The Sneaky Magpie

There are some big changes happening in my life at the moment so unfortunately the blog suffers a little bit of neglect.

Change no 1. I am going to have a baby! I am due end of December so it’s a busy and exciting time for us.

Change no 2. We are looking for a nice home with a garden so most weekends are spent on cycling round London, looking at places, trying to buy them, having vendors change their mind etc. All we want is a 2 bedroom house with a garden in a nice residential area, not that much to ask, is it?

Last weekend I was trying to take advantage of the sales and went to the yummy mummy central (that I hate) – Northcote Road. There is an enormous amount of adorable baby things but I am not falling into the cute trap! I ended up with some baby grows and then I started to contemplate how I don’t fancy buying anything for myself. The only items that I can safely buy are shoes and bags. So the next thing I knew I was trying those gorgeous A.P.C. wedges and purchasing them with a huge smile on my face.

The summer has finally arrived in London and we are somewhere around 30 degrees today. As much as it is fantastic to be outside the office is roasting which makes me very sleepy. Glad we are not super busy, I would just melt.

Last week was full of al fresco dinners, BBQs, evening walks and trying to stay away from the scorching sun.

I must say it does make me a little bit lazy and i do realise I have not been here as often as I should. My brain just goes into this summery sleepy mode and all I can think about is keeping cool with ice cream. My diet is very basic too, it’s salads for lunch and dinner. I am also constantly on a lookout for nice restaurants that have a decent seating outside, hard to come by in central London. Market Place is a good spot if Yo Sushi or Carluccios tickle your fancy but I don’t really recall another spot round Soho which is far enough from busy streets. I had a dinner at Le Pain Quotidien in Great Malborough Street and it was ok (traffic-wise) but I wish for wider pavements and more non-chain options.

I am glad England are out of the world cup, the peace and quiet will be restored faster and all the aggression can go back into hiding. And maybe all the office football talk will stop now too. It always amazes me that bosses are ok with people watching matches on computers and pretending to work, or even let people go to the pub for few hours, insane.

Let’s hope the summer stays for a while, there are many picnics and garden parties to come.

Still very busy at work so haven’t managed to do many exciting things. Here are few bits:

- I visited Paris of which more later

- watched a lot of Sopranos, I am so hooked and so happy that I haven’t watched it before, have 5 series to catch up on

- went to see (against all my good sense) Sex and The City 2, I knew it would be not good but that bad?? they are destroying the image of the TV show fast

- I have been reading Love in a Cold Climate, which I love

- I have been enjoying BBC’s Genius of Design and Modern Masters. Genius of Design is especially good

- and I have been lounging in a sun and eating a whole lot of Nardulli ice cream

The shoot went well however I didn’t manage to see a lot of Weymouth. The most amazing thing I did see was this beautiful sunset.

The main issue I have with working away is the food. Shoot food is the most unhealthy thing ever and could not be further away from my everyday diet.

Every day starts with full English breakfast, even though I skip the bacon and sausages it’s still pretty heavy. After 2 days of it I begged for porridge but this was cooked with milk. I suppose this is as close as I can get to my usual breakfast of porridge cooked with water and sprinkled with linseeds, sesame and sunflower seeds plus some bee pollen for an extra health boost.

Lunch and dinner are very carb heavy, there was always pasta, chips, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and very little veg. Everything comes with a creamy sauce, seafood is not fresh and local but comes frozen from China and things are very overcooked. There are lots of sandwiched throughout the day as well as crisps and sweets.

Shoots get boring and somehow you find yourself reaching for the nasty stuff regardless whether you are hungry or not. As much as London catering is much more health conscious there is still a lot of snacks to get you through the day and it’s very hard to resist.

No surprise then that despite smuggling apples to my hotel room I got a stinking cold and upset stomach. I could not wish to go back home more. But this was not meant to be. I imagined myself on a train on Thursday morning which would get me to London before midday. Then I could spend afternoon at home. But the wind didn’t blow the day before and the boats would not sail so we had to do some pick up shots the following day. When I finally got on a train at 5pm I thought I will arrive home in three hours, I started to watch The Road Home and relax. The first issue was a family with little kids that sat next to me, this doesn’t bother me normally but it doesn’t go well with me feeling tired, sick and hungry either (by that point I didn’t even consider the train snacks). The second issue started somewhere in New Forest where we stopped and were told that there is a signal failure, the favorite excuse ever of all train and tube companies, and we would be delayed by about an hour. We stood for 30 minutes with no mobile phone signal and then started to move at a snail pace stopping regularly. It was painful. Then we got kicked off the train at Woking and had to change for another one. The only plus of the train change was that it stopped at Clapham Junction from where it was only a short cab ride home. I crossed my doorstep at 10pm, cooked some rice noodles and went to bed.

On Friday I decided to have a very short day at work and was so  happy to see the Abel&Cole box full of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, carrots, apples and pears. I didn’t even want to touch our home made sourdough, I was craving sushi, fruit, salads, yogurt and smoothies. And this is exactly what I ate and will probably eat for the next week.

This bowl of English strawberries made me very happy.

You know how much I like cakes and can never refuse one, it’s definitely not the case today. It better be tomorrow though as I have a high tea booked with a couple of friends.

I should really go into the full detox mode but I must feel better first.

It’s so good to be home!

The typical bank holiday rain didn’t fail us this year. How good we can rely on something.

Perfect time for some DIY projects.

I got this great print from hubby for Christmas 2008 and it never saw the light of day. The excuses being professional framing is more expensive than the print itself and the chances of finding a frame of right size and look at car boots sales are close to none. So it was back to the most unimaginative plan – a trip to Habitat. But at least it is done now and I can enjoy it every day. And probably next time I am prowling through car boot sales I will find just the right thing. Never mind.

I’ve been looking for nice place mats for a while, I hardly like anything I can find or they are very expensive. Solution: linen, tape and great mother-in-law.

On one of her visits we took a trip to Labour and Wait and she got some fabulous linen. I made a trip to Liberty to get some tape.  A week later a package has arrived, inside I found these beautiful tea towels and place mats. They are very good quality, lovingly made and will last a lifetime. And they are unique.

There was also lots of Gumtree and eBay so for once on a bank holiday weekend I was ‘making’ money instead of spending.

There are still things that should be bought and changed (like the horrid carpet I could just rip off and put through a shredder) but as we are only renting there is no rush.

I’ve been neglecting this blog, I know. But I have been so busy the past week I don’t even know where did it go!

I am working this weekend preparing for a shoot so here are few things I have been up to in between phone calls and meetings:

Admired cakes in China Town

Finished Nancy Mitford’s Wigs on the Green which made me hoot with laughter.

Started Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and I am absolutely loving it, trying to get some reading done when I can. This novel is brilliant and I have never seen the TV adaptation so it’s a total surprise too.

Started to watch Sopranos, I know I am few years late but I have been saving it for later. And I think later came at last. I have to ration myself to one episode at a time otherwise it would turn in a marathon.

Had my first ice cream of the season, salted caramel and hazelnut from Amorino in Old Compton Street which was a disappointment. The ice cream was milky not creamy and they make a silly rose instead of a scoop that melts from every imaginable side and is hard to handle. I am a gelato traditionalist I’m afraid.

Had a lunch at Kaffeine in Great Titchfield Street, one of my favourite places in Noho. They make amazing paninis and cakes, the atmosphere is very laid back and the staff are lovely. They also have a bench outside, perfect for soaking up the sun.

Tea and cakes at Maison Bertaux, a total sugar overload!

Dinner at Barrafina, I can’t get over their razor clams, a simple green salad with the best dressing ever and some runny egg tortillas. This place is excellent.

I have been up and down London including Kentish Town City Farm begging for some props, probably visited 8 charity shops today, got harassed in a pound shop first thing this morning and fought my way through grannies with trolleys on various south London high streets.

Oh, it’s great to be back here. Off to enjoy the weather and a pint in Hoxton. Have a lovely weekend!

Today was one of those days. To start with I was supposed to have the afternoon off but that did not happen.

08.00 Cycle Clapham to W1, few hectic hours in the office trying to correct people’s mistakes.

13.00 Dash to South Kensington. The lovely people at V&A invited me to a preview of their Quilts exhibition which was great, more about it later. I was very thorough with taking notes and pictures but it was a manic one hour trying to take everything in while checking emails.

15.00 Back to the office. Second tube ride of the day. I am so happy I cycle!

16.00 A very quick walk to Goodge Street station to meet my colleague, another tube ride, this time to the far West London to a studio, meeting a diva director and his producer who is clearly fond of the industry’s favourite stimulant. The set looks great though.

18.20 Back in the office trying to decipher messages on my phone and deal with a couple of things.

19.10 Decided I had it for the day and cycle home.

Now I am cooking risotto, having glass of wine and soon I will collapse on my sofa and watch Masterchef. Bliss.

Tomorrow is another day.

I got tagged by the lovely if jane Danish style. I was meant to take a photo of my fridge, select one of the things on it and tell the story behind it. This has been around Danish blogs for a while and now is spreading worldwide.

My problem is I don’t like ‘stuff’ hanging around, I don’t even have any take away menus. So I have nothing on the door of my fridge, zero, null, nada!

But I have few things on the top of it:

butternut squash

pineapple

bananas

Alessi juicer

bread in a paper bag

fruit bowl with apples and aubergines

a couple of the hazelnut tarts I baked the other day

What is there to tell? Well, I like eat healthily and I like baking. I hardly ever use the juicer, it often serves as a dryer for plastic bags. We got it as a wedding gift from our friends and it just stands there looking fantastic.

I’d like to hear if any of you have got some quirky things hanging on your fridge door, or are you not using it like me?

Let the countdown begin….

Today I have been recovering from the Christmas festivities we had. All the eating, drinking and late nights took a toll on my body so I am taking it very easy and going to bed early to get some restorative sleep.

Christmas eve is a big deal in Poland when we gather and have a big meat-free dinner consisting traditionally of 12 courses and a spare plate for a lost traveler. A friend of mine and I took the responsibility of introducing our British friends to some of the dishes. I was in charge of dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms (M is a master in making the dough) and borscht, my friend was in charge of a cabbage stew, potato salad and tomato and root veg fish stew which we call fish a la Greek but funnily no Greeks have ever heard of this dish.  We rounded the evening up with M’s gran’s Christmas pudding which gets better  and better every year.

We cycled merrily home at an ungodly morning hour when quite near our house I spotted a beautiful lush Christmas tree left behind by the traders so in a drunken craziness we decided to save the tree from a sad death. We don’t buy Christmas trees but at the time it seemed like such a great idea to take this one home. When we woke up the next morning there was a huge tree lying in our living room and we spent few hours to try and fashion a suitable stand to make it stand up. It is nearly standing straight but it doesn’t have any ornaments as we don’t own any, we also have been too hungover to try to create some, perhaps we can do so in the next few days.

Christmas day was all about gifts from our dear ones and lots of phone calls followed by a dinner with the same friends, this time they were cooking a vegetarian feast for us. The table was bent under a delicious spread of various roasted winter veg with gravy and bread sauce followed by yet another Christmas pud. This time the cycle home was uneventful.

Today I was barely able to stay awake and spent the day reading and watching TV (which btw is shockingly bad this year) but bravely, hubby and I made our own Christmas dinner with succulent roast chicken, potatoes, parsnips and brussel sprouts with chestnuts. No dessert was needed.

Now I am lying on my bed with a cup of peppermint tea admiring the gift I got from M, a beautiful ring from Alex Monroe. One of the absolutely nicest things I was ever given. He has done well ;)