Painshill Park

Painshill Park is a lovely park 30 min down the A3 from West London. Restored to its former glory as a18th century landscape garden, created by Charles Hamilton between 1738 and 1773 it is a 'tranquil landscape, and although you will hear the cars from time to time this 'living work of art' will definitely be able to distract you from your modern city life.
Apart from plants and wildlife there are quite a few 18th century follies to discover like a ruined abbey, a Gothic temple and tower or a grotto. The people of Painshill Park even restored the vineyard!

the Tower at Painshill Park

 the Lake at Painshill Park

taken in February in the evening

The kids will love it - our two went there over half term for two days of woodland den building and  tracking down bugs and beasts with the two lovely people, Adam and Lindsay, who run it (I cannot recommend them highly enough!). I dropped mine at 9.00 and picked up two absolutely excited and very dirty ones at 16.30. Painshill Park offer a wild Easter Camp again this year. Check it out here.

London Bus Tour

London Bus Tour from moritz oberholzer on Vimeo.

(Nearly) all aspects of life!

This is an amazing take on travelling through London (and life) on a bus.

Sweet London on a stick

Just stumbled across these very grown-up lollipops, to please your inner child while still trying to look terribly sophisticated licking a vintage map of London (also available!).

you can find it here

Foreign Envoy

greyorgreen

V&A Museum

Ming Dynasty

Keeping warm with a perfect cup of tea

This little invention makes the most of your favourite tea and should take care of the dreaded piles of used teabags:

found here via

I like it when inventions take care of the small niggely (is that a word??) things of everyday life 

London Under

Get a flashlight out and join writer Peter Achroyd on his under worldly journey below London. From hidden streams, cat-sized rats to eccentric mole men, he manages to pull his reader into this secret world.
The book "London Under" is entertaining, full of facts you never knew you wanted to know about and short enough to read it on a few tube journeys to work!

And whilst you are digging deep, look out for a new series of work by artist Mark Wallinger on the London Underground called Labyrinth. 10 of the 270 works -  for each of the 270 stations - have so far been unveiled
(I will post some pictures as soon as I stumble across them. In the meantime you can have a look here.)

An amazing addition to the works above is Stephen Walter's London Subterranea, commissioned by the London Transport Museum for the Mind the Map Exhibition in 2012. Watch the artist at work and explaining his approach and thoughts here:

Kung Hei Fat Choi

The biggest New Year Celebration outside Asia will open in Trafalgar Square at 12.00 this coming Sunday!

Check here for more information.

Should the crowds or the weather stop you from joining in, stay at home and celebrate the year of the snake with making one with the kids

found here

brush up your Chinese with this great story about adventure and friendship by the great Christoph Nieman

or keep your friends and yourself warm with this Chinese hotpot

found here

Whatever you do, have a lovely Weekend!

untothislast

We recently ordered a table top from a major international furniture shop for our daughter who could really do with a bigger desk (so she can put even more very important bits and pieces on it). The table   refused stubbornly to make an appearance at our house (lost order, snow, accident, traffic and overworked driver) and after a few weeks of waiting (and finally cancelling the order) the following concept sounds so much more friendly, manageable, personal and affordable! that I will give it a go.

Unto This Last want to 'offer the convenience of the local craftmans' workshop at mass production prices' by making to order, simplify logistics and using advanced technology.

These especially caught my eye

desk

coatstand

light

I do like the idea of Micro Manufacturing close by. As with our food we seem to have lost an awareness and understanding of how things are made or grown, how much effort it needs to produce something 'well worth it', nice or even beautiful or yummy.
The untothislast concept seems to me a very good compromise, satisfying the price and design conscious as well as the environmentalist. You can visit them on Brick Lane. Now they maybe just have to work on a more simplified version of name?

Cabbage &Co

I don't know about you, but I for one am slowly but seriously longing for something not cabbage or root related - although, these do look nice ...

found here via

It's Friday

And greyorgreen is back! An (admittedly ) very long hibernation has come to an end. So ….

 …. Let's infuse some colour into this very grey and wet Friday.

la jeune fille à la perle

from the series Les Revisités

http://davrinche.com

Some time ago I fell in love with this painting by Gaël Davrinch, a french artist whose series Les Revisités is inspired by the great masters (here Vermeer). His paintings are part homage, part flirtation, part irreverence. I don't think he is coming to London soon, but if you happen to be in Shanghai ….

Or get your own inspiration at the National Portrait Gallery this weekend.

Vermeer himself will be the subject of an exhibition this summer at the gallery: Vermeer and Music - the Art of Love and Leisure. Sounds promising!

Have a lovely weekend!