Here are some photos (many in fact!) of our recent trip to London. I managed to get all my work done at the workshop so we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and celebrate both our birthdays, plus Mother's Day too! We went to some favourite places in London...

Like Spitalfields Antique Market

then Lambs Conduit street...

 

Exmouth Market is a small cobbled road near our workshop that has an amazing kids playground next to it and a nice park. In the summer there are plenty of amazing food stalls on the street and it gets really lively in the evenings.

of course we popped into Family Tree shop to say hello to Jo.

the Littlun did get a bit difficult due to being tired but she was alright in the carrier.

We also went to Clifton Nurseries, where there is a lovely cafe and beautiful daffodils everywhere.

I loved these flowers in hanging bottles...

after a walk around the canal, we drove over to Holland Park to visit Cross Shop

They have some really inspiring kids toys ; )

...and Portobello and Golbourne Road

I bought this bit of net curtain and Nao bought 10 meters of unused vintage Swiss waterproof canvas for his projects.

On Saturday (Nao's birthday) we very happily discovered that there was a Classic Car Boot sale on the South Bank (right next to the London Eye) so we drove straight there and luckily we were allowed to park outside the event with the other show vehicles in our Morris Traveler! 

We really enjoyed the car boot...and found so many treasures!

I loved these cushions made from recycled fabric and tea towels. We bought a gold fish and a pike cushion.

...after that we went to Mayfair to visit the New Craftsmen Shop (which is quite misleading because there seemed to be only ladies working there!).

It is an amazing place, where one lady had brought a bit of her workshop into the shop and was carving some sculptures right there!

we bought a monster's toothbrush ; )

If I was to design a school (which I have done many times in my head!) it would be just like this cafe!

There are lots of uber fancy shops in Peckham now, such beautiful grocers shops and cafes and vintage shops.

and our very old favourite place to eat...

Petitou cafe.

Here are some of our pressies that we collected ; )

our fish cushions from Handmade To Measure, who we met at the classic car boot.

and our new dog (until we decide whether to get a real dog) 'Farringdon' the Schnauzer.

I got back home to find these lovely birthday flowers from my friend, they are Scilly Isles Narcissi, and smell amazing!

back to normality, phew.

Hello! Wow, what a nice day it has been today, makes a change! We walked to the next town along the old railway line, to visit the local library for 'Rhyme Time'. 

I'm a temporary single parent at the moment (as the mister is in Japan for a couple of weeks), I have been holding the fort as regards to childcare as well as earning the money. All the while, we have had a sort of nasty virus which has left us both feeling a bit yuck. Anyways, to relax in the evening I have been watching two whole series of Lark Rise to Candleford. It is a kind of hilarious, rosy tinted tales of local woe of years gone by, all softy focus and orange hue landscapes. However, the walk to the library today reminded me of the road from Lark Rise to Candleford in fact! It's amazing that a steam train used to run along this track, alongside the river and estuary and the reed beds. It was dismantled in the 1950s, which was a decision of utter stupidity, if you ask me.

It was the first time for us to go to a nursery rhyme type kids do, so I wasn't sure what to expect. She loved the library but she was a bit freaked out by all the people sitting around in a circle all saying the same thing at the same time...a bit like some scary occult religion but without the lamb being sacrificed. I loved it, so many songs I had forgotten about...I was like 'oh oh I know this one, I know this one!!'  Incy Wincy Spider and such like. We had lunch outside the library afterwards and the sun was bright and warm.

We stopped by the shops on the way home and picked up ANOTHER four bunches of daffs, and some tulips. I have totally run out of things to put daffodils in.

I found lots of primroses and violets growing in the middle of the path in the bottom of our garden, so I have bought them indoors for a bit before I will plant them outside again somewhere better. I love all the bulb plants you get in spring, but to me, nothing represents an English spring better than a primrose.

I also discovered these Hellebores growing in our garden, hidden behind the fencing. In fact they face completely downwards so you can't see the flowers at all when they are growing outside. So I thought it makes sense to keep them there for cutting. I love the colour and texture of those velvety petals...so mysterious!

So with the smell of hyacinths wafting through our nostrils and Lark Rise to Candleford on the laptop, we are enjoying this first taste of spring so far this year.

...and learning about the seasons with these amazing stacking blocks, which I bought for our nipper when she was just two months old (for xmas), and she still loves to play with them.