jun, 27th - wisdom of a three year old....

{pic from my instagram}

day 1224 / 323:

Limi starts crying in the garden because she finds a spider on her knee........

Limi: 'mama, the spider bit me'

Me: ' did the spider really bite you?'

Limi: 'no, maybe it just scratched me because it looks more like a scratchy kind of spider'

i hear a loud thump....Limster runs in

Limi: 'mama, did you hear that loud noise?'

Me: 'yes'

Limi: ' mama, it was me falling over and going splatter on the floor and then my kitchen nibble nobbled (wobbled) because i hit it violently with my foot.'

jun, 25th - sit boy sit....

day 1223 / 322:

we went back to Kempton Park antiques market today {see day 1209 / 308} to find some bits to fill up all this space that we now have.....it is seriously one of the best markets that we've ever been to both in terms of value for money and the vast array of goods.

i'll share some more pics at a later date but this pack of push-dogs made me smile all day. i especially love the bare-faced guy at the front.

jun, 24th - mad hatter's tea party....

day 1222 / 321:

i'm late, i'm late....for a very important date! dashing across London, i thought that there are many things that this city does well......musicals, parks, pomp, markets, chimneys.....and most certainly, high tea. high teas are even more popular now than they were when i arrived in London and after a swathe of hen-party-teas a few years ago, i feel like i've sampled a fair few of them. but, my current favourite has to be the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel.

it's quirky, creative, frivolous, delicious and references one of my favourite books, Alice in Wonderland. from start to finish, the experience has been thought through with great attention to detail. the menu is handed to you in a vintage book, the napkins are wrapped in riddles, the plates and saucers make up pictures of clocks, bird cages or zebras and the black and white table settings are a fantastic backdrop to the flamboyantly coloured sandwiches and cakes. 

the cakes and sandwiches live up to the theme delightfully. at the top of the cake stand is a tuft of pea shoots sprouting from a striped tea-cup, with a meringue carrot nestling amongst the leaves. at the base of the tea-cup, are strawberry marshmallow toadstools with a jammy centre. on the next tier, is a chocolate cup filled with green tea and white chocolate mousse, a teardrop with a oozing mango centre, a clock cake and my favourite, a little brown bottle with a tag saying: 'drink me'. the bottom tier has coloured sandwiches, the quiche of the day and two types of scones. the tea pot comes with it's own paper crown and you help yourself to sugar cubes from the music box while a ballerina twirls to 'somewhere over a rainbow'......it looks like a pastry chef has been left to let his imagination run wild.....and that thought makes me smile....in fact, nearly everything makes me smile and i think that's the point of this high tea.....

if you haven't been shrunk by the brown bottle and still have space, there's even a selection of real jellies.....they're surprisingly tart (the real deal) and cleanse the palate after all that sweetness.

i think, as we're heading out that it's the type of place where everytime you go, you think of someone else that you would like to take back there. it's a bit like this quote from the book that gives it its inspiration:

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn't have come here."

Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

jun, 23rd - 25/52....

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls, once a week, every week in 2013

day 1221 / 320:

Limi: waiting for me to finish getting our stuff together so that we can go to a birthday party

Claya: a still moment.....they don't happen often these days

to read more about the 52 project, please click here.

jun, 16th - father's day....

day 1214 / 313:

i was trying to think of something that the girls could make for A. for Father's Day  (well mainly Limi as Claya is more of a destroyer than a creator at the moment). 

we already give each other the best gift of all on these days which is of course, a lie-in.....generally followed by breakfast in bed....but i was trying to think of something that he could keep. 

i came up with a portrait that Limi (and Claya) could do of A. every year....that we could assemble in a book. this is the the first one , signed by Limi (that squiggle next to the L is a 3)......i'm interested to see how these drawings will change over the years.

happy Father's Day all....a few days late.....but hey, i still got there in the same week/ month...result!

jun, 15th - with the sparrows....

day 1213 / 312:

this is what happens when you wake up too early.....you are the first ones at the park......

jun, 11th - kempton park antiques.....

day 1209 / 308:

at the crack of dawn, spurred on by the idea that everyone else was already snapping up the good stuff, we woke the girls (it doesn't happen this way around very often), quickly got dressed and headed out the door to the Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park Racecourse. it happens every second and fourth Tuesday of the month and shuts up shop at around noon so you have to get there before breakfast or wait for the bargains at closing time.

i have wanted to visit this market for years. it was reinforced by Louise back on day 561 and yet still, we haven't managed to get ourselves down there. but with two chairs to collect from a dealer, we had a great excuse to get our act together and of course........we were Completely Blown Away. all the vintage stores that we visit in London now pale into insignificance against this market.....especially when I also get a chance to do a little bit of light haggling too.

there was so much to see and so much that we could have bought......as Louise advised, the one food option isn't the best so I would highly recommend taking along your own and also leaving the kids at home, so that you can linger at stalls, digging around for treasure.

on top of the two chairs we went down to collect, we were looking for storage for The House.....of course instead of storage, we came home with an old marmalade jar (£3), a beautiful, leather, trunk suitcase (to use as Limi and Claya's dress-up box), a striped blazer for A and an old Imperial Typewriter (£30).....but we now have a great excuse to visit again in two weeks time.

jun, 9th - 23/52....

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls once a week, every week, in 2013

1207 / 306:

Limi: for this split second, i can almost see the teenager that she will grow into....this is her favourite place to be in The House.....perched on the windowsill in the kitchen.

Claya: these hands and feet are forever moving.....the jersey is a hand-me-down from Claya's godmother {see day 634} (i'm pretty thrilled that she's having a boy next and we're inheriting all these beautiful pieces)

p.s. you can click here to read more about the 52 project

jun, 4th - best kids toys in the world, part II.....

day 1202 / 301:

when Limi was younger, i wrote about the world's best baby toys {see day 250}, this past weekend proved again, that sometimes, it's the simple things that are still the best. we bought Limi her own watering can and with the added outside tap, she was in toddler heaven. Claya, on the other hand, loved playing in the empty bbq box.......neither 'toy' lit up, made a noise or were brightly coloured but they were the best toys by far this weekend....and into the week (we may be living with a bbq box for a long time to come).

p.s these are close-ups as the garden is still very much work in progress.....and the grass rug is from Limi's old room and there to soften the concrete for a crawling Claya....we didn't have a garden in the Shoebox but Limi still had her own patch of grass to play on.

jun, 2nd - 22/52......

the 52 project: a portrait of the girls once a week, every week, in 2013

1200 / 299:

Claya: she adores her big sister but also has a feisty side that will be interesting when she gains the same level of mobility and strength. hopefully they will still find each other as hilarious as they do now. i had put some music on and she was doing her own dance moves

Limi: twirling to make her baby sister laugh. the plaster is for aesthetic reasons.....she Loves plasters and generally has one or two on at any given time

i also included the outtakes below. they make me smile whenever i look at them. now that Claya is slightly older, it's almost tangible how their relationship is changing and they are becoming this little clique of their own......i love it.

p.s. you can click here to read more about the 52 project.

jun, 1st - serpentine....

day 1199 / 298:

we revisited this cafe in Hyde Park, over the weekend and even though we've visited it many times {see day 160, day 336 and  day 588}, this is the first time that we've sat outside. they serve hotdogs and hamburgers outside (although we opted to share one of their woodfired pizzas instead). we were catching up with an old friend who is only in town for the week and the park put on a fantastic display of ducks, rowboats, glorious sunshine and happy, shiny people. our friend used to live in London so he's used to all its finer points....but still, when London decides to pull out all the stops, she's one very beautiful city.

p.s. this cafe used to serve crumbly dry scones and be empty most days so it's great to see it still thriving under the Benugo group.