Going posh

On Friday Steve and I went to the capital to do some 'advising' on bees and planting in a certain posh area in Central London. In the sort of area where 2 bedroomed apartments sell for £6 million pounds!

One of the gardens we visited to bee inspect!

 After our meeting we headed off in search of lunch.

Pimlico Road: land of men in suits and ladies in pearls with sun glasses on their heads

And this is what we came across, Daylesford - a very lovely organic deli and eatery

Lots of shops with pricey price tags

Inside Daylesford, yummy deli

Great salads

Lots of nice things....

Love the elegant buildings

And all the famous connections

And the cabs heading down Kings Road, the fashionable shopping strasse

There was an exhibition/show about cycling...in Denmark! Can't  seem to get away from my Danish roots, even when I am off to London, lol!  But seriously, the Danes take cycling to a totally different level, and it's actually pleasant to cycle over there; I believe even the crown prince cycles to work.

The reason we sauntered down Kings Road was because I was keen to visit Anthropologie, but we couldn't help having a little giggle about the name of the shop pictured below ;o)

We finally reached Anthropologie and it wasn't disappointing. GOSH what a fab place, imaginatively created and full of fun and colour!

See those blue bowls on the top shelf there, well, a couple of them came home with us....just accidentally, you know

This was truly a pretty shop, and if you ever happen to find yourself in Kings Road, do pop your head in

After a pumpkin spiced latte, we headed home, having had a rather capital day!

Autumn approaches

So it's getting a little chillier, a little wetter, a little darker; the seasons are rolling through their cycle. It's time to feed the bees, make sure there are plenty of stores to keep them safe throughout the winter.

Pumpkins and unusual squashes are beginning to appear in the stores and farm shops. Warming soups and stews are increasingly on the dinner menu.

Honey bees on helenium flowers

It's been incredibly rainy. But interspersed with this inclement weather there has been some lovely sunny spells. The fungi are thriving on the damp woodland floor.

The berries on the Whitebeam shine bright red against the blue sky. And the ivy is in flower, tempting many flower visitors, including the rather pretty Ivy bee.

The gorgeous ivy bee, Colletes hederae, is a species of plasterer bee.

The leaves shine pretty hues of red, yellow and brown.

If you go down to the woods today...I guarantee it'll be pretty peachy!

The Zombies come to town

Tonight, in a bid to win the Guinness world record for the most zombies in one place, we put our best face on and headed off for Tully's Farm in Turner's Hill. The Shocktober Fest was attended by many fine zombies, some of whom had gone to great lengths to get into the mood...

There were many families there too, as well as the serious zombie-lovers

Got a bit hungry!

Sadly, we didn't quite get there, but it was probably the largest British gathering of zombies...ah, well, hopefully Tully's Farm will try again next year!

Hope you are having a wicked weekend!!!

The Autumn Man

I do this so many times - promise to make something crafty knowing I have plenty of time, coz it's weeks and weeks ahead of an event, and then all of a sudden the item needs to be finished! Well, I had to have it completed today, and I only properly started last night. I had sat and sketched some rough designs, but these crafty things always develop organically anyway.

The Autumn Man

First a layer of bark

Then layers and layers of pressed leaves

And lastly, hair made from lichen collected in Kefalonia, high up in the montane forests. The nose is made from driftwood, the eyes are shells and the beard is the Clematis vitalba, aptly called 'Old man's beard'

The piece is for the Autumn Show at the South of England showground this coming weekend, and is part of the WI exhibition. The brief was to create a face made completely out of natural materials, glued to a board sized 15x15 inches. I have always had a fascination with the Green Man. He is found in many cultures around the world, often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. the Green man is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance", representing the cycle of growth each spring. You can often find carvings in wood or stone, in churches, chapels, abbeys and cathedrals, where examples can be found dating through to the 20th century. The earliest example of a green man disgorging vegetation from his mouth is from St. Abre, in St. Hilaire-le-grand, c 400 AD.

Luckily I am a bit of a hoarder, so had plenty of natural bits and pieces in boxes and in flower presses. And yes, I know my Green Man looks a little like  he was made by a bunch of school kids, but I don't mind, the fun is taking part.

Do you have a favourite Autumn Man?

The Great British Car Boot Fair!

Saturday was beautiful weather and was spent at the Forest Row Festival, Sunday came somewhat cooler, down from the roaring twenties to just 12 degrees, brrrrr...

I have been angling after some more denim fabric to cut into patches to make a patchwork quilt for Sam's bed for some time. Having nosied around various thrift and charity shops, I have come to the conclusion that these shops are definitely becoming rather more expensive than they should be, bearing in mind that they receive their stock for free! I think it's somewhat churlish to ask for up to £8 for a pair of used jeans, so I have turned my attention to the great British Sunday morning past time, namely traipsing around the local Car Boot Fair! It was decidedly smaller that morning, no doubt as rain was forecast, and everyone was huddled up, shoulders against ears, muttering under their breath about the vagaries of the damn British weather. It was nevertheless a busy fair...

Notice the hats and scarves...

Lots and lots of kiddies toys, clothes and books

And traders too, selling fruit and veg, batteries, tools and mobile phone jackets

Re-use, re-cycle, up-cycle, re-purpose...the choice is yours, and there are many bargains galore (but also a lot of tat!)

I came back with Dr Who books for Sam, Pokemon cards for BB...aw, happy boys

Old Dandy comic books for BB, he's a bit of a comic book fan, that chap!

Love these old tea cards!  "Put a bird on it!!!" (qv a sketch from Portlandia, an American satirical comedy TV series, containing some rather funny send-ups of  people and life in Portland, Oregon), if you are a crafter, then you'll get the bird reference!!!

And jars of tiger balms, for soothing achy joints.

I found plenty of denim, enough to be getting on with, and at just £1 per pair, quite a bargain!

Of course, I couldn't come home without a little something for Zaf

Teddy got a little shakin' all over

Hope you're having a shakin' week too!