Info

Food, interiors, motherhood and London life.

Posts from the Books Category

Choose another category?

thank you

thank you

I’m far too tired to be making much sense really.
Firstly a beautiful white Christmas. A lovely time at home. Time to just be here and be together, quietly.

Astrid and I went out for a long walk in the snow on Saturday and ended up getting caught in a snowstorm. It took us by surprise. That’s the second time in two weeks I’ve found myself caught up in something so unexpected so easily. Two weeks earlier I was caught up in student protest in Russell Square. I managed to get out swiftly but it was astonishing how easy it is to just walk into something with no way out and it can happen so quickly.

Secondly. Thank You. Thank you to you who still carry on reading my blog from fun times to shit times. From being prolific to being barely here. Thank you. And thank you to the amazing Dallas Clayton for sending me a copy of his brilliant new book. An Awesome Book of Thanks.

Astrid can’t wait to get her hands on it (and she can now I’ve written this). Yet more brilliant unicorns and magical creatures. More wonder. More pure imagination. Good for Dallas for being so ace. Good for Dallas for bringing a bit of strange mad himself into the world to make us smile. Thank You.

@N07/4997296956/" title="raspberry panacotta by anknel + burblets, on Flickr">raspberry panacotta

@N07/4996684627/" title="dauphenoise by anknel + burblets, on Flickr">dauphenoise

@N07/5005187491/" title="hummus by anknel + burblets, on Flickr">hummus

@N07/4997286784/" title="washing by anknel + burblets, on Flickr">washing

Making the most of my last week off work I appear to have begun writing and photographing my recipes and even written a table of contents. I say I appear to have, because I was sitting down to plan out an entirely differnent book and when I put pen to paper about sixty recipes reeled themselves off in what most definitely did not appear to be a children’s story. Children’s cookbook perhaps. Story, not really, no.

Currently feeling so unmotivated to write, when what I really most need to be doing now is writing. And lots of it, having just set up Lovely UK. And my writing blog – my memories blog, because I also need to write those down – the ones that happened in the thirty four odd years before I began writing here.

So as usual I have a load of different projects on the go, all being attended to as my mood desires. All having small amounts of time dedicated to them and eventually they are completed, bit by bit. That’s my way – my attention darting here and there, then drifting, perhaps stopping a while to complete something and then swimming in another direction entirely becoming immersed in something for weeks upon end.

Which is precisely how I have gone from a full week of intense focus on setting up Lovely UK, packing up and moving house, to now spending most of a week in the kitchen cooking, baking and photographing – making notes on the backs of postcards, remembering and re-inventing recipes for cake, figuring out how to shift ingredients over – what to swap, how to make things more delicious, how to bring out flavour in the simplest possible way and along the way rediscovering the wonderful taste of farm-fresh meat and vegetables. Which has of course led me to wonder about the authenticity of the organics in supermarkets – which, really, considering how cynical I am I can’t believe I’ve not figured this out beforehand. I read this comment on a guardian article with great interest – time to dig a little further.

Lovely styles of London living spaces at amazon.jp

Just after edith was born I was emailed out of the blue by a japanese journalist asking if I would like to be interviewed and for them to photograph our house for a book on London interiors.

And here it is a few months later – by a very strange coincidence it arrived the exact day we moved out – our humble little home – in print.  There’s also a little cushion tutorial at the back which I forgot to photograph in my one hour off babies and children to cram in as much blogging and flickring as I could.

We spent a Very Long Time getting the place ready for the shoot. Edith was all of four weeks old and I’d have never managed it without Kevin’s help. Yvonne rallied around and sent the message – dust and vacuum, buy flowers and fruit and you’ll be fine.

I feel quite sad about our little Hampstead cottage that we’ll never live there again. So far I miss the oven most. The hot little oven that would bake a cake to perfection in 35 minutes, oven fries in 12. Perfect roast potatoes in 30, roast pumpkin in 15. And the best pork crackling ever. Ever.

Oh, and the other London Charlotte is in it too. It’s nice having a friend there to keep each other company. Another friend who’s leaving her little house very soon too.

Thank you Saya, Aya, Kevin, Yvonne and Lottie for saying yes!

satin blue nailpolish by chanel

img_5117.jpg

img_5120.jpg

img_5124.jpg

img_5127.jpg

img_5129.jpg

Funnily enough, in my favourite little studio next door – the one I see out the window of my little room, were once produced the Rosie Flo colouring books (which are more than just colouring in books because you draw faces, arms and legs and backgrounds too).

I found this out the other day when helping a neighbour with a book he’s publishing – and the first thing I saw upon arriving was a display stand of lovely colourful Rosie Flo books. It would transpire you see, said neighbour is involved in the running of the Rosie Flo publishing empire. Yay for that.

So of course I left with an armful of books, some of which are now in little packages ready for their journeys around the world, but I’ve saved one or two for the blog, so if you’d like one please just leave a comment and I’ll draw a winner or two in about a week.

There’s an AMAZING japanese book too which you can buy easily enough from Amazon – it’s marvellous – it includes illustrations done by famous Japanese artists and drawing and colouring in space for you too.

More Rosie Flo goodness at Amazon.

Now, I wonder if anyone is wondering, “what on earth happened to those textile design and print classes Charlotte had booked at St Martins?”.

Well, that would be a very good thing to wonder as they were in July and August. But I cancelled them a) because I needed the refund money to live off for a month and b) I ended up working.

img_3391.jpg

Instead I can save myself a small fortune and buy this really good book instead.

img_3396.jpg

And learn lots of lovely things. And generally get very very excited about it all.  And also be slightly in awe of Lena Corwin. Well, maybe just a bit more than I already was. Yes.

www.amazon.co.uk

You know what. I think the morning sickness is over. The tiredness is over. I know this because we must be in trimester two so the pelvic problems can kick in. But at least I’m awake.

So today after a little burst of energy I have some photos to show and some things to tell. So what I’ll do is upload all the pictures and then I’ll come back and write about them. Ok… right. Done. Now I think I need a cup of tea. This is what I’m like at work. Big burst of energy. Then I need to go and distract myself for a bit.

So here are the little books from Yvonne – I love dirt, which is a fab little book for people with kids, full of fun ideas for outdoor nature activities – like cloud racing! And London Children’s Rooms, well of course I had to have that!

img_3210.jpg

And because Yvonne knows I have a bit of a thing for Shinzi Katoh – she also sent some neat stationery and some Japanese fabric which I love.

img_3212.jpg

As I mentioned quite some time back I put a skirt and top on lay-by with Alison. And because I didn’t work for two months it was quite an extended lay-by, but following my first pay day Alison popped them in the post along with some over yummy goodies including some yarn which you’ll see in a minute.

img_3214.jpg

Di’s housewarming gift came not long after we got here and the washcloths were put to immediate good use, meaning they’re far too busy to be photographed right now. And as Astrid took a shine to the needlebook and ferreted it away to some secret corner in the house it too is unavailable for today’s shoot. So what remains to be photographed is one moleskine notebook making very good use of a liberty print that’s now really rather well travelled :)

img_3215.jpg

For weeks, if not months I’ve been tormented by the fact I’ve made so much stuff and not photographed any of it. I’ve made two nani iro / robe rouge dresses, two bunnies, little baby wraps, organic waffle hand-towels with nani iro bias binding, lunch bags, nappy bags, hand bags. Anyway, lots of stuff! I thought I could make a big pile and just take a photo, but I seem to have forgotten to do that.

Instead here are the current knit / crochet projects; these three small ones are for the morning and evening journeys to and from work and include a pink scarf, a blue scarf and a brown scarf. The pink scarf was going to be a washcloth but I couldn’t stop, the blue scarf was going to be a square for the baby blanket but again I didn’t want to stop. The brown one is using the merino Alison sent – with the suggestion it become a scarf for Astrid so that’s one project with a concrete destiny.

img_3219.jpg

This is the big blanket I am crocheting. It started out as a scarf but I didn’t want to stop. Currently the size of a beach towel we think it’s going to be a fairly expensive blanket. I’m using Savannah DK, a blend of organic merino, cotton and linen. Every weekend we make a trip up to Loop to buy a few more skeins of yarn and to make use of their winding facilities.

img_3221.jpg

Since we arrived I’ve had a select few of my snaplock plastic bags of fabric kept out on my shelves for the next project. Whilst at work I make little notes in my notebook – little ideas, plans, things I want to do. Every week I write down red linen bag, makeup bag, new pencil case, trousers for Astrid. Every week I carry that over to the next page.

img_3237.jpg

So today I took my absolute favourites out of their filing bags – the purple linnet chambray, the grey organic cotton and the nani suzuran field – and added to that a special piece of Lotta from Leslie and I believe I have my makeup bag and pencil case sorted.

img_3241.jpg

The red linen has been waiting for red cotton for weeks and weeks and weeks, so yesterday Kevin was in Soho and I grabbed my opportunity to send him to Kleins for some thread and to Cass Arts for some form of pattern paper. Since then I have found MacCulloch & Wallis stock dressmakers pattern paper.

A recent eBay acquisition is Astrid’s carpet. The minute it arrived she declared it hers. Not being a fancy shiny one, it was a bargain at £16 + postage; one slightly worn, handwoven pure wool, 7 x 9 foot Iranian carpet. Also to note Astrid removed her lovely grey top to reveal an outfit I wouldn’t usually dress her in, except that today her entire wardrobe is in the wash.

img_3249.jpg

Also bought on eBay, and costing more than the persian rug, a vintage Roberts Radio which is permanently tuned to BBC Radio 4. Perfect for crocheting to. Miss Lady Bird the Cloud quite likes it too.

img_3271.jpg

While I sit down to edit today’s photos Astrid tears the house apart. Evidence of where the child has been. Next she’s after the camera.

img_3275.jpg

One quick last photo of our front courtyard out of the living room windows and I’m off upstairs to write this blog post. Then I might trawl eBay for a mahogany chest of drawers to replace the ugly pine ones and see whether I can find a copy of Yertle the Turtle on vinyl.

img_3278.jpg

Ah, and as I finish proofing, babychops two wakes up – I think I just felt a foot. Right, we’re off up to Pomona for salad and baps. We’re making burgers tonight.

Have a fun week!

What a fun weekend we’ve had! Unpacking our stuff. And picking up the cats! We really must go out for some fresh air. No wonder I’m falling asleep. The cats just wandered in, plonked themselves down and made themselves right at home. I think we were more traumatised by their flight than they were – in fact, they’ve never looked so well.

img_3042.jpg

The little sewing room’s taking shape, although I still need another ikea trip to get the smallest table they have. Today I unpacked all my japanese craft books and the fabrics. Last year really was one for stocking up on fabric. Cleverly I packed them all into plastic bags before we moved – as I now discover we’ve moved into Moth Central, North West London. Excellent planning.

img_3046.jpg

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.

img_2497.jpg

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.

img_2498.jpg

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.

img_2508.jpg

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.

img_2506.jpg

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.

img_2513.jpg

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.

img_2515.jpg

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

Notari twigs fabric from Reprodepot. I’ve just got it off the line and it’s washed up absolutely beautifully. And now I see they’ve sold out in the natural. Strange. Things have been selling out left right and centre of late.

img_1791.jpg

Kaffe Fasset shot cotton. Wonderful and lovely all at the same time. This yellow is most marvellous also. I’d had mustard and ecru in my basket for obviously too long, and they were sold out when I went to buy them. It took at least another hour to decide on these.

img_1793.jpg

Robe Rouge and Travaux et Mode. These I can happily say are not sold out.
img_1800.jpg

Robe Rouge is very simple, linen, crisp and clean.

img_1801.jpg

Just a few simple designs – dresses, pants, tops – to keep one well wardrobed.

img_1803.jpg

Travaux et Mode on the other hand has just the one simple skirt design, with many groovy ways to dress it up. Using applique, embroidery, colour and texture there’s an entire wardrobe of skirts in this little book. There’s a white horizontal pleat skirt, a shoe skirt, brightly coloured arty ones, subtle earthy ones. A multitude of skirts for people who like a bit of fun with their fashion.

img_1804.jpg

44 times two – Alison‘s and my new online art exhibition. Gosh it’s good to be photographing again – actually getting the camera out when I see something great – something I’ve not really been doing these past few months. I’ve had so little time. We post twice a week – Mondays and Thursdays. A new diptych up today. We’re really having fun with it.

And finally, today I also love laundry baskets.

Kevin came home one day this week announcing that Lee’s cat had become trapped in their neighbours house just before the neighbours had gone on holiday, and the cat was yowling from out the upstairs window, so Lee went and got a ladder and climbed up, laundry basket in tow. The cat happily jumped into the laundry basket and the resuce was successful.

Last night Oscar was stuck up on our roof. Rufus obviously hasn’t shown him the way down yet. No amount of coaxing could get him to go to Kevin, teetering atop our outdoor table, arms eagerly outstretched. Half an hour and many mosquito bites later we remembered the laundry basket story. Oscar happily obliged and was down in seconds. This is a rescue operation I can now carry out single-handedly without needing a tall person. A good thing because Oscar was stuck again this morning.

Hooray for laundry baskets indeed.

I ordered these early October. They’ve just arrived. The first ones got lost in the post somewhere along the way but book orders are never a rush – there are always plenty to read right here.

img_1189.jpg

The first book; one piece + smock blouse is the only clothing book I’ll be needing, at least for a while. It’s Girly Style Wardrobe and Onnanoko no fuku for big girls.

There are dresses in here and lovely lovely tops. I can’t wait to begin using up some of that Liberty fabric on projects from this book.

img_1191.jpg

The second book, Linen Work, is smaller than I expected it to be, but it’s packed full of goodness. It’s the kind of book one would want to curl up on the sofa with, a good coffee and biscuit close by.

img_1193.jpg

There’s some text – and I for one want to know what it says. It’ll require time, but with the help of my rusty Japanese (thank you mum for insisting I take Japanese at school), my trusty kana chart and a dictionary it can be done.

I love this colour chart – I want to dive in and swim through each colour.

img_1192.jpg

Linen Work is a gem of a book which requires careful study and thought. I have a feeling that in reading as much as I can, some lovely secrets will be revealed. And even if I never get around to it, it’s such a nicely designed book with many wonderful photos and projects (with patterns) it wouldn’t matter. Not one wit!

This weekend, apart from sorting through mountains and mountains of old family stuff (lots of rescued goodies I might add) before it’s got rid of, I managed to fit in some crochet.

img_1197.jpg

It took some getting used to, but Charlotte, the lace hook and the Linnet light weight yarn are working together quite well. Practice makes perfect. One day! Patterns for crochet motifs available here.