A Birthday Treat and a Pretty Sight

Mum had a little birthday last week and it  was decided that we (mum, me and two sisters) would go to Oxford to visit the Ashmolean Museum and in particular to see the  John Tradescant’s collection. We had a circuitous, but very pretty, journey there going past mum's old school and passing through some lovely countryside. Arriving just in time for lunch - we like to get our priorities right -  we went straight up to the roof terrace of the Ashmolean for a light lunch.

Gorgeous place to have lunch sitting outside in the May sunshine and they had the most amazing lights inside which I had to take a photo of ... made of feathers. We decided you would need A LOT of feathers to do this.

We then went and had a little mosey round the museum although just walking through the building is pretty impressive in itself.

Two of us sped through as we are wont to do and there were lots of interesting things to read and look at and we particularly liked the currency and money exhibit.

Truth be told I was a little disappointed when we got to the Tradescant collection as I expected it to be in cabinets. There was one cabinet but I think I prefer Anne's virtual cabinet really.

Too sunny outside to stay inside any longer we went for a walk around Oxford, taking in the sights.

We stumbled across a fabulous shop call Objects of Use. Heathen that I am dare I say I enjoyed looking at the objects in this shop more than the objects in the Museum?

We stopped to admire some Morris Dancers who were there in force as it was May Day and then wanting a cup of tea we wandered back to the Ashmolean. 

This turned out to be the highlight of my day. Sitting there waiting for our tea and who should walk in but Grayson Perry. Not wanting to turn round and be obvious about it Sister #2 asks where he is and will she be able to recognise him? Sister #1 and I reply "You'll know which one he is as he's the only one with a Little Bo Peep hat on". He looked amazing. Gorgeous, gorgeous blue and white patterned dress with petticoats underneath and blue sash, white ankle socks and white mary janes. He had a matching hat and dear little bag. No photo of him as I was just too embarrassed to take one properly but mum drew a sketch when she got home.

My highlights of our day out. Spending enjoyable hours in the car just chatting, the Ashmolean for its architecture  Oxford for the Objects of Use shop and seeing Grayson Perry's alter ego Claire.

What a great way to spend someone else's birthday!

The Birthday Girl

Birthday Treats

It was my birthday last week and as a treat I had a day off for a little jaunt to London. I had booked tickets for the Park in Progress Tour and for some inexplicable reason I had booked a very early slot which meant we had to get up to London for 10am (silly me exorbitant rail fare and exorbitant train tickets ooops). I can only think that at the time I booked it was the only slot they had left. Anyway it's always good to start days out early isn't it?!?

We got there in good time and listened to Boris (on video sadly not real life) giving us a safety talk whilst we put on our high-vis jackets, which is always exciting.

Then we got on the bus and went off to the ArcelorMittal Orbit not the catchiest of names is it and to be totally honest I'm not a huge fan. I don't think it is that impressive especially next to the Olympic Stadium but who am I to judge. 

The viewing platforms are amazing though and I'm so pleased it was a clear sunny blue sky day because we really did get fantastic views.

We also got to see Kapoor's million pound distorting concave mirrors .... mmmm .... not too impressed by them either, I mean why would you want to view London upside down in a mirror when you can go and stand outside and see the real thing? It does mean you can take a self-portrait with Chris Hoy though which is fun!

Now I'm sounding a bit negative but I did enjoy it because it was one of the things we didn't get to do when we went to the Olympics and so I'm glad I've been up but I wouldn't rave about it. As for the Park in Progress tour well that was a bit of misrepresentation really because we didn't get to see much of the park. My advice is don't bother with the tour and just wait until they have actually finished doing whatever it is they are doing and it's not a building site any more.

As it was my birthday we then got to go shopping (whoppee). So off we went to Oxford Circus and a little visit to Liberty. Ahhhhh bliss. From the moment you walk in the door it is just amazing.

As a child I was taken to Liberty a lot {thank you Mum x} and I was really pleased that both the boys "got" Liberty and realised that this wasn't like your normal average store. They stood in awe looking upwards, ran their hands over the wooden frog on the staircase and wished they could buy a leather pig. Nostalgic for me, oh yes.

Obviously the things Liberty sells are beautiful but so is the styling and everywhere you looked there was something unexpected and delightful.

We were thrilled to find a RE concession there full of extraordinary things, I could buy it all.

But I just bought some poison glasses, as you do.

Two Liberty bags later we finally left with smiles on our faces and a comment from youngest asking if he could have one of the Liberty bags .... never has a mother been so proud of her son.

Quick lunch stop at Wagamamas, I needed to make sure the boys were sustained for the next bit, and then off to Anthropologie. I'm not sure how many years and how many trips to London have passed since I became aware of this shop but I had never managed to get there so it really was a birthday treat.

Another sensory delight full of amazing styling and gorgeous, gorgeous things to buy displayed so that you want everything. I succumbed to a floppy hat and a wooden postcard that is winging its way to Australia and so another bag with string handles to add to my collection.

Perfect day out and home to husband cooking dinner and something pink and fizzy cooling in the fridge. Yup definitely perfect.

Onesie and an Apology

This is really a post for my god-daughter Abi. 

Abi, do you remember that onesie I bought you that you loved so much that you could hardly bear to take off at Christmas? You know the one that your youngest English cousins greeted with disdain? The one that they teased you about? The one they said was the most awful thing they had ever seen and why on earth did you wear it?

Well Abi it's funny how quickly opinions can change. 

A couple of weeks ago Oscar got his final skiing packing list and on it was the requirement for a onesie. They didn't have to have one but Oscar said he ought to and funnily enough Archie asked if he could have one too - how strange when they were so scornful?

So Abi let me share some photos with you. In this photo for some reason Archie is wearing a red curly wig and my spotty boots, I wonder if this is to distract from the green dinosaur suit he is wearing. You will also notice he's not too keen on having his photo taken and is in fact running away.

Which is funny because he wears it all the time so it is quite easy to photograph him although he has deleted some of the photos off my camera in a bid to stop me showing them to you. But as he wears it all the time, even on the trampoline, it was quite easy to get photographic evidence for you.

He doesn't just like it he absolutely loves it and is even going to wear it for a school assembly after half term. So how is that for a complete turnaround? I think they should both write or skype you a full apology because they think they are comfy and warm and snuggly and you were right and they were wrong.

Oscar has a monkey one ... with a tail ... ! He had some friends over the other night and the three of them all sat watching television with their onesies on (even I found this odd I must admit).

So on behalf of my sons Abi please take this as confirmation that you were right and if you would like to smuggly raise your eyebrows whilst murmuring "silly boy cousins" please feel free to do so. x

Distant Memories of the Snow

Hard to believe that a week ago everywhere was still covered in snow.

And it was lovely snow, light fluffy and very white. It didn't seem to go horribly grey as it does sometimes but just remained beautiful and as it lasted so long I sort of got used to it. Waking up at the weekend to see it had all disappeared overnight was a bit weird.

It also didn't cause us too many problems as, although we live on a tiny country road, we happen to live near the farm where the local gritting lorry "lives" so it comes past our door and grits us a lovely safe path to the main road. This sort of snow I don't mind and seems preferable to the mud and floods we have again now grrrrrr.

The boys were very happy that they got one and half snow days and made full use of the days off playing in the snow. As it stayed around for a few days it was funny to see how quickly they became blasé and didn't bother rushing outside to play when they got home from school. It was pretty while it lasted but now I would like it to dry up and get more spring like please.

Oooo La La Bonne Année

A little bit late I know but Happy New Year anyway. 

A wonderful family Christmas followed by a little family adventure to Paris. Lots of laughing, talking, looking, eating and walking and all sorts of different fonts and lettering for me to admire. From the beautiful lettering at the catacombs, the dignified lettering at the Arc de Triomphe, the haphazard writing at the padlock bridge {yes I've forgotten the name but if you've been there you will know what I mean} and the design classic at the Paris Métro.

   

On the last day I bought some beautiful macaroons as a treat to bring home, oh and they did taste delicious. Pistachio, strawberry, hazlenut and rose and I can still recall the taste umm ummm ummmm. 

Not quite back to normal for us all yet as we still have a few days to spend with the Australian side of the family and a few more hugs, giggles and memories to fit in. I'll be back soon ... à bientôt ...

Teenage Kicks

We now have a teenager in the house as Oscar turned the big one three today. Scary stuff but happy to report he hasn't turned overnight into monosyllabic Kevin The Teenager .... phew.

Shhhhh don't tell him this but he's actually not that bad to have around the place. Okay so he doesn't always tidy his room and he has some very annoying habits like drinking milk straight from the bottle, physically restraining his brother, randomly walking around naked, not putting dirty clothes in the wash, using me as a taxi service and putting the phone down in mid conversation but on the whole he's actually quite lovely. I love his enthusiasm for his passions of scooters and rugby. I love his knack of convincing me I really do want eight of his friends over for a sleepover. I love his attempts to remember to be nice to me "Would you like a cup of tea?". I love his continued  belief that I care about his scooter or its parts. I love how he tells me in great detail about the exciting day he had at the skate park. I love how he always seems to be the one in the wrong place when a job needs doing but does it anyway. I love how he always does his homework (maybe not exactly with huge effort every time but he does do it.) I love his bashful half smile if anyone praises him. I love that he makes me laugh ... often. Happy Birthday Oscar and welcome to your teens.

Labyrinth ... a walk of contemplation

I can't really remember how it came about that my Mum wanted a Labyrinth in her garden but luckily for her one of her daughters happens to be married to a garden designer and Edward Norman was very happy to build his mother-in-law her very own Labyrinth.  

Marking out.

For those not sure what a labyrinth is this is the Wikipedia explanation

In colloquial English, labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze, but many contemporary scholars observe a distinction between the two: maze refers to a complex branching (multicursal) puzzle with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single, non-branching path, which leads to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.^[2]

Post concreted in.

After what seemed like a very short build time this was the end result - one very special Labyrinth.

The finished Labyrinth.

Some of the posts marking the way have an objet d'art in the glass container adding another little interest as you walk round.

The path is made of local shells which reminds us of the family beach hut and the posts are made of oak from the family farm, another lovely touch. The buxus in the middle will grow to form a hedge the same height as the wooden rectangular blocks.

A couple of weeks ago we had the "grand opening" and we all got to walk round the Labyrinth (although not all of us did so in quiet contemplation).

The official opening was performed by Jethro who, as able assistant on the build, took great pride in the labyrinth and did a great job cutting the bunting even though he declined to make a speech.

As we chatted and sipped a Slamsey's Fruit Gin cocktail and as the light started to fade the hidden surprise became evident as all the posts lit up with their solar powered lights.

It really is amazing .... perhaps Ed could build me a mini labyrinth in our garden?

Week 1 - Summer Holidays 2012

Saturday - Oscar went off to Corby Skate Park. To say he loved this outing is an understatement. Plans already afoot for a return visit, I may just have to take him to see what all the fuss is about. 


Sunday - Tag rugby at the park followed by picnic. Lovely family day out.

There were little rugby players.

There were medium size rugby players.

And there were big rugby players!

 There was also a wonderful cake stall which sold these amazing cream teas.

The rest of the week the boys have been at Tennis Camp in the boiling heat and sun. Luckily our friendly farmer is quite happy for us to call in on the way home to cool off in his pool ... bliss this week pure bliss. Fingers crossed the good weather continues into next week.

Could someone please return the last 6 years

How can the time from 5th January 2006 to 20th July 2012 have gone so quickly?

Today is Archie's last day at primary school and come September I know that he will have that same confident "I can't wait" smile on his face as he follows his big brother out the door to secondary school.

A friend with younger children asked me recently, with a worried look on her face, how I will feel when they've both left our primary school. Her eldest only has one more year and I know she's already thinking about the changes ahead. The thing is you can't stop them growing up and neither do you want to. We will all miss our primary school of course we will and all the lovely people that work there but we are ready to move on. I don't think I will shed a tear in sadness but I might bite my lip a bit when I think of all the school plays, sports days and good times.

It IS sad but it is also a time to look back very fondly at all the very, very happy memories we have.

And tonight I've organised a disco for all the leavers which will be noisy, happy and a final memory of their wonderful primary school time. Most of the children there tonight we have known from the very first day which is lovely. A lot of Archie's very good friends are going to the same secondary school, in fact quite a lot are the same tutor group, and he's even got one of his friend's mum as his tutor so I think he will settle in very quickly.

I've just reminded myself of one poor little girl who, sadly for her, has always been alphabetically the next in line to Archie. She said to me recently in a very resigned, dejected voice "My entire school life I've had to sit next to Archie." She's off to another secondary school and will finally escape from him .... I think she might be glad.