The Sneaky Magpie

Last weekend I had to work.

Saturday started with beautiful weather, the sky, lacking vapour trails, looked very serene.

The work I had to do included going to all possible charity shops and car boot sales to get props and costumes. This is exactly when my job gets fun. I was zipping on my bike through Clapham, Balham and Battersea buying any granny style crockery I could get my hands on. After 2 days this is what my living room floor looked like.

The purchases included some stuff I got for myself like this Johnson Bros coffee set.

This amazing vase, a steal at £4 at the Battersea Car Boot Sale! And a smaller charity shop vase.

A cute gravy boat.

As M had to work as well (way harder than I did) we decided to meet up for dinner at Princess of Shoreditch for super delicious fishcakes and steak.

It was time for the first spring salad, I was really craving something fresh.

I baked some bread.

Found some 50p books in charity shops.

and added to my orange Penguin collection (in case I find the Ernest Race Donkey) from the car boot sale at 25p per book.

The shoot went well, all done and dusted. I am exhausted but happy to be left with my treasures, at last I have time to enjoy them.

This weekend was great. Having a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning made me clean my house and do grocery shopping early. After my friend was gone about midday I was left with a tidy house, full fridge and a whole weekend to enjoy myself without any chores.

I did a small trip to one of my favorite cooking and baking shops in London – La Cuisiniere.  Unfortunately they didn’t have the things I needed and as I was in the area I popped to the local charity shop instead. I always head for the book section, they sell paperbacks for 50 pence and I usually find some of the classics I am meaning to read. This week I got:

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, a novel I wanted to read for some time as I am a huge Bronte sisters fan

The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith which I never heard of before but it looks very interesting and funny

Hotel Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones – I though Fashion Babylon was not that silly after all, the plot is very basic but there is a lot of little insights of how the industry really works, I hope to fish out those bits from this book about hotels, and at 50 pence it can go back to the shop anyway. I thought it was serendipity having just finished her other book.

Even though I haven’t bought any bake ware I did manage to make some tarts. I hate making pastry but I like the idea of pretty tarts. So I decided to face my demon and make some. I figured the only way to learn how to make pastry is to do it frequently. Sweet pastry is way easier to make than savoury one, though.

The treats this week were hazelnut tarts from Skye’s recipe and super rich chocolate tarts from Jamie’s recipe. The hazelnut filling is like hazelnut frangipane, delicious with a hint of lemon rind. I added one whisked egg white unlike Skye, I can never stick to a recipe!

I also learned that I should trim the pastry before baking for a neat look, doing so after it’s baked ended up in a disaster, the pastry just chipped and large chunks fell off.

I popped to the Battersea car boot sale and got some granny cups, love them!

Watched Milk at last and thought it was fantastic.

Also watched Everyone says I love you and thought it was not that fantastic, I haven’t been lucky with Woody Allen lately.

I also guest blogged about my olfactory adventures on Signature Scent which was fun.

I must say it felt a little bit like spring on Saturday but I don’t want to get too excited as it’s not even the middle of February.  Felt tempted to buy some daffodils but restrained myself and settled for small pink carnations, I should enjoy spring when it comes!

I have been living in South West London for three years now and I know this area won’t be my home for long. It just doesn’t feel right, too yummy mummy and bit… well, dull. However, as long as I am here I am going to fully explore it.

So today we stuck to our borough, first stop was Wandsworth Common where we discovered lots of nature and loads of brambles! I am going to be back next summer to pick some for jam.

Rose hips are going to be made into jam.

Then we went for tea and banana cake to Pantry.

We finished the day with a trip to Battersea car boot sale and this is what I dragged home:

Trays and a plate (plus rose hips – incredible colour huh?)

And a wacky KLM suitcase, I felt like a stewardess…

I think with a little TLC this will make a good home for my jewelery. Or an overnight bag!

Especially rainy Mondays get me down. Can the weather improve please? I had to take a bus to work for the first time in a very long time and it took me over an hour to get to our office, half an hour Clapham – Oxford Street, half and hour on Oxford Street itself, and the bus didn’t even stop halfway so I couldn’t jump off and walk. Very frustrating. Anyway, Monday is almost over and the rain stopped.

My weekend was pretty chilled, went out for some tasty Japanese food on Friday night to Toro in Soho followed by few drinks at the Market Bar. Toro is an authentic Japanese eatery in Brewer Street serving some of my favorite dishes.

On Saturday I wandered (yet again!) to Northcote Road to meet my friend. We had lunch and then we did some shopping. There are few market stalls with some wonderful looking cupcakes, bread, fruit and veg. I bought some flat peaches aka doughnut peaches tempted by an article in The Guardian. Weirdly, some people have a problem with peach fuzz…..mmmm. They were delicious.

In the meantime hubby started to fix our old cupboard. Sides had to be glued, it needed gentle shaving and is waiting for linseed oil to give it a nice color. I am very happy to be rid of the dark brown color it had before.

On Sunday we went to the Battersea car boot sale, I was actively looking for Sylvac fruit and veg pots, saw an apple sauce pot however it was included in a lot with some stuff I either have or don’t like so had to pass. I managed to snap Lord Jim for 50p and that was it.

I ran out of food and had to improvise open sandwiches: Gail’s bread, Parmezan, courgette and olive oil.

Much of the weekend evenings was spent on watching Mad Men series 2, first disc. I know, I am obsessed with this show but I love it so much. All the characters, the interiors, the storyline, the styling. Absolutely spotless. Can’t wait for the next disc to arrive from Love Film.