27 Week bump. I even got a red rose from my tiny boy, think daddy may have helped!
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Monday, 4 February 2013
Treasure hunting - latest finds...
A selection of my latest treasure...
I was so thrilled to score the 1950s plastic beach bag, it will now be repurposed and used in the office as a small magazine rack. Yellow is my favourite colour so these beads will get a lot of use come summer. Found the bag from a guy who does house-clearances and the beads came from a charity shop.
I have been on the lookout for a tin with handles for a while, a rare sight in my experience. I picked this up from one of the stalls in the market square off Columbia road. This will be my new seed tin. From the same stall I picked up the little cardigan, I love the colour combo. The little tin has the cutest illustrations of woodland animal friends so will make a great addition to my little man's room.
Technically I did not find this delightful recipe tin, it would be so hard to come by in the UK. This was another item I have been searching for. Recipe tins seem to be much more popular in the USA, and with the shipping costs I have been reluctant to have one shipped from Etsy. I have come across a few in the UK but they lack the 'kitschness' and colours. I love the colours on this one and the smaller size. I will repurpose this as my new business card holder for the office. My dear friend Amy brought this back from a trip to the US for me - I just love it.
The Sanderson curtains was a stomach-butterflies find, they were hidden on a rail in a charity shop, all 8ft x 8ft of them! Mint condition. I love the warming colours. They will be made into new cushions for the sofa.
Pretty Plates! I need these, like a hole-in-the-head but you know, I just can not resist a pretty plate. I got 6 of these beauties to add to my burgeoning crockery cupboard.
So that's a selection of the loot from the last couple of months - roll on car boot season. I have not forgotten my treasure-hunting blog post for Kent, the weather has just made it near impossible to get any decent photos. I will be posting though very soon and I will do a separate post for each town I like to visit since, if I covered all in one go, it would be a mammoth post.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Columbia Road...
Last weekend, we got up super early and visited another favourite place of mine; Columbia Road in East London. Once a pathway along which sheep were driven to the slaughter houses of Spitalfields, Columbia Road is now a lively flower market open every Sunday 8am-3ish. Such a great place to come for your fleurs, shrubs and trees as the prices are incredibly reasonable - it's also just a really exciting place with so much atmosphere. I love listening to the stall holders' touting their latest offers and loud banter. Just be sure if you are travelling a distance, not to forget your bucket for the boot of the car to store your flowers - we forgot ours this last trip.
You will find lots of beautiful independent shops; one of my favourites being Jessie Chorley and Buddug, who made our wedding scrap book. The shop is so pretty, almost ethereal, like walking into Narnia.
There is a little market square with vintage/antique stalls and lovely food stalls, the smell of bacon and fresh coffee wafting about. A fabulous old-fashioned dairy called Jones sits just next to the little market square, you must go in. It is like stepping back in time, the interior of the shop has not changed in decades and make sure you check out the till. The selection of bread is lovely and we have sampled most, if not all the varieties, all of which are beautiful.
At the end of the market is our favourite breakfast joint; Campania Gastronomia. This place is heaving come 11am so if you were intending to sit in, get there early or be prepared to wait. It also has a little hatch in the wall, so you can order a pastry and takeaway coffee.
We managed to score a place in the window, I had the scrambled eggs with onion, tomato and chilli, pancetta and toast with a fresh mint tea, Dan enjoyed the spinach and eggs on toast. Simple food cooked to perfection. Particularly enjoyable when the temperature outside is below zero.
One of my favourite ways to spend a Sunday morning. We came home with beautiful bread, some vintage treasure and some cacti....yes people....Cacti is back and the bigger, the more colourful they are, the better.
and some iphone snaps...
You will find lots of beautiful independent shops; one of my favourites being Jessie Chorley and Buddug, who made our wedding scrap book. The shop is so pretty, almost ethereal, like walking into Narnia.
There is a little market square with vintage/antique stalls and lovely food stalls, the smell of bacon and fresh coffee wafting about. A fabulous old-fashioned dairy called Jones sits just next to the little market square, you must go in. It is like stepping back in time, the interior of the shop has not changed in decades and make sure you check out the till. The selection of bread is lovely and we have sampled most, if not all the varieties, all of which are beautiful.
At the end of the market is our favourite breakfast joint; Campania Gastronomia. This place is heaving come 11am so if you were intending to sit in, get there early or be prepared to wait. It also has a little hatch in the wall, so you can order a pastry and takeaway coffee.
We managed to score a place in the window, I had the scrambled eggs with onion, tomato and chilli, pancetta and toast with a fresh mint tea, Dan enjoyed the spinach and eggs on toast. Simple food cooked to perfection. Particularly enjoyable when the temperature outside is below zero.
One of my favourite ways to spend a Sunday morning. We came home with beautiful bread, some vintage treasure and some cacti....yes people....Cacti is back and the bigger, the more colourful they are, the better.
and some iphone snaps...
Friday, 18 January 2013
New school uniform for my little friend China...
I managed to get everything and got myself down to the post office before the snow today to get it sent off. I filled the Spiderman backpack with stickers and a couple of little cars. I am so happy for China and hope he feels great in his new uniform to start school in. So looking forward to hearing from Laura how he gets on.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
My trip to Guguletu...
A couple of years ago we were invited out to South Africa, it was the trip of a lifetime. While there, I met a very special lady called Laura.
Laura lives in the township Guguletu, she has lived there all her life. She works as a tour guide and takes tourists to all the beautiful sights that Cape Town has to offer, she will also take tourists to the township. I met Laura through a friend of hers. We were being hosted as guests of a large company based in Cape Town (where Laura's friend worked), as I said, it was the trip of a lifetime and we were shown an incredible time, including the use of their hospitality boxes at the World Cup. I was bowled over by the generosity so wanted to do something in return. On the lead up to the World Cup there was a lot of coverage in the UK media on the townships and the difficulties there. I wanted to to help. I was put in touch with Laura and I asked what I could bring to help.
Laura in her spare time, helps with a number of local projects and needy causes, a vegetable garden that grows food for a local TB clinic for example. The garden and kitchen is run almost solely by local women. Laura also invites up to 30 children every day into her home where she feeds them breakfast from leftovers donated by local restaurants, connections she has made. For some of these children, this is the only meal they will receive that day. In this time she reads and interacts with them, again, for some this is the only real interaction with an adult they will receive that day. She told me that the children needed shoes, so I told friends and family about Laura, they all wanted to contribute and I managed to gather quite a little pot of money.
Once in South Africa I arranged to meet Laura, we couldn't make our way into the township, we were told we would meet Laura outside. We met in a petrol station and from there we went to the local shopping centre. She had all the children's names on a piece of paper with their shoe size. We bought shoes, shoes and more shoes. After we had everyone accounted for, there was still some money left over, Laura told me there was a little boy that could really do with some clothes. He was poorly and had very little, a boy called China. We bought China a new outfit, underwear and a Ben 10 cap (his favourite). We left the shop laden with bags. I expected to hand them over to Laura. However, she insisted we come meet the children and give them their shoes.
I was not prepared for what I saw in Guguletu, despite seeing the programmes. On one side of a dual-carriageway were huge, expensive-looking houses with barbed wire, iron bars and security huts, the other side, a sea of corrugated iron as far as the eye could see. As we neared Laura's house, I could see a crowd of children , they'd been expecting us. They were so excited to see us, their little faces all lit up. We all went into Laura's house. We gave the shoes out and they were all so grateful and happy - we also had footballs and the promotional World Cup gifts we had been given which the children loved. Most raced off home to show off their new shoes, a couple of mums and grandmothers turned up a few minutes later to thank us and cuddle us for the shoes. It was weird, I felt good, awkward, embarrassed, sickened by my own lifestyle at home and angry all at the same time. I was angry that it was so little, why hadn't I done more? A few of the children had very angry looking impetigo, why didn't I bring cream?
We were sat in Laura's house talking and then a little boy wandered in, so very shy. It was China. China, I was told, had HIV and his mother diagnosed with Aids. He was 3 years old and so small. Laura presented him with his clothes and I will never forget his face, he just didn't know what to do. He could barely hold the little pile, he didn't believe they were for him. The other children know China is special and look after him, they all clapped for him and went about putting the Ben 10 cap on his head. His mother arrived shortly after looking very frail and poorly and thanked us, again I had that awful, awful feeling which even now makes me squirm, it wasn't enough.
It was an emotional goodbye with Laura, both of us overwhelmed. Neither of us could find the words, I actually don't think we said a single word, we just hugged and she kissed my hand. Nearly two years later, I am still in touch with Laura. She updates me on what's going on in the township. It has been a tough year, tougher then usual. China lost his mother at 4 years old and left in the care of his two adolescent brothers. He was his mothers shadow and was so lost when she went. However, since her passing Laura and he have struck up a beautiful friendship, she says he is now her shadow. He likes to see her everyday and follow her around.
Laura has also had her house broken in to, her brothers house burnt to the ground where he lived with his young family. For every child she tries to help, there is a mother deliberately getting pregnant and drinking heavily, in the hope of damaging her unborn child. The reason; you get more benefits for a disabled child. Most of the children Laura sees suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It's not uncommon to see women in the shebeens with newborn babies, the mothers so intoxicated they can barely stand or speak. Rape is so common place, girls grow up to expect it. South Africa seems to have become a nation that is no longer shocked by it; just last month a young mentally-ill girl was gang-raped, the horrific ordeal recorded on a phone and uploaded. It trended on Twitter in South Africa, the video that is (until it was removed), but didn't make the national news.
I hear about these things every so often when Laura gets in touch, she lives with it every day and still manages to get up each day and help where she can, with a smile and such incredible warmth. She is the most amazing person I have ever met and she inspires me every day. Whenever I feel myself thinking about what a crap day I'm having or how rubbish things can be some days, I remind myself that actually I've got it pretty good.
It has been so frustrating not being able to help Laura more. We were trying to work out a way to send money on a monthly basis, the one route that looked likely was Paypal but we later found out they do not operate in South Africa. Posting packages/parcels into the township is not possible as most are stolen. Fortunately Dan had another business trip to Cape Town a couple of months ago so was able to take a parcel to Laura, I filled it with treats for her and some new clothes for China.
She wrote recently to tell me China is doing so well and is even off to school this year! Most township children do not get to go school because of the expense - he is very excited. China needs a school uniform and Laura asked if I could help, so I am off shopping this weekend for school wear. Laura has managed to get a guest house outside the township to agree to receive a parcel from me. I am so pleased for my little friend China, he's had such a hard start in life but thanks to Laura things are changing.
Wow, this was a longer post then I intended but it's something that is so close to my heart. It amazes Laura that someone this many miles away would be interested enough to care and the fact that I and others do I'm sure gives her the strength to keep going. She could move out of the township, but she worries about those she would leave behind. I update friends and family on Laura and China and they send messages which I pass on. At the moment there are limits to what we can do but the words are at least something and I know she really appreciates them.
Laura lives in the township Guguletu, she has lived there all her life. She works as a tour guide and takes tourists to all the beautiful sights that Cape Town has to offer, she will also take tourists to the township. I met Laura through a friend of hers. We were being hosted as guests of a large company based in Cape Town (where Laura's friend worked), as I said, it was the trip of a lifetime and we were shown an incredible time, including the use of their hospitality boxes at the World Cup. I was bowled over by the generosity so wanted to do something in return. On the lead up to the World Cup there was a lot of coverage in the UK media on the townships and the difficulties there. I wanted to to help. I was put in touch with Laura and I asked what I could bring to help.
Laura in her spare time, helps with a number of local projects and needy causes, a vegetable garden that grows food for a local TB clinic for example. The garden and kitchen is run almost solely by local women. Laura also invites up to 30 children every day into her home where she feeds them breakfast from leftovers donated by local restaurants, connections she has made. For some of these children, this is the only meal they will receive that day. In this time she reads and interacts with them, again, for some this is the only real interaction with an adult they will receive that day. She told me that the children needed shoes, so I told friends and family about Laura, they all wanted to contribute and I managed to gather quite a little pot of money.
Once in South Africa I arranged to meet Laura, we couldn't make our way into the township, we were told we would meet Laura outside. We met in a petrol station and from there we went to the local shopping centre. She had all the children's names on a piece of paper with their shoe size. We bought shoes, shoes and more shoes. After we had everyone accounted for, there was still some money left over, Laura told me there was a little boy that could really do with some clothes. He was poorly and had very little, a boy called China. We bought China a new outfit, underwear and a Ben 10 cap (his favourite). We left the shop laden with bags. I expected to hand them over to Laura. However, she insisted we come meet the children and give them their shoes.
I was not prepared for what I saw in Guguletu, despite seeing the programmes. On one side of a dual-carriageway were huge, expensive-looking houses with barbed wire, iron bars and security huts, the other side, a sea of corrugated iron as far as the eye could see. As we neared Laura's house, I could see a crowd of children , they'd been expecting us. They were so excited to see us, their little faces all lit up. We all went into Laura's house. We gave the shoes out and they were all so grateful and happy - we also had footballs and the promotional World Cup gifts we had been given which the children loved. Most raced off home to show off their new shoes, a couple of mums and grandmothers turned up a few minutes later to thank us and cuddle us for the shoes. It was weird, I felt good, awkward, embarrassed, sickened by my own lifestyle at home and angry all at the same time. I was angry that it was so little, why hadn't I done more? A few of the children had very angry looking impetigo, why didn't I bring cream?
We were sat in Laura's house talking and then a little boy wandered in, so very shy. It was China. China, I was told, had HIV and his mother diagnosed with Aids. He was 3 years old and so small. Laura presented him with his clothes and I will never forget his face, he just didn't know what to do. He could barely hold the little pile, he didn't believe they were for him. The other children know China is special and look after him, they all clapped for him and went about putting the Ben 10 cap on his head. His mother arrived shortly after looking very frail and poorly and thanked us, again I had that awful, awful feeling which even now makes me squirm, it wasn't enough.
It was an emotional goodbye with Laura, both of us overwhelmed. Neither of us could find the words, I actually don't think we said a single word, we just hugged and she kissed my hand. Nearly two years later, I am still in touch with Laura. She updates me on what's going on in the township. It has been a tough year, tougher then usual. China lost his mother at 4 years old and left in the care of his two adolescent brothers. He was his mothers shadow and was so lost when she went. However, since her passing Laura and he have struck up a beautiful friendship, she says he is now her shadow. He likes to see her everyday and follow her around.
Laura has also had her house broken in to, her brothers house burnt to the ground where he lived with his young family. For every child she tries to help, there is a mother deliberately getting pregnant and drinking heavily, in the hope of damaging her unborn child. The reason; you get more benefits for a disabled child. Most of the children Laura sees suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It's not uncommon to see women in the shebeens with newborn babies, the mothers so intoxicated they can barely stand or speak. Rape is so common place, girls grow up to expect it. South Africa seems to have become a nation that is no longer shocked by it; just last month a young mentally-ill girl was gang-raped, the horrific ordeal recorded on a phone and uploaded. It trended on Twitter in South Africa, the video that is (until it was removed), but didn't make the national news.
I hear about these things every so often when Laura gets in touch, she lives with it every day and still manages to get up each day and help where she can, with a smile and such incredible warmth. She is the most amazing person I have ever met and she inspires me every day. Whenever I feel myself thinking about what a crap day I'm having or how rubbish things can be some days, I remind myself that actually I've got it pretty good.
It has been so frustrating not being able to help Laura more. We were trying to work out a way to send money on a monthly basis, the one route that looked likely was Paypal but we later found out they do not operate in South Africa. Posting packages/parcels into the township is not possible as most are stolen. Fortunately Dan had another business trip to Cape Town a couple of months ago so was able to take a parcel to Laura, I filled it with treats for her and some new clothes for China.
She wrote recently to tell me China is doing so well and is even off to school this year! Most township children do not get to go school because of the expense - he is very excited. China needs a school uniform and Laura asked if I could help, so I am off shopping this weekend for school wear. Laura has managed to get a guest house outside the township to agree to receive a parcel from me. I am so pleased for my little friend China, he's had such a hard start in life but thanks to Laura things are changing.
Wow, this was a longer post then I intended but it's something that is so close to my heart. It amazes Laura that someone this many miles away would be interested enough to care and the fact that I and others do I'm sure gives her the strength to keep going. She could move out of the township, but she worries about those she would leave behind. I update friends and family on Laura and China and they send messages which I pass on. At the moment there are limits to what we can do but the words are at least something and I know she really appreciates them.
and the next one always makes me smile, I love these faces.
Saturday, 12 January 2013
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