Hargreaves Sleep-Over

Guest Blogger: my niece, Emilia Jane Hargreaves - aged 9 and a half.

On Staurday morning, Hugo, Beatrice and I came over with Mummy to Uncle Robbie and Auntie Ibolya and Ruby's.
We had a lovly lunch of : Cold meat,salami,cheeses and bread and it was scrumptious!
After lunch we decided that we all needed some fresh air so we thought that we should go to the park.Then we tought that we need someone to play with so we called Holly,Dannny,Libby and Dexter.When they arrived we left for the park and brilliantly Ruby walked all the way!
We played at the park like cheekey monkey's .
When we hot back we all had a rest. When Libbby and her family left we had dinner and that was : Pasta whith a cheese sauce that was scrum!!!!
After dinner Hugo and I got our P.J'S on washed our selfs and went and wached T.V. We wached You've Been Framed and Harry Hill's .T.V. Burp !
After tat we all whent to bed and that was the end of that day !!!!!!!!!!!

We started the morning with a snuggle together in bed we were all as snug as a bug in a rug !
Then we had some breakfast oh and that too was a lovely meal we had : Cereal and hot cross bun's ( Ohh yum .) After that we did some drawing !!! That was fun.
When we had done with that game it was luch time oh and I my self think that it was the best meal it was ( a drum rool please.) It was a roast chikken and pattatos.
When we had finished our lunch we played some games in the kitken and watched some Joe 90.
A film from when rob was little.
When we had decided that it was getting a little boring.
So we switched of the tellivision and went down stairs to find that Kate Dan and Maisie where here . We played for alittle and then had dinner.

Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde

On Friday evening; Stephen, Pete, Mark and I met up at Tate Modern to see the 'Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde - Constructing a New World' exhibition.
We were hugely into Van Doesburg, Mondrian and De Stijl at art school (I did my thesis on Mondrian and Van Doesburg's falling out over the use of the diagonal in art) and had this show been staged 20 years ago, it would have been the stuff of our dreams, we'd have been absolutely beside ourselves. As comprehensive and thorough, as the show is, (and having failed to change the world through our own art) it was very much a nostalgic experience for us. Although one of the great things it does is demonstrate just how far Mondrian's work stands out from all the work of his contemporaries, that are superficially similar. And just how powerful, impressive and precise his paintings are.
Aside from the art, it was wonderful to spend time with my nearest and dearest friends and we had a good catch up over dinner afterwards.

Garden

We've had Colin the Gardener in this week to sort out the garden and lay us a new lawn.
This is how the garden looked on Tuesday morning, before he started, from our bathroom window


This was Wednesday morning


Thursday


and Friday.




Colin's finishing off today and tomorrow but Ibolya and I are completely gobsmacked by the the difference and madly in love with our new lawn, although I hope we don't now become lawn obsessives.

Paraty House

Words cannott describe how much I love this house. For me, the house of my dreams.
It's called the Paraty House by by Marcio Kogan Architects.

Brian Gittins

I think Brian Gittins is an absolute Godlike Genius and probably the funniest man alive. Having seen him many times at Rupert's Knock2Bag comedy nights, where he has a residency, last night was the first time I'd seen his One Man Show, at the Soho Theatre. He was as brilliant as ever and I even had the honour of joining him on stage for his traditional rendition of the Oakey Coakey.
Below are my very fine chums, Mark, Rupert and Lloyd, who accompanied me.

Sunday

On Sunday, we spent the day in our pajamas and only ventured out to go to the playground at the bottom of our road. It felt like a real landmark as it was the first time we'd gone out, as a family, without the pushchair. We all walked down the road, hand-in-hand, and it felt absolutley wonderful.
As well as lots of playing and reading with Ruby, I made a beautful looking brunch, Ibolya made her spectacular rice flour, apricot and butternut squash cake and a lovely chicken, barley, leak casserole for dinner. We watched a not very good film called 'Franklyn' and managed to stay up for the Bafta's. It was fantatsic to see Duncan Jones win best newcomer and gave a really humble and emotional speech.

Cambria Road

The three of us made the diagonal journey, across London, on Saturday morning, to go for lunch at Robyn and Alex's at Loughborough Junction. It was good to see them and Jess and Adam too, who were also there. After lunch we took Ruby to Ruskin park and had a good play on the slide and swings. We came back via Clapham Junction and a beautiful sun set over the roof tops and high rises of Clapham.

Cats

These are our cats; Putty, Josie and Tutsi. Hanging out and sunbathing in our lounge(or is it a 'front-room'?)on Saturday morning.

Mate Sound The Pump!

My best friend Stephen has started up his own website dedicated to his passion for Sunderland Lustreware Plaques. The site showcases his own extensive collection of religious, maritime, landscape and portrait plaques, as well as being a valuable resource for collectors.
It's a lovely looking site and a fascinating and enlightening visit even for the layman, like me.
Click here to connect and here are a few of the beautiful objects from the site.