✵ cabin fever

 after a never ending Winter

we went out in search of green

 and the promise of blue

and give the trees some love

❤

~~ easter break

the first week of the Easter holidays has flown by

in a haze of chocolate treats and lazy days

so we hopped on the train to the modern brutal

Southbank 

to see Lifework: Norman Parkinson's Century of Style

at the National Theatre

Parkinson really did rewrite the rules of fashion photography

exotic locations, open air shoots, bizarre props

not bad for a man who left school with one qualification

an art school prize

the Southbank is an ever changing space

despite it's concrete and sharp edges

and to soften the grey sky

mexican style

salud!

/ \ knit click purl

my Mama taught me to knit when I was about 8 years old
with my little red plastic needles I started to knit a scarf for my doll
it grew longer and wonkier but I didn't care
I liked it
length was better than stitches dropped
one day a baby sitter thought she'd 'help' me by undoing it all and starting again
but she only knitted a few rows and my long long wonky scarf was no more

I never knitted again

when I was a teen my Mama taught me to crochet
only one stitch on the hook
no wonkiness or stitches to count
I loved it
making blankets, cushions, bags and hats
but clothing always looks a bit too 70's when crocheted

my local wool shop has started a Knit Club
I decided to give knitting another try
two needles, all those stitches, wool in the opposite hand
I feel all fingers and thumbs but I am persevering
with a knit one purl one rib stitch 4ply
not too much wonkiness
so 'NER Jackie F!'
not a scarf but (hopefully) a waistcoat

༆generations

 how lucky we are to have our Nan

quite a lady and still sharp witted

we gathered to celebrate her 90th birthday

cake, family jokes, friends and stories

five generations sharing a special day

happy birthday Nanny 

❤

✚✙ these streets

a Friday off and the chance to journey to

The Photographers Gallery 

before the half term crowds

among the four floors of space

were these photographs by 

Geraldo De Barros 

 just the sort of thing I capture when

wandering the streets of hotter places

where the light is a delight

we wandered the streets in chilly London

and came to a small gallery

Pertwee Anderson & Gold

a dark space 

quiet but for the creak of floorboards

reworked found photographs by 

Butch Anthony

erosion of culture 

by Guy Laramee

go down the spiral stairs to the basement

The Museum of Curiosity

and this magnificent installation

by Swoon

a dream reliquary

inside the drawers 
typed dreams on yellowed paper

"I dreamt I was Stalin’s daughter… and he was nice to me."

filigree paper cuts and cast curios

we blink in the daylight to continue our mooch

to Lina Stores
green stripes entice 

choc full of Italian treats and eats

pretty packages

sweet day to get lost in Soho

}{ choice cuts

everyone is talking about horsemeat:

after commenting on a tweet on my timeline

I realised that I hadn't considered the people 

who are actually eating the mislabelled convenience foods:

at first I fell into the trap of thinking it must be low income or lazy

people who are buying this stuff, but wait!

I hadn't considered those who are time poor, too busy to

cook from scratch every day, those who just are not into food:

those who can barely use fuel to heat the house 
let alone cook a meal

the microwave dinner is quick and convenient and cheap:

when I was a kid, Findus crispy pancakes were a novelty 

an expensive treat we could not afford:

but those were the days of local shops

greengrocers and butchers

not everyone has the luxury of shopping close by now:

for too long supermarkets have dictated to us price and range:

too much choice and too much wasted in my view:

the big providers should be accountable:

let's get back to quality over quantity

〽 you don't know what you've got till it's gone

our high streets and shopping habits have 

changed over the last decade

so what do we do with the empty shops 

the abandoned spaces?

last year I went to a seminar about this subject

and there are interesting projects going on

all over the country:

people like 3Space who 'turn empty space

into an opportunity' by working with landlords

to allow local enterprises and community projects

temporary free-of-charge access to those spaces

community projects like FoodCycle

who create amazing meals from food waste

for people affected by food poverty

the youth club reinvented by Grassroots 

giving 16-25 year olds a place to hang out or 

take part in workshops:

much needed in most towns!

how about a free book shop on your high street?

take a book away, leave one behind

you can in Basildon at Books For Free!

it's not all about spending money or filling our bags

with shopping

what about community, contact and a sense 

of belonging

Mary Portas touched on this in her review into the 

future of our high streets

she recognises the potential in the future entrepreneurs

and the need for community and creativity:

imagine an abandoned shopping centre as a 

place to create, a place to skate

artists taking over high rise awaiting demolition

floors and floors of studios

empty shops as pop-ups for small businesses

and start-ups: 

a whole shop or just a small corner

when I was younger, we wanted to go into town:

it was a meeting place

somewhere to linger, talk and be:

I think we need to bring that back before our high streets

turn into ghost towns