 2004 and 2011), some of it specifically for the Royal Academy rooms, and the scale is just astounding.

although his vast oil paintings are definitely the ones that i would move out the Shoebox to accommodate (Hockney, if you're looking for a home for 'The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (Twenty Eleven)', then I'm your girl), the enlarged iPad drawings also had me completely intrigued. Hockney is now seventy-four and although it shouldn't surprise anyone, given that he has always embraced technology in the past, i'm still in awe at his ability to adopt and master such a new 'painting' technology.....to be honest, i hadn't even realised that iPad drawing existed. these works may not be as rich as the oils but they are still beautiful and distinctive in their pattern and colours.

we were given a tour by one of the Academy staff which is always great for getting real insight into the works but my favourite story that was shared is about Hockney himself. In the morning, he enjoys a cup of coffee and cigarette in bed and generally picks up his iPad, makes a sketch of whatever he sees and emails it to his friends. wouldn't you love to be on that mailing list....wake up to a Hockney every morning. it would make cold, wet, dark mornings like today that much easier to bear.

David Hockey

Royal Academy of Arts

21 January - 9 April 2012

London

jan, 25th - shoeboxes....

day 693:

found these fantastic, original soda trays at The Old Cinema in Chiswick {see day 188}. they make ideal shoeboxes for Limi and fit perfectly under her cot.

p.s. Limi's sweet dress is from my sister and by Stella McCartney Kids

jan, 24th - save the date....

day 692:

already time again to start planning a 2nd birthday party. i'm inspired to make a giant-play-in-it gingerbread house....let's see if i can pull it off. fall back is a can't-play-in-it-but-you-can-eat-it gingerbread house.

p.s. thanks for all the comments on the last post....we're all feeling much better today. must be all the kiwi fruit we are snacking on.

jan, 23rd - granny smith....

day 691:

i'm really so over being ill this Winter. anyone have any ideas? we seem to have a germ carousel in the house that keeps passing the sickness around. i long for some serious heat to burn these coughs away. until then, we're living on the 'apple a day' promise.....

jan, 22nd - virtuous bread....

day 690:

part of A.'s Christmas present was a sourdough bread-making course with Jane Mason at Virtuous Bread. we're not at the veg/herb garden stage yet, but we both love good food made with quality ingredients. {remember this ode to jam}

A. is already pretty good at making loaves but after today's course.......we will never be short of homemade bread and delicious sourdough crackers.

it's definitely one of those selfish presents, where the giver ends up benefiting just as much. 

for dinner, we enjoyed slices of A.'s fresh bread with bowls of butternut soup and cracked black pepper. very tasty.

jan, 17th - barnes farmers market....

day 684:

we had a quick wander around Barnes Farmers Market on Saturday. it's grown so much since our last visit. there's a lovely fishmonger now with some fresh oyster shucking that we were very tempted by. there are a couple of stalls doing delicious looking burgers and pizzas and as always some incredible fresh produce.

we agreed that next time we have friends around for dinner on a Saturday night, we'll come down and source our ingredients here.

jan, 16th - the breakfast club....

day 683:

on Sunday, we met some friends for brunch, at the The Breakfast Club.  it's another East London haunt and has just the right amount of lounge-room chic, vintage style and friendly service. asking for a babycinno was a mistake though, East London is way to cool to serve babycinnos. but once we explained, they did, with a big smile and a straw.

their breakfasts aren't timid. our tables' orders ranged from eggs benedict to a stack of pancakes to a breakfast burrito....the menu has a great selection.

these two were thrilled to see each other again and as always, it was great for us to catch up on each other's news. brunch with friends is such a good way to start a Sunday and The Breakfast Club does a brilliant one. 

Sunday Brunch might just be the new Friday Night Out.

a big plus with having toddlers, who drag you out of bed with the sunrise, is that you get to popular places before the big queues form. in East London, this is a good thing. as we were leaving, the queue had already started to snake out the door and down the road. 

this place is worth a wait though. especially for the very good coffee.

jan, 15th - chill factor....

day 682:

our walk this weekend in Barnes. it's time to light the fire.....the icy weather is here.

jan, 12th - the power and the glory....

day 679:

another morning in Cape Town and another great breakfast spot. The Power & The Glory was walking distance from 'our' cottage {see day 670}. it's open till late and i can see why you would be quite tempted to stay there all day.....watching the would go by and drinking the amazing coffee.

we ordered the eggs.....and i loved the way that they came.....so simple, yet so effective. brilliant idea. although, i've always had a love affair with egg boxes......the endless possibilities for gluing together 'masterpiece' creations as a child has never quite gone away......so this made me grin with childlike delight.

and Limi was fairly chuffed with her sprinkles on her babycinno....yes, people do say, what is the point of a babycinno......well, not sure except for the fact that it generally let's you eat your breakfast/ drink your own coffee uninterrupted and it makes her happy....which is good enough for me.

and it means that she can make a milk-beard which ahem.....is not encouraged but makes us laugh.

so, The Power & The Glory gets added to the breakfast collection. it's a great place to start (and I imagine end) the day......

The Power and The Glory 

Corner of Kloof Nek and Burnside Road

Cape Town

South Africa