jul, 3rd - weekend....

day 507:

we spent our weekend in quintessential Summer English style....watching Wimbledon and then cheering A. as he played some cricket.....{it happens every year, see day 148, day 152 etc.} 

i volunteered to do the tea.......i've escaped taking ownership for a cricket tea for years....but choosing now to launch myself into mass catering was probably a bit naive.....so, while A. frolicked (in a manly way) around a green field....I made 50 sandwiches (two types), two salads, sliced ham, broke baguettes, piled up these brownies, dressed scones and tried to make everything look un-mass-catered....all the while singing endless rounds of row-row-row your boat or twinkle-twinkle and trying to stop Limi from unpacking every cupboard in a foreign kitchen and drink the industrial disinfectant......

no pics of the tea....for obvious reasons.......but the compliment was being asked for the recipe for my brownies, slow-roasted tomatoes and potato salad (the secret ingredient was tarragon)...

spied this most amazing car outside the clubhouse and assumed that it was owned by someone on the field.....

but next minute, some grandparents came over the hill with their three grandchildren.....the kids all piled giggling into the bucket seat at the back and they laughed about the fact that it was downhill all the way home and therefore they may even overtake a cyclist......it just reminded me that the joy of life is not in the fancy times but in the good, happy and interesting times with family and how these kids would grow up remembering this amazing car and rolling down hills between green hedges....what great memories to look back on.

Limi was far more interested in this guy who was waiting patiently for his owner to finish playing.....

and exploring every inch of the grounds......

although i may dream about being bowled over by a giant ham and i'm nursing butter-bread-wrist....it was worth it.

hope you had a wonderful weekend. x

mar, 20th - scary lambs....

day 407:

today we tripped out to the countryside to catch up with some good friends. we met at Bucklebury farm which is an animal petting farm...yikes our weekends have changed......

it's a sweet farm that during lambing season....hooray, Spring is here.......has a collection of tiny, frolicking lambs that can't be raised by their mothers. these lambs are hand reared by bottle and children are encouraged to help...free, small labour......clever Bucklebury.

Limi is crazy about animals....well i think/hope she is...she almost cries with excitement when you take her within touching distance of a dog, cat or horse. but then she just doesn't know what to do with them. well the farm tipped her over the edge.....she was completely overwhelmed by all the animals......

she loved the chickens and the goats (although she kept pointing at the goats and saying dog, dog, dog).....

rabbits, ponies and the Hungarian Mangalitsa "curly piglets".....

and then of course they had these tiny, very, very sweet lambs in pens......Limi was standing at the railing and this little lamb came right up and bleated in her face. she went completely rigid and then started howling with huge tears (which certainly frightened the lamb)..........but after a bit of distance from both of their menacing bleats they were all smiles and frolics again. a few minutes later,  she was loving the llama with his big teeth...so go figure...scared of lambs. 


i guess no-one told her that these are not attack lambs.

mar, 6th - forget ducks....

day 393:

forget ducks, Limi now wants to see deer on her walks......

and who can blame her.

we went for a deliciously long walk in the bracing cold today and Limi was enthralled when we happened upon a local herd of deer.....

aaah, the country.

after our walk, we settled in with mugs of tea, a roaring fire, books and conversation.

in the late afternoon, we headed back to London, relaxed and inspired for the week ahead. what a blissful couple of days.

feb, 27th - cats and dogs....

day 386:

another weekend of rain. will spring ever come.

spied this fantastically British, Sunday takeaway at the food market....

rare roast beef with horseradish, served in a large yorkshire pudding.

brilliant.

feb, 20th - weekend....

day 379:

limi and i.

we had a fun weekend. hope yours was just as good. x

feb, 13th - click, click....

Top Baby Blogs has reset their votes...pretty please throw a vote our way by clicking on the below. It just takes two clicks....you can vote every day by using the button on the right....it doesn't win me prizes or badges to wear but it does mean that i might continue to meet people....and if they're anything like the people that i have already met then they are warm, witty, inspiring, creative and make me laugh-out-loud....so definitely worth meeting!!

so thanks for every vote.

day 372:

and here's a small snippet captured with my brand-new obsession......

when i first fell in love with Hipstamatic (day 115).....i said, wouldn't it be amazing if they also made an iPhone app that captured video as a vintage 8mm style movie.

well it's here.....8mm vintage.

Come fly with me by Frank Sinatra

jan, 30th - mabel turns 1....

day 351:

Limi's best friend Mabel turned 1 today.....we were there to help blow out the candle.

and of course eat cake, biscuits, jelly and scones!

it was a wonderful first birthday filled with a roomful of people who all adore Mabel (as birthdays should be).....

Happy Birthday Mabes!

jan, 15th - hyde park....

day 336:

awhile back, i wrote about this gorgeous spot in Hyde Park (see day 160)....we went again today to meet friends for a lovely Sunday brunch. still a BIG favourite.

nov, 14th - our sunday in pictures....

day 275:

we had a friend in town so headed down to the river today to have a typical English Sunday roast.....

A.'s pint....

not such a happy pub goer....

beautiful, chequered-board tiles.....

lovely leather couches....

take me home....

aaah...a fabulous, aubergine morris minor on the walk home.

nov, 7th - wapping project....

day 268:

our sunday was filled with a small bit of work, some boats, a couple of cocktails, incredible views of iconic Tower Bridge and Autumn sunshine peeking through the clouds. 

a friend is a boat builder/ amazing timber craftsman who has recently been working for some barge-houseboat clients. i went off to shoot his work for a new website. what an incredible spot and community.

situated on the River Thames with an uninterrupted view of Tower Bridge (now that's something to wake up to every day), these barges have been turned into modern, stylish and super funky homes.....i love the contrast between the industrial, masculine exteriors and 

cosy, sleek interiors.

after that, we headed to lunch at The Wapping Project. this restaurant come gallery is an old favourite and i so wish that it was closer to us.....i would move to East London just to be closer to it. set in an old Hydraulic Power Station it has my favourite distressed, industrial walls and remnants of it's original purpose everywhere.

the food was amazing as always (i didn't have the whole tiny fish above ...those are A.'s kitten-breath -speciality)

Limi was there in her nautical stripes (with a few polka dots thrown it) but the general consensus was that she looked more like a vintage aviator/rugby player! and um....not necessarily in a good way......so sorry honey-bee for dressing you oddly today.

beautiful Sunday.