Hatwalk

Mayor Boris sponsored Hatwalk, where statues all over London have been given a hat by milliners like Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones. Sometimes you have to look quite hard for them, and the ones at Hyde Park Corner I didn't get to see, but here are some of the others. They went up overnight and will come down after just a few days.

The Duke of Wellington at the Bank of England

Captain John Smith in St Mary's churchyard - the one with the Bow bells

The Lovers, in St Paul's churchyard

Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the Victoria Embankment Gardens

Lord Nelson on top of his Column at Trafalgar Square



General Havelock on his plinth

and General Napier on his

George IV and his trusty steed

Beau Brummel in Jermyn St.

Good fun spotting them - I walked miles looking! They will be auctioned off for charity when they have been taken down.

Cute as buttons

I went to a jewellery making class on Monday evening, at the London School of Jewellery at Hatton Garden, and under the skilled direction of the lovely Chu-Mei made these! Delighted with them! Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!!!

All you need : buttons, memory thread or waxed cotton, jump rings and a clasp. 7 button stacks for a bracelet, slightly overlapping so it curves around your wrist.

 

15-17 button stacks, depending on button size, for a necklace, not overlapping, but adjacent. It should sit on your collarbone. Too long and it won't hang nicely.



I tried a different colour combination -what! no pink!- and was really pleased with this one.

What a great evening! Thoroughly enjoyed myself. I am going to try the bracelets with thick nylon elastic thread, and if that works, I can make them with the girls at school for Activities Week, I think some would find fixing the findings too fiddly, and Jan and I would end up doing them. I'll post what we did this year soon.

I am on the mailing list now, so will look out for more classes. Have a look at their website:

www.londonjewelleryschool.co.uk  They offer everything from one-off taster classes to 5 week evening classes to diploma level qualifications.

Afternoon Tea at the Checkmate Bar

Yesterday was Sam's birthday, and I took out her for afternoon tea today at the Checkmate Bar at the Park International Hotel, in South Kensington. Lovely chic and stylish surroundings, and sweet baby sandwiches and cakes, a scone (both Devon and Cornwall style!) plenty of Earl Grey and a glass of fizz to round it off. Delish! I was also relieved the baby didn't decide to make an appearance; hopefully not until the due date,16th, as Sam has so many plans until then!

  

Sumptuous surroundings!

Keeping up the black and white theme, look at this fabulous piece of Art Nouveau ironwork at Gloucester Road tube station.

On holiday at last!

I am enjoying the holidays with time to  myself at last!! I went to Tower Bridge to have a look at the Olympic rings on Sunday, and had a long walk around, dodging the rain showers which seemed to follow me! As it was glorious sunshine when I left home, I didn't take an umbrella, and only had my sunglasses.... Never mind. Had a great day anyway.

  Always an impressive sight, you get a better overall view from the South bank, and far fewer people.

  From the North bank

Sean forged this archer and other figures around the castle.



Ancient and Modern



The new skyline, with County Hall and The Shard.

There have been lots of meadows created around Town, and with all the rain and bright sunshine, they look amazing.



Entertainment in Potters' Field, just before the heavens opened!

London is showing itself off very well; the hordes of visitors can't fail to be impressed. The transport system seems to be holding up too - we forget the Tube is well over 100 years old, and the ancient roads in the city not designed for the sheer volume of traffic they have to deal with, let alone cars. Well done London! It's nice to spend time just wandering; usually I am underground travelling to and from school etc. I am enjoying being a tourist in my own city!



Olympic Spectacle

Wow! What a fabulous Opening Ceremony! An amazing celebration which made me feel so proud to be British, and got the hairs on the back of the neck standing up! I loved the James Bond segment, good on you, Ma'am! And the petal flame finale was fantastic! No-one does it quite like us with our quirky sense of humour for all-round entertainment.

More opportunity to get patriotic again.

Time to crack open the souvenir biscuits from M&S

Here are the lovely things from Shazronnie for the Jubilee Swapsie; super card and yoyo brooch.

Sharon made this fab shopping bag from a pillowslip, and I just added some beads for the occasion.

Union Jack-ed up my pudding this evening

Nice cup of Earl Grey to finish, again thanks to Shazronnie for this sweet trio. Beautiful gifts! Check out the things I sent to her on her blog: http://shazronnie.wordpress.com/swapsies!

Enjoy the Games! Go Team GB!!

Catch up

Sorry to be away so long! School stuff, mostly, but after Thursday I will be on holiday!

We had our Senior Leadership Team planning weekend a little while ago, a rare sunny weekend, and we were at our usual hotel by the sea in Hythe, on the Kent coast.

 The hotel was right on the sea front - lovely for an early morning walk before breakfast!

How lovely to live here, right on the river.





Great street names!

Lovely spring flowers everywhere

Sadly, this lovely teashop was closed by the time our meeting was finished on Saturday afternoon, so took a quick photo before tea back at the hotel, with not such pretty cakes!

Hythe has a plethora of quaint charity shops, too. Will show you my finds on the next post - they were open on Saturday afternoon!