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Thought I’d take you on a typography sightseeing tour of our house. Come this way! This postcard sits on top of a framed London map from 1801, just as you enter the house. I can’t remember where I bought it, but it was somewhere in London, relatively recently. Can you all see alright? It’s a bit of a squeeze here I know.

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As we enter the kitchen from the front room, to our right, above the bin, you can see this abc letter bunting (purchased online years ago from the Netherlands I think). I’m not one for positive affirmation posters and the like, so this is my piss-take of one. Makes me feel good everyday.

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If we now turn around and face the window above the kitchen sink, we can see this card, purchased in Amsterdam a few years ago. I guess this is more of a positive affirmation type thing actually, but we could also imagine it being said in a stern voice, as in “You, yes, you! Pick up your dirty socks off the floor!” etc etc.

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Walking back out into the corridor, on the way out from the kitchen, we can walk up to this ampersand postcard just before the stairs. It was bought in Labour & Wait a while back. It rests on an amazing painting by my father in law, of a room he used as a studio in the house that Mr Famapa grew up in. Maybe we should come back one day with a tour of his art that we have hanging in the house? What do you think?

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Right, so as we come up the stairs and double back on ourselves we arrive at Oomoo’s room. When I saw this O poster on PLTY’s webshop around the time we moved into this house, I knew it would be perfect for his room - for obvious reasons.

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On the opposite wall to where we are standing now, we can see this Fine Little Day poster above Oomoo’s bed that I won in a competition on Elisabeth’s (founder of Fine Little Day) old blog, when the Oomster was just a baby. So handy to have the Swedish alphabet on display, even though after 10 years the little man still mixes up his Å,Ä and Ö <3

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Right, Let’s all walk into the master bedroom of the house next. This linocut, hanging up together with lots of other pictures and posters above our bed, was a made by a very talented friend of ours, who’s one of those people that I want to shake into becoming an artist full time - don’t most of us have a person like that in our lives? Anyway, this miss-spelling and miss-pronunciation is how Oomoo said “Phew” when he was younger, and is how we as a family now always say “Phew”. Phewf.

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And lastly, on our way back out, before we leave, we can see this poster, also purchased in Amsterdam. I’d seen this years before in the V&A gift shop, but didn’t buy it. However, in the Airb’n’b we stayed in, on that particular Amsterdam trip, this print was hanging on the wall in their staircase, and we bought it as a memory from that trip (now also hanging in our staircase), as well as realising how true it is for us, as everyday is a O HAPPY DAY with Oomoo in our lives. Hope you enjoyed this little sightseeing tour. I plan to make more of them - hope you’ll join me? Right then, close the door on the way out. Bye bye now!

Looking at architecture

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Just a couple of days after me and my friend D walked 15 398 steps around Highgate, we walked back there (15 899 steps this time!) to continue our architecture walk. Highpoint I and II are probably two of the most famous modern apartment blocks in the UK, built by Berthold Lubetkin in 1935 and 1938. This is the front of Highpoint II, and we were swooning a bit as we walked around.

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I spotted this little Aalto corner inside the entrance and managed to take exactly one picture before the porter came running out saying “No pictures! Only from the street!”. Ok dude - relaaax. Can you imagine the uproar from the neighbours when this was built? Look at the houses in the reflection and you can see how very different these building are!

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This is the back of Highpoint II. They must enjoy some pretty awesome sunsets from up there.

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The higgledy piggledy architecture of London used to drive me mad when I moved here 330 moons ago. Why wasn’t it more like Paris, New York or Amsterdam I wondered. Well, mainly because it was heavily bombed in WW2. These days it’s what I love the most about the architecture here; it can change so wildly in just a few metres. This little house, built in 1781 is just a couple of hundred meters away from Highpoint, on the same side of the street. Crazy.

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Anyway. Eventually we walked down Swains Lane where we came across this très moderne facade - very reflective.

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Which meant…

“HIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

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Further down Swains Lane is Highgate Cemetery, built in 1839. I’ve only been once and I don’t think I explored it particularly well. I’m definitely coming back here once we are allowed to - it looks pretty amazing.

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These strange looking apartment blocks opposite the cemetery where built in the 1920’s. They’re so weirdly disproportionally tall for that style of building, don’t you think?

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Right at the bottom of Swains Lane is the Holly Village estate, which looks like something out of Hogwarts. The houses and green were built in 1865 as servants quarters to a Baroness. It’s pretty eerie in there, and we didn’t dare go in properly, but I can vouch for the strange vibe as we know a family who lives there.

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It’s a bit much, non? Imagine coming home late at night and walking through there - uhm, no thanks! I’d expect bats and ghosts and little wizard children coming right at me.

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And finally, this classic early Victorian house looked fab with her wisteria necklace on like that.

I’ve not been outside the house (apart from the garden) since last Tuesday; my headaches, fatigue and body aches made me suspect that I might have had a very mild form of Covid 19. It’d be effing awesome if it was. Six days of headaches, three days in bed and achy bones on and off the whole time. And guess what I did during that time? I watched a LOT of architecture programmes. Must be all that time spent indoors innit :D

Meanwhile in town

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After more than five weeks in lockdown we finally dared to head into town on our bikes to see what the city looked like on Sunday morning. It ended up being a 30km long bike ride, and such a weird and interesting one at that. Even though it was amazing to see, it was also quite sad to see the city so devoid of life. On Regents Canal just before King’s Cross we saw this couple having what looked like the most possibly chilled and romantic day you could ever dream of. I waved at them and shouted “That looks so nice!!” and probably ruined the moment…

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We knew we wanted to head towards the Thames first and so we did. Designated bike lanes in London are so rare, but they’ve built these new ones in the past few years, and I hope they’ll make many more of them.

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I got a total shock from seeing the river so flat. Never in my 27 years in London have I seen it like this. You could probably skip stones on it! The low tide must have helped though.

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I waved to my shadow, because I tend to do that.

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After we crossed Blackfriars Bridge we cycled past Waterloo and then back to the north side across Westminster Bridge. I kind of don’t recognise the city with the water still like that. It got busier here; most people were also cycling, or running, very few were walking and hardly anyone driving. I hope once this is all over more of us will cycle and walk to places than before. I know I will.

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We headed towards Buckingham Palace, but I had to do a U turn to take this picture of the lake in St James’ Park as it was so picture perfect.

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Outside the Palace, where there’d normally be a huge crowd. So surreal.

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Nice to see these ambulance drivers doing something so normal in these not normal times though.

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We passed by The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, and I hope that we get to look at art in person again this year.

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At the bottom of Regent Street. I suggested we headed into Soho from here, and as soon we got in there you could hear a pin drop. It was SO quiet.

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It wasn’t only we who cycled through Carnaby St.

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Came across this poem on Great Marlborough Street. I’ve tried googling it, but I can’t find out who wrote it. I like the “Listen close in the sky” line.

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Aaaaah, The Pigeon Pond. ;)

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I’ve gone past this pub many a time, but never stopped to take a photo. It was so strange to be able to stop in the middle of the road, and not have to worry about any cars.

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I can’t believe that in future history lessons about the pandemic in 2020, kids will read about how we panic bought toilet paper more than anything else. Idiots.

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Heading back home, cycling past this queue in Belsize Park. We used to live in the flat above the black square sign with four circles on it on the right. Feels like 100 years ago.

Amazingly we weren’t exhausted when we got back home, the daily bike rides have definitely made us all much fitter, as well as the Joe Wicks workouts. In fact Mr Famapa and Oomoo have clocked 273km (170 miles) on the tandem bike this month! I’ve got a really bad headache today and I feel quite queasy, so I’m cancelling the day and heading back to bed. Hope you’re well!