Junkaholic

One of my new favourite blogs is Artemis Russells' Tales of a Junkaholic. I love her sense of style and lovely photography... not to mention that she and her husband Nao are both very talented jewellery designers who live and work in London. I wish our flat had a meadow at the back of it like theirs does. When I feel a bit jaded about living in London, it's nice to browse her blog and see that it's not always about concrete, roads and sirens.

Their beautiful vintage DIY wedding in the Isle of Wight is also a source of inspiration. Our own wedding planning is coming along, we are plugging away at it every now and again so that hopefully next July won't be too daunting. The nights are getting long and cold, so Dave, Murray and I now have a habit of curling up on the couch to watch 'Grand Designs' and other housey programmes to feed the dream.

Murray

Despite having many well-intentioned talks and making the difficult decision of 'head over heart' over giving Murray to a new home, his prospective home fell through yesterday for the second time. Unfortunately, the first time around the man hadn't asked his wife about a 3rd cat, and this time around the future owner's landlord changed their mind about their pet policy. So Murray is still with us and we're starting to think he's supposed to be part of our little family. We'll have to think of how to make it work (with no garden until we move, and going on holidays). but hopefully with some thought we'll find solutions.

Dave put up our Christmas tree today, and Murray is being surprisingly very calm about it all, even though we shifted his favourite tv watching chair!

Easy Like Sunday Morning

We've had a lovely Sunday even though the weather was wet and grey. Dave and I went to High Wycombe for a movie preview - Denzel Washington in 'Unstoppable' in the morning, then a leisurely day at home making smoked salmon sushi for lunch, then creme fraiche chicken and bread and butter pudding for dinner. We've been enjoying spending time with Mr Murray, who will be off to his new home on Tuesday. We will miss him a lot, but he really needs a garden and a safe place away from the main roads. We both hope to have a cat just like him when we are more settled and certain.

Push Button

A real-life set of buttons at the Natural History Museum. We went for a wander around the Cocoon in the Darwin centre, after our annual trip to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. This one is one of my favourites... an easy choice. I like it that there are Parisian wild rabbits living near the Arc du Triomphe.



There wasn't a scientist there, ready and waiting for my questions but I'm not sure what I would have asked. It would probably depend on the type of scientist on duty? Dave's mum Kathy volunteers at the Museum, so you might see her working behind the glass sometimes. If you spot her, give her a wave hello!.

Marble Hill House

We spent a lovely autumn day visiting Marble Hill House, a beautiful palladian mansion on the banks of the Thames close to Richmond. Apparently there used to be large numbers of these mansions in the area, before the London suburban sprawl overran them all. The surrounding parkland was looking lovely in the autumn colours:




Richmond, on the far bank of the Thames:





And this is an oddity of a distant age - an ice house, where ice cut from the river Thames would be stored deep underground to use in the summer for preserving food.

Crooked Billet II

The autumn colours were spectacular around the Crooked Billet, here are a few pics...

The Crooked Billet

Last Sunday, we celebrated Ken's birthday with a family lunch at the Crooked Billet in Stoke Row. It's a wonderful tiny pub and restaurant that was historically one of the hideouts of Dick Turpin, the infamous highwayman. I first visited last year when I tried the saddle of hare. This time I was brave enough to try the rabbit and pheasant casserole... my family can tell you that a few years back this wouldn't be on the menu for me! But curiousity won out, and I can tell you that it tastes a lot like chicken but with different bones.



Dave had some local Old Spotted roast pork. We had a great afternoon, finished off by walking though the splendid autumny woods and visiting the Maharajah's Well.

Halloween Kitty

We carved the traditional pumpkin this year and had someone in a matching outfit to pose beside it. Murray hasn't found another home yet, so he is still staying with us. Our big box arrived from NZ today so we've done some unpacking... feels surreal having things that belonged to me in my Christchurch life! We have his 'n' hers sets of textbooks and little mementos from our tour around New Zealand.