Sunday, 3 October 2010

Of mud and dogs and the shires

Anyone who's walked in the English countryside knows that there is a large amount of this...



necessitating the wearing of these ...




The keen-eyed will observe that these are in fact a pair of Hunters, de rigueur for the Tory set (accessorised perhaps with a flowery Boden skirt, a trug and a chinless husband). I would like to point out that none of these qualifications apply to me. Nor do I own a Barbour jacket or a range rover, or speak fluent horse. 


However, I do live in close-ish proximity to some pretty shire countryside ...





where yesterday, in a brief window of sunshine, I went for a walk ...




... Old Faithful plodding behind - a solo treat as a reward for undergoing an uncomfortable procedure at the vet, involving an injection of dye into his eyes and an undignified seeping of luminous green liquid from the nose like Halloween Dog. See the hint of reproach in his gaze



Not much fazes this African boy, though, who survived a brutal start to life as a starved wee runt in Mandela Park squatter camp in Cape Town. Look at him now, a well-padded English shire-hound, trotting after his Hunters Wellie-clad mistress!



Off we go, squelching through the woods




with an eye open to detail, the signs of autumn 








Saturday, 2 October 2010

A rainy morning in Picadilly

As London reverts to its default mode of grey skies and drizzle, thoughts turn to its indoor treats


In Picadilly where Eros aims his bow into rain clouds...

... Hatchards is a cosy and welcoming refuge


its windows drawing you in irresistibly



to a warm, book-stuffed interior

 
 Right next door is Fortnum's


with delicious windows set up for the new season



And across the road the Royal Academy


gives a glimpse through to the courtyard


and a newly opened exhibition





Back outside as an iconic red bus rumbles past


Richoux beckons for hot chocolate


Victorian Princes Arcade is a refuge from the rain




Sorry, did I suggest we might be going inside any of these places? No time, it's back to work...



Thursday, 30 September 2010

Away to a ball!

How exciting - tonight I'll be attending my first cyber-ball! Do go and have a look - it's all happening over at Willow Manor.

Typically, at the last minute I'm still agonising over the right dress. Help! Here's me first in dramatic red ...





And here I am in classic black ...





Hmm, elegant but safe. Do you think I could get away with this hot number ...?



I do look pretty good, if I say so myself - still got it, eh?

For the shoes, I'm thinking hot red is going to hit the spot







And thank God the bag arrived in the nick of time this morning ...




 But help! My date for the ball has just arrived early - and he's drunk and dishevelled!





God, you can be so unreliable, Stephen. Oh well, at least he's dressed the part - even if his eyes are swimming out of focus and his hair's a mess.  He's sitting in my front room now, burbling away - a sort of deep-voiced emittance of strangled, posh vowels with the occasional phrase recognisable to the non-upper-class ear -
eeeuuuuaaagh my club eeyaaaauuuyyyhhh most frightful
well, perhaps no-one will notice. I shall make him some strong coffee and be away to make myself beautiful. 


And lets be clear on this point, Stephen, I shall definitely be doing the driving tonight!






(Btw, obviously I did not take the photos myself for today's post. (Mary McCartney kindly popped round to snap me in the outfits above - such a poppet). Thank you Google image search)

Thursday, 23 September 2010

Reasons to love Rome

The first in a series of random travel posts of places I love.  Rome is ...

... the energy of Vespas fuelled by the best coffee in the universe


(scooters line the exterior of Rosati, pit stop for morning coffee on the Piazza del Popolo)


... drop-dead-stylish carabinieri


(I confess to shamelessly making my children pose for a picture while covertly focusing on the real object of my interest – this uber-awesome specimen of the carabinieri, leaning casually but so elegantly on his shiny Alfa Romeo, long legs in what is surely the most stylish police uniform on the planet. Only the Italians could transform PC Plod into knockout designer dude)

the dizzying embrace of layers upon layers of history 
8th century BC to the Middle Ages, to Renaissance palaces, to Belle Époque






(St Peter’s Square with threatening April rain clouds)



(setting up for the Pope’s Easter mass)


… grand gestures



(Trevi fountain)


(St Peter's basilica)

… and beauty in the details




















... feasting in style



(Santa Lucia restaurant, behind the Piazza Navona, on a July evening)
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