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These model caravans were on display in a shop window on Brick Lane (I think, this was around about where I got lost yesterday).
The shop was unfortunately shut, because otherwise I would have ascertained if they were designed for use with a specific type of model cars. Wouldn't that be great?
Maybe if your model Ford Vauxhall has a tow bar one of these would fit perfectly, then you could use it to take elfin people on a holiday somewhere really dinky.
Crows are creepy, aren't they?
A murder of crows (and I think that collective noun is very evocative) in a field, all seeming to watch you, that's really creepy.
Between rain storms this afternoon I went to Beyond Retro on Cheshire Street.
Doc C is still marking exams so he couldn't come, in some ways this is good because we have very different ideas of what looks good. The main difference being I like colours, especially pink, and the Doc just doesn't.
Today I was specifically going to buy a big fluffy net underskirt, as recommended by the fabulous Gok Wan. I tried on a couple, but this gorgeous vintage pink was by far my favourite. I was planning to wear it under my beautiful floral silk skirt to my friend Katie's wedding next month. As it turns out the pink net simply won't fit under that skirt. In fact, it won't fit under any of the skirts I thought it would.
It will fit under my wedding dress, which is a gorgeous cream satin with a black net overlay. I love this dress and plan on wearing it again, but you can't wear your own wedding dress to someone else's wedding - Far too Miss Havisham Sweetie! It also fits under my black wrap dress from H&M (***Postscript*** You can see what that looked like here. I noticed a lot of people are searching for this, and I have to say this was the best thirty quid I spent in quite some time. Go for it!), but I think I may have to buy a whole new outfit in a colour more suitable for a summer wedding. Damn...
The Doctor is marking exam papers.
This is probably almost as much fun as sitting an exam in the first place, but at least he can whip up a batch of muffins in between papers.
These are very tasty.
I read an interview with Dita Von Tease where she says she never wears jeans, so when she's not in full-on vamp mode, Dita will still wear a cotton dress with heels and put her hair in a bun.
Whilst I love glamour in all forms, I live in my jeans, and I really can't imagine wearing heels every day.
I suspect, however, that the lady pictured here knows exactly where Dita is coming from. Her lipstick even matched the dress and the bow in her hair.
I used to be able to hop onto a vintage Route Master Bus to get home. They were lovely and cool in the summer, but nice and toasty in the winter.
Look how handsome they are! They were such a gorgeously old fashioned, yet convenient, means of transport. Plus you could hop on or off when they were stopped at the lights.
Now I have to catch a horrid articulated bus, whose only saving grace is having 3 doors. These are ok-ish in the winter because they are warm, but in the summer they are hideous.
They get overcrowded because there is no conductor to keep control. and the driver is too busy trying to negotiate London traffic to keep monitoring the passengers.
More importantly the windows don't open very far. Yuck. Can we have some air please?
Check out the amount of yellow involved. It's so jarring first thing in the morning. (Please note, the picture to the right is of a virtually empty bus. I got on at the very first stop, and was so struck by the emptiness I had to record it for posterity)
So picture it: it's been a long day and you're finally in your way home. The bus is jammed full of people, horribly hot & stuck in a traffic jam. The only seat you could get is facing backwards, next to a man who hasn't washed in about a month and is talking to himself. The only good thing in that situation is when you spot a celeb on that very bus. This evening it happened that I was on the same bus as Miss Tiffany Graves, star of the West End and a thoroughly nice lady.
Having posted about Laura Lee's beautiful windows on Tuesday, I looked at them again this morning and they have subtly changed them.
It's still the dolls house but they have re-arranged the jewelry and added new pieces. That's captivating to me, I'm going to have to look at the display in detail every morning on my way to work.
My favourite thing about the new display is the birdcage on the far right which has a small gold bird pendant in it, I wish the photo was better. That gosh darn reflection beat me again!
I noticed there is a sign in the window saying the window displays are by Lucy Butler, and she has a website, www.lucybutler.co.uk, which is beautiful as well.
I will often stop and look at really good window displays, and have been known to make a special journey if I know Fortnum and Mason's are putting in a new window.
Laura Lee on Monmouth Street (Also the location of Cafe Bakery, whose cupcakes I've posted before) was the one that caught my eye this morning, but there is a distressing amount of reflection in the pictures. Sorry, I tried.
So now you may be thinking, ok that's a nice dolls house but it's a bit plain. I don't think you can see properly from this picture how pretty it is. Let's go to the close ups.
It's just such a lovely idea, and it works so well. It makes me want to buy the jewellery displayed, which actually isn't that difficult, but it is still is the point of the exercise after all.
The second shop window I like is odd, because I don't think it's actually a shop but I don't know what it is. It might be art. 
At any rate it's on Rosebery avenue, opposite Sadlers Wells, and the window display is changed apparently on the whim of the displayer. There have been giant shadow puppets, neon "Bings", rats on a tightrope & the last was a toy helicopter dangling pathetically.
Now we have this. What is that? It's made from balls of wool stuffed into the window, but I'm not sure what the image is. A turtle?
An Island? The sun?
I may never know what the point is, but isn't it lovely to see something beautiful and totally inexplicable on your way to work every morning?
We just got back from "The Drowsy Chaperone" at the Novello. It was SO much fun, in fact I think you should go see it right now. Ok, fine the next performance is tomorrow evening, so you should go then.
For starters Bob Martin, who stars as the Man in the Chair and wrote the book for the show, has transferred from Broadway, and he is so charming. He is the audiences representative on stage and he mentions several times that he hates shows being interrupted. I wonder if the irony was lost on the man who made my row stand up twice during the show? Probably.
The show also stars the Elaine Paige, who certainly knows a good role when she sees it. She was perfect for the titular heroine, and looks like she was having a ball. She gets to sashay around the stage with a cocktail glass in her hand, dripping in unbelievable costumes.
I was particularly excited that Summer Strallen was going to be in it, who I saw as Maisie in "The Boyfriend" at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. I could have seen her this Christmas as "Dick Whittington", but I didn't take up the opportunity. I am kicking myself. She looked beautiful and wears a range of sequin smothered outfits that show case her legs.
The shows website has information about the London cast, but the production photos are from the US cast at the moment: http://www.drowsychaperoneuk.com/
The Doctor hates, loathes and detests musical theatre as an artistic medium in general, but there are a very few that he actually likes. This is one of them.
At 12.11
At 16.24
People of Brighton really enjoy their cake.
As I'm in Brighton today, here's a little photo essay on the Actor's Church Memorial Benches, which I love.
Actually, even though it's slightly morbid, I love all memorial benches. They make me think about people I've never met in a fond way and they are really useful, because they're always in lovely places that you want to sit and enjoy.
I told the Doctor that I want one when I go, he said he'd bear it in mind but he's planning on going first, which I think is so rude.
We enjoyed helping out at the Open House so much last week that we are going back tomorrow. The Doc has been baking up a storm, so we have a variety of tasty treats to offer.
Left to Right: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Sour Cream Banana Bread & Lemon Muffins.
I know Jason & Stu have got some really great cakes on offer too, I'm definitely interested in the Baklava Muffins (from Nigella's recipe) & the Caraway Seed Madeira Cake.
I know tabi socks with flip-flops look stupid and I would never wear them out anywhere that people could actually see me, but it is just so comfortable.
Actually aside from padding around the house, as I proved on our last trip to North Carolina, it's a great combination for long haul flights. Your feet are warm enough, but if they swell up it's not all constricting like shoes. And nobody see your feet, especially if you fly at night because they'll have masks on. Perfect!
Scarcely fifteen minutes ago the cat was sat on my lap, being all cute and soft, if a bit drooly. Then she got off, and went outside only to return with a very young, very dead bird. She is a bad cat.
This is the third fledgling she's brought home to eat in comfort on the living room rug.
It's not that I mind cats hunting as such, it's not pleasant but that's what they do and you have to accept it. However I grew up with farm-bred cats who would catch squirrels and moor hens, which represents a definite challenge.
Kitkat merely seems to have found a badly positioned nest full of tasty little snacks, this is not hunting, it's cradle robbing.
Bad cat.
I did the accounts today, which is getting easier but is never going to be fun. As a moral boosting incentive I ate the last Pink Ballet Dancer Biscuit, so now Billy Elliot Biscuit has no friends left.
Being introduced to Mrs Nice Cupoftea.
She was a very tasty biscuit.
Billy Elliot sent us biscuits shaped like dancers on Friday. I'm amazed there were any left when I came in to work today.
Tonight is the Gooblar CD Release Party, which is obviously really exciting.
For all the details of tonight's gig, as well as other Gooblar related fun, please check out Gooblar's website, there is a link on the left hand side. You can also download four of the songs from the website, so if you can't get to the gig that will give you an idea of what you're missing.
Before I moved in with the Doc, I lived in Brighton and for 4 or 5 years I commuted from Brighton to London. This was a 2 hour trip from my home to my desk, so I'd be getting up at about 5.45am. My top tip for commuting is this, it's fine when you enjoy your job but, as soon as the job starts to suck, move on. If the job is making you miserable there is nothing worse than getting up ridiculously early in order to get there on time.
This weekend we travelled down by train and I took some photos of my favourite parts of the train journey.
I love going across the viaduct, this is the view from the right hand side of the carriage. I wish I'd had my camera sooner, I would have taken photos of this view every day to document how it changes over a year.
Arriving back in Brighton at the end of the day was always the best part.
Fortunately today we could spend not talking about any bloody stupid song contest, which may or may not be totally freaking unfair, and instead we concentrated on the finer things in life, namely art, cats and cakes.
The open house was in a beautiful home belonging to the artist Marina Cobra and her partner Zoe, all of the cakes were made by the lovely Jason and Stu. As we were staying with Stu for the Eurovision we decided to make it more of a weekend away so we agreed to help out with the tea and cakes. 
Doc decided that nobody would leave the kitchen without either buying a piece of cake, or giving him a good reason why not. 
I was in charge of keeping the music going upstairs and making sure the cat didn't go out of the front door. 
We also had to check that the cakes were delicious and tasty, which I am delighted to report they were .
Columbia Road again, they are totally cornering the market in beautiful looking confectionary, even when it's actually a toy.
I love this little graffiti dog.
It's such a simple crisp stencil and I really like that it's sheltered by the door way, so it stays nice and clean. The only thing is I wish she were facing out from the door, because that would look like she's waiting to go for a walk
Ah London! I love how glossy the pavements get when it rains and how bright all the colours look against the grey (Thanks to G.K. Chesterton for pointing that out).
I also love how no amount of rain can stop advertising stunts, such as this train promoting 118 118. The occupants of the carriage were very friendly, they posed for the photo and offered to give me a lift.
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