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17 January, 2013 

January things

It wasn’t my intention to abandon this blog for this long but January is not my favourite month (even though I really try to like it). It also wasn’t my intention to quit eating sugar but the Christmas extravaganza pushed me into it. What you see above is not a sweet treat, it’s a scone with unsweetened jam and was mainly consumed by my son. What I am actually craving is a detox, this one from Whole Living Magazine sounds very good and I might give it a go when it gets bit warmer. For now, I will stick to healthy soups.

We did a spot of decorating in the living room. So far the walls got a couple of coats of F&B’s Light Blue. The next thing on the list is the window.

I gathered few books since Christmas and want to read them all at once along everything that’s packed in my Kindle. Wishful thinking. It has to be two at the time. The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London by Judith Flanders, a fascinating read especially if you are obsessed, like me, with Dickens. My bath read must be paper so I started with Pigeon Pie which is very funny.

As far as TV goes I have been watching a lot of BBC 4′s arty programmes about woodmaking, Regency, Delphi, and of course the wonderful Borgen. A sweet little surprise for the gardener – Carol Klein’s Life in a Cottage Garden is on Fridays on BBC2 which makes waiting for Gardeners World more bearable.

Some of my finds, I am still pondering whether to keep them or not. A set of 13 earthenware bottles, a sweet little Scandinavian pot from the 60s and an enamel pan.

Few exhibitions I am planning to see soon:

Manet at Royal Academy

Schwitters in Britain, at Tate Britain

Lichtenstein at Tate Modern

Man Ray at NPG, I have seen his work so many times but still want some more.

Hartnell to Amies: Couture by Royal Appointment at the Fashion and Textile Museum

What does keep you amused in this winter cold?

4 December, 2012 

Top Ten Dickens

When December approaches I start to crave all things Dickens, any of his tales written and televised, his life story, roaring fires and even the little cobbled murky London streets.

I wrote about Dickens last year after I visited his London home, Charles Dickens Museum isn’t the greatest museum out there but it has undergone yet another renovation and it will reopen in December in its full Christmas splendor so a visit will have to take place. I do hope it looks more like Dennis Severs House where you can hear ghosts of the past walking round the house. There will be special Christmas events and walks which sound divine, complete with mince pies, mulled wine and Christmas Carol readings.

Here is the Dickens top ten, have you read any of them? Any recommendations? I have no idea about the storyline of the last two. Very curious.

1. Oliver Twist – Dark, moving and hilariously funny, Dickens’s second novel forms a damning indictment of poverty and social hypocrisy in the early nineteenth century. A brilliant yarn, featuring some of the most memorable characters in English fiction.

2. A Tale of Two Cities – One of Dickens’s most exciting novels, A Tale of Two Cities is a stirring classic of love, revenge, and resurrection.

3. David Copperfield – The brilliantly popular and enduring story of a young man’s journey from impoverished child to successful novelist, informed by Dickens’s own personal experiences.

4. Nicholas Nickleby – A comedic, energetic and theatrical novel, Nicholas Nickleby is revered as a classic example of Dickens’ satirical style, written at the most dexterous point of his career.

5. The Old Curiosity Shop – The original bestseller, blending great tragedy and pathos with some of Dickens’s greatest comic and grotesque creations.

6. A Christmas Carol – The Christmas classic that appeals to children, adults and students alike, this beautiful edition will doubtless bring the book renewed appeal in the run-up to Christmas.

7. Bleak House – Frequently hailed as the finest of all Dickens’s novels, Bleak House is at once vicious, comic and moving.

8. Hard Times – With a typically unforgettable cast of characters, Hard Times, Dickens’ shortest novel, carries a uniquely powerful message and remains one of the most widely read of his major works.

9. Barnaby Rudge – Set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge is a story of mystery and suspense which begins with an unsolved double murder and goes on to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution.

10. Martin Chuzzlewit – The last in Dickens’ sequence of great comic novels, Martin Chuzzlewit with brilliantly realized scenes in London and across the United States.

20 November, 2012 

Autumn in Silesia

I am back and ready to resume my blogging duties, here are few pictures from our holiday if you’d like to see!

We had wonderfully crisp cold autumn weather in Poland, the birch trees and oaks still had plenty of colour and tall grasses were peppered with frost. Lots of food was consumed and the boy got absolutely spoiled.

We went to the newly opened museum of local history, this town (called Jastrzebie, I dare you to pronounce it!) used to be a health resort after iodine and bromine springs were discovered in 19th century. It was one of the biggest spa towns of the time however it all came to an end with the war and then in the 60s with the new coal mining industry. Very few things survived the Communist power, only two marble baths and some pretty 1920′s tiling, the villas and spa are being renovated and you can refresh yourself with a drink of salty healing water.

Miners’ equipment

The museum recreated a small worker’s hut and are working on 60′s and 70′s living rooms to be opened soon. Everything in the museum has been donated by the locals.

I used to make a lot of those little guys

Wooden butter moulds

Spooky styling

For more Polish folklore go here. I can’t wait to be back and report on the Communist chic. For now I will leave you with this picture of a picture – a bleak reality but slightly funny in retrospect.

 

10 November, 2012 

A day at Vauxhall

What on earth can one do in Vauxhall, I hear you ask. Surprise, surprise, one can have a perfectly nice day of culture, food, shopping and some fun for the wee ones too.

About 10 minute walk from the station is Tate Britain where you can always find something great to see, right now The Pre-Raphaelites and Turner Prize shows are on, or just a stroll through their wonderful permanent galleries and some truly fab shopping in the museum shop.

Five minutes from the station the little ones can enjoy this sweet small city farm with ponies, horses, alpacas, goats and chickens as well as a vegetable garden and some play area.

Afterward head to the delightfully decorated Brunswick House Cafe for delicious lunch or drink.

The cafe, located in a beautiful Georgian house, shares the space with the most amazing salvage yard – Lassco. They renovated and recreated the house, every room has its purpose and is bursting with great architectural antiques and curiosities. Need a house number or a door knob from a specific era? That’s your shop.

After a quick glimpse at the MI6 building (featured in several Bond movies, including Skyfall) hop back on the train home satisfied.

Tate Britain:

Millbank, SW1P 4RG

Vauxhall City Farm:

Spring Gardens, SE11 5HS

Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30-16.00, free entry.

Lassco and Brunswick House Cafe:

30 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LG

5 November, 2012 

Past week

I spoke too soon, after surprisingly smooth and pleasant chat with the taxman I found some spare time this afternoon so here are few things that I have been up to lately.

Cold times call for cakes and tea. Two favourites this months are raspberry and pistachio Victoria sponge for M’s birthday and Raymond Blanc’s lemon drizzle cake, which is absolutely the best lemon cake ever. Ever.

I am so in love with my new Whistles panther jeans worn with neon bangle and Petit Bateau stripy top. I only wish for warmer weather so I can still wear small jackets. Big coats are not my thing.

The boy got treated to the softest fluffiest orange cashmere gloves by his Dad and I finally said enough to those horrid first shoes and got him a pair of lovely desert booties from Clarks Originals. Of course the first thing he did was stepping into mud and grabbing filth.

Freddie’s cousins came to play and I cooked up some play dough and got out my cake decorating accessories, some cookie cutters and rolling pins. They were busy for hours.

I went to see the Pre-Raphaelites exhibition at Tate Britain, it was good but very packed. I was so happy to see William Morris’ designs including a lovely desk, cray fabric and the tulip and willow pattern. There were many pictures by Ford Maddox Brown, probably my favourite of them all and one lovely Mouse painting by Rosa Brett. I am not crazy about the Pre-Raphaelites movement but what I like is the colour, I just couldn’t stop staring at the greens and teal. However if you do like them it will be a treat, the show is very well edited and there is a great representation of women painters.

I am slowly gearing up for the pre Christmas posts, there will be gift guides, events and recipes. Stay tuned!

18 October, 2012 

Hollywood Costume

I was so happy to be invited for this particular preview, I have been looking forward to this show for months so after Freddie got sent off to play with his godmother at the Science Museum I happily trotted off for a blissful hour on my own.

It was a fun show of guessing what films do the costumes come from, spotting many many favourite characters, instantly recognizable iconic figures, film music creating magical atmosphere and lots of interesting interviews and insights. Having seen few costumes in my life it struck me again how small big stars are, Marilyn Monroe who seems curvaceous and womanly had a tiny waist for example, most of the fitted dresses where so petite.

Some of the most famous characters include Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Neo from The Matrix, Batman, Avatar creatures, James Bond and Cleopatra but really, most of them are so iconic it was hard to select the best ones, here are my highlights.

Top image: Cleopatra. Above: Gone With the Wind, Vivien Leigh – the curtain dress brought tears to my eyes! Costume design Walter Plunkett.

Mildred Pierce, Joan Crawford. Costume design Milo Anderson. How I love the book and the new series, I had no idea about this 1945 version and must watch it soon.

Barry Lyndon, Marisa Berenson  and Marie Antoinette, Kirsten Dunst. Dangerous Liaisons in the background.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Cate Blanchett. Costume design Alexandra Byrne.

Can anyone guess?

Shakespeare in Love, Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes.

Queen Christina, Greta Garbo by Adrian.

The Birds, Tippi Hedren. Costume design Edith Head. I love this exhibit, there was a birdcage next to it!

Gangs of New York, Daniel Day Lewis. Costume design Sandy Powell.

The Artist, Berenice Bejo.

Cleopatra worn by Claudette Colbert (Costume design Travis Banton) and Cleopatra worn by Elizabeth Taylor (Irene Sharaff).

The Robert De Niro section included costumes from Raging Bull, King of Comedy and Casino while the Meryl Streep section had dresses from Out of Africa, The Iron Lady and Mamma Mia.

My Fair Lady, Audrey Hepburn. Costume design Cecil Beaton.

And the iconic Hubert De Givenchy’s dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Kate Winslet’s outfit from Titanic is in the background, costume design Deborah L. Scott.

Atonement, Keira Knightly. Costume design Jacqueline Durran.

Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone. Costume design Ellen Mirojnick.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman. Costume design Eiko Ishioka.

Kill Bill worn by Uma Thurman with a bit of Batman hanging on the wall.

Die Hard, Bruce Willis (Costume design Marilyn Vance) and Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone (Costume design Tom Bronson).

That dress and the tiny waist! It was behind a glass wall like Mona Lisa.

The Wizard Of Oz, Judy Garland. Costume design by Adrian who had many costumes in the exhibition.

You can only see the original red shoes for four weeks, it’s the first time they are outside of US and they are going back home for Thanksgiving. I felt privileged.

There were so many costumes to see it was really hard to edit the pictures, they are such a huge part of the characters and the importance of all the costume designers is immense.

I thought few were missing, I longed to see Mary Poppins, Leeloo and Zorg from The Fifth Element, and Annie Hall.

Overall a great unique show, go and see it. It opens on Saturday and runs through till the 27th January next year.

11 October, 2012 

October things

We are well into October so here are few exciting things happening this month:

I am going to the preview of Hollywood Costume exhibition at V&A next week and I cannot wait. Imagine being close to the most iconic outfits you saw on the silver screen – Dorothy, Indiana Jones, Holly Golightly, Sugar from Some Like It Hot and a special section dedicated to Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep aka the masters of transformation. I will report duly next week.

I am also hoping to see Cecil Beaton’s war time pictures at IWM.

Even though my garden started to look sad and bleak there are lots of great things happening this month. Next week I will try very hard to get to Taste of Autumn at Wisley and the week after next I am definitely going to the Shades of Autumn show in London.

I should really go to Garsons Farm to pick some pumpkins and sweetcorn

Speaking of food, I am obsessed with G&B sea salt chocolate, have you tried it yet?

I am having a major reading block, it usually happens after reading a number of books in a very short space of time. My brain needs to take it all in it seems, but I started Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book which should be really read in summer but hey ho, it’s good anyway.

I haven’t seen any films lately instead there are TV shows I am hooked on like Downton Abbey and Homeland. And of course there is The Great British Bake Off which is coming to an end next week, I was going to make one of the cakes they bake every week but failed miserably and only managed the pineapple upside down cake. All male finale will be exciting, I can’t decide between the jumper loving student and Brendan.

 

 

13 September, 2012 

September things

We are nearly half way through September, can you believe it? The weather is nice and sunny but you can really feel the autumn chill. Many afternoons are spent in this garden nook.

I have more patty pans and courgette than we can eat but the apple tree has not been kind this year and I only managed to make few pies and some mousse which got incorporated into pancakes and muffins.

Mapp and Lucia series are keeping me entertained in the reading department, Jeeves and Woosters are waiting. Which series is better do you think?

I started to really like chrysanthemums, they look good combined with dried alliums.

Popped to South Bank to check out the festival and got to see Edvard Munch at Tate Modern, I was absolutely stunned at the beauty of his paintings and how little I knew of his work. Let’s be frank, I only knew Scream which, luckily, wasn’t there. The show was perfect and I left moved and inspired. It ends in October so go and see it, it is worth it.

Speaking of arts, the child is still very much indifferent to paint, pencils and crayons, he likes to draw some doodles and then entertains himself by throwing all the pencils down from the table. Chalk is more attractive because he can draw on cupboards and doors. And he eats salt dough.

The Newsroom is over (I am disappointed that there were only 10 episodes, I was expecting 12 and didn’t realised 10th was the season’s finale!), Parade’s Ens is still there and of course The Great British Bake Off is in full swing but what’s next for good drama? Homeland will be back in October and Girls will air in the UK soon, a brilliant show btw. Did I miss something good, something old? I hope I did!

Big news, something I have been dreading having tragically failed several times at the age of 18. I have passed my driving test first time round, it happened on Tuesday morning and I am still stunned, the whole week seems so surreal. I am bit scared to start driving on my own but once I gain some experience it’s going to make such a difference to my life. Yay!

4 September, 2012 

De La Warr Pavilion and a very modern seaside

This is last but one holiday post but I promise I will squeeze something else soon.

On day three we decided against going to Hastings as planned, this was very much due to a conversation between our lovely hostess and a couple of guests where they stated that it is not nice at all. Instead we headed to Bexhill-on-Sea to see the De La Warr Pavilion and enjoy the seaside.

I’ve been wanting to see this Modernist building for many years. I say Modernist but many would argue it is in fact Art Deco, what it is precisely is an International Style and the building is the second Modernist building in Britain after the Hornsey Town Hall in London’s Crouch End.

It was built in 1935 by a Russian and a German architect practicing in England and its purpose was to attract more tourists to Bexhill. The original plans had a massive swimming pool with a pier coming into the sea. Can you imagine how fantastic that would be?

The building reminds me of an ocean liner with the beautiful banisters and clean shapes. The spiral staircase is spectacular. The chairs are by Alvar Aalto. The restaurant is definitely a good place for lunch or coffee with its sea views and good salads.

Hang On A Minute Lads, I’ve Got A Great Idea… by Richard Wilson. That famed line from The Italian Job.

The landscaping along the beach is another thing worth mentioning. It is, for me, the perfect design that works with the surrounding area and will age well while remaining modern and original. It was lovely to see something contemporary, even though the town is mostly Victorian we weren’t treated to the old tired pier. The colours blended beautifully with the pebbles and I was very impressed with the choice of plants. Another great thing about it was that it was very interactive and inviting, my toddler stayed amused for well over an hour. Very clever Bexhill-on-Sea.

The town needs the same treatment, it looked like it was stuck in the 70s and begged for a facelift but if you are after a day in the seaside the Pavilion will provide you with everything you need including a nice gallery shop and good food.

De La Warr Pavilion

Marina, TN40 1DP

 

 

10 August, 2012 

British Design at V&A

British Design Innovation in the Modern Age 1948 – 2012 (years between the two Olympics hosted by London) is the perfect show for anyone visiting the capital this summer.

It showcases the best of car design, street signs, china, poster, fashion and furniture. Right at the start you are introduced to Robin Day’s chairs and benches he did for the 1951 Festival of Britain, bit further down you can admire his wife’s, Lucienne Day’s, most famous textile pattern – Calyx. They were to Britain what the Eamses were to America.

There are beautiful couture dresses by Galliano and Kane, and Mary Quant minis. Examples of Wedgewood’s Homemaker china, which is always funny to see because I have a plate from the line and you can often find it in antique shops as well as buy the reproduction and various modern spin-offs.

For anyone visiting from abroad and loving design this is a must see (apologies for going so late, it ends on the 15th). If you miss it here are my top picks from the shop.

The kiddie souvenirs:

 

 

V&A toys

 

Patrick Ryland’s rattle £5
David Mellor’s dinner set £34
Clara Button and the Magical Hat £5
Wooden London Bus £12
And for the grownups:

 

V&A

Keep Britain Tidy print £9.50

Trimphone £40

Matt Sewell’s Little Owl £85

Just like the Homemaker plate, I have seen it all before, well, almost. There were two artists who attracted me: Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden. I absolutely loved seeing their prints which I have only seen in books, I was taken back in time to London streets buzzing and the old-fashioned shops, that disappear every day, still full of life.

Eric Ravilious prints and book.

Eric Ravilious
And some Edward Bawden. I am putting Edward Bawden’s London on my Christmas wish list.
Edward Bawden

 

 

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