A Garden

I think we've found a place! I should probably wait to mention it when it's official, but it's almost official, so I thought I could at least mention part of it, and that is . . . it has a garden! The little place we might be getting has a back patio garden.  It's more patio than garden, but it's a beautiful outdoor space. Any outdoor space would make me happy after living without one for the last 4 years. Of course I'll post pictures of the little back garden if it becomes ours, but in the meantime, flickr images, like the one above, are making me feel inspired and giving me lots of fun ideas.

On the Hunt in the Dark of Day

I feel like such a terrible blogger lately with so little posting going on. We've been busy looking at apartments so I haven't had much to write about. Apartment hunting is not very interesting (not in our price range anyway), and I can assure you that you wouldn't want to see pictures from 95% of what we've seen. It would depress you. You don't get a whole lot of square footage or quality for your money in London. But then again it's London. It has so much to offer that it doesn't really matter, does it? Unfortunately to me it does. I can't just live anywhere, in any old place. I'm a bit picky. Today on the way home from Battersea (where we've most recently been looking) we crossed the Westminster Bridge and I took this picture. When it is grey here, it is soooo grey, like soot! I get tired of the gloomy grey, but sometimes it does make for a good moody picture. On the bright side, we may have found a place today. We shall see.  

Mudchute

Over the weekend we went to Mudchute Kitchen and Farm. Andrew read that the cafe was a good place to eat with kids, and we thought the farm would be fun for Lois too. It was quite a haul from our place, but it was worth it. Mudchute is London's largest city farm, with 32 acres in the Isle of Dogs, just south of the Docklands. It's a bit o' countryside right in the city. Here's a peek.

A proper English breakfast.  It looks disgusting but tasted amazing. The cafe was very cozy and homey, with flowers on the tables, mismatched furniture, piles of newspapers at communal tables, and lamps scattered around.

Dessert after breakfast? Sure. We had blood orange cake, yum.

Homemade farm jam.

The specials on Valentine's.  Andrew had the second one, sausages with pumpkin mash and winter slaw.  Wow, it was sooooo good.

After we ate, we walked around the farm, got really muddy doing so, and saw lots of animals along the way.

It was interesting to see the contrast of the city behind the farm.

Cartoon pigs are WAY cuter than the real deal. Yes, I've seen pigs in person in my life, but it's been a long time.  This was one unattractive pig.

See, cartoon piglet is cute!  Oink, oink.  That's all folks!

Lois Makes a Valentine

In general I think Valentine's is a silly commercial holiday that tends to make a lot of people feel bad rather than good, but it is a fun holiday for arts and crafts, and I'm all for arts and crafts. Earlier this week Lois made her very fist Valentine card for her daddy at play group. Mostly pink with some red, and a touch of glitter and gold, here is the result. Happy Valentine's from me and Lois to you!

Niche Design in the NY Times

I love the Home and Garden section of the NY Times because they often feature great, creative spaces like this one--a tiny studio filled with lots of second treasures and meaningful objets d' art. I love everything about this little place! See more pictures and read about Mr. Motl's studio here. 

 All photos by Robert Wright for the NY Times.