Friday 29 April 2011

right royal mattresses

i know just how that little girl feels....ha ha!
i woke up this morning with a bit of a continuing bah humbug attitude to the royal shindig (which is costing us millions or billions or just 62p each, depending on who you believe), convinced that the majority of flag-waiving types thronging into town to witness the spectacle are in fact non-Brit tourist types who've flown in from Australia/South Africa/etc, and that the only thing the Brits are happy about is that they have a day off and (yet) another excuse for a party - as if we need one! but i was determined not to sit with my eyes glued to the telly, when the whole thing was going on just down the road - so i hopped on my bike and decided i would cycle until i heard the roaring crowds or the hordes became unbearable - whichever came first.  it was a cyclist's dream as the streets were fairly deserted and as i headed down to Kensington Gardens i managed to spot a few mattresses!
not very regal...Bathurst Gardens, NW10
fit for a queen...Ashburnham Road, NW10
a smidge smarter as we get closer to town...Inverness Terrace, W2

i got as far as home of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment before deciding to turn around, but i'd arrived in perfect timing and witnessed the gee-gees on their return to the barracks - fantastic - just the right amount of pomp (and horse poop) for me. 
home of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
here come the gee-gees....
 
a bit of pomp and a lot of [horse] poop
stunning...
 
is that an axe i spy? off with her head!
i pootled back through the park and sat beside the Serpentine Lake and watched the RAF flypast before heading over to Westbourne Grove for brunch at delicious Daylesford - where i had Eggs Royale (natch) and bought some yummy Myrrh-scented candles and spotted some gorgeous pooches outside Tom's, then a quick pitstop in Portobello to say hello to Judy and Patricia and then through the Avenues where lots of street parties are taking place - finally followed by another pitstop in Minkies for a fresh orange juice and (not a royal) cupcake and a glass or two of champagne and lovely chitchat at Love KR.
the RAF flypast over the Serpentine....
regal pooches outside Tom's deli in Westbourne Grove
 
yes, you are a most handsome devil!
 
...but you're still not getting my worm
royal eggs, eggs royale at Daylesford
 
street party - Kilravock Street, W10
 
 
royal cupcakes at Minkies!
 home now and just checking how our friends over the pond report the whole shebang via E! which is just hysterical - their royal "pundits" being Angela Rippon (fave 70s/80s newsreader, who famously did a high-kicking dance routine on Morecombe & Wise) and Dermot O'Leary (who will forever be linked with Big Brother's Little Brother and used to drink in one of my local pubs). they seem to be loving the [frankly bloody hideous] fashions sported by most of the wedding guests. i'm sorry but the York girls look atrocious and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson looks like her nose has finally collapsed.  amazingly (for me to say so) Victoria Beckham probably looked the best....the rest...the horror, the horror!
the York girls, looking frightful (one looks like she has Alien attached to her head)
Tara and her amazing collapsing nose
 
the Beckhams...and for once Victoria, I approve.
and so ...its all over ...until its repeated ad nauseum on telly for the next 500 days...but just to finish off here's a few more mattresses from the last few days...and for what its worth, i hope the royal couple have a lump-free mattress tonight!
Holland Road, NW10
Bathurst Gardens, NW10

Tuesday 26 April 2011

sunday spotting

the pub is...deceased...it is no more....the flats will have a great view of Trellick tho..
location for Withnail & I pub scene...
"two large gins, two pints of cider. ice in the cider"
it's been scorching hot weather here in London over the last few days - amazing for a bank holiday, and even more amazing for April. i spent most of it in the garden soaking up the rays but did pop out for a little bike ride down to Portobello for brunch on sunday with a pal at the wonderful tabernacle in Powis Square (delicious eggs royale at a very reasonable price).  on the way home we strolled back behind Westbourne Park and right past the big hole where the famous Tavistock/Babushka's pub used to stand.  very sad to see it has been pulled down (for more posh flats) as this little tavern was not only the location for the 'Mother Black Cap' scene in 1987 classic Withnail & I - but also the scene of a significant "hook-up" of my own!  that relationship didn't last either - but it was a memorable meeting and this was a memorable boozer for many a rockin' night.  ahhh..good times...anyway - cycled back home along the canal, red-faced and burnt to a crisp and then spotted a mattress soaking up the rays in mattressland.
soaking up the sun on Station Road, NW10

camper-bike

 
 

who needs a campervan when you can have a camper-bike?! Brooklyn-based artist kevin cyr created this beauty in 2008 - isn't it fab (as spotted via swiss miss).  i've always hankered after owning a campervan but can't drive (25 years of living in London, a determination to utilise our national & public transportation systems and a general mistrust of our reliance on cars, which naturally disappears when someone offers me a lift anywhere) so this bike hybrid is very appealing to me - tho i'm sure my cycling skills wouldn't be up to negotiating the streets on it.  i also love the paintings Kevin does of bashed up and graffitied old delivery trucks, vans, etc - he sees the beauty in these messed up and sometimes abandoned vehicles - a man after my own heart. 
 
 
 

dear...

i've seen these in a few blogs lately - just have to re-post them - bloody brilliant letterpress prints from sapling press

Saturday 23 April 2011

pods & noggs

pampered pooches and their pink pod!
...and some bunnies, for Easter
 i think i've found the perfect residence for my future pooch - the gorgeous pei pod (spotted via design crush) - just need to decide on mint or pink...oh...and the dog!  and just when i think it can't get any better - i spot this fabulously stylish home for chickens...the nogg- if mattressland wasn't overflowing with naughty [and hungry for hens] foxes i'd so want one of these in my garden.

white out

mmmm...love this painting 'white out' by kimia kline (spotted via this is glamorous) - this girl clearly loves her [bed] mattress! Kimia is a Nashville born, San Fran based artist and filmmaker, lucky enough to be very well travelled (she's off to live in India next) and she also obsessively collects copies of W and Vogue (a girl after my own heart!).

Friday 22 April 2011

alfresco


 
 
with all the great weather we're having in London i'm feeling inspired by these beautiful  shots of outdoor living and alfresco dining from here and here....sigh.
 

Wednesday 20 April 2011

stuff & mattress nonsense

Jasmine-sprouting-Onbie after a trip to Homebase
smart and buf...just how she likes her men!
 
feelin' blue on Glebe Road, NW10
popped down to Homebase the other day on my beautiful bicycle and managed to fit a jasmine plant in the back panniers - wish i could keep one in there permanently as the sweet smell followed me all the way home - bliss.  spotted a blue mattress en route and later my mate Bart in Brussels sent me a soiled double special...yuk!
juicy - all the way from the streets of Brussels!
and after a busy weekend (drinkathon) with the special Brussel sprouts, Kate & her lovely boys, i am now suffering at work...i think its all gone to my head!
decided it was time to bust out the serious stamp if i was ever to leave work tonight

never mind my worrying habit of getting the coloured "tabs" prepped in a row for tomorrow - will i need them? who knows but i'm ready for anything!