June 2008

June 30th, 2008

Here I am

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 – 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 – 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.

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June 24th, 2008

Yoo-ii shop update

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



Waterlilies – design by Yoo-ii • letterpress printing by lynn russell | satsuma press

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

Here

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June 16th, 2008

Evening walks on the Heath

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 – 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 – a hive of local bustle – 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 – 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 – it’s really really lovely to arrive with such greeting and well wishes! Many of you have asked why we moved to London – 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.

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June 11th, 2008

Little collections

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 – my Superbuzzy order worth $47.00 had a customs charge of £12.22 (£4.22 tax and £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.

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June 11th, 2008

London, sweet London

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 – 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 – 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).

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June 9th, 2008

Incommunicado

I have a slight suspicion my blog has been broken into and I hope I’ve fixed it now. So I’ve just spent half this beautiful Sunday afternoon online, borrowing files from other sites because I can’t hook my little lacie drive up to Steve’s pc – a long and boring story.

But it’s too beautiful to stay inside a minute longer and off I go up to the Heath this glorious glorious afternoon. Photos and a full shopping report tomorrow!

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June 4th, 2008

At the airport

Two hours till we board. Off to play with Anna Sui cosmetics before we decide what to eat. Probably toast and peanut butter for me and sweet toast for K and A with lime juice all round. Or parma ham pizza. And lime juice.

Today we went to Little India - lots of terribly exotic (to me) photos to download when we get to London. Tekka market was one of those markets I have always wanted to visit – piles of fresh seafood, men hacking meat on enormous wooden blocks, interesting and unusual produce and aisles and aisles of saris to dazzle. Then we had lunch on banana leaves, more lime juice, and we weary family headed back to the hotel for a long lie down before an even longer flight (over 13 hours eep).

Internet free time running out. Feet need resting. And why don’t they have Chanel sunglasses at the airport. Harumpf!

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June 3rd, 2008

Muji food

Had to go back to take photos. This is exactly how I like food packaging if it must be packaged; clinical and uniform.



Fresh produce is another matter altogether of course, so I also love brown paper bags, butter paper and string. There’ll be Borough market and the shop in Belsize Park opposite the tube for that. And Fresh and Wild in Camden.



apple chips top left – deliciously sweet and tart although we suspect they’re fried


The prospect of beginning a new pantry is a most certainly a pleasant one indeed.

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June 2nd, 2008

Yesterday’s photos

I don’t appear to have taken photos today although I really should have taken some in Muji – the food, oh the Muji food! And we had a perfect lunch at Paragon – which I must say has been the most pleasant place on Orchard Road so far.

Kinokuniya was overwhelming– it being the biggest book shop either of us have seen. Once I found the Japanese language section and then the sewing books I also discovered all the books were wrapped in plastic and more expensive than buying on Amazon.



the sewing shelf at kinokuniya

I photographed a few that looked interesting and beat a hasty retreat to the cafe. Feeling ill in a dizzyingly large bookshop does not make for a good time. It would be a brilliant place to go feeling fit with several hours to spare. The design books looked incredible and the children’s books needed hours of browsing to do them any justice.



We browsed Takeshiyama which was busy and expensive although much of the food in the basement was cheap. And the supermarket had amazingly neat (and tidy) looking fish.



We did stumble across a hidden corner with children’s toy shops full of Haba and Selecta toys and the most amazing shop called The Bookbinders that sold fabric covered books, albums, folders and beautiful cards and envelopes.



It did cross our minds we might be the only people who could spend a day out in Singapore and not buy anything. However I managed to break that by picking up some knickers at M&S. In the same centre was the Apple shop which is also not fun when feeling ill although that did somewhat abate when faced with a wall of Blythe dolls – I can most certainly see why people become obsessive collectors.



It’s been excellent having had the guidance of two locals and we’ve pretty much just been going to spots that have been recommended – this morning that meant a long walk up Orchard Road to Kilkenny Tiam for (very) soft boiled eggs with sweet toast (Astrid was crazy about that) coffee and lime juice. The lime juice is heaven – just like drinking caipariniha (sp?) minus the alcohol.



Oh! Astrid’s just woken up. Better go and ensure she doesn’t fall out of bed again. Bugis Street next.

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June 1st, 2008

Singapore

Well, we all survived the flight – in fact Astrid slept from take-off until they turned the breakfast lights on and we’ve been in Singapore a few hours and she’s asleep again. I’ve got to buy an adaptor to plug the laptop in so no photos yet – the juice on this might run out any minute.

There’s a lovely, comfy super king bed in our room which we’ve been lying in, watching BBC World Service, reading the local Time Out mag. Along with robes and the biggest shower head I think I’ve ever seen our room is surprisingly spacious and even comes with an ethernet cable for old fashioned people like us.

So once Astrid wakes from her nap we’re off for a little exploration down Orchard Road. I did venture out over the road earlier for Panadol and was terribly excited by all the things in the teeny tiny Seven Eleven – and I was also grateful that even though I don’t think I’ve ever been in one before I just knew that was the place to get Panadol. How’s that for brand awareness. Must have watched far too much crap tv in my time.

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