OXFORD FOR TEA

Driving down the motorway

from seeing my granny

to catching a plane at Heathrow,

we decided to skip the regular 

roadside service station

& head for some tea in Oxford instead.

Rather than googling what's around,

with so little time at hand

we headed straight to England's first ever coffee house,

The Grand Café,

which came to mind 

from a previous visit. 

We enjoyed our light lunch

washed down with coffee & tea,

then had about five minutes

to walk down an alluring looking street

on our way back to the car.

Bittersweet. 

Oxford has a spell about it.

You find yourself instinctively
gently brushing the ancient stone walls
as you walk past,
as if something of the wise & exquisite
would rub off as you pass.

There's always a next time,
I'm sure.







x

GREEN & (G)OLD

"I'm looking at a life unfold
Dreaming of the green and gold
Just like the ancient stone
Every sunrise I know
Those eyes you gave to me
That let me see
Where I come from..."

(named the post 

& realised there was a song for that...)

  A few green & old glimpses from where half of me

& my other half come from...

Lush plants in Hastings at the top,

Air & Space Hall in Manchester,

where we visited my brother & his family, 

followed by a visit to my aunty and grandma 

in the Midlands. 

An ancient tombstone in the tiny village of Eynsford,

where the two of us escaped for breakfast 

the morning after a village wedding,

where husband's 79-year-old aunt

was totally outshining us younger ones 

on the dance floor :) 

  Late afternoon coffee in Brighton,

as the sun was going down.

Aunties, grannies, cousins, friends,

lovely little places...

Plenty of gold nuggets crammed into a week.

x

SEASIDE TOWN

We spent the days around New Year

with my husband's side of the family

in Hastings,

on the south coast of England. 

A place where as soon as you wake up,

you feel the sea. 

The old part of town has a charm of its own,

with plenty of antique & vintagey shops,

like new discovery Warp & Weft,

with its vintage & tailor-made pieces.

Words from their website

that illustrate the season at hand:

"During the coldest months, 

the natural colour palette is stripped back to monochrome. 

Therefore, texture becomes everything. 

Trees that stand black against the looming skies 

glisten silver in the low Sun. 

Bracken shines bronze alongside ochre and umber hedgerows.

I think of silhouetted crows,

scavenging in snow-covered fields;

ink drawings on Manila paper,

and powdered faces emerging from ebony frames

of seventeenth-century Dutch portraits.

The black mink hat,

and ivory silk,

reveal themselves when seen by candlelight."

Then there's the incredible A.G Hendy & Co.

The fireplaces were lit 

and the floorboards creaked,

as we wandered around the rooms

that whisk to a bygone era. 

But it's always the sea

where you begin and end,

leaving its mark on everything. 

x

48-HOUR BATH

I spent 48 hours in Bath a week or so ago.

Just enough time

to gaze at the heights

of Bath Abbey,

wander around the Roman Baths,

spend time getting to know

my travel companion,

my sidekick in an upcoming project,

who instantly felt like a soul sister,

sip on coffee or wine together

& chat about future plans,

photography,

life,

 ~ and the main point of our trip,

an afternoon meeting another partner

based in Bath

(I'll tell you more in due time.),

get lost in the maze of honey-coloured streets,

vow to come back again, soon,

with more time,

those rolling hills

that envelop the town

beckoned so. 

With love,

R 

SOMERSET STUNNER

... a house with such beautiful bones...

Photographs by Line T Klein

for House & Garden Magazine

x

LONDON ETERNAL

Then finally there was London,

and all that it entails.

Like walking for miles on end

& whiling away in a park -

& rekindling an old love affair.

(I'm sure I'm not the only one

who thinks you can love a city

like you can love a person.

We've had our ups & downs,
but this is strong.) 

Sokerina pohjalla oli Lontoo

ja kaikki se, 

mikä sen kanssa menee käsi kädessä

- kilometrikaupalla kävely,

hengähdyshetket puistossa

& vanhan romanssin lämmittely. 

En taida olla ainoa,

jonka mielestä kaupunkia 

voi rakastaa niinkuin ihmistä.

Meillä on ollut ylä- ja alamäkiä,

mutta tämä ei hellitä.