Flying Zebras

Smitonius:

I was all of a grumble yesterday, as I had - in an unguarded moment - agreed to attend a screening of documentaries at the Barbican on Journeys along the Thames and London waterways (partner has a thing about boats and other floating vessels). The screening was at a stupid time, 1.30 and - I wrongly thought - would last two hours. The sun was shining and all I wanted was to do something different.

Loh and behold, when we arrived at the Barbican, men and women were handing out leaflets saying 'Do something different'. The place was heaving, children galore, men and women with painted faces the colour of Avatar beings - though they were, in fact, being Indian deities for the East Festival - and there was yoga, dancing, lentils being stuck on bits of paper, balloons, Asian food... and I stopped grumbling. It was such colourful chaos.

The screening was a mixed bag, I must say (and you can watch the best short film on youtube: 'Barging through London (1924)'), but there was an excellent pianist for the silent film documentaries, and it was a shorter screening than I thought! Fully informed about our liquid history, we then noticed a long queue and thought we would join it.... and saw the cutest happening ever: the guitar playing Zebra Finches in The Curve gallery (do check it out on youtube). Céleste Boursier-Mougenot has created this audio-landscape littered with instruments, where the birds fly about and if they land on a instrument they sort of play it. A walk through aviary with a difference.

So, despite my grumbling... I did do something different after all.

Oh, and because a post isn't a post without some sort of pic... we finally hung up the curtains in the study. Look at that sunshine!

The Changing Clan

Sonata :

I love the way families expand . Not that ours has reached the proportions of this Belgian clan yet . Nor , actually , do we all have a trumpet .... not yet any way .

When I was little , everyone congregated at Granny's on Saturdays . A constant coming and going of relations , blending into a mass of teasing young adults , small wriggling children being force-fed calories by great aunts , and random less-frequently seen people like the regimental dancer who demonstrated the Sword Dance when asked nicely . There was the great-grandfather remembered as The Crooked Man Who Walked A Crooked Mile , the cousins who weren't but who may as well have been , and always some poor soul who might otherwise had to do without fifteen cups of tea , a warm by the fire and the chance to listen to an elderly uncle or two .

Now we're all scattered about and I cherish the times I can enjoy family get-togethers , big or small . Grandson needs to take his turn to be stuffed full of food , teased and listened to . My grandmother and my mother would have loved this little boy who wants to be a dipsy diver and who turns into a baby spider when tired .

Unraveling in 2010

Smitonius:

Headed off to Farnham yesterday, to attend Unravel 2010. Believe it or not, yarn there grows on trees!


(This so made me think of Dr Seuss). Well, no, yarn does not really grow on trees, but there was plenty to admire and pick up and consider and, of course, purchase. Lots of vintage paraphernalia on display in cabinets, like these sewing needle packs or vintage knitting needles. And lots of skeins in a miriad of colourways... it was great to see so many British yarn producers on show like Skein Queen.
There were a few animals to be spotted too, from the very wet sheep patiently standing outside in the rain, to these indoor critters: a well dressed bear (he reminded me of my own 'childhood' bear: Eggybear), a few knitted folk and Mr Mole emerging fully knitted from his knitted grass lawn.

And I'll Probably Have A Little Something There Too

Sonata :

Half term and I'm inflicting myself on my two oldest daughters in turn . First to London and Smitonius and her partner , who've risen to the challenge with their usual panache .We've climbed into a black hole at Tate modern , eaten Thai seafood curry at Borough Market and bought venison tortellini .


Admired vintage fashion at a fair in Clerkenwell in the unexpectedly splendiferous Finsbury Town Hall ,

where we saw vintage sunglasses

and vintage dresses


I've been to the Cloth Shop , Anthropologie and Muji and admired Selfridges Alice In Wonderland windows .


And I've eaten blue potato salad and giant prawns .


And today I've wandered about Islington and eaten Spaghetti Al Vonghole at Carluccio's .
Tomorrow I travel north to see a little boy who declares himself to be a very complicated person .... and his simply delightful parents .

Cat hard at work...

Smitonius:

Isn't it nice to know that when I am hard at work, my cat plays her part:


She has the amazing capacity to find the keyboard a comforable sleeping place, can sit on the mouse without pulling any funny faces, and now, I see, that she even finds the stapler can double up as a chin pillow.

PS: that metal pole behind her is a curtain rod. It has rested there, in its plastic wrapper, since we bought it in early Autumn 2009... the curtains to hang on it were bought even earlier, in July 2009. I would like to blame the cat, but she is not sitting on either of them.

PPS: apologies to the blog 'kitchen soup' - as I inadvertently posted this entry there first... I can't blame the cat for that either! (had forgotten my mother was double blogging!)

Not Another Word ....

Sonata :
And this is positively my last word on the subject

Except to point out the extreme high spirits of the folkdancing peasants from Bresse . All that Cantal perhaps . Though , of course it could just be all that fresh air and exercise

Onwards And Upwards

Sonata :

Devising one's own low cholesterol diet isn't quite as easy as I had thought . Not that I expected it to be a piece of cake . See! I can joke about it ! When I'm in London the week after next , I'll hunt out some good cookery books and a more complete table of fat levels than I can find on the internet .

But till then , I'm using common sense and being stern with myself . Actually my reduced cheese intake alone would probably be enough ! Luckily I like cottage cheese

I did allow myself a tiny amount of grated Pecorino on my pasta yesterday . With a sauce of red peppers , celery , onions and tomatoes perked up with thyme , garlic and two anchovy fillets , it was rather nice . Husband even evinced a willingness to taste it before he retreated to his fried maize-fed chicken . The feta had to go from the bean salad at lunch time but extra tomatoes , a spring onion and basil rescued it and the olives had to stay .... after all , it's not a fat free diet I'm on .

Fresh sardines , baked on a rack in the oven and sprinkled with sea salt must stay too . And I've found that almost any lean cut of meat is nice cooked on a base of vegetables with just a spritz of olive oil . Not quite as good as with roast potatoes etc. but still edible in a worthy kind of way .

My Scottish grandmother bequeathed me a love of porridge and lentil soup . In fact I'm always happy to eat beans of any kind . So I'm not going to starve .

I'll make it work , if it kills me ( another joke , she adds hastily ) .