jul, 21st - 29/52....

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

day 1248 / 347:

Claya: this is the result of letting her loose with a watering can and some soil......the rest of her was almost as bad....but she loved every second (those red knees are from the small stones just outside the doors of the new house. they are the bane of our lives. if Claya isn't trying to eat them then she's trying to crawl across them and ends up with these sore looking knees.....but gets extremely cross if you don't let her explore on her own)

Limi: Summer holidays mean crazy, long days of mad playing and one exhausted looking child in the evenings. she is loving every second.

the ones that caught my eye this week:

sweet, small boy

licking the spatula

bathing and contemplating

these two

jul,19th - the pavilion....

day 1246 / 345:

i met up with some friends at the Pavilion Café in Victoria Park on Friday.....it's a spot that i've been longing to try as it's known for it's great produce that makes excellent all day breakfasts and lunch salads. London turned on the most beautiful day and so we happily say outside under striped monochromatic umbrellas, watching people pedalo around the lake and listening to some relaxed, live music.....

after some crunchy and delicious salads, we resisted the cakes and the homemade ice-cream and instead just opted for one of their excellent coffees.i would drag the whole family back here is a heartbeat......

and....what a wonderful way to start the weekend.

jul, 14th - 28/52....

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

day 1241 / 340:

Claya: loves dress-up but is not a fan of the crown....i'm guessing that she didn't want to play the part of the prince, on his steed, in this game

Limi: okay, this is not technically just a portrait of Limi but very much sums up the fact that she is a real nurturer and loves babies and playing pretend babies. in fact she keeps asking me whether we can get eight!! more Clayas. also, this is my godson, Gray, at one day old. any excuse to show him off!

the ones that caught my eye this week.....

happy knees

crafty kids

this belly

these lake shots

jul, 9th - ....

day 1236 / 335:

these were flowers left over from my birthday last month. i was reluctant to throw them away and they just seemed to get more beautiful by the day. peonies are one of my all time favourite flowers and i love that they are only available for a very short period each year, in London.

i had considered writing a reflective piece to go with this images but to be honest, i'm just too.....

+ tired (from continuously jagged sleep)

+ jumbled (from a brain blurred by a gazillion things on my todo list)

+ faded (from a couple of very hot days)

so instead, here you have 'my wilted birthday blooms'......an imaginary poem by dee

p.s. i do love and appreciate your comments. i know that i haven't been great at replying to them in the past but if you were to leave one for me again.....i vow to get better ;)

jul, 7th - 27/52....

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

day 1234 / 333:

Limi: hot, bothered and telling me that her watermelon slice was too heavy!?!

Claya: fascinated by her reflection. this image was followed by mad giggling at her reflection (but those pics were all a blur!)

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

jul, 1st - climpsons arch....

day 1228 / 327:

it was my birthday last month and as part of the celebrations, we revisited Climpsons Arch with some friends. Dave Pynt, the chef who created the pop-up restaurant, Burnt Enz, in this railway arch venue last year {see day 936 / 35} is currently exploring other exciting ventures. so this year, the BBQ is by Lucky Chip 'Licky Chop'.

this still has to be one of my favourite Summer restaurants in London. the food this year is just as outstanding: they do things with coleslaw, broccoli and courgette that is just mindbogglingly delicious and almost makes you forget the main events of sticky ribs, meltingly tender steaks and crispy chicken. 

we sat outside on a late Summer's evening at a simple metal table, drinking champagne from plastic cups and hearing the odd train rattle past. half of our group went to queue at the open BBQ kitchen and watch our food get cooked by the light of an Anglepoise lamp while the rest of us chatted under loosely strung fairground lights. when the food came, we happily passed around the rough wooden boards and raised our voices over the increasing buzz of the tables around us.

for dessert, we ordered salted caramel cones that came with flakes. they were 'man-sized' cones but the ice-cream was far to delicious to contemplate being reasonable about it....and they all disappeared one after the other.

there are many amazing restaurants in London and my friends would have happily joined me at any chosen venue but I couldn't think of anywhere that I would rather be than sitting on a steel bench under a darkening blue sky enjoying simple yet delicious food surrounded by happy, Summery people.

as I said last year, this is my kind of heaven......and my kind of birthday.

p.s. there are many more pics from our visit last year

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.