super soups

January has (mostly) been a month of restorative soups, courtesy of the boy (and Jamie). Top to bottom: a hearty minestrone in our treasured anthropologie bowls, chilli corn chowder and our favourite bread, pain aux six cereales from Paul bakery.

wickle

Nestled in my favourite corner of Sussex, Wickle is perhaps the loveliest shop in England and, let me tell you, I don't make that claim lightly. Top of today's wishlist is this Muskmallow eau de parfum, tied with a beautiful solid silver charm of a chicken by the jeweller Jude Kenny, which they describe as 'a sensual and rosey scent with a musky erotic note'.

a bottle and a friend

The boy and I attended a very jovial Burn's Night celebration, with many whisky fuelled toasts:

  

There's nane that's blest of human kind, 
But the cheerful and the gay, man, 
Fal, la, la, &c.

Here's a bottle and an honest friend! 
What wad ye wish for mair, man? 
Wha kens, before his life may end, 
What his share may be o' care, man?

Then catch the moments as they fly, 
And use them as ye ought, man: 
Believe me, happiness is shy, 
And comes not aye when sought, man.

- Robert Burns

liberty print

I absolutely adore Liberty's new fabrics, designed by Lauren Childs: 
 

and Emma Chichester Clark, amongst others:

bug

The Southbank is one of my all time favourite places and an awesome date location. The boy and I went to the BFI last week. We had cocktails in their swanky bar and then hung out with all the cool kids at 'bug', which is basically a trendy music video showcase. The evening is hosted by the delectable and delightfully funny Adam Buxton (of Adam and Joe fame), who I happen to have a major crush on.

thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird

V

I do not know which to prefer,

The beauty of inflections

Or the beauty of innuendos,

The blackbird whistling

Or just after.

- Wallace Stevens

Delightful black and white birds illustration from The Blackbird Sings.

studio mela

I just got this Studio Mela print back from the framers and am super pleased with it - now busy deciding where it should go:





These are some of their other limited edition prints (I like to think that the bottom one looks like me and the boy):

petite properties

January is accompanied by a long list of things to do around the flat - hanging pictures, clearing out my wardrobe, making curtain ties. When it's all done and I've created a little nook of space, I intend to fill it with one of these totally charming Shelf Cities, from The Oak Leaves:

Why is really small stuff always so appealing?

morning muffins

The Leon cookbook is much loved in our household and I use the recipes again and again. Made a batch of breakfast muffins - super easy, healthy and (most importantly) delicious:

breakfast in brockwell

On Saturday morning the boy and I ran the free Brockwell Park ‘Park Run’, with our friend Dominic. (I use run in the loosest possible sense! Everyone else shot off into the distance while I turned pink and struggled along). We rewarded our efforts at virtuous living with breakfast in the Brockwell Lido café, which is one of my favourite brunch spots in South London.

new year on dartmoor

This year, I'm introducing poetry Tuesdays. First up, a poem for the new year from Sylvia Plath:

This is newness: every little tawdry
Obstacle glass-wrapped and peculiar,
Glinting and clinking in a saint's falsetto. Only you
Don't know what to make of the sudden slippiness,
The blind, white, awful, inaccessible slant.
There's no getting up it by the words you know.
No getting up by elephant or wheel or shoe.
We have only come to look. You are too new
To want the world in a glass hat.

happy new year

I'm finally back, after a long and much needed festive break. Happy New Year to you all. May 2011 be filled with much love and laughter.