Inspiration : Through Johanna's Eyes

The Captive

Black and Blue

She Wolf

The Crystal Spire

Lightning

The Hunt II

The Little Mermaid Saves The Prince

Fields of Stone

The Crystal Spire II

Little Blue Riding Hood

Moth

Searchlights

Snakes

Skeletal Lady

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Cave

Emerald Queen

Grimalkin

Blacker Than a Vole

Mermaid's Grotto

I occasionally talk about art on this blog but not often.  It's something I really wish I had a talent for but alas, none to be had for me.  Not the case with Johanna.  Something about this very talented artist and blogger really appeals to me.  The themes she explores of fairytales, folklore, and female strength and savagery give lots of food for thought and like the best art, it inspires conversation.  Also, there is something quite impish about her style.  A definite sense of the dark side but tempered by a tongue in cheek edge.  Not unlike the high camp theatrics of the hammer horror genre.  Edgar Allen Poe through an Art Deco lens.  

I've followed Johanna on and off for a few years now but it's a blog I always come back to.  As well as her obvious talent for art, I love her personal style and her kitschy apartment.  

Blackadder fan art?  Yes please.  

All photos found on Johanna's blog

Hanging on the (Mobile) Telephone

So I have a baby again and a dearth of spare time.  As such I find myself just reaching for my phone whenever I see something aesthetically pleasing or striking.  It takes seconds and usually that's all I have.  So I thought I'd share.  I might even make it a series - woo woo.  Just the stuff that happens you know, inbetween the mundanity.

(1) I love the colours in my new vintage dress and £1 beads  (2) Can't resist Master L's toes poking out of his blanket when he's asleep

Discovered this vintage shop with the weirdest tea room opposite our local park.  It was an insanely hot and bright sunny day outside and this a dimly lit room with no windows and a 

Victorian mannequin was quite the bizarre contrast

Bought this rainbow necklace and almost couldn't bring myself to open the pretty packaging it arrived in

Lunch at Jamie's Italian.  

Ghost signs on the streets of Liverpool.  I've become a little obsessed with these lately.  I'm the crazy lady who walks the streets pushing a pram and taking random pictures.

In other news, I've been watching back to back IT Crowd on Netflix and wishing I could give Graham Linehan a massive bear hug to say thanks for making me smile since I was 15, and especially for Douglas Renholm, Black Books and Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse

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RIP Rik

I can't believe Rik Mayall has died.  He has been one of my heroes as well as a particularly enduring teenage crush, and he has graced the bottom of this blog for as long as I can remember.  I am gutted

Here are just a couple of reasons I liked him

Sad face :(

It felt good to be out of the rain

Hello there

Here I am in my back yard amongst the straggly (okay, dead) plants

It's the school holidays and my Little Miss has gone to Shropshire for a couple of days to visit her auntie and uncle.  Today, I was determined to actually get out of my pyjamas and out of the house, so the Mister and I took Master L out for breakfast. 

Cardi - Asos sale

Skirt & necklace - Dotty P's sale

Tights - fancy dress shop

Shoes - Ebay

Brooch - charity shop

About a month ago, just before the birth of my lil guy, I was sent the very bag I am sporting to review by a lady named Jocelyn at Sammydress

I call it my 'horse with no name' bag

On browsing the site I was struck by how many cheap pretty dresses and shoes I would be able to buy if I was a size 8 and had size 4 feet.  Unfortunately my post baby size 16-18 curves and size 7's are a stretch too far but if you are lucky enough to be all petite and doll-like then it might be worth checking out.  I love the bag apart from the fact that the shoulder strap broke the first time I used it, doh!

So how is everyone?

My Little guy is 4 weeks old this week and I could write a whole post on how amazing he is but you know that's not my style, right?!  Me and the Mister are in the 'not quite adjusted to the sleep  depravation' phase.  Your body does strange things during this phase, like shivers uncontrollably even in a centrally heated room.  I know there is a general assumption emanating from certain elements of the media that would have you believe that pregnancy, childbirth and life bringing up young children is a beautiful picturesque roller coaster ride to be celebrated and enjoyed like the healthy breakfast of granola and organic yoghurt, which is consumed each morning as part of a healthy, balanced breast feeding diet, which in turn miraculously makes your mummy tummy disappear and your figure snap back into shape.  Bah!  You know what, it is wonderful, but it is also horrendously emotionally and physically exhausting.  For my part, I am just taking each day as it comes.  Mainly surviving on quick chocolate hits and full sugar coke to keep me going.

Just keeping it real

Having Netflix also helps with the crazy hours

I shall say zis only once

Hi there.  How is everyone?

I'm back from a glorious 10 days in the South of France, hoh he hoh he hoh!

It was beautiful and lush and scenic and rustic and true to all of the cliches.  We only got home last night and my mind is still a little scrambled so... where to start...

I suppose some pictures of me eating an ice cream on our first day is as good a place as any 

This very ice cream in fact

I ate rather a lot of ice cream

Beaucoup des glaces

In as many different flavours as I could manage 

Including, violette, kiwi, limencello, framboise et rose litchi, orange sanguine, creme brulee, pampelmousse, bonbatofs (tutti frutti), bubblegum and some weird blue one decorated with smurf sweets

We stayed in a converted farmhouse owned by a lovely British expat couple

They had really preserved the original charm but with added personality 

I fell in love with the wallpaper between the oak beams on the kitchen ceiling

The bedrooms were equally colourful 

Our bedroom even had a bidet, which made me giggle

There was even a barn full of retro games including table football, ping pong and old school pool

In the evenings we sat on the porch drinking wine and whisky, or in the living room watching Allo Allo

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The dvd of which had been left in the gite by the owners, much to my sheer delight

I introduced Miss 6 to the joy that is Officer Crabtree

So much so that she bought a doll with her holiday money which now greats us 'good moaning' every day

I've taken so many photos and have lots more to share with you lucky devils.  

I'll be around to catch up with you all once I've worked my way through the mountain of washing and sorted through hundreds of photos

Bear with me mes amis

xxx

 

L'amour du Jour

I like nothing better in life than to settle in on a Friday night with a glass of wine, some snackables and something decent lined up for my viewing pleasure.  Not very rock n roll I know, but then I have never pretended to be any other way.  At least not since my early twenties.

As time has gone on I have grown to appreciate the art of the television series.  As I have discovered over the years, for someone with  a very short attention span, a good television series is perfect for holding the attention in palatable portions, avoiding the risk of investing 2 hours in a film that may slowly rot the mind.  

My time is too precious to fill with the average.  I have my favourite films which hold a special place in my heart and I tend not to risk new ones unless I am sure they will reward me (or unless it's a recommendation from someone who knows me very well)

One of my favourite television writers is David Renwick.  Best known for creating the characters of serial grouch Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave and magician's assistant unwittingly turned 'supersleuth' Jonathan Creek, one of my favourite shows of all time (think Midsomer Murders directed by David Lynch) 

 

Step forward Love Soup.  One of the less well known of Renwick's creations.  A comedy/drama which ran for 2 series between 2005 and 2007.

 Our protagonist is Alice played by the brilliant Tamsin Greig

Alice undertakes a soul destroying 2 hour commute every day from Brighton to London where she manages a small perfume concession in a large department store.  Outside of this rather mundane normality, she navigates her way through a myriad of whimsical and surreal encounters with TV producers, actors, writers, businessman, necrophiliac playwrights, political activists and generally some of society's most interesting and non conventional characters. 

In Series 1 we also meet Gil

He is an American comedy writer who's many hang ups often render him catatonic with anxiety and self doubt.

He is Alice's soulmate, but, will they ever meet?
 

Of course not!  This isn't Notting Hill!
 

The recurring themes in Renwick's work are social awkwardness, the insanity of the world around us, the darker recesses of the human mind, the vacuous nature of showbusiness and celebrity and the fantastical within the mundane.

  There are also clear literary and cinematic themes running through nearly every episode.   The story of the week will often unfold in parallel with a Samuel Becket play, a poem by Edgar Allan Poe or the plot of a Marx Brothers film.

 And, just when the landscapes of leafy Victorian terraces, trendy wine bars and theatres start seeming a little too cosy, Renwick will throw you a curveball in the form of a killer ventriloquist dummy, a random suicide or Ronnie Corbett in drag. 

 

A touch of traditional retro glamour is added by Alice's perfume counter colleagues Milly & Cleo (Montserrat Lombard & Sheridan Smith - always good value)

 

 The delicious soundtrack of crackly 1920's jazz and a stellar supporting cast of very familiar faces make this as close to perfection in TV land as is possible to get.

Yep, there is no denying that his work speaks volumes to me.  David Renwick strikes me as the kind of child who would have searched for the Faraway Tree.

Thank you David for sharing your reality with me