‘The weekend’

Some randoms from the days formerly known as ‘the weekend’. It was Mr Famapa’s birthday on Saturday, so me and Oomoo got up at 5.45am to bake this, as I realised that the cake would need to cool down for ages before we could put the icing on (we know this now after having watched a few seasons of The Great British Bake Off, haha). The Bake Off judges would have judged the cake slightly overbaked, which it was, but it was still tasty, and even better fridge cold the day after.

Later in the day it was +24 degrees, and it felt like summer, so some of us decided to have a water balloon/bowl fight, whilst some of us took pictures and kept dry.

I sure hope we have a good summer this year, as we won’t be going anywhere. Staycation baby!

Yesterday I went out for my first walk in almost two weeks, and even though it had gone winter cold by the afternoon, it felt great to be out and about again. I met up with my friend D, and we walked around our neighbourhood again.

And yes, we still kept 2 metres apart. That’s going to be life for a long time now innit.

We walked along the local disused railway and the platform of what used to be one of the stations.

We’re so spoiled in this part of London with all the different green areas we can use. There’s no way I’d live anywhere else here.

Eventually we walked back through the centre of the ‘hood, and I finally took a picture of this sign that I’ve seen for years. It’s sits on a door going into a recording studio, in an old church building, where worshipped rock-gods have recorded music and worshippers of God have prayed.

I wish I’d filmed this. This collapsed bit of tarp was elegantly dancing in the breeze. Very American Beauty.

Hey Pikachu! Makes a change from all the gloves, eh?

Addicted

Got this OMY colouring in poster for Oomoo about a year ago, and pre-lockdown we slowly (and visitors!) filled it in, but in the last few days this thing has made us all addicted (well, mainly me and Mr Famapa)! I never got into the whole mindful colouring-in craze that swept the globe years ago - but now?! Try and pry me away from it! I just want to sit at the dining table colouring this thing in ALL DAY. We’ve almost finished it. We’re going to get the shakes I tell you.

Home types

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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

Which meant…

“HIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

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.

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?

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.

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.

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