The Cock & Lion, Marylebone Lane

Two in one.

Something Beautiful

Here is a beautiful slideshow by the lovely Annette of Maskworx (check out this site for some high quality affordable mask forms, they are a dream to work with) and Rosemask which features her own creations and stories of working with masks. I was very very lucky and honoured to have been her first maskmaker's apprentice in Dunedin when I was an undergraduate at Otago University. I had a privileged opportunity to work with Annette and learn about a wonderfully creative, fascinating and evolving art form. I have many happy memories of decadent creativity, learning, painting, drinking Lady Gray tea and sharing stories in the days of the Mask Studio up in Moray Place. Heaven.

These images just took my breath away! I love the soundtrack too... Also check out her second slideshow, see those kids' faces glow from behind the animal masks. Wow, Annette!! You have really found a way to foster creativity and joy in others through art.

Plans for Next Week - West End!

Have just booked tickets for Rain Man... nosebleed seats but I'll be there in the same space as Josh Hartnett for £12.50! I just have to see a young Hollywood actor tread the boards in West End.

The post on the London Underground Tube Diary about the Stationmaster Cat in Japan is hilarious.

Columbia Road Flower Market

A fun and colourful morning out despite the rain!

Alice in Oxford

Here we are in Oxford, England! We visited Christ Church College, Alice's Shop, and peeked into a few colleges... and even interacted with the locals. These students were doing a scavenger hunt to fundraise for a mental health society. Kate and I were one of their items: a picture of tourists taking pictures. We went up another level and they got a picture of tourists taking pictures of them taking pictures of us.


We're not really naughty girls, but we couldn't resist posing. Here is Alice's Shop opposite Christ Church, where the real-life Alice Liddell bought her sweets. Lewis Carroll used this shop as his inspiration for the 'Old Sheep Shop' because the owner sounded a bit like a sheep. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Dodgson, a mathematics tutor at Christ Church from 1855-98. He befriended the daughters of the Dean of Christ Church, Henry Liddell, especially Alice. Many of the characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass where inspired by Christ Church people and objects. Alice's father the Dean is the inspiration for the White Rabbit.

Here are some photos of Christ Church.... Kate's in these photos because I took pics of her, and she took pics of me (you will have to make do with photos of my evil twin until we swap). Can you spot the places where Harry Potter was filmed?







I wanted to steal one of these saucers! But resisted, of course.



Faces peeking out from everywhere.




Colleges, colleges.

The Bodleian Library, Christ Church Cathedral and other lovely architecture including a very wonky set of shops on Ship Street.


Christ Church Cathedral and lots of stained glass windows. Burne Jones made some of these windows, of St Frideswide's story. St Frideswide escaped to the woods around Oxford to escape a Prince who wanted to marry her. The Prince was stricken blind by God in response to St Frideswide's plight, and later Frideswide saved his sight in return for her freedom. She founded a religious house nearby, and in the 11th century her remains were placed in a shrine in the new priory church on the site of the Cathedral.