blue skies

Blue Skies - East Preston, West Sussex

i'm just back from a fab few days at the seaside with my friend Emma and her two beautiful burp-monsters Rex and Greta.  it was a bit of a lastminutedotcom as a Emma needed a half term escape, i needed a little holiday and a friend of hers offered his beach house "Blue Skies" in East Preston (near Littlehampton) for the week.  we arrived on sunday and sadly the weather wasn't blue skies...more like grey and rainy skies...but the beach was right outside the back door and the house was an old-skool beach house gem - full of quirkiness, religious iconography (very catholic family), with a funny little dining room, cupboards and laders, bedrooms with sea views and an upstairs dormitory which reminded me of school.

dinner in the b&b style breakfast room

dormie-style...just like school!

some interesting reading in the libary

the house is looked after by the gardener, Tony (Macaroni) an ex-pat from Sicily who collected me from the station with a hug & kiss (we're not in London now!) and was so chatty we thought he'd never leave - but he told us the previous tenants had been some international visiting monks on a retreat and that we had a pretty big challenge to beat in wine-consumption as he'd never had to take so many empty bottles to the recycling!  he also informed us that all the single girls who stay don't remain so and that i should stand on the bedroom balcony and wait for passing suiters - sadly tho there were just a bunch of wet dog walkers passing by!

 room with a view

the first day we took a trip to Brighton (poor little Rex couldn't quite get his bemused brain around why we were driving 40 minutes away to a beach when there was one out the back of the house, in fact we subjected him to this confusion every day until we finally took him out and flew his new kite on wednesday) where we enjoyed a great fish & chips lunch at English's and did a bit of shopping in the lanes, ending at JB's american diner - where Rex & Great were in heaven watching Tom & Jerry cartoons.

 

on Tuesday i was awoken by the little monsters all done up in face-paint - Emma had been up for hours doing tiger faces and making cup cakes - a mother's work is never done!  Greta then had a go at doing me - tho i'm not sure whether she was going for the afghan hound or domestic violence look!

 

 hhmmmm...how do i look? one HOT MESS!

we took a drive to visit the east beach cafe at Littlehampton as i had raved about the Thomas Heatherwick design (which Tony called a rust-bucket!) but sadly it was closed.  so then we carried on toward Arundel and planned to visit the castle - but that was also closed!  in the end we walked around the lovely town and managed a couple of antique shops and picked up a few more bargains before Mr Wobbly Legs had had enough!

 Emma, Great & Rex - with Arundel Castle behind

 Greta, me and Mr Wobbly Legs!

 Emma's star purchase...a lovely chinese jewellery box

on wednesday we finally launched the kite Rex got in Brighton (on the grey-est, wettest, but windy-est day - great fun) and did a bit of beach-combing. then we had fish & chips again at Fred's in Littlehampton (an excellent recommendation from Tony Macaroni) before hitting the amusement arcade and then going home as the sea mists rolled in and i had to reluctantly head back to London on the train. 

 let's go fly a kite!

 one happy little boy!

 kite over Blue Skies...

 it had to be done

 there's a bear on the beach!

 yum yum!

 

HOT CHICKS!

the first thing i did was unpack my lovely little beach watercolour that i picked up for a fiver in Arundel and then while out yesterday i spotted a matching beachy cushion in habitat and just had to have that too - to remind me of my lovely trip. i miss all my beach buddies and hope to go again when the sun is out and the skies are properly blue!

 

pebbles

i've been dying to go to Pebbles at Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex for a long time now.  i've even told a couple of friends who have been before I have!  now my mate Emma's hubby has instructed her he has lots of work to do and has suggested she go away somewhere to spend half term with her 2 little'uns.  she's looking at a few places and she has invited me along for company as she thinks she might need some help (no, not with the kids - with the requisite drinking of wine and smoking fags of an evening!).  i've suggested Pebbles (2 double bedrooms & a 2 min walk from the door to the beach) as they mentioned on their facebook group that it might be free. fingers crossed - but, if not, i will have to go another time and i'm sure wherever we end up we will have a blast!

wardrobe wannabe

frilly fabulousness from heidi merrick's Spring 2011 collection (spotted via delight by design)...yum.

happy cushion

i adore this happy cushion from US designer jonathan adler (spotted via design love fest) especially the fact that it has GIN on it...ha ha! oh and there's a sins one too.  a few of his designs are available at heals but sadly not the cushions.

baby trashes bar

this trailer from a short film by johannes nyholm is hands down the funniest thing i have EVER seen.  this chick could be the ideal woman...young, blonde and up for it...shame she can't hold her drink...ha ha ha!

back to the future

spotted thanks to a cup of jo the brilliant Back to the Future project by photographer Irina Werning - taking old photos and re-enacting them...ha ha ha....absolutely hilarious...i am SO doing this!  ha ha...i even have a photo of me dressed as a hula girl exactly like this...!

foxy lady

being a city dweller, i always love seeing the urban foxes in London, it feels like a bit of nature creeping in from the country and taking over...usually while we're all asleep (they make a right racket in my garden in the wee hours!). naturally i have a fondness for anything foxy so am loving this dress by Jill Stuart (Fall 2011) spotted via a beautiful mess.  well, i probably won't be able to get my hands on the gorgeous dress but i have been wearing this cute foxy brooch from etsy on my winter coat lately.

 

PS (17.02.11): spooky, foxes must be in the air!  check out today's etsy uk newsletter also entitled Foxy Lady...with some cool foxy products for sale!!

mannequin

no this isn't an ode to 80s clanger Mannequin starring Kim Cattrall - its to say how much i adore these vintage inspired beauties from Devon based Etsy seller Lucy at Corset Laced Mannequin.  if only i had a spare two hundred nicker. there are many different varieties using velvet, modern and vintage fabrics - but i particularly covet the florals.....aren't they lovely....sigh.

 

name of the rose

spotted this rose among thorns earlier on Wood Lane, W12...boom boom. now why don't they make lovely flower patterned mattresses like these anymore.

right royal knees up

 

like a good and dutiful subject [ahem] i've purchased my two royal wedding [anarchistic] memorabilia items already - so they'd better not ditch at the altar.  i received delivery of the brilliant Carrie Reichardt's mug from her etsy shop yesterday and have been waiting with baited breath for the commemorative plates from KK outlet to go on sale and just nabbed one before they all go.  nice.

wardrobe wannabe

via pinterest

slouchy sexy summer dressing...can't wait...

southern shame

a friend who shall remain nameless has just texted this fine example of a wee mattress he found outside his house in SE24.....but hold on...whats this...the culprit himself caught in the act of dumping YES, OUTSIDE HIS OWN HOUSE...bloody southerners...have they no shame?! ha ha!

gay Pareeeeeeeeeee...

am planning a trip to Paris in May with some girlfriends - to hook up with a couple of boys from the bad old days when we all worked in advertising together circa 1988!  can't wait as i know its going to be a total blast.  think i need to start exercising my liver right away. we are looking for somewhere to stay and i found the amazing looking Mama Shelter - i love the masks on the bedside lights.  sadly i think they only have one room free so i will have to save this for another time.  am so looking forward to great food, great wine, great company and trawling a few flea markets.  i'll definitely take full advantage of Design Sponge's Paris city guide as they are always invaluable.

a few days away....

 

having spent the week packing up the ground floor of my flat in anticipation of building work next week...i decided to take a few days to visit my folks in Hampshire.  on the way to the station i spotted 2 bed bases (no mattress) and a sofa on Leghorn Road, NW10...to send me on my way.  i spent most of my time relaxing chez famile...and my dad delighted in showing me his new (vintage) Velocette bike (a 1955 model) with beautiful chrome wheel guards and the fab "naked lady" motif on the tool box.

 

this makes SEVEN that he has bought, taken apart and put back together...he needs to open a museum!  he loves to potter in the garage and while i was there he kindly stripped and re-painted this lovely american-style matchbox holder i bought on etsy a few weeks ago..it will look lovely in my bathroom - which my parents couldn't understand, until i explained about the old trick learnt in Thailand for getting rid of nasty niffs in the toilet...just light a match and hey presto!

 before

after

also got to spend a lovely day in Bournemouth with my Aunty Jennie, cousin Sarah and her two children Renee & Freddy - who i really don't get to see enough, but always enjoy their company as we share a love of beach-combing and doodling in the sand.

 

my aunt and cousin also share my love of charity shop trawling and we were in heaven with the NINE shops we managed to visit in Parkstone, a suburb of Bournemouth - where my dad and aunt used to go to the cinema as kids, and my dad got banned from the local church of St John's (his namesake!) for trying to "blow the place up"...as he and his tearaway mates used to set off bangers of a sunday morning...he was always a naughty (tho angel-voiced) choirboy!  anyway i managed to pick up some real beauties..including a fab 1960s Poole Pottery  soup pot with mushrooms on the lid, a few plates & glasses and also went mad on three fab Arthur Wood vases.

i also got to visit the fab Le Creuset factory shop in Andover (one of the only good things about the place) to salivate over the beautiful kitchenware, and managed to nab myself a gorgeous red iron handled pot - a sample from the US, not for sale in the UK, which had made it onto the sale shelf!

 

my mum said i could have removed my dad's socks from the Aga 

before i took the photo but i think it all adds to the ambience!

i came home to my empty flat and was greeted by a message from a friend in West London with a photo of mattresses outside her door on Acklam Road...nice!

wardrobe wannabe

cool caramel (image via apartment 34)

street sofas

proof that life is posher in the south? Luke sent in this photo from SE19 of an abandoned SOFA! it may not have the wistful beauty of a mattress, but it just shows that furniture abandonment is taking a worrying turn, its becoming a bloody epidemic!

roving mattress-spotters

a late night special!

Greyhound Road, NW10

a big thank you to Paula from fab boutique love kr and her other half Tim who snapped and sent in these two local beauties.  i've been house-bound for days with the packing and kitchen destruction so contributions from roving mattress-spotters are much appreciated. cheers guys...keep'em coming!

sadly this base seems to have lost its mattress!

Napier Road NW10

stencil stairs

beautiful stencilled staircase  (stencils from  royal designstudio, spotted via style files)

mattresses down under!

i've been a bit slack with the mattress-spotting these days as i'm stuck indoors mostly attempting to pack up the entire contents of the ground floor of my flat (in readiness for some building work being carried out in my kitchen next week).  it is taking an eternity because (a) i'm doing it alone (i'm too embarassed of all the mess and junk to ask for help from anyone) and (b) as my mum keeps saying - i have the contents of a 3-bedroomed house crammed into a 1-bedroomed flat! i'm a terrible hoarder...but i digress....
i was delighted to have 5 minutes to log onto my laptop tonight and find an email from Sydney based blogger the likkle girl who wurves pwetty things with some mattresses from Down Under!

 

she very kindly sent me photos she'd snapped at her neighbourhood charity shops (they're called "op shops" in Australia and look like fine hunting ground for pre-loved mattresses).  how wonderful that once used they are not left alone, sad and abandoned in the streets - but given a new lease of life (presumably as long as they are in tip-top condition - lets face it, most of the mattressland ones wouldn't cut the mustard!).  ha ha...brilliant - the mattress-love is spreading and aren't they lovely looking mattresses...such great shots too! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 

photos by likkle girl

#1 to #4 from the Salvation Army op shop at Crown Street, Surry Hills, Sydney

#5 from the Salvation Army op shop at Oxford Street, Darlinghurst,  Sydney

Boing Boing!

kung hei fat choy! happy chinese new year! bring on the year of the rabbit....goodness, happiness and forgiveness...and lots of bouncy bouncy boing boing!

south stackers

i've not spotted recently - but Noreen sent me this from SE12 today with a note saying "they throw out mattresses neatly here" - which is precisely why i live in north London - this OCD stacking is just plain WRONG!