The Joy of English Beauty....

English Ellie Time

Elle had another successful time in London, albeit shared with my shopping efforts. Tomorrow will probably be the prettiest day since we're going to the flower market on Columbia Road, but these photos are specific Ellie focus times.

Here we're heading toward Victoria and Albert's Museum of Childhood over by Bethnal Green. Oddly we were the only ones on the bus, so I went ahead and snapped a photo of her excitedly waiting to get off for her 'big inside park'.

The museum had a decently sized sandbox on the top floor.

She patiently waited to be Queen of the Sandbox between school group visits.

She befriended another child visiting alone with his grandmother.

The dollhouse exhibit was phenomenal, including a dollhouse from 1673

that was designed to teach young girls how to run a household.

Elle discovered the interactive dollhouse for quite some time.

It's always important to swing by the hobby horses...

Little Angel Theatre has the most adorable puppet shows.

Today was a toddler version of the Alice in Wonderland show

we attended last week, but Elle seemed to thoroughly enjoy both versions.

She was quite pleased after the puppet show and heading towards a

wonderful Mediterranean lunch :)

Shopping in London!

Onward to the fun purchases in London...a diverse shopping experience that would put any avid shopper into delirium. For me the focus of Rome is for boots... Paris is for hats... London is for books and antiques. Yes, there are antiques in the other cities, but I always find cool eclectic things in London.

Of course we must not divert to food, because that is simply another plane of existence, and a blog post will be dedicated to my culinary indulgences later. However, that is the case for every major place I visit, as food and wine is an important aspect of any travelling. Never cheat your palate.

Anyway, back to my past week's purchases...

There is an artists shoppe on Old Russell Square that I love. Yes, there are a million artist shoppes around the world, but there is a bit of Old World in this one that drives me back almost every visit to London. I indulged in a slightly larger travel watercolour set from Windsor & Newton. I have a field set already, but this one has more paints, mixing trays, and a better travel brush (Cotman III). Not that I necessarily think more paints has more fire power...in fact, I think that too many options is muddling. However, I plan to set up the two holders for different scene types.

A visit to Leicester Square occurred on my very first visit to London almost 15 years ago as well as all my subsequent visits to England if I was staying even a day in London before heading to various parts of the UK. While this is an annoying tourist trap area, it is also the home to several blocks of bookstores. My select choices this time were three lovely books from the 1920's...a touring guidebook for Devon (sentimental purchase of course with my marriage there and most treasured visits being to Devon), a book about lectures in academic settings (printed during the progressive age of adult learning theory...a specific interest to my career), and a very informative book about ship details from ancient to "modern" ships. With my recent investment in the The Six Frigates, Splintering the Wooden Blockage, and Fatal Journey (historic rendition of Henry Hudson), I have a much deeper curiosity of ship language and artifacts. This book is quite a Rosetta stone for me.

Lastly, but certainly not least, my new 1940's purse mirror and make-up case is completely awesome. Notting Hill completely blew away my expectations with my first there today. And yes, I first heard of it when I watch Notting Hill...as it represents several city blocks of outdoor stalls, antique arcades, and single shoppes. Retro and vintage clothes are so much around you that you it's almost fainting worthy. I found this spectacular piece in one of the many vintage clothing spots.

Just a few more notes on Notting Hill; pictures cannot possibly do it justice, but this is just to whet your appetite for a lovely afternoon. However, you cannot possibly go there without stopping at Mimi Fifi if you are a lover of vintage film toys (Matt Sheehe would have to be carried out on a stretcher of bliss). Also, Alice's is chock full of an incredible antique mixture, that can trick you into "investing" in them quite heavily. Just keep your eye out for these two store front shoppes while walking down Portobello Road.

This is just too weird and cool to pass up sharing, especially those sewing people out there. The entire store front is glassed in antique sewing machines (mostly Singers...but several types were represented). While you might think it's a clever display for antique sewing machine sales, it is in fact an even more clever display for a modern clothiers.

Ellie in London

London, if looking in the right spots, is completely awesome for children. Little Angel Theatre in Islington is especially fabulous. The first few rows are reserved specifically for children and I received quite a few pieces of advice for Elle to see the stage well, with some apology that it was mostly adults that evening (adults being big enough to block views). They sold orange juice for children and wine for adults. Alice in Wonderland was playing in the puppet theatre, and I have to say that the puppeteers were really fantastic. The children were mesmorised and the adults were amused. I could not believe Elle was held so transfixed for two 45-minute scenes with a 20 minute interval. Her adorable "may I go touch the flowers" allowed her to join all the other little girls petting the oversized plastic daisies with teacups attached. While I was very sad to not be allowed to take photos, it truly was one of those situations that should be fully enjoyed in the moment.

The village of Hartfield is truly a classic English village from the gorgeous countryside (after all, it is only 5 minutes from the 100 Acre Wood!) to the utterly edible beef and Guinness pie (torturous photos of lovely meals to come next week). The photo below is the Pooh Corner store that is required of all Pooh fans.

Elle won the day with her Gigantic Tigger of Extreme Size.

The country view just outside of the Pooh Corner store in the village.

Our foray to Harrod's toy floor was a success with Elle being very particular as to what she wanted, including the Duncan train engine and a stuffed penguin. Meanwhile, an adventure to Notting Hill and the marionette playhouse is planned for Saturday....

Movie Expansion

Two important changes occurred recently.

1. Netflix was discovered despite my growling about 'new fangled crap' when Eric signed us up for an account.
2. Ellen forced me into a commitment to watch only films I haven't seen.

Note all the cruel despotic behaviour that surrounds me :P The new use of Netflix was mostly due to my complete apathy when it comes to film watching. If I have a few I love, the re-watching occurs to a ridiculous level. The idea of learning something that isn't already required (it's easier than you think to get this way if you aren't already there!), was not something I wanted, but Eric convinced me to give it a shot. This directly leads into the second change where Ellen challenged me to a full year only watching films I haven't previously seen. This originally seemed a little horrific, but upon re-consideration with a few concessions of certain ones that must be re-watched (Lord of the Rings, Blue Planet, Planet Earth, etc.). However, the goal here is to not slip into our habitual re-watching and to look for new ones. The agreement includes books, but I never re-read books, so that's not a problem for me.

So here goes 2011 so far!

Law & Order: SVU - Seasons 1 and 2

Silverado

All that Jazz

Tron

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Big Fish

I think I'll keep a running list of 2011 movies on my blog sidebar for the fun of it and to remember the new movies I've gotten to see with just a tiny bit of focus :) While I don't consider movies to be an essential aspect of life, this is an excellent perspective of how all of us can take little things and make sure we are continually expanding our horizons!

Mad Kings & Queens (book review)

Mad Kings & Queens by Alison Rattle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


View all my reviews