today i made...

the christmas spirit is slowly seeping in.  yesterday i strung some twinkly lights over the window and this morning i cut out this zombie snowflake and stuck it on the microwave...well...its a start...

 

also cooked up a batch of salted caramel brownies...they went all holey when i poured the hot caramel sauce on them and so ended up looking a bit prehistoric (but tasted delicious!). 

 

this was the recipe i was going to use but in the end i cheated with an easy brownie kit and just added sea salt and made up some of this salted caramel sauce.  yum.

november mattresses

just a few mattresses from the last week...

this cheered me right up on a miserable day - sent by my friend Mandy - spotted near her home in West London

on Bramston Road, NW10

outside Dollis Hill Tube, NW10 - on the way to work one morning this week

Radcliffe Road, NW10

also this weekend i took a trip to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich for an exhibition of stunning photographs by Ansel Adams. 

a couple of whoppers at the Ansel Adams show

thankfully there were quite a large number on display and room to really take in their beauty - unlike the last exhibition in London of his work (2002-ish at the Southbank) where it was so rammed people shuffled past in crocodile with about 3 seconds in front of each picture.  this time there was more room to maneauvre, little nooks to sit and contemplate and 3 vast scale pictures right at the centre - amazing.  we just kept going round and round and staring intently at our favourites, wishing we could own one...and pay a visit to the wild american landscapes on show.

Noreen and me - enjoying some hot spiced apple with brandy in Greenwich Market

we had a delicious hot spiced apple brandy in Greenwich Market and took a little wander round the second hand market near the station where i managed to pick up a strange piece of cutlery.  the stall holder had no idea what it was and later it caused a flurry of discussion amongst friends on facebook, trying to figure out its purpose. 

what is it???

suggestions ranged from the serious to the ridiculous...from a butter curler or pea scraper to a miniature croupier rake or instrument of surgery or torture...but it turns out to be a completely harmless "baby [food] pusher" which normally comes in a christening set with a silver spoon and is for those who can't manage to push food onto their fork with a knife!

mattressland update

here's a few i've spotted lately

Nightingale Road, NW10

and just over the road - Nightingale Road, NW10

Kensgington twinned with Mattressland

lukey likes mattresses

i've been very slack recently but my mate Luke has been sending me a whole glut of mattresses that he's spotted lately around London-town....

tiptastic - south - Oct 2012

save that space!

Croydon - November 2012

Croydon 2 - November 2012

Notting Hill - November 2012

hiding, Ealing - November 2012

Crystal Palace - November 2012

and there were even more than this but i edited them down to the best - thanks to our intrepid south london spotter!!!!

back home

since returning...a few mattresses have been spotted!  i know i'm home!

and this weekend i took a lovely stroll through Hampstead Heath

the stunning Hampstead Heath

the wonderful views

and full of the most amazing old trees

woodyness

the mini house next to Kenwood - for a quick cuppa

mini ponies at Zippos on the Heath

and am getting ready for Halloween - my fave holiday!

i think i found a feathered friend for the crow in my painting

strange little bird (found in an antique shop in Littlehampton) and strange flower from a florist beside the Heath - spooky!

what to do with old loo rolls!

France 2012

the view from the pool...bliss

Just back from a week away with the folks in Flayosc.  Too bad i caught flu just before I left - so spent most of the holiday coughing and spluttering - but somehow it was more bearable lying beside the pool and sipping wine - i wonder why!

fell in love with the neighbour's new house

looks stunning in this crazy Provence light

dinner at local Flayosc restaurant - Le Cigalon - with the folks

yummy mummy!

my swan shaped profiteroles!

my dad and his flaming strawberry creme brulee!

bye bye lovely rose...till next year!

We spent a day in Tour Tour - the beautiful village in the sky - which featured in Day of the Jackal, where we caught an exhibition of now deceased ex-pat resident artist Ronald Searle.  Such a stunning place to visit.

fabulous view

Tour Tour

the Town Hall

 

 

a typical Provence fountain

the best view in the village

the door of a local art gallery

a vintage sign at a local cafe

i love this little house - wish i could live here, amongst all the artists

St Deinis church

so peaceful inside

 

i've never seen these before...gaudy but beautiful ceramic flowers

 

really rather lovely.

probably the best final resting place in the world