London T.O.A.S.T

We went to Regents Park for the TOAST festival on Saturday for the NZ day of food and wine tasting. We went to the North Is vs South Island wine tasting. I like the "younger" South Island reisling but was completely out of sync with the rest of the crowd. Everybody liked the Pinot Noir.

We regrouped in the afternoon for the Dave Dobbin concert. Being a uncouth Aussie I didn't have a true appeciation for his genious but he does have a few goodies. To be honest the only one I recognised was Slice of Heaven that they play at the rugby ;)

Great weather, great wine and a fab day out in the sun. Loving summer this year. Apparently its due to be THIRTY EIGHT degrees here tomorrow (about 100 degrees for those working in the weird system).

Tower bridge from London bridge

I haven't posted much for awhile as I started my "60 days of exercise" (on the day that Australia was evicted from the WC. By those ch**ting....ha well we'll never really know. But anyway). So that night I obviously didn't exercise but it has been going pretty well since then with at least a 80% hit rate. Conversely, since that point I have been socialising randomly more than I have since...awhile (one or two quiet ones).

Last Friday night after afore mentioned one or two (LARGE) quiet ones I decided it would be best if I walked to London Bridge before heading home (damage limitation). Somehow I thought the alcohol might be diluted by the exercise. Unfortunately it had the effect of the alcohol levels rising to the point of "peaking" as I arrived home (another story). Anyway. If I hadn't decided to do my daily exercise on the way home I would have missed an incredible sunset over the Thames and "beautiful light". At the time i thought it was possibly a divine nod to the aniversary of 7/7. But thinking back I'm not sure if it was "beautiful light" but "diesel fueled light". I'll let you be the judge.

Second bedroom reborn

Second bedroom AFTER

The new curtains in the second bedroom - and the Icelandic Blue walls. I still need to paint the skirting boards but it may be awhile before that happens but thought I'd show these off in the meantime. I love this fabric its so glam and pretty. Steve came to the rescue with his power tools and helped me put up the curtain rail.

Second bedroom BEFORE


This room wins the award for "most improved carpet" although you can't see that in the picture above. Just be comforted that this minging stuff has gone, along with the scary weapon.

Istanbul Birthday Weekend

Its been a bit quiet around here because I've been busy celebrating my birthday week. Last weekend Steve took me to the cool city of Istanbul for my birthday. We stayed in the old city around the corner from the Hagha Sophia and the Blue Mosque (above).

We took Friday off work and caught the three hour flight early Friday morning. On Friday night we went to Rami - a restaurant with a roof terrace overlooking the Blue Mosque. There was the sound of turkish music floating up from the coffee shops in the markets below and later in the evening the eerie sound of the call to prayer sounded out from it and other neibouring mosques in answer.

We set out on Saturday morning to visit Haghia Sophia but the Armenian Arch Bishop was visiting so about 1000 police were out in force keeping tourist away. We made our way down to Topkapi Palance instead. The highlight was a tour through the Harem, although our militaristic tour guide (necessary for this part of the palace) kept us going through it at a trot. "Ladiiiiies and Gentlemen we have only 20 minutes. Follow me please. NOW!" was her mantra throughout. I managed to take a whole lot of photos still and am very grateful for the invention of digital camerals yet again. There are apparently over 300 room in the harem but we only ran through about 20 of them - but all spectalularly tiled and decorated with stained glass windows and inlay wood cabinets.

We also went underground to the cool, dark Cisterns where I moronically asked Steve why there was water everywhere. huh?!! Well the Cistene Chappel doesn't have water all over the place! This was a massive underground building with 336 columns supporting the roof. It was built by the Romans at the same time as the Haghia Sophia and forgotten, only resdisovered in 1545. The purpose is obviously to store the city's supply of water and it is mind blowing that it still works 1400 years later.

In the afternoon we went to the Grand Bazaar after being waylaid by a hopeful carpet seller on the way who was disappointed when we didn't snap one up. We did enjoy the apple tea though. It was good preparation for bargaining in the market though. After saying "no" a few times the prices came down dramatically. I used this technique to snap up a couple of leather handbags at great prices.

We made it back to the Haghia Sophia on Sunday morning. I don't think I've been to another building as old - built in the 6th century which makes it over 1,400 years old and its spectacular. Originally a Byzantine christian church, converted into a mosque in the 15th century and then deconsecrated and turned into a museum when the Greeks and Italians were trying to turn it back into a Christian church at the fall of the Ottoman empire in 1934.

Finally we went into the Blue Mosque for a brief gawk after removing shoes and covering hair and shoulders. Most of it is roped off for men only, women are allowed to hang out at the back.

Taste of London

Nomes invited me to go to Taste with her in Regent's Park yesterday. We wandered around in the heat alternating between snacks and wine tasting. We tried dishes from Fifteen, Le Gavroche, Hush, Zilli Fish and Zuma. The crispy fried squid with green chilli salt from Zuma was very tasty and Hush's mars bar cheese cake to die for.

We tasted 5 different Piper Heidsieck bubbles and noted some had more of a "biscuitty and almondy" taste than others, The Vintage 1996 was "alarmingly fresh" and the Sublime Demi Sec was nice with cake. Noice.

Grass

Steve's been busy in the garden this weekend. We now have some turf which has transformed the garden. Time for a BBQ.

BEFORE

AFTER


Hopefully it will rain this week. Never thought I'd say that!

quilts japan march 06

This mag arrived today.

I flicked through and found.....Japanese Kaffe Fassett!



Here is REAL Kaffe Fassett with his beautiful quilt in Liberty last November.

Travel

I came accross this world map meme via Buzzville and couldn't resist. Its been popping up all over the place and I like seeing where people have been. I haven't yet made it to whole regions/continents - Central and South America, Middle East, most of Eastern Europe and Africa. I really want to go to Patagonia in Chile, walk the Inca Trail, more of Africa and India. And and and.....

We have done very little travelling this year as i developed an aversion to planes and airports last year communting to Frankfurt. In two weeks we are going somewhere new and exciting for my birthday though.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Back Tack III

My lovely Back Tack III gift arrived from the talented Lexi at Adventures in Home-making. Its made of the softest cotton with very cute details. I think the initial detail is clevery hidden as her mouth (am I right ?).

This little rabbit also came bearing gifts - some Iced VoVos (wow that takes me back) and some very cute buttons.

Thanks Lexi - what a treat!

And it looks like the bunny I made (same pattern and white...how funny) arrived for Molly over at The Secret is Letting Go.

Summer

This week has been relatively busy at work with lots of deadlines converging at once. Most of the week it was pretty routine. *whinge*

But today we went to Cambridge for a couple of meetings and had four hours of 'free time' in between. I was expecting it to be interesting, but having been to one or two English towns - how different could it really be? Starbucks and ubiquitous high street stores make everywhere look the same.

I was blown away by the architecture and atmosphere of the place. Cambridge Uni, founded in the 1200's, has an incredible sense of history. I felt inspired and intelligent just walking around. I was surreptitiously people watching, looking for high foreheads, pocket protectors (or high spec laptops) and other signs of brainiacs.

The effervescent feeling in the air was definitely enhanced by the weather (amazing) and an alleged uni ball (which I imagine to be exactly like the QUT Law Ball). Although I haven't been able to find any details on Google so that may not be true.

But some kind of event was going on...

What the?!!!


Seen at about 2:00pm.

They really do mess about on boats on the river...


What an enviable student life (again - just like QUT ... "university for the real world")....


but can't but help noticing the killer muffin top/whale tail combo on the right....

And, conscious of not finishing on a bitchy note, I defo want to visit again soon. On a sunny day. So I can sit by the river with a cold beer, not worrying about a 4 o'clock meeting and take photos to my heart's content without feeling like a total provincial tourist in front of my colleagues.

PS it makes me smile that I'm not the only Aussie around here noticing the rays. Pauline and Shauny are way ahead of me....
PPS we had bugger all of a summer last year so please bear with us......

Grand Designs Live

On Sunday, we had a school trip with Steve, Pauline and the Great Danes. That's Pauline speak for Loba and Flemming (which i thought was very catchy) as they clearly are great. I actally ran into Loba at the staff caf in Lausanne (and I never run into people I know). I usually only see her at Wednesday night knitting. Anyway Grand Designs Live was crowded but fun - especially when we found the gourmet food section!

entering the kitchen and bathroom hall....


We picked up some practical tips such as "under floor heating does work with wood floors, yes indeed". Steve found something to go in the garden with the BBQ (the kitchest sauna ever for anyone who's wondering) .....


And vegetarians avert your eyes now...but I couldn't resist this mohair goats skin from a company that makes rugs but occaisionally has a hide to sell. Soft and squishy. And un-u-sual.

Saturday in East Dulwich

It was a sunny day yesterday and we went for a walk in the hood to the North Cross Rd markets. A random collection of flea market, food and craft stalls along the front of cafes and housey shops. I bought this jug - vintage 'look' but have to confess not vintage at all and yes, more poenies. What an amazing colour. At £3 a stem they would want to be special. They also had succulent blood red ones. Next time.

On Lordship Lane there is an organic butchers where there is always a queue. We decided to see what all the fuss is about and had a BBQ in the evening.

Le Truc

Alors.

Have been in Switzerland again for a few days this week for a little R&R...opps, I mean work. It was my third trip out there and it seems to be developing into somewhat of a routine.
6:15 taxi to Gatwick for the 8:15 fligh to Geneva.

However, the cat was put among the pidgeons and the cozy routine interupted when I got an email from my colleague who got there the day before, with the news that Nicky on reception had forgotten to book our usual hotel. That we really like. Oo la la. As I left work that night and she was still there at 7 trying to book somewhere, anywhere, it wasn't looking good.

The Crystal Hotel didn't have a gym, but then likely-hood of me using it close to nil, but it did have retro Olympics posters gracing the full five levels of stairwell and some funky retro furniture. I'm still undecided whether it was cool or just old. The highlight was the view from the 5th floor petit dejuener room. Lausanne is very hilly.

In a nutshell - pros of going to Lausanne:

1. Out of the office
2. Nice weather
3. Spectacular mountains
4. Fantastic French food
5. Sexy French accents

Cons of going to Lausanne:

1. EasyJet
2. Smoking office
3. Missing home

So overall its not too bad. As long as its just for a few days.

peonies

My new favourite flower (although if I look back to this time last year I might have been saying the same thing back then). Can you get them in Australia? Can't remember seeing them in Brissie. My faves used to be gerbras but their bright colours can't compete with the romantic pink of these delicious blooms.

They are really expensive when the first come out at the beginning of the season (£2 per stem) but come down from platinum prices to silver after a while. This bunch was £5 at the stall at Blackfriars. I bought them up on the way to work on Friday and they're still going strong today. I love the way they start as a little bud and open up to this.

(Inspired by Anna's pics but without the dreamy delicate quality of hers)

Drowning in curtain fabric

When we moved in I got quite excited about the prospect of a bit of decorating and went a bit crazy on ebay with the curtain fabric. It started off under control but quickly decended into a a frenzy of stalking and bidding. The problem was I had discovered Romo fabric. It is simply beautiful.

There happens to be an interior design shop around the corner from our house and I spent about two hours one afternoon going through all the Romo sample books. And i was relieved to discover that the fabric looks even better in the cloth than it does in photos on ebay as I'd bought considerable metres of the stuff at that stage.

I had thought that I would use the Oriental Bird fabric below for our bedroom and this Cranberry Simonii Romo for my study.



But then there was some reluctance from Smithy for pastels and he fancied the red for the bedroom. But I felt it was a bit bright for the bedroom being a big fan of 'calming' neutrals. And by then I'd fallen in love with the chocolate colourway.

So now the chocolate is the plan for the bedroom - which I think will have the added advantage of keeping out the 4am sunshine.

But the flowers on this are quite big and I think too big for my small study so now its going to be the red in the living room and I'll just have to find something else for my study ;)

Confused?

Experiments with tile paint

The ugly fireplace in our bedroom has been annoying me for weeks now. This picture shows the grey tiles but its hard to see from the picture just how offensive it is in real life.

Fireplace BEFORE

Well, no more! The tile paint worked a treat. Its very gooey paint and there is a litte bit more on the carpet than I would have liked - but look! Lovely.

Fireplace AFTER


We bought the painting at St Ouen Marche aux Puces in the northern suberbs of Paris. I never get bored of looking at it.

I also had another spurt of painting this morning and covered the guest room in 'Icelandic Blue'. I got as far as buying curtain lining in John Lewis this afternoon but no curtain sewing yet. I think that is enough for a bank holiday Monday.

This is the fabric that the curtains will be made of when i get around to it. Its the most girly of the curtain fabric I've been snapping up on ebay. Which is why I can only get away with it in the guest room. I think its Lovely.

Back Tack III and a generous sneak preview

Back Tack III and a generous sneak preview
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I cavalierly ignored the dire warnings from the girls over at BT not to participate if you had too much going on....busy at work....gadding about with friends .........moving house....but was still a bit shocked with the "halfway there" post.

But now things are a less nuts and I have my fab studio/office going on I was able to concentrate for more than two seconds and sew something for my buddy. In LOADS of time. phew.

There is still the Post Office at Lunchtime challenge yet to overcome.

Jo's last night

Beth Jo & Helen
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

One of our great friends from Singapore days, Jo has been here for six weeks on a project for Lonely Planet, the lucky thing. And lucky us as we had a great time. Regressing several years, drinking too much, being silly and laughing a lot.

But we'll see her again in October as she's MC at our wedding!

Prototype Backtack III

Prototype Backtack III
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.

I finally started on my Backtack project on Sunday. It was a grey rainy day and the christening of the new BBQ was cancelled. You can see the view from my study of the back garden through the doors.

I can show you this prototype because the real thing is turning out nothing like this.

Topiary Curtains

These were the once green, floppy curtains in the dining room, minus the top pelment frill that Smithy ripped off after about two minutes of moving in.

BEFORE

And after i got busy on Saturday and made up these with some bargain e-bay fabric that came in the perfect amount. Am still planning to attack this room with the white paint but not as urgent as the grey fireplace.

AFTER

Dining room - new curtains
Originally uploaded by Hells Bells.