Last summer part I

Time for a recap from the time when I wasn’t blogging last year, starting with a bunch of random pix from France. For the last couple of summers we’ve taken the train down to the south, to spend time with my sister and her family at their house there. It’s not the most straight forward of journeys, but I like to think that if we can opt to go somewhere by train rather than fly, then that is what we do. This has usually worked out well, but last year we were unlucky in that our onward train from Paris got cancelled, as did all trains heading south that day - a mini tornado (climate change much?) had knocked down trees onto the tracks. So not only were we then stuck, but we were stuck in Paris, during the Olympics. Anyway, after standing in Gare du Nord for 5 hours in +35c degree heat (with armed police doing the rounds of the station because of heightened security measures - très relaxing), we got allocated a hotel room by the train company, ironically by CDG airport, and continued our onward journey the day after. I took this picture as we had to sit in the café carriage, waiting to be allocated seats on the train, and as I did a guy walked past and asked “Did you get a good picture?”, and you know what? I think I did.

So, we arrived a day late, which was luckily no big deal, and that evening we went for dinner in a small village with a view, where I took a pic of a selfie being taken with the view, rather than actually taking picture of the view. I did take a pic of the sunset though.

After the meal, as we walked back to the car, I was happy to see these two young guys playing pétanque past sun down.

It was very hot for the duration of our stay, as that’s what’s southern Europe is like these days, but dunking yourself in the pool to cool down always worked.

We were lucky (!) enough to have a couple of days when the weather turned. This cloud showed up a few minutes before there was an almighty hailstorm,

as did this one on another day, when the sky rumbled with thunder.

Another picture from after another dinner out, with one of my nieces tying her shoe laces. Her aunt found it picture worthy.

Me and my shadow, him and his shadow.

This is where we’d eat all our meals at home, while mosquitoes in turn would feast on us. Turns out my sis is an amazing cook who can whip up a multi-dish dinner for 10+ people, whilst also cooking something different for the youngest kids and for the one pescatarian grown up (🙋🏽‍♀️), without even getting remotely flustered.

A sunset without my glasses.

In one corner of a covered terrace a couple of swallows had nested, and they were working so hard every day to feed their little ones. I’m very chuffed that I managed to catch one mid-air with a worm/bug in their beak, on the way to the nest.

What else? Well, at one point there was some horse snuggles,

some very well trimmed trees

and some jumping shadows.

There was also a vineyard,

the moon

and time for star gazing. We’d go and lie on the pool loungers in the dark and watch the Persied meteor shower pass by, and shout “There!” every time we saw a ‘shooting star’. You don’t see this many stars home in London, so even just looking at a night sky like this, without a passing meteor shower, is pretty special.

We also had fun showing the nieces the magic of light painting, of which Mr Famapa is a master. He drew this one around one of the nieces with the torch on his phone, and I shot it on a long open shutter, and voilà - photographs are magique and that’s a fact.

United Colors of June

Some colour from a day in June last year, when I went for a neighbourhood walk around East London with my pals A & D. There was a very funny moment when we met, as we realised that we were wearing dresses in the primary colours when together. We got a lot of funny looks that day… Whilst uploading these and looking at what they looked like as a post, I thought “How very blog-like, circa 2008”. And you know what, in this day and age where everything looks exactly the same everywhere online, I don’t mind that all.

An August weekend away

Seeing as it’s been greyer than grey for the past few days, I thought I’d stay back in time, for a bit of colour and something a bit different from the late January gloom outside. I know I always say it every time I post pictures from my father-in-law’s house in the Cotswolds, but why we don’t go here more often is beyond me. I think it has something to do with the fact that we have an only child, so with him in mind we try to go with friends when we do go, which takes a bit more planning. Anyway, last time we went we arrived a few hours earlier than our friends, so I walked around the house taking pictures.

Nice, isn’t it? My interior taste is changing and I’d love more old stuff in our house too. Actually, we’ve inherited two of these style mirrors - I just don’t notice them anymore. Do you find that too? That you can’t see your surroundings properly, a bit like being snow blind at home?

To be honest I am a bit in this house as well. It wasn’t until S, who had never been there before, said how photogenic it all was (she’s an interiors nut like me too), showing me the pictures she’d just taken of it, that I realised that I should pay a bit more attention to it again.

Like this fireplace. Why have I never noticed this red brick beauty before? I know I’ve noticed the newspapers jammed into it, but not the thing itself.

And who have we here? Bella, that’s who. A new addition to the H family and very well she behaved too. She’d finally gotten over her manic puppy phase from the last time I saw her.

And yes, of course we went on our usual walk. This time Mr Famapa pointed out the skeleton on one of the headstones. Can you see it? Bella clearly didn’t.

I love this tree and how it hugs the ground exactly right. Surely someone must be trimming it to be like that?

Along the walk the blackberries were already out and kept us full. Thank you nature.

Ahhh, so nice to see this green again, and to also know that it will come back in a few months time. I’ll lose my winter swimming, but I’ll gain SPRING.

On the way back from the walk there’s two ways to come down the hill; the sensible one (my personal choice)

or the steeper one, that some people can’t not run down. I’m just too scared that I’ll twist my ankle or something stupid, and seeing that when I last twisted my ankle, it took 10 months before I could go out running again, I ain’t taking my chances.

Just by the front door of the house there’s a few plants, cheerily welcoming you home, and this rose was a rather color delicioso.

And next summer I better plant some Cosmos in our plant border at home, or I’ll be very cross with myself.

Tea for three and three for tea

Celebrated my 46th birthday in August, and Mr Famapa had booked afternoon tea at Sketch as a surprise. We went there for my 40th as well, and the David Shrigley art on the wall has changed since then. I watched a live Art Fund webinar on Art and Humour the other night, and he was one of the panelists. I really like how his brain works.

There were so many birthday gatherings in there, so I guess some live music elevated the atmosphere. I don’t often find myself in a place where there’s say, a bar pianist, or like here a little string trio, but when I do I feel really awkward. Do you? The sight of patrons just continuing with their eating, drinking and conversations, as if the musicians aren’t there tenses me up, and how no one claps when they’ve finished. But then, as a musician, especially with the crappy two years we’ve had, I’d assume you’d be very happy to be out playing again, even if the all the mfs in the room don’t acknowledge you, haha. Anyway, we stuffed ourselves full, and I love any foods that come in small portions and that you can switch up flavour wise as you wish. I also like that you can order more of anything that you especially like. I think Oomoo managed to eat the most, he being a growing lad and all.

The atmosphere was more enjoyable than on previous visits, as it felt like people were genuinely pleased about being able to go somewhere for a treat again. Less selfies, more talking.

This dude found my picture taking quite annoying last summer. I see his point, but he’s seems to be over it now. Phewf.

Shrigley’s stuff isn’t just on the wall, it’s also on the table, and if you have cash to burn you can buy it.

Too steep for me though. Haha - get it? Steep? Tea joke.

The staff are really nice in here and not snooty at all. And I love the interior (by India Mahdavi) and am glad that it’s still there. I think there was talk of it changing a while back, but I think the proprietors realised that you shouldn’t kill off such a popular design too hastily. At least this is a good design that happens to be Instagrammable, rather than an interior that’s been put together solely for the purpose of people posting from there (neon? check. plastic flowers? check. mirrors? check. pastel colours? check.). Gosh, I sound like a very grumpy lady today… No idea why, but piss off if you don’t like it. JOKE JOKE

The cloakroom on the way out. I like it a lot.

You know, I’ve never paid attention to the actual building before, but it’s very clearly Georgian with the fanlight window above the entrance (and the exterior of course!). I’d love to see the face of whoever owned it back then, seeing what’s happened to it since. Speaking of which, I looked up our house on the census from 1921 the other day, and there was a family of three living here then, but all the age of what we will be this year (50/47/13). How crazy is that?! Charles Carter worked as a bank cashier and Kate Carter’s occupation is down as “Home Duties”, and they had a daughter called Jean. They also had a live-in servant at that point which is such a strange concept, but much more common in the old days. I’m assuming the help slept in the study, where I am now, in the smallest room of the house? They would’ve just lived through a pandemic too, which is another crazy coincidence. I also checked out the 1911 census, and they lived here then too, but without the servant. I would love to know what the house looked like then. There’s a brilliant BBC series, A House Through Time, that finds out about all the tenants who’ve lived in a particular house, and then gives their lives a historical context. You can watch the latest series here (another programme I watched when I had Covid). It’s such a brilliant idea, and fascinating too. I wonder if the Carters, a hundred years ago, also celebrated birthdays with afternoon tea. I’d like to think they did.