Cosy times

This weekend, quality time with the cat, apple and pear cake, and a trip to the Affordable Vintage Fair. Next, lasagne and Downton Abbey. Yep, we're getting cosy as it's definitely Autumn out there...

Hello Autumn

What a glorious weekend it was. Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness, indeed.  We took a saunter by the river at Hammersmith and had a gorgeous roast at the Old Ship.  Oh, and basked in the hot sunshine too. More of the same for a beautiful Autumn, please!

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Retro Knitting

Having inherited this fabulous book from my mum,

I opened it up for the first time today, and found this collection of handwritten patterns - love the idea of inheriting something that has been tried, tested and annotated, like getting a secondhand book with a stranger's name and notes in, so personal and somehow "connected". Plus, if you look closely, you can see the book is one year older than me! It also contained this very stylish 80s lovely. 

It has some amazing photography: I especially like this motorcycle chick, modelling a sweater!

And this is very glamorous - but a cable knit bikini? Hardly practical!

I think I'll be sticking to hats for the moment ...

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Salamanca is

We've spent a splendid long weekend in Spain for the "boda" of a dear friend.

To me, Salamanca is:

An intensely romantic castle to stay in and celebrate in

Tapas in the Placa Mayor with friends-of-friends, who just became friends

A happy bride dancing to "You're The One That I Want" in red Converse

Churros y chocolate for the morning after the night before

Some serious Gothic architecture

And some rather less serious surprises!

We loved it! Felicidades a B y J - muchas gracias para invitarnos, fue un privilegio.

Attention, please?

I am finding at the moment that I have a really short attention span.

Maybe it's down too much multimedia multitasking, of which I am often guilty, juggling laptop and TV and iPhone. Maybe it's down to tiredness at the end of the taxing day. Maybe it's just that modern malaise of being time-poor with 'Wonder Woman' syndrome, i.e. trying to have it all and ending up doing too much.

Whatever the reason, I have a buzzing brain and a true butterfly mind - flitting from flower to flower and never settling for long - these days. And to think I used to be such a "reflector"...

Time to embrace slow and train myself back into mindfulness and thoughtfulness.

As a countermeasure, I am keeping a journal where I try to think critically and analytically about my reading, recording impressions, thoughts and feelings.

I think it's working. Recent books have included Peter Ackroyd's Dickens biography (hagiographic, overly strained prose), Jenny Uglow's History of British Gardening (interesting on liberation and self-expression of women and working classes via gardening), and Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian (kids' classic, can't believe I never read it, moving and tough, emotionally honest). I certainly feel I am reading more deeply and responsively, and I find I remember the content better and more profoundly.

It hasn't stopped me reading several books at once though - currently Nights at the Circus, The Spirit Level (as Kindle eBook) and A Room with a View (on iPhone) - and the pile of material by the bed hasn't diminished any but it's a start.

A weekend of making

It's been a hectic old summer, especially workwise, but this weekend I finally made some time for making.

I finished The Boy's bobble hat,

knocked up a very stylish (if I say so myself) knitting bag from an old skirt to prevent the cat from running around the house with my half-finished knitting in her mouth,

and baked this fantastic pistachio cake with cream cheese frosting, mmmmm:

Having swapped a creative marketing job for a responsible middle management job about two years ago, I really find these weekend things very satisfying.  I think it helps me bridge the gap between the "work me" and the "real me", which feel pretty separate these days. Now, to find a way to bring those two closer together ...

Rain, rain, rain

Rain on spiderweb
Originally uploaded by IanEv

A poem for the rainy windy weather:

Like Rain it sounded till it curved
- Emily Dickinson


Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas Wind --
It walked as wet as any Wave
But swept as dry as sand --
When it had pushed itself away
To some remotest Plain
A coming as of Hosts was heard
It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
It warbled in the Road --
It pulled the spigot from the Hills
And let the Floods abroad --
It loosened acres, lifted seas
The sites of Centres stirred
Then like Elijah rode away
Upon a Wheel of Cloud.

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