Enchanted Ex-pats

It was an afternoon of delight (not to be confused with the popular song, ‘afternoon delight’) had by all last Saturday as five ex-pats and our lone male British counterpart visited the ‘Enchanted’ exhibit at Kensington palace before it closes in January.

I was thrilled to attend it again, this time with others to share in the beauty, and permitted to take photos provided no flash was involved. Above you will see: Dave (British), Oneika (Canadian), Emm (South African), Melissa (Canadian) and Lindsay (American) as we topped the stairwell leading to the royal palace.

This was a room occupied by princess Mary, who had several miscarriages and was married to a man who lived far away. All she wanted was a baby heir.

The kings stairs held the story of princess Katherine who wanted to marry for love but died in childbirth. The city was shrouded in black cloth for months after her death.

The next two photos show the gowns worn by Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth, and a dress worn to the ballet by none other than Princess Diana. This is one of the most beautiful and eerie rooms.

Entry to the exhibit is 2 for 1 with the Days Out London coupons and two national rail tickets – that’s 12.50 per pair. Get thee to the palace!

This is Hallowe’en

My flatmate’s birthday falls conveniently close to Halloween, making for a superb reason to go all-out on fancy dress. Her party was last evening, and although we were encouraged to embrace the spooky-factor associated with the holiday, I just couldn’t quite do it. I’m not a scary-costume kind of girl.

Post-event, the Snake Woman and the Forest Nymph

I have never seen so many amazing costumes – probably a sign that many people in attendance were from the costume-design/acting world. Here is one of the attendees who made her own bird hat and went as the lead actress from THE BIRDS.

THE BIRDS and the NYMPH

And just for Kristi, here’s my makeup (as best can be taken at midnight on Photobooth, as my camera is killed).

Green eyeshadow with purple accents

The photos Andrea took didn’t quite turn out as well as we had hoped, so as a final piece of Hallowe’enic evidence, here is the Bird Lady, the Wood Nymph, and the Snake Lady.

St James churchyard

Once upon a time my flatmate took me past this church. I see it towering over bermondsey every day as I walk to and from the tube station, but it wasn’t until S took me running that I saw the church up close.

I was astounded with how beautiful it was – an undiscovered gem in my back yard! At night it’s flooded in golden light and in the day is a peaceful area with old tombstones and benches to sit on. I must spend more time here. Maybe one day I’ll make it to a service.

Found my new thing

Having taken several sessions of printmaking back at the Chatham Cultural Centre, I jumped at the five hour workshop held by The Papered Parlour last weekend.

It was a really quirky and eclectic space, perfect for exploring my creativity. You can see that the refreshment bar is made of old doors.
Screenprinting was the modality of the day. I love it!

Regular acrylic paint, a special screen, and a squeegie seemed to be all we needed to transfer our designs from newsprint stencil to paper. See my first attempt at a bird, above?

Lindsay washes our screen between runs of colour, while our instructor Helen examines the remaining screens.

Tea break was awesome!
The end of the day brought about a rush to finish our folding books, but I was still pleased with the outcome.

Marseille (the roadtrip continues)

Oh yes, friends, there is more! As I sort through my photos from the family trip to France, I come across more reasons to share the adventure with you, my faithful followers. I know most of you are family members who are counting down the days (of sadness) for another Christmas without the light from my striking blue eyes; or friends that wish I was gathered round the chestnuts a-roastin’ as we bellow eggnog-inspired carols. (Alas it’s not meant to be this year.) Some of you are random people who now know more about my family than perhaps they’d wish you to. Either way, here’s Marseille.

That was a bit of a digression… sorry.

Marseille. I’ve always wanted to go, having a romantical idea of the city in the south of France. Although it’s pretty, it paled in comparison to Arles where we stayed the night before, and our shoddy lunch only distracted from what could have been a lovely town. Here are some highlites that I’ve captured on camera…

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Final verdict on Marseille – I won’t be going back. There are too many other parts of France that intrigue me, even in Franc was quite dashing (xxoo Cora!)

In the Mountains

It had been 17 years since Draker last feasted his eyes on the glory of Les Hautes Alpes. I’ve been spoiled, having visited every year (sometimes twice!) since 2008, but Drake was just 7 years old last time he was here, and he only remembered bits and pieces. It was with great satisfaction that I watched his face as we drove into the mountains. Turns out kid Brother has a relatively good recall of French and has a love-on for the French lifestyle about as fierce as moi.

Next step, get his French Nationality so he can move on over (sorry Mom, you’ll just have to come visit more often!!!)

Here are some shots from our first day in Les Vigneaux.

Mountain man warming up for our hike

Drake’s take on the ‘beaux paysage’

This kid LOVES the mountains!

Told you he likes the Alps

Sun… so… hot… in the… mountains. Need rest!

It’s drinkable – the spring in Vigneaux

Cheese on our first day in Vigneaux

Plage St. Jean, La Ciotat (more road-tripping)

I’m going to try something a little bit new here, and write this entry in both English and French. This is particularly for Alain, who was our amazing tour guide/chauffeur/angelic cousin throughout our Provencal roadtrip.

J’essaier un chose nouveau ici, et j’ecrive cet blog en les deux langues – l’anglais et la francais. (Excuser des erreurs… mon Francais n’est pas parfait!) C’est pour mon cousin Alain, qui est un accompagnateur fantastique, et aussi un cousin des anges.

Drake stretches out upon arrival in our room at the Plage St. Jean Hotel in La Ciotat

Drake a reste des jambes sur le lit quand nous avons arrivons a L’Hotel Plage St. Jean a La Ciotat.

October on the Cote d'Azur. First clouds all week.

Les premieres nuages dans la semaine.

Mom, Drake and Chris look for a place to sit

Ils ont cherchent un place pour assis.

Not quite brave enough for the surf, but ready to bust a move.

Nous avons le peur de l’eau froid. Mais je n’ai pas le peur de la danser!

Chris and Mom check out the horizon

Des parents regardent le beaux paysage.

The boy was ready for a swim. Unfortunately it was too cold!

Il a voudrait nager, mais c’etait trop froid!

It's everywhere!

Je ne sais pas le mot pour ‘graffiti’.

Surf on my feet

De l’eau sur mes pieds.

The horizon and tide

Le beaux paysage.

Sometimes I wish I could just float away

Quelques chose, je voudrait danser avec la mer.

Boy finds stick. Shows sister.

Le garcon avec du boit. La soeure (moi) a regarde.

Too cold outside - time to join Alain in the 'spa' aka pool/fitness room

Parce-que c’est trop froid dehors, nous avons cherchons Alain dans la piscine.

We found Alain hiding in the hot tub

Alain est dans la douche chaude (?)

Escaping from the Bouillabaise, I sat on a bench trying to regain my composure (note to self, can't do Fish Soup) and attempted to capture these pretty boats.

Pour diner, nous avons mangeons une speciale de Marseille – la bouillabaise. C’est la soupe des poissons et ce n’etait pas un bon choix pour mon sante. Au dehors, j’ai prends la nature et aussi un photo des bateaux jolies.

Bises!!!

Perks

One of the upsides of social work in the uk is the amount of training we receive. Wednesday I went to the Community Care Live day in islington and had a good time scooping up the perks of the day, like this bag of ‘sweeties’ from a recruitment agency.

Alison and I misses one of the big sessions where Eileen Munro – a big name in social policy- spoke about changes she’s suggested in the famous ‘Munro Report.’ we did get to do a bit of art instead…

Graffiti! We got to paint on the statement wall. Ahhhh art therapy. How I love thee!