Category England
Look who’s here!
While I was managing the flower emergency, Justin was landing at Heathrow. And because all Americans now enjoy the streamlined border control, he was out and on my doorstep practically before I knew it (certainly before I was fully ready!) First order of business was lunch at The Grind, a New Zealand cafe to give […]
Christmas flowers!
My favourite part of doing Christmas in London is going to the Columbia Road Flower Market and loading up on festive flowers. Everything about it is just the best: the early morning trek to East London, the hunt through the stalls for the best deal on berries, the delicious feeling of resisting temptation, the struggle […]
It’s open studio season! And yes, I bought all the things.
Remember all the potter friends I made at the ceramics fair in Oxford? Well the ones with studios in London had open studios this weekend, where they let you come in and see their work spaces and also buy whatever they have on hand. I started out in Greenwich with Maze Hill Pottery, which is […]
Weekend in Stratford-upon-Avon
Remember my goal of seeing all of Shakespeare’s plays performed before I turn 40? Well, notwithstanding what happened last Sunday, it’s STILL ON. We’re just going to have to add “-something” to the end of it. Which means that when the RSC does a new production of King John, one girds one’s loins and boards […]
Lights are up!
One of my favourite nights of the year: when I come home and my little Passage is all lit up for the holidays. It’s just the best. And since I’m in England I don’t even have to pretend I’m horrified they didn’t wait until after Thanksgiving. That window you can see just over the shop […]
As one turns 40
Somewhere across town the London Symphony Orchestra is performing Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet for an audience of n minus 1, as I think the expression goes. That’s because instead of occupying seat C42 in the Circle, I’m sitting cozily in my living room, enveloped in wool and candlelight and the sounds of a Beethoven symphony […]
An old play and a new friend
Tonight after work I hurried off to the Barbican to see the RSC’s production of The Taming of the Shrew. It was an interesting take on the play — all the roles were reversed, with women in the men’s roles and men in the women’s roles. Some of it worked well, mainly because the RSC […]
As I liked it
Another quiet weekend in London. Most of it spent in and around the flat doing life admin, errands, etc. The highlight was Friday night, when I walked down to the Barbican and saw the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of As You Like It — which it turns out I had never seen before. It’s one […]
That extra hour
One of my favourite days of the year: when summer time ends and we’re back on standard. Because I never bother to check the date in advance, it’s always a surprise. I wake up at the ordinary hour and discover that it’s actually an hour earlier. That blessed miracle of an extra hour in the […]
Ceramics and rain in Oxford
Remember how last year I brought that (allegedly) 18th Century Chinese dish home from the Cotswolds and used it for eating burrito bowls until I broke it by tapping it gently on my granite countertop? Well, it occurred to me (and some of you — Susan!) that this might be an interesting opportunity to try […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 