Hello all!!
I am not exactly known for having green fingers but this spring, I've tried to make my terrace that little bit prettier. I don't exactly know what I am doing, but I am giving it a go.
So, here are some of my fruits of labour from the past month or so.
My first ever roses. I love them:
Over the years I have grown rosemary successfully quite a few times, but in the end, the ice always killed it. This year I am marrying lavender and rosemary in the same pot and am definitely bringing them in in the winter. Also, I can't wait for the bees to start visiting my lavender. They love it, and I love watching them at work.
Tomatoes are one of my favourite vegetables (well, actually they are a fruit, but like most people I eat them with savoury stuff) and this year I have planted my first. I am startng on a small scale and have only planted one pot. Fingers crossed I get a few this summer. They are already looking pretty, I think:
In other news from Boye By Red corner, I have started knitting my first ever baby blanket. I don't subscribe to "boy wears blue, girl wears pink" way of thinking, so I decided to do a blanket for a friend's baby in colours I really like. I got the yarn before the baby was born and now that little Thomas Ameer has arrived, he will have the most unique blanket ever. That is, if I ever finish it. I keep making mistakes and have to re do big chunks all over again. Never mind, I am enjoying it and I hope he will too.
A friend recently put up new shelves in my sitting room. I have just randomly put stuff on that has been lying around the room, so it is not looking how I want it just yet, but soon enough, I am sure it will:
Lately, I have been loving mint tea. I buy it from a local Turkish shop and then serve it in a traditional Turkish tea glass. The smell and the taste is divine:
And for the end, my latest purchase. Blue pumps. Isn't the colour beautiful?
So, what are you enjoying these days?
Have a lovely week.
Red xx
Hello all!!
Lately I have been enjoying the sun and amazing things that London has on offer.
To celebrate Igor Stravinsky's 100 years of Rite of Spring, friends and I went to see Fabulous Beast's interpretation of the work at the Sadlers Wells:
The poster looks great, doesn't it? Well, the performance wasn't that good, but the music was absolutely beautiful. If you want to catch a more interesting and compelling Rite of Spring, head to you tube and watch Pina Bausch's version. Stunning. I was lucky to have seen it a few years ago (with Pina Bausch herself coming out at the end to bow). Here is the link to a part of that performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOTjyCM3Ou4
Then to start off the long weekend this Friday, a friend and I went to see this year's blockbuster exhibition, Light Show at the Haywards Gallery. Not all of the work captured my imagination, but I still recommend it, if it comes to where you live. A number of different artists have made light installations using, well, light as inspiration. Some of the stuff made me giggle and wander like a kid, and other,... well, I spent very little contemplating it.
Later that evening, we enjoyed a sunset on the Thames. I never tire of the site from the river:
As well as enjoying some cultural life London has to offer, I also spotted some seriously trendy and iinteresting looking people:
And whilst shopping for my veggies at the market, this caught my attention:
So, what's on your cultural menu this month?
I've got a few more dance performances planned for the next few weeks, and of course new Almodovar's film, I Am So Excited. Can't wait for that.
Hope your week has gotten off to a good start. And whatever you do, don't forget to enjoy it and savour the moment.
Red xx
Hello all!!
Lately I have been eating healthy and fresh food.
Carrot and coriander soup and fresh from the market strawberries:
I bought myself a few treats.
Summer dress from Joy:
And cheap and cheerful earrings and less than cheap but fabulous mascara:
Also first lilies of the year arrived on my coffee table:
All that with the sounds of Charles Mingus from his revolutionary album, Ah Hum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPoK1lryfh4
Have you treated yourself to something delicious or pretty lately? And what are the sounds playing on your ipods?
Red xx
Hello all!!
Spring has been very slow in coming to London. Days are cold, very often grey very windy. But we were lucky to have a one beautiful day this week:
My week has been filled with meeting friends for big lunches, lots of coffees and drinks in the evening.
Hope your coming week is filled with good friendships, smiles and signs of spring wherever you are.
Red xx
Hello all!!
I am very lucky. As I work in a school, I am lucky to have half term and two week breaks every few months. The job is rewarding but very, very stressful at times, and believe me, by the time it comes to half term, we are more than ready to take a break and forget the children, the teaching, the arguments, the noise,...
And so in preparation to the upcoming two week break I have armed myself with some seriously interesting reads. From next week I will be spending most of my days filling an arts application to the British Arts Council and another one to a Theatre Festival in Manchester. I find these things difficult to do and it will take a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get them right. But hopefully at the end of that, I will have receive money to fund the performance I am working on immigration in the UK.
First book on my coffee table is Pointing the Finger about Islam and Muslims in the British media. It is very rare that Muslims receive a positive treatment in the newspapers here (across the board; even the left wing press has its suspicious moments). This is a collection of essays about the press's misrepresentation of Muslims in the West, that in my view contribute to the ever growing Islamophobia. I stumbled upon this book in my local library and I can't wait to start reading it and using it as part of my research for the performance:
Next on the list is Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah. In this country he is more known for his poetry than his prose. This book is about a refugee boy coming from Ethiopia to England, running away from war. Not easy when you are left without parents in a strange land where you don't know anybody. Again, this will feed right into my research for the performance on life of people fleeing their country and looking for safety in strange lands where politicians decide your faith and want to send you back to war zone:
Then I have Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart. I read this book years ago, but I need something that I know is good and will cheer me up. Of course, it is not a happy book, (it is Murakami after all), but I know I will enjoy the writing and the story. I rarely re read books, but this one is an exception.
So, my next two weeks are sorted. It won't exactly be a holiday as I will be working every day, but I will be doing something I love and am interested in.
What book is on your coffee table? A novel, a book of poems, or something political you can get your teeth into?
I leave you with this:
Random? Sure. But random is good, right?
Have a wonderfully random and happy rest of the week.
Red xx
Hello all!!
Lately:
1. daffodils for me
2. cake stand to display my jewellery
3. mushrooms in the window
4. pom poms in the air
5. me
Have a colourful Sunday.
Red xx
Hello all!!
I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of fish. I do, however eat it and prepare it, say once a week, but if I am in a restaurant, I will never order it. I'll always go for something else.
So, it is a bit unusual for me to go to a fish restaurant, where they only serve fish and nothing else on the menu. I have now been twice to The Fish Club and I will be going back again. And that comes from a non fish lover. So, it must be good, right?
The Fish Club uses only fresh line caught fish from sustainable waters, delivered daily from fishermen based in Mersea island and Poole Dorset. The restaurant was voted to be one of the best restaurants out of 50, by Time Out in 2011.
So, if you happen to be in London, check their website and make sure that you go. You will not be disappointed.
http://www.thefishclub.com/aim.html
So, here are a few pictures from my dining at The Fish Club:
Battered haddock:
Prawn and chorizo kebab. Unbelievably good:
For me, grilled coley. I've also had battered coley, but I have to say, my preference is grilled fish. So heatly, so good, my mouth waters just looking at this picture:
As side dishes, chips of course (and sweet potato too because it is just too good):
And as refreshments, local ale. Brewed on the river Wandle, in Wandsworth. And it was delicious. It went down a treat:
One of the pleasures in life is food, and in particular when you're sharing it with people you love. The Fish Club in Clapham Common today was full of children having lunch with their mums (it is mother's day here in the UK today). Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky to take my mum out today, but it was the next best thing; I was celebrating a special anniversary with two people I love very much.
Here is to healthy food, good beverage and most of all to great company. Bon appetit!!
Red xx
Hello all!!
Hope this month has started well for you and the weather is getting better wherever you are. London is still very cold, but at least it is sunny and days are longer.
I've been taking lots of pictures and not only outside on the streets of London. Some are from the cosy corner of my sofa. I am looking at my new flowers and new shoes:
And then, delicious feasts every day:
Although it is nice and warm inside, I still ventured out and took a few snaps:
Even though winter is still here, blossom is slowly coming out. Spring is coming:
Have a happy week everyone.
Red xx
