Old Weekend Odds and Ends

We have a few shots from a few weekends ago that didn't make it into earlier posts.  We went into an "antique" shop that had this oddity.  Halloween decoration?  Horror movie prop?  We each went for a different mood with this photo op.

In the queue for brunch with the Sunday paper….

More Primrose Hill.  Pictures of me taking pictures of the view.  Clearly we were not the only ones who thought it was a good day for a park with a view.

In the middle of our stroll Bill ducked into a salon for a haircut.  Isn't there an old joke that if the town has two barbers you should go to the one with the bad hair because the other guy cut it?  Well, obviously we took that approach.

 This is Bill's favorite shot from a few weekends ago.  That Saturday Bill mentioned that my tights kept falling down…he wasn't kidding!!  At the end of the day I said, "I'm not going to pull them up again until we get home" and I walked in the door with the crotch at my knees.   I'd spent the whole day trying to hike them up.  Here I am in action.  

It won't be winter for ever….really!

I know it doesn't feel like it to our friends back home - but Spring is just around the corner.  The flowers and trees WILL bloom again!!  I know, it's easy to say that from here. I'm so glad I'm not dealing with all that snow.

And I know there are many people having a terrible winter here in the UK dealing with several feet of water flooding their homes.  But here in the city the combination of rain, sun and mild temps means everything is green and little spots of other colors are starting to pop up all around us.

Most people on our mews have a little garden in the front of there house.  Now these are dotted with primroses, cyclamen, pansies, and daffs.

Every day here has a little rain and a little sunshine and once in a while that means a treat in between.  

The Colonies bring in Reinforcements!

Quiz Night at the Victoria.  This time we had help.  We doubled our team with Caroline and Geraldine and we renamed ourselves the Red Sox.

It was a very busy night.  We talked our way on to the end of this table with Glenn, Rich and I-forget-name-but-he-was-from-Sheffield-and-owned-chickens.  Their team was Mouthful of Quiz.

Bill got a picture of the winning team - Sorry Lawrence - in the foreground of this one.

Red Sox and Mouthful of Quiz collaborated a bit - especially when it was clear we were no threat.  They helped us to understand questions like "Top 5 Butlins Holidays".  

Caroline came up with name of our 22 correct answers.  It would have been more if she hadn't changed an answer at the last minute based on the input of a German guy at the bar on the Wipe Out round (if you get one wrong they are all wiped out).  Regardless, a very fun night.  We were NOT last (hard to believe someone was worse) and we were happy about it.

The Wallace Collection

It's good to know that there are still plenty of museums that we haven't seen yet.  Bill and I stopped in at the Wallace Collection.  This was the private collection of the 4th Marquess of Hereford who left it to his son Richard Wallace.  The house with 25 galleries of paintings, sculpture, armory, porcelain, furniture was bequeathed as a free museum in 1900.   It's amazing how many things you can see in London for free.

 The house itself is part of the enjoyment of this place - every room is covered in gilt with vibrant silk walls and rococo furnishings.

 Do you think we could do something like this at home?  I love these green walls!

 The Laughing Cavelier by Frans Hals.

 Girl on Swing by Fragonard.

 I love miniatures.  I want Bill to paint a miniature of me and Petey.  Although looking now I see that these are nudes…I'll be wearing miniature clothes, please.

We can't go to a museum and not try to impersonate the art.

 Queen Victoria…before she started looking like WInston Churchill.

 THis may have been my favorite thing in the museum - this man was dressed very dapper with a bright red silk tie and pocket square and his suit was impeccably cut except it was a little short!!

 How did horses manage to carry a man in armor while they, themselves, were wearing armor?

 There was even a little modern art.  This was called Breathing.

 This courtyard restaurant was in the center of the house. Time for tea!

Queens Park Farmer's Market

On Sunday we decided to explore a new area - Queens Park and Kensal Rise.  The Queens Park Farmer's Market had lots of good reviews on line so we brought a bag and our appetites.

 We spent a fair amount of time sampling chutney and jam...

 Meet their new spokespeople.  My selection was Apple Cranberry Rosemary Chutney while Bill went for the spicier Jamaican Chutney.

 Chutney makers.

 We also brought home a few pies - steak and ale and a little apple tart.

 We couldn't pass up the ham and pecorino home made ravioli or the goat cheese with the pictures of the goats who made it.

There was also a little flea market going on along side the farmer's market.  It was the usual assortment of clothes and trinkets but one seller certainly got our attention.

 I couldn't pass by this bookshop without a pop in.

 Then it was off to the pub for Sunday roast.  The pub was inside a victorian house and decorated with all sorts of furniture, statues, birdcages, taxidermy, paintings etc.

I'm not sure what is in this cage but I suspect it was once alive.

We realized that we could walk the whole way home along side the canal.  The one that has all those narrow boats in it that I'm always fascinated by.  That meant another round of "We could live in a narrow boat!" every time we saw one for sale.  On the land side we passed by this balcony with horses and other toys tucked into the railing.  I think brown eyes wants to come home with us.  I hope he wants to live in a narrow boat.