Inspiration Monday 24.02.2014

It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Hey Brother!

My little brother is not so little anymore! Having finished university, moved back down from Manchester, and landed himself an engineering job in London, he has set up home with his lovely ladyfriend.

First Breath of Spring!

Everyone has their own wisdom for knowing when it is time to welcome the arrival of spring - the first sound of birdsong, turning down the heating, rhubarb coming into season...

When my camellia first flowers, I know that winter is over.

Inspiration Monday 03.03.2014

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

Toni Morrison

Working Life: Not just any supermarket...

I'm going to introduce you to a good friend of mine.

Back in our schooldays, Christabel was always top of the class and scooped up by Cambridge University to read History. She was always the person helped me make sense of my economics homework. All those graphs!

Inspiration Monday: 17.02.2014

"There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full."

Henry Kissinger

New York Times

Silent Sunday 16.02.2014

Happy Valentine's Day

This is the beautiful Valentine's I woke up to.

Hmmmm who could it be from?

I wasn't left in suspense for long, as Kiddo decided it was too pretty to let Mummy keep!

Not often I do the chasing...

Ha! Got you!

And I love you too.

Inspiration Monday: 10.02.2014

Often it isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the little pebble in your shoe.

Muhammed Ali

Chinese New Year!

It's not often I find myself in Soho at 10am. I hadn't joined in the Chinese New Year festivities since I was a child, and it seemed a terrific way to spend the morning with Kiddo.

Inspiration Monday 03.02.2014: Philip Seymour Hoffman

The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967-2014

Silent Sunday 02.03.2014

A Night at the Ballet

Some things never stop being magical. Visiting Covent Garden yesterday evening to see Giselle, I melted in wide-eyed wonder.

A friend had cancelled on the day: my babysitter was booked and I was hot to trot. Rather than slope to the cinema or grab some sushi, I decided to see if there were any tickets left for something a little less ordinary.

I wasn't disappointed.



There is something quite special about Covent Garden. As a little girl, I marvelled at the main staircase, gently stepped to allow gowned ladies to glide effortlessly down.

The glamour of the timeless details never fades - individually so charming

and then quite majestic as they sweep the balcony curves

Giselle is a gorgeous, ethereal ballet in the best classical tradition. As my dear friend and dance critic Mark Monahan says, it is the essential Romantic ballet.

(Don't worry, I didn't take photos during the performance, it's a photo of the curtain calls!)


I was experiencing this romance up in the gods and quickly discovered that the drama of the stairs is commensurate to the price of the ticket. At £22.00 that meant going up....

...and up

and round the corner and up again...







































and up just a little more... don't look down...













.

























...and then there I was: right in the middle of the excitement and the wonder, looking down on a jewel box of world class talent.








































Up in the gods, I was so close to that beautiful ceiling I wanted to reach out and touch it!

Isn't there something peculiarly English about the honesty of the pre-ordered interval drinks!

Immersed in beauty, sipping fizz and looking down on the melee

I can't help feeling, as daughters dream and lovers know, that sometimes upstairs is the best place to be.

Inspiration Monday: 27.01.2014

"It's crazy" she'd said, "but I'd be perfectly happy if I could sit looking at the same half dozen paintings for the rest of my life. I can't think of a better way to go insane." 

Velasquez, Las Meninas, El Prado Madrid

The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

(not so high) High Tea

This weekend I saw Wolf of Wall Street on Saturday, then had my neighbours over for tea on Sunday.

It really was a perfect yin and yang: the fast-paced excesses of a Scorcese epic and the gentle pleasures of Earl Grey and local gossip.

Kiddo was at her dad's this weekend, so for once I had time to prepare a spread.. although that lovely Mr Marks N Spencer did help out a bit. Just like the Wolf, I rely on my trusted suppliers.

Lemon drizzle cake needs no introduction, but these mini Belgian caramel waffle biscuits were new to me and pretty soon we were getting along famously.

Say hello to my little friends!

The Wolf and his pals may have made the liquid lunch an art form, but it was strictly tea for us gals.

I can mix and match as many different styles of crockery as those Masters of the (pre-2008) Universe can mix uppers, downers and all-out brain-fryers! Take that, Leo!

I like my tea as pure as Mr Wolf likes his rather more advanced stimulants. Genteel cucumber sandwiches, and salmon of course: no garnish or additions, just a lick of butter and a crunch of salt.

No dwarf-throwing round my parts, but little hands did help empty the bowl of waffles.

Although a bit longer than it needed to be, Wolf of Wall Street is very funny. And a fab cameo role by Joanna Lumley, not to be missed and will always make eating donuts feel a bit extra naughty...

Having safely averted DeLorean-crashing hangovers by not drinking or having a DeLorean, we made sure there would be a feast to take for the ducks in the park tomorrow!

Inspiration Monday: 13.01.2014

Let it be. Just let it be.

If you can't let it be; let it go.
If you can't let it go; let it be.

Mark, my yoga teacher.

New Kid on the Block: West Elm

The best thing about meeting my accountant is that he is based near the lovely homeware shops on Tottenham Court Road. A little wander round after our meeting can often take the edge of things. And this year, it was an opportunity to visit West Elm, the New York store that has just come over to London.

The ceramics are so vivid and pretty, but still formal enough for entertaining.

The set-ups are gorgeous and showcase some easy-to-live-with styling. I love the mix of contemporary with retro mid-century pieces.

Objets are not always easy to come by; I like these golden branch statuettes.

Antique-finished vases are available in a number of different shapes and sizes: I'm loving the large amphora for my fireplace or maybe even my office. Wave!

The linen guest towels just need the Sleeping With The Enemy treatment and then  - perfect!

This cushion pattern is so elegant and so workable.

It's great to see somewhere on this side of the Atlantic selling the sort of textiles and soft furnishings that often feature on American blogs like La Dolce Vita.

I know it's not the best photo - by this point, I was getting funny looks, and it was time to leave.

Inspiration Monday: 6.01.2014

Good resolutions are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.

Oscar Wilde

Aaaah Detox!

It's a relief, isn't it, when New Year arrives - the relatives gone, the presents given, the food eaten, the drink drunk - and the quietness, the drabness, the raininess of January spreads itself out. Thougts of detox bring one fellow blogger to mind. Several friends, when I told them I had started a blog, shuddered and said "oh, please, not like Gwynnie's?" Well, only inasmuch as I am the shorter, plumper, rock-star husband-less twin of Gwynn ;-)

Truth be told, I am a moderate fan of La Paltrow and I will certainly be incorporating her Asian Chicken Lunchbox Salad into my post-holiday diet [scallions are salad onions, by the way, and I found that the quantity of cabbage was disproportionately greater than the other ingredients]. It will have to be the diet of the century to make me fit for the outfit suggestions on her website, Goop, but I still think it's a site worth checking out because we can all dream...

...unfortunately this Christmas most of my dreams came in the form of Brie, a kilo of ripening brie to be precise, dreams which recalled home-made chutney and bacon and just one more glass of burgundy...

So it will be a punishing penance to be paid this year. Serious measures are required.

Green tea starts the morning, with a few goji berries thrown in.

I have been taking Perfectil Plus Nails for about six months now, and have noticed my nails are stronger, so I gulp a couple of these down. 

Since my mid-teens, I have taken Oil of Evening Primrose for the last two weeks of my cycle to help with period pain and it has been a lifesaver. For the rest of the month, I take a fish oil supplement: don't ask me why, but the gelatin free versions are the least likely to leave you with fishy aftertaste.

Detox is a great time to take a digestive supplement and feed your gut some healthy bacteria. Bio-Kult is the brand of choice amongst the colonic cognoscenti.

Breakfast is usually granola or porridge (a commercial microwave variety - sorry Gwyneth, but in the real world we eat and run), though I throw on some linseeds which come with all manner of omega-related benefits and cleanse the digestive tract.

In a perfect world, you would grind the linseeds each morning or have each day's portion soaking overnight (in your Bircher muesli). But then, in a perfect world, I wouldn't have eaten all that brie.

Finally, uncontroversially, blueberries on the top, to fight the good fight against free radicals.

Ready to face the day, be slimmer, taller, and marry rock-stars.

Ok, I know the taller bit isn't going to happen!