life lately... places I have been in London

The Drapers Arms, Islington... this was our first stop of the day, for a lunch which started off as 3 plus baby and ended up as 8. one of those days which just works and people join in. I had a wonderful beetroot and pearl barley risotto which the baby loved so much she ate spoonfuls off my plate. I also had the best latte I've had in a long time. So good, that I had to have another one later on. in fact, the food was universally decried to be excellent and the selection of drinks good too. there was also plenty of room for the baby, and a lovely garden. just right for a rainy Saturday afternoon but, I imagine, lovely in summer too.

the rest of the party decamped to watch the rugby, but, such is the way sometimes with children, Pip refused to sleep in the pub after lunch and so I just couldn't take her to watch rugby over tired but not wanting to settle in her buggy either. so Pip and her godmother and I wondered idly round some of the shops of Islington, trying on a few unflattering dresses in the Whistles sale, testing out some new products in Aesop and fighting amongst the debris in the remainder of the Gap sale.

Duke of Cambridge Organic Pub, Islington ... this was our second pub visit of the day; a lovely cosy way to while away a rainy miserable Saturday evening with friends. The Duke of Cambridge is Britain's first (and apparently only) certified organic pub. We sat round a big wooden table and interspersed our Kernal beers with various items from the bar and dinner menus, which are written up on big chalk boards. I'm hesitant to review the food, as such, as I only tried a starter and pudding, but wouldn't have recommended either. that said, the other people in our party enjoyed theirs, and the drinks were excellent. there was also water in pitchers on the bar, which was nice. the nicest things though were the little things; the changing table, highchairs, welcoming to the baby (who we popped into her pram in her pjs after food, and she went to sleep, allowing us to stay for a drink or two) and all the food information.

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photo credits:

Drapers Arms here | Duke of Cambridge pub here

life lately... places I have been in London

Kipferl (Austrian and Viennese Cafe and Kitchen) Camden Passage, Islington - After a week of my own tonsillitis and then the baby developing her own illness, I was in desperate need of a couple of hours to myself this afternoon. Leaving the baby with her Dad, I popped down to Islington and met my sister and her boyfriend. We were after somewhere to sit down and have a quick chat and we ended up eating wieners with rye and mustard whilst we caught up on the week behind and ahead. They also had a variety of delicious looking cakes, but having made a chocolate and Guinness cake on Friday, I passed.



Raystitch (99 Essex Road) - Raystitch is a haberdashers and cafe set up by Rachel Hart and is just across the road from where I used to go to WI when I used to live in Islington, although it didn't open until 2011. I've been meaning to go there for ages and I finally managed to go today when I realised I had to give back the cot sheets we borrowed when Pip was born and that given I can't find any I like, that I should just make my own. Sadly, or luckily for my bank account, I didn't have much time this afternoon to browse, it was more a case of rush in, find some fabric, have a quick coffee and leave again. They sell all sorts of fabric, haberdashery, my favourite Merchant & Mills supplies and they run all sort of classes. And did I mention they serve coffee. And cake? I will be back.

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Photo credits:

Kipferl | Raystitch

Material World (Perri Lewis)

I love to make things, but I rarely buy books about the subject. Beautiful though they often are, they are usually filled with projects that either are impractical or lovely in theory but no one needs. Perri Lewis's Material World: The Modern Craft Bible is a little bit different.

For starters, it's not just about making things. It's full of general guidance, quotes, ideas and techniques. Secondly, it's about a variety of skills - and how to adapt them. Take the quilting chapter for instance; basic guidance and then instructions regarding a chair, but also discusses making quilts and other more utilitarian options. The one thing it's not is a follow by numbers guide. The key to Perri's work is adaptation "I like to think of this as the Jamie Oliver approach to craft. Whack in a bit extra of what you fancy, cut back on elements that you don't like, or don't have handy. Don't fret too much about the rules along the way, so long as what you end up with is perfect for you." which is perfect for me. If I had to follow a project exactly I would never start or finish anything. All my most creative work is when I just sit down and get on with it, experimenting and making it up. That said, having Perri's guide to basic technique and instruction (as well as inspiration) is quite helpful.

I haven't had that much time for crafting recently and barely any time even for reading, but I've enjoyed dipping in and out of this over the past few weeks. I'm not going to lie - I don't have time for a big project at the moment but this book has inspired me to get my sewing machine out and whizz up a couple of (teeny) projects. I even went to a haberdashers today and bought some material to make some cot sheets and bits and pieces for Pip's nursery.

And, and, I got some more Liberty scraps online so I can finally start Pip's quilt. It's not going to be a chair (well, not this incarnation, anyway) but it will be thanks to this book that it finally gets going.

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Thanks to Ebury Publishing for the review copy. All words, opinions and half finished projects my own. Find details of my sponsorship policy here.

Geek Girl (Holly Smale)

 

Baby Pip (my very own Geek Girl?)

" “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”

Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her.

So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.

Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.

As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?"

Geek Girl was one of the reasons that I got to thinking about Young Adult fiction/literature last night. I pre-ordered this book last autumn sometime and it arrived last week, although it's official release date is today. What's that you say? A timely post? Anyhow.

You might have realised I love young adult fiction and, within that, strong female (teenage) characters. It was whilst I was reading Geek Girl that I realised that Harriet Manners is the first teenage character I've encountered who has a mobile (and who lives in this current decade - what *is* it that we are calling it - the 2010s?). This makes Harriet different from any character in any YA book that I've ever read and, I think, why I found it harder to relate to her.

That's not to say I didn't like or even love the book, I did. It's funny, and fast paced and well written and not too predictable. It's just that I can't get over the fact that I didn't recognise Harriet and it made me feel old and out of touch. And also made me a little worried for it will be like when Pip is a teenager. And Harriet's nemesis, Alexa, didn't even seem to be using social media to help enforce Harriet's status as a geek. Goodness knows what she'd have achieved if she did. 

I found Harriet an interesting protagonist. On the one hand, I could see my teenage acquaintances in parts of her, although, strangely, not myself. I wasn't enough of a geek to be a geek and whilst I had friends, no best friend like Harriet. Neither pretty or ugly, I don't think I stood out particularly at school. On the other, as is often the case with teen things these days (don't I sound so like a grandmother) I often can't understand why a character struggles and so on, when it seems they have all the required attributes. That said, she was quite self obsessed - maybe that was the problem!

In the end, I liked that Geek Girl wasn't a simple geek to chic story - there was a lot more to it than that. Complicated relationships that all teenagers suffer; parents, friends, boys. Harriet's 'big moment' didn't really mean anything after all. Or did it? There is a sequel to come, after all.

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This was not a sponsored post. I bought my own copy. That said, in the interests of full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine. She didn't ask me to review it; she doesn't even know that I am. What she (hopefully) does know is that if I didn't like it, I would say it and I certainly wouldn't post a review here.

Ecover Zero (Review)

update - I discovered that you can buy the Ecover Zero washing up liquid at Planet Organic, if you don't fancy buying it online.

You might remember ages ago that I mentioned I'd been sent some Ecover Zero products to review. I know I said I'd write the review in a week or two, but actually, I thought it better to give the products a full test before I gave an opinion.

I was sent the washing up liquid, the washing liquid and fabric conditioner as well as a tea towel and two cloths (the soap and brushes were already on my sink).

Ecover ZERO is Ecover’s new fragrance-free range, "specially crafted to give great washing results while being suitable for sensitive skin".  Ecover says that it is their " first ever range to be awarded with the stamp of approval from Allergy UK".


They have chosen to focus on the core products of Laundry Liquid, Washing Powder, Fabric Conditioner and Washing Up Liquid (I didn't get to test the washing powder) as "these core products tend to be the key culprits for irritating skin and causing allergic reactions".

I especially liked the washing up liquid and we used the whole bottle. We have reverted to the Lemon & Aloe Vera Ecover washing up liquid but purely because I had already bought it prior to the trial. I think I will try and get the Ecover Zero one though next time, as I liked the way that I felt confident using the liquid on all of the baby's paraphernalia, particularly her bottles and cups, as I really don't like the idea of her milk being scented. Aside from no smell, it lathered and behaved in exactly the same way as any other Ecover washing up liquid and went just as far. I particularly like the way that Ecover washing up liquid never feels slimy (and I am happy to use it when camping as I don't worry about chemicals going directly into the water table).

I also really liked the fabric conditioner (technical difficulties withstanding) as my main reason for never using fabric conditioner is the all pervading smell. My towels (for I only use fabric conditioner on towels) came out nice and soft and with not a hint of biscuit. The washing liquid, whilst technically successful in that my clothes were clean, I was less enamoured with, purely for the fact that I do like to have my clothes have a (very) gentle scent, particularly underwear, nappies and anything that one suspects may have come into contact with baby vomit. I find the normal Ecover liquid does a good job of this already. However, if any of my family had any allergy problems or issues with scents at all, then the Ecover Zero liquid would be perfect. Personal preference I guess. I would still recommend it.

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(Ecover answers your questions)

Where can I buy Ecover ZERO? 
At the moment you can buy it online at our official retail website, Ecover Direct. We are currently looking at making it available in supermarkets, other online shops and independent stockists too. 

 If it’s fragrance free, what’s that smell? 
What you can smell in our laundry products are the ingredients in it - surfactants that work to get your clothes clean. You should find that the smell completely disappears in the wash. Other “no fragrance” products often add masking agents so you can’t smell the active ingredients but as we wanted this range to be free from any unnecessary ingredients we chose not to use one. 

I received the products from Ecover. You can find further details regarding my sponsorship policy here

A Year of Doing Good (Judith O'Reilly)

I finished Judith O'Reilly's A Year of Doing Good last night and wanted to come here and write about it before life moved on and I didn't write anything. Light reading it may be, if you follow me on twitter you might have seen me describe it as 'human, honest and humorous'. I started following Judith's blog, Wife In the North, back before I got married or had children but despite, at that time, us being at rather different life stages, I was hooked on her diary accounting her move to Northumberland from London, pregnancy, birth and how she built a community in her new surrounds. She battled with loneliness, depression, anxiety and repeatedly running out of petrol and I could empathise with it all, albeit sometimes retrospectively since reading. The blog became a book, which I bought and read and even return to now and then, which is a mark of something being well written. 

And now, her second book. Funnily enough, I bought it after doing a good deed in a cafe (returning a mobile phone which an elderly couple and their daughter had left behind on the table, leaving my baby in the care of a friend whilst I chased after them. The act reminded me of the book which had been serialised (reviewed? I can't recall) in the Sunday Times over the Christmas period and, having received a book token from my grandparents instead of their usual choice of paperback, and which I had mentally earmarked to buy on its release, I decided to go and buy.

A Year of Doing Good is more than a list of good deeds. It's a sequel to Wife in the North, although I think it would be just as enjoyable without knowing the back story. It is inspiring, as ever since I have tried gone nicer to people and have been doing my best to do a good deed myself every day, or whenever possible, even if small. I particularly liked one scene in which Judith buys a parking ticket for another family and they are then inspired to pay the good turn forward. So I have been smiling at other mothers, holding open doors, asking how people are. I wrote a card to a relative; I rang my mother in law when habitually I would have texted or emailed. I have supported a friend's new business (not just as a good deed but because I love her and her products, but still, it is support). [I have still managed to be very very cross though. And give some companies a piece of my mind. But that's another post]. As Judith discovered, doing good turns doesn't make you a better person. But I am inspired to try. (and might even record them too).

What A Year of Doing Good is, I think, is a reminder, a letter. An insight into a community. A reminder that life isn't always good to us but that a little kindness can go a small way to making a difference to people. One recurring theme through both books is Judith's first born son, a son who died in utero. Through both books she details her grief and how she has come to terms with this. I cannot relate but I think I am not too far off the mark in stating that if I could relate I would find Judith's words helpful.

So, I recommend reading. And being inspired.

Damon Albarn's Dr Dee at the ENO (Review)

On Monday night, I had a night off being a mum. My friend Miss L and I went to the opera. More specifically, we went to the opening night of Dr Dee, Damon Albarn's modern opera about John Dee. It was one of those nights which just worked. My husband organised for us to have cocktails beforehand at L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon which is a Michelin starred restaurant (and hearing the words "there is no bill ladies, it's been taken care of" is surely the nicest phrase to hear upon requesting the bill) and then we were upgraded to the second row of the stalls (one row back from the orchestra pit) rather than the tickets we had paid for up in the gods when we arrived at the theatre.

Such great seats surely enhanced our appreciation of Albarn's work, as, no doubt, did the fact that it was opening night and therefore our seats were among the press and invited seats, so we were mingling with the likes of Alex James and the other one from Blur, as well as a panoply of minor actors and other celebs (identified in the press pictures afterwards as random fashion designers, bit part actors and Professor Brian Cox).

I would go so far as to state that I highly suspect that had we been seated in the gods, we would have struggled to follow what was going on, given that the vocals were extremely difficult to hear, aside from the repeated "John Dee". And that, I have to say, was obvious, given that was the title of the thing. Aside from that, there were occasional helpful hints and motifs in the form of text beamed onto the screen, but a careful studying of the programme was required to keep abreast of the action (and we were close enough to see the expressions on their faces).

That said, Dr Dee was visually stunning. I particularly enjoyed the way time was portrayed, both in the opening sequence where English history was rolled back through the decades and centuries to Elizabethan times, and during the performance where there was a repeated motif using shadows and paper to reflect the passing of years of various characters. I also thought the use of the musicians as part of the set was intriguing, particularly Albarn himself who moved in and out of the narrative, suspended above the action in his jeans, trainers and leather jacket, with his guitar. (See him top left in the image above) I was more mystified by the use of helium balloons tied to or held by the actors and have struggled to consider what they may have represented and the scene where Dee must share his wife was disturbingly haunting. I may not have followed what the actors were signing, but the acting left little to the imagination.

Dr Dee is at the ENO London Coliseum now.

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(photo borrowed from the Telegraph - although I don't think their reviewer actually went to the performance, not unless two rooks are a flock and a handful of empty seats can be described as a swathe)

Piggy in the Middle

There are many things that I miss about London. I thought restaurants would be one of them but there is a surprisingly good selection of places to eat to choose from down here. We are slowly attempting to try out them one by one.

Voucher Codes are compiling a list of local restaurants and I didn't want to let my new village down without mentioning our (only restaurant). Surrounded by pubs and hotels, Piggy in the Middle is situated bang in the middle of Porlock, along the stretch of 'high street' which is lit up by pretty little lights and looks so welcoming as you come down the hill and through the village.  On Exmoor we are lucky to have a fantastic selection of local produce being both on the moor and coastal. We have organic produce everywhere we turn and thankfully Piggy in the Middle serves up yummy dishes full of local food.

Fine dining it's not. The house wine comes in a carafe, the napkins are black linen, it's a little faux french in decoration and the coffee is less than desirable but the food is nicely cooked and the service is friendly. Too many viewings of Masterchef and Junior Roux have led me to notice things like plate choice, symmetry and style of the food and precisely how acidic the beurre blanc is yet what really matters on a Thursday night when you book with ten minutes notice is that the food is cooked by someone who knows how to choose their ingredients. We shared a prawn, rice and salad dish and a herb and tomato crusted salmon fillet with a sticky toffee pudding and felt satisfyingly full but not overstuffed. The chef came out to speak to us and there was a happy atmosphere.

Other notable places to eat in the area apparently include Andrews on the Weir, Reeves* in Dunster and (a little further afield) Podshavers in Bishops Lydeard although they all fall into the next price bracket up. At the moment, those are more special occasion restaurants whereas Piggy still falls into the because you feel like going out for supper category. Just what every village needs.

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Piggy in the Middle
High Street
Porlock
Exmoor National Park
Somerset
TA24 8PS

*beware the music if you open this website.