It's Friday

Why should the kids be the only ones who are kitted out come autumn term? Here is a satchel I would happily go back to school with

found here

This will be my reading light - I like to think big

found here

And to get us all inspired, let's check out the winners of the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012 Exhibition at the Jerwood Space (open till 28th October). The first prize went to Karolina Glusiec. Here is a trailer of her hand drawn animation.

Have a lovely weekend!

Autumn Term

Today is a brilliant early autumn day which was celebrated with a run in Richmond Park ( a new term resolution - looking forward to a lovely Indian Summer to keep at it!)

We spend most of the summer on the continent but came back to London in time to catch the excitement of the Paralympics.

Horses on the way to the medal ceremony

Greenwich Park Stadium

by

Aesthetic Nomad

It was a fantastic London summer and let's hope that we can keep some of the uplifting spirit to get us through the darker months.

Nice to be back!

Vintage Pop Up

From this Thursday to Sunday you can visit a lovely Vintage Pop-Up Shop in Putney, selling all sort of finds from around the country and the continent like jewellery, decorative objects, toys, glass etc. The shop will pop up in a beautiful little house and as an ExPat I m always surprised at how so very different these uniform looking houses are once inside.

Tea and cake will be served in support of the Meningitis Research Foundation.

The Playful City

Check out the London Festival of ARCHITECTURE with lectures, exhibitions etc., on till the 8. July 2012. We will probably check out the Family activities at Burlington House this coming Sunday.

Or do your own Paper City at home!!

Made by Joel 

one of my favourite art project blogs for kids!!

Back soon

found via

Writer's Block

found here

in this very useful article about 

writer's block 

The River Pageant

As seen and experienced at Putney Bridge, where all the man powered boats started from. It was very cold but everyone was in a very friendly spirit. The kids enjoyed it immensely getting so close to the action.

London prepares

for the Jubilee

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Aesthetiknomad

Boats preparing

for the River Pageant tomorrow

Aesthetik Nomad

It was a nice atmosphere this afternoon. Whilst walking along the river we and a few hundred other Londoners admired the first boats getting ready for tomorrow.

Lucinda Rogers

London Bridge and Saint Magnus the Martyr

View over Spitalsfields looking West

Love Lucinda's take on London. She also contributed to Spitalsfield Life. You can find out more about her and her work here.

Thames River Pageant

More than a 1000 boats will sail down the Thames this Sunday in honour of the Queen's Jubilee

more info here

polisse

This film about a Paris child protection unit won the jury price at Cannes in 2011. What I can gather it has beautiful and haunting acting. It will be screened at Cine lumiere from 1. June - 12. July. I would really love to see films from Europe more widely available here in London!

Pentecost Sunday

We had our 'first street party' this Sunday down the road. Well, it was meant to be a friendly demonstration outside a politicians home against all the cuts the government is pushing through. Whilst the atmosphere was friendly and it was interesting for our children to experience a bit of grass root politics (if you can call it that) I am in two minds however about involving the families of politicians in any way. But on the other hand, our families are directly affected, too .....

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Aesthetic Nomad

It's a sunny Friday

We just ordered new gas for the BBQ, are planning a picnic in Richmond Park this evening with the kids (the park is open till 21.00) and might even venture into Soho on Sunday to visit the new Flea Market (if it is not too hot) on Dean Street. 

And for our well deserved drink, we will use these ice cube strawberries to keep cool.

Have a lovely Weekend!

Chelsea Flower Show

Here are two of the gardens that impressed me most:

Quiet Time

Korean DMZ Forbidden Garden

by Jihae Hwang

DMZ stand for Korean Demilitarised Zone - the garden wants to show how nature manages to thrive in an area once fought over and destroyed. It symbolises the history, suffering and hope and ongoing conflict with  plants in abundance, a memorial bench made out of dog tags, bottles with messages to family and friends on the other side, hanging from the fence, a rose next to a bullet and the omni-present watch tower, protecting or threatening? I could not make up my mind about that.

Satoyama Life

by Kazuyuki Ishihara

The designer was inspired by the simple life of people in the Satoyama, living in harmony with nature. I just loved the soft feel of the little garden. Very inviting, but honouring nature with restraining her ever so lightly and with the utmost respect.

Chelsea Flower Show - first Impressions

London Art Fairs and more ...

Found this Guide about the London Art Fair - helps to keep on top of things.

And here you can figure out what to wear in a few years time: The Graduate Fashion Show of the Royal College of Art,  30th Mai

And if the Sofa (among a million other things) can be re-invented, you can explore  here: London Design Week starts tomorrow.

Sosia Bed by Campeggi

via

Sun and Flowers

The sun is supposed to come back later today and I am looking forward to going to the Chelsea Flower Show - never been and looking very much forward to it. Tickets have long gone but there is for the first time the Chelsea Fringe to discover which covers the whole of London (more or less).

How to pimp your pavement

or how to transform the Canal into a Floating Forest are only two projects of an amazing program you can find here. It's on till the 10th of June.

Festival of Baroque Music

The Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, which starts this coming Friday, will open with Le Concert des Nations under Jordi Savall at St. John's, Smith Square. Among other they will play Franz Biber's Batalia - descriptive, sometimes wild, dissonant, contemporary.

what we love

What we love

determines what we seek

what we seek determines

what we think and do

what we think and do

determines who we are

and who we will become

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Re-Opening

The Photographers' Gallery will re-open next Saturday, 19. May 2012

found here

Look at the space they gained! It's two minutes from Oxford Circus, so no excuse. Entry is free, but they are always looking for support

Books, Books, Books

Free books at the Carneby Book Exchange - a great idea! You can sit and enjoy a find , take a book with you and leave one for other people to enjoy. A book club with a difference. You will find it at Kingly Court, just off Carneby Street.

And whilst searching for an appropriate picture I stumbled over this very bookish blog with some lovely book related art etc. like 

by Susana Parada

via

Travelling in Style

St Pancras

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This is the entrance to St Pancras International Station and its Hotel. Recently renovated it does remind you of the glorious days of travelling.

These days, one needs huge signs to even find the entrance ...

King's Cross

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For the Diary

London can be overwhelming - the amount of amazing art, culture and sport events is huge on a normal day, but with the Olympics looming: who can keep up (in a good way) ?

I thought I start collecting some dates for my diary, hugely personal but hopefully you find something of interest for you, too. Might be worth browsing a bit over the coming long weekend since the forecast is miserable ...

Should the sun come out - The Walled Garden at Fulham Palace has reopened - it used to be quite an overgrown but lovely former kitchen garden at the end of the Park - I am looking forward to see it in its former glory. And the Cafe is definitely worth a visit!

Till 23. May The Flying Duchman at the ENO - because I love the theme

25. May The Caught by the River Variety Show is a spin off by the nature and culture website Caught by the River, an intriguing combination of fishing, music, bird watching, poetry, writing and gardening .... 

Check out Rivertones 1, a mix of words by Dylan Thomas, spoken by Richard Burton and studio sounds of King Tubby, I found on their website!

5. July 2012 A story to tell : Past and future dreams for East London by artists, architects, residents and of course politicians

found here

Have a lovely weekend!

Delft Tiles in East London

Discovered these 'Delft Tiles' (painted on panel) by Paul Brommer via the Gentle Author. Lovely! Such a shame I missed the exhibition!! Read more about them here.

Could not resist

Venus of Cupertino

found here

A Piano for the Hallway

A superb piece of furniture for all the family. I really love the simplicity and accessibility (for big and small) . You will find more about the Piano at Feld.

found here