Archive for June, 2008

Here I am

June 30, 2008

This weekend saw us up in a small village just out of Leeds and a camera full of photos that need downloading. It also saw some lovely charity shop treasures, green and lovely riverside walks, a few treats for the garden and a lot of rain and cold.

The portfolio site is now ready for public view, although I could spend another week on it easily â€“ print and photography aren’t even in there yet. In between interviews and our daily walks and the fact I put half my portfolio on a hard drive in the shipping. What a brilliant idea that was.

Speaking of shipping it arrives here tomorrow. We’ll have sofas and drawers and a decent choice of shoes and clothes. And a grater. And proper big towels. We’ll have cushions, throws, baking dishes and cookbooks. And on Saturday we’ll have cats! Yes! The pussy cats will be here soon â€“ hooray!

So soon things will be more settled. The little house. The little lives. The little jobs. The little garden. Soon things will all be ticking over nicely. Very soon indeed.

Categories: Home, Kids

Yoo-ii shop update

June 24, 2008

I’ve been checking on a daily basis and can now report Yoo-ii has updated her shop.

Waterlilies â€“ design by Yoo-ii â€¢ letterpress printing by lynn russell | satsuma press

There are three limited edition prints available â€“ two gocco prints and one letterpress collaboration. I love Yoo-ii’s unique geometric and abstract style of illustration.

Here

Categories: Design

Evening walks on the Heath

June 16, 2008

And a lament for the Greek shop of Dartmouth Park

I said to Kevin this time I wanted to walk on the Heath every day â€“ and not just get so used to it being on my doorstep and I would simply forget, or be too lazy as I was in the past. So yesterday evening when I was in bed reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Kevin hauled me out, we all wrapped up warmly and off we set over the Heath, to Swain’s Lane, down to Dartmouth Park and back.

We discovered my favourite shop and main reason for wanting to move, one day, to Dartmouth Park is gone. The lovely rustic wooden exterior, darkened by years of wear and weather. Gone. Replaced by shiny white tiles and bleak steel joinery. The inside once a clutter of dusty wooden shelves, dark wood floors â€“ a hive of local bustle â€“ a deli counter harbouring bottles of hand-pressed olive oil, hand-made cheeses, salamis and hams. Gone.

Where vegetables, full of life were once displayed in wooden boxes, now the usual manufactured produce lies in green plastic bins. The light so bright. The floor so shiny. The shelves grinning sarcastic metallic smiles. You are gone.

Oh the Greek shop of Dartmouth Park you have gone. The fresh loaves that used to grace the front window. An empty shelf of flour late in the day. An interior at least twenty five years old, all wooden and showing your age we loved you so. You’ve now been swept over by progress. Your soul cemented over and covered in shiny grey lino. You have gone you have gone.

A new shop has sprung up in Swain’s Lane, full of organic produce and hope. So all is not lost. Not lost at all. Perhaps the soul of the Greek shop has moved there. Maybe it has.

Yesterday we were blessed with one of my favourite lights for photography â€“ when the sun’s going down shining against dark dark clouds.

And I also wanted to say thanks so much everyone for your lovely comments and welcomes to London â€“ it’s really really lovely to arrive with such greeting and well wishes! Many of you have asked why we moved to London â€“ well it’s a long story so I shall post about that once my CV is out in circulation and I’ve built my new portfolio site.

Categories: Food, Kids

Little collections

June 11, 2008

Before we left I organised a few house warming gifts to self to ensure we had some personal touches to make the house feel like home when we arrived.

Having white walls and high ceilings means I’m more in love with our new home than I think I’ve ever been with a house I’ve been living in. And coming from IKEA-free New Zealand means it’s always doubly exciting to move to Europe and go crazy at IKEA. Twice!

And while we’re on the subject of inbound post â€“ my Superbuzzy order worth $47.00 had a customs charge of Â£12.22 (Â£4.22 tax and Â£8 handling fee). Add on $15.90 for postage and that makes for one heck of an expensive 2.5 yards of fabric. Lucky then that I bought a lifetime’s supply of fabric last year because I don’t think I’ll be ordering any more in a hurry.

Categories: Design, Home, Kids

London, sweet London

June 11, 2008

Oh it’s so good to be back. Better than we’d ever imagined in fact. We’ve walked and walked and walked and walked. Through Soho, from here to Camden, back to Belsize Park, up to Hampstead, around the Heath, through the City, up to Hackney and from here to South End Green countless times. We’ve walked more than we walked in an entire 18 months in Auckland.

walking up to Belsize Park â€“ London believes in meadows

We’ve eaten rhubarb yoghurt, parma ham from Carluccios, cranks wholemeal loaf, lurpak butter, proper english sausages, strawberries, plums, pret twice for breakfast, spinach and ricotta pastries, incredible raw-food mango cake from Spitalfields, salt beef beigel, smoked salmon and cream cheese beigel from Brick Lane, and I had the best ever Mocha from the coffee house by Spitalfields.

our Street

Sunday morning saw us up bright and early and on the bus to Farringdon where we walked to Spitalfields while everyone was setting up â€“ it was brilliant being there without the crowds then on we went to Brick Lane. Too early for Labour and Wait so up to Columbia Road (all minus camera of course!) where my crowd combat method is to walk down behind the market on the footpath and dip in and out to look at the flowers and plants. And to buy herbs and alliums of course.

kitchen herbs

That night we walked up to GPK for dinner, just to ensure we didn’t need to eat for another week at least. They’ve got coleslaw now which tastes as though it’s half sugar. Astrid liked her burger though. And she shouted a lot too.

Astrid yelling for burger

Then our weary little feet carried us back home. To a new home that’s very quickly and naturally feeling like home home. This is my favourite place in the world to live this little Street we’re in. And our little cottage is better than we could ever have hoped for.

view from the kitchen (note strawberry hanging baskets)

And in only a few short weeks we’ll have our stuff, the cats will be here, Astrid’s childcare will all be sorted and we’ll both be working. Simple (she says collapsing in a heap).

Categories: Adventure, Kids