London Reunion

Adventures in babysitting.

My life has been incredibly blessed by the presence of many wonderful people. Amongst them I count two kids (and their parents) who I had the pleasure of sitting when I lived in Napa. Having abandoned them for England shortly after graduating from university it was an almighty shock and pleasure to see what incredible young people they had turned into. London kindly showed her good side and gave us the perfect back drop for our reunion.

Hyde Park was serendipitously filled with the sounds of guns for Prince Philip's birthday and Sophia learned 'mushy peas' really live up to their name at the park cafe.



We later moseyed to the Natural History Museum where we took the 'spirit tour' and were engrossed with all the peculiar creatures suspended in jars of formaldehyde for eternity. Not the least of which hailed from the HMS Beagle.





My spirit animal.

My sister's spirit animal.

Learning all about epigenetics.



Devouring the DNA we had created.



Never miss an opportunity to celebrate the unicorn of the sea.

Sincere Sailing

Slightly more sophisticated boat.

We're having an Indian summer again here on the South Coast. It was a busy one and now that the evenings are shorter and cooler I have more time indoors to remember some of the adventures of 2014.
Studland was where our inflatable dingy, The HMS Poverty made her maiden voyage:



Plastic cups do not have to negate luxury.
 

My newest piece of carboot furniture, already worth it's £3.



How many an afternoon was spent at sea this summer.

Basking in the Braderie de Lille

After years of planning, my friend Min and I made the pilgrimage to the holiest of holies of flea markets in Europe: Braderie de Lille  

The journey rewarded us with more than we could have asked for including epiphany treasures, English china, picture frames and holy water fonts. Not to mention the delicious food and beautiful faces of Lille. Most importantly it gave us an escape from our every day lives to enjoy the kinder side of France and all the possibility she holds. 

We had coffee and croissants every morning for breakfast, chips for lunch and a variety of gastric pleasures for dinner. The most important being the moules-frites, which even I tried!  

The sun shone and we were completely in our element, and with disposable cameras in hand we captured our adventure: 

Min bargaining adeptly in French. 

Hostel Gastama in the old town. Min knows how to book 'em. 

New luggage to bring our loot back to the UK.

Breakfast of champions!

It's not a festival until someone is breathing fire. 

Resting my feet while I string together some of Min's broken chandelier crystals.

Min's new Tuscan china, circa 1930. Find of the weekend.

We're everywhere. 

...and so are we. Viva la Mexico!
(Incidentally the best Mexican I've had in Europe to date.)

One of the cooler toilets I've seen on my journeys.

Fin.

                                          

Beautification Modification

 I have a chair I have been working on for a few years now. It travels with us everywhere we travellers move. It has become a despised part of the family. That chair is still only partly refurbished, but I found this little £4 investment in an estate sale stall on Thursday and couldn't let it be. I knew I could finish it in a day and proved that to be true. With a bit of the Annie Sloan paint and wax (I have been lusting after for a year or so) and a bit of eBay fabric I transformed this little ditty: 

Before

                               

After

 It's a fantastic herringbone. Listening to WWZ on audible the time flew by. That paint dries really quickly and is truly fun to work with. I am definitely sold on the Annie Sloan stuff. The colour I used is original.

Car Boot Booty

In the absence of yards...yard sailing is not an option in the UK. However, all is not lost because of the wonderful things that are car boot sales! Here is some of my prize booty from this morning at Farmer Palmer's:

    

It's always fate when a story has your name in it. 

Vintage finery. 

Compton Acres

 Just down the road from us is the finest privately owned garden in the South. In spite of what experience tells a Californian, Compton can be rather lovely.

Italian Garden 

Japanese Garden

The Heather Garden

  

Solitaire 

Compton Acres