Ghost sign: Leyton High Road

Homes and antiques

Recently, the Medievalist came a-visiting from Glasgow so we went touristy. 

The Geffrye Museum was a serious highlight. I am a fan of the history of domestic objects, architecture and the home, as you know. The museum was free entry so we hired audio guides, like the history geeks we are. The estimated visit time was one hour, we managed to stay for three - with a break for lunch in the beautiful cafe, all glass and organically entwined metal stems. Oh, and a rather expensive trip to the bookshop, where we both were tempted by this, possibly because we both want to be Lucy Worsley or maybe just have her job and her wardrobe. 

My favourites:

The Aesthetic, for its reaction to Victorian stuffiness and standardised ways of being. Check out the blue-and-white china and the oriental influences.

The Arts and Crafts, for the Morris-inspired natural forms and delicious restful colours. Love that stained glass in the entryway.

And, of course, the Mid-Century, for the multi-purpose family-oriented rooms, the sleek wooden forms and the cleanliness of the design aesthetic,

We also took in our favourite bits of the British Museum, the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval galleries, so for the Medievalist's benefit, here are some splendid thirteenth century tiles:

Oh, and we visited the cultural monolith that is Westfield Stratford City, for the Olympic site viewing platform on the third floor of John Lewis ...

Such fun being a tourist in your own city, once in a while.

Come back soon, Medievalist, there are lots more on my touristic to-do list!

Living in a Ghost Town

Today I walked to work on the other side of the road. I know, a change is as good as a rest, right? And guess what, I looked up ...

I am slightly obsessed by ghost signs. I love the Peter Ackroyd-esque psychogeographical concept of layers upon layers of local history. And I hanker back to the days of drapers and haberdashers. Tesco Extra just isn't the same.

Clearly I am not alone:
Faded London | Ghost signs
Jane's London | Ghost signs of Camden High Street
Google Images | Ghost signs of London

Sack Boris

The boy picked up one of these for his Oystercard.

Great, huh?!

This is not my London

You may have noticed things have gone a little crazy in London (and beyond) lately.

This is not my London:

Originally uploaded to Flickr by hozinja

This, however, is:

Originally uploaded to Flickr by me!

Angel Tube Thought for the Day:

Originally uploaded to Flickr by Annie Mole

Here's hoping for calm and peace, and reclaiming our beloved streets soon from this violence and greed.

Check out #RiotCleanUp on Twitter for some community fightback - recommended if you need your faith in humanity restoring!

[http://www.thisbutterflymind.blogspot]

East Dulwich

[http://www.thisbutterflymind.blogspot.com]

Let particular care be taken

 
There's an intensely moving exhibition 'Threads of Feeling' at the Foundling Hospital at Coram's Fields in Fitzrovia. When mothers left babies to be cared for, a meticulous record was kept of the new arrival. This included details of the baby's given name, baptism status and clothing.  Mothers often also left tokens, in order that they might be able to identify the baby on a future, happier date. These ranged from rings and beads, to letters, to scraps of ribbon or fabric.
 

The sense of thwarted love and hope is almost unbearable.  While some children were reclaimed, thousands weren't. 

This note, with a scrap of printed cotton pinned to it, reads "Florella Burney Born june the 19th: 1758: In The Parish off St. Ann's So Ho. Not baptiz'ed. Pray Let particulare care be take'en off this Child As it will be call'd for again ..."

Heartbreakingly, she was not claimed and was eventually apprenticed to a millner in Barking.

On a happier note, I also saw the 'Evolving English' exhibition at the British Library. This, as well as having the earliest known manuscripts of Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and Caxton's bible, had some fantastic nineteenth century posters.

This one was posted wherever the Riot Act had been declaimed as a warning to protesters to disperse,

while this one advertises a fantastical sounding circus, complete with a giant rat, a skeleton man and a fat child,

And both were free! The London museums are wonderful things.

[http://thisbutterflymind.blogspot.com]

A Foggy Day in London Town

 A foggy day,
In London Town,
It had me low,
And it had me down
I viewed the morning,
With much alarm,
The British Museum,
Had lost it's charm
How long I wondered,
Could this thing last,
But the age of miracles
Hadn't past
And suddenly,
I saw you standing there
And in foggy London Town,
The sun was shining everywhere

Urban garden

Stepping out into the garden in the early morning is sheer joy these days. The combination of sunshine, warm and heavy rain has left the greens lush and the seedlings flourishing.

It makes me happy, in a simple way.

This year, the raised beds so far play host to:

• Strawberries - these tend to go straight in my mouth and never make it to anything more sophisticated like fruit salad or jam
• Sugar snap peas - just think of the lovely crisp bite of a straight-from-the-vine bright green bean...
• Spinach - seems to grow like a weed, we are double sowing for a longer harvest
• Rocket, lambs lettuce, corn lettuce - to save on supermarket bagged salad, yuck
• Beetroot - recipes welcome, please, as I am not a fan but The Boy is
• Chives, parsely and mint - the mint is taking over, quick, better make some Pimms or some fresh mint tea

And, germinating nicely in the shed, are:

• Coriander and basil - it's great to have a proper shed for the more tender herbs
• San Marzano and Costoluto Fiorentino tomatoes - looking very promising, they are onto their first real leavs and are almost ready to upgrade to bigger pots
• Gardener's Delight tomatoes - worryingly, nothing showing yet...
• Runner beans
• Butternut squash - again, not a whisper of life, so fingers crossed.

This morning, I also listened really hard to the early everything-waking-up noises. I experimented wth sound recording on the iPhone, so you can listen too. (Audio file is MP4 on GoogleDocs and can be listened to in iTunes - if anyone knows a better way, please say, as this method is very roundabout!)

You can hear:

• The A12
• The Stansted flightpath
• Birds singing - I wish I could recognise what they are from their song, I only know I have seen blackbirds, wood pigeons, starlings, a robin and yellowtits
• Birds taking flight
• A neighbour's baby

Not bad for urban London at 9am on a Saturday!

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I Heart London

Last night, at More London by Tower Bridge. Feels like a Richard Curtis film, doesn't it?

[http://www.thisbutterflymind.blogspot.com/]

How to survive commuting in London

Top ten ways to survive commuting in London:

1. Read. Not the freesheets which will only cause you to deplore the state of humanity and wonder if we really are all going to hell in a handcart, but something escapist and enthralling.
2. Play music - no need for a stereo, use your imagination as a concert hall and listen silently to something good. Bach Goldberg variations tonight, probably performed by Glenn Gould. Inaudible humming is good too, audible humming makes people look at you strangely.
3. Plan dinner for the week. Seriously. This is good organisational time that would otherwise be dead time.
4. People-watch. Discreetly study those around you, wondering who they are, what they're thinking, where they're going. Give them make overs if they need them. Marvel at the tattoos on the guy in front.
5. Day-dream. Just how would I furnish that castle in Spain?
6. Eavesdrop. Need I say more?
7. Catch up on favourite blogs ... on the bus, of course, not underground, no signal. Today I learnt from www.chocolateandzucchini.com that there is a saying in French "to collapse like a soufflé", meaning "too lose steam".
8. Eat.
9. Refine your fashion-sense, using the world to window shop. Mmmm, great shoes, wonder where she got them?
10. Distract yourself from thinking about swine-flu.

And you're home!

Time for a restorative sit in a deck chair in the garden ...

Design Sponge in London

My favourite design blog just did a London city guide: see it here on Design Sponge. Lots of my old favourites listed, from Liberty to the Royal Festival Hall shop to Columbia Road markets, by way of V.V. Rouleaux and After Noah. What good taste!