Liane Carroll at the Daffodil

Awarded BBC jazz best vocalist and best jazz award in 2005, Liane Carroll is generally respected by her fellow professionals as one of the finest female vocalists on the scene. I booked tickets for the Daffodil ages ago and although the evening didn't turn out quite as I expected, it was eventful none the less. The evening was titled 'Bare Feet & Beehives' as a tribute to singers like Sandy Shaw and Petula Clark. The food was delicious, the music very varied and Liane fully deserves her awards - but in the end, it was a bit of an odd evening. For a venue where jazz is played every week, I did wonder why there was no music at all during the reception and the meal. And queuing to pay the bar bill at the end of the evening was a bit weird too. I left feeling a little disappointed because I thought the venue would have blown me away - but it didn't! Oh well... I'll just have to stick to having my fun experiences at the HDuVin, Brasserie Blanc and Montpellier Chapters xx xx

A colourful Borth street

Today my lovely sister arrived in Borth. I couldn't help but notice this wonderful row of terraced houses as I was picking her up from the station. The rest of the place is a bit of a mess because it's being dug up to build the sea defences. But there are still some great memories and reminders of my happy childhood. Marie came to drive mum and dad home so my drive back home was much more relaxed and enjoyable than it was yesterday!

A night on the shelf...!

Was surprisingly much more comfortable than I imagined it might be. I feel like a Borrower this morning. In usual 'Szabo style' the 'shelf' beside me is packed with 'stuff' including a spare quilt, parasol cover, deck chair frames, airer... But I'm cosy as a caterpillar under my double quilt. The radiator is heating up my little room inside the tin can - both halves of 'the parents' are back together which makes my heart happy... phew parents! X

One more thing...

Thank Crunchie for the I-phone! Unlimited Internet even on the welsh coast! Wishing I had an iPad right now :) xx

I love my bed...

Tonight's 'shelf' doesn't come near to replacing my beloved bed but needs must! Today I've been in a welsh lift, spent almost 3 1/2 hours lost (though found my way in the end) in my car and now I'm lying on a shelf trying to sleep. I wasn't expected to be in Wales this Tuesday evening. I've taken over from aunt and uncle and fetched mom out of hospital this afternoon. It's been an interesting day. Come to think of it, it's been an interesting week. Three nights in London, woo hoo, on a sofa..., mmm! Two nights in a bed and I'm now in the tiniest, narrowest bed in Wales. Some might call it cosy. I'm hoping that by midnight, I'll be too tired to notice! When the cranes (yes, I did day cranes!!) wake me at 5am (they're delivering Norwegian rock for sea defences - it has to be high tide so the boat can unload close to the shore!!) I'll be trying to jam the corners of the quilt into my ears so I can get back to sleep!!
I can't wait until tomorrow! I'll be... home in my own...? NAh... Lounging at Lisas! Such are the challenges of being a very busy media mogullesse with a very kind heart :) xx xx xx

London at it's best...

This afternoon, I decided to queue for Lion King tickets and I'm so glad that I did. One hour before the performance is the best time to wait outside the box office for ticket returns. I spent a merry half hour chatting to the guy on the door who I knew wouldn't let me down. I got two tickets for the royal circle and one of the best seats in the house for me! It was a single so I had the choice of being up in the Gods or centre stalls, row J - so I chose the fabulous view - and although it very expensive, it was well worth the money.

 I must be one of few people who have never seen the film, Lion King. It has just passed me by so my recollections of the story are sketchy. I had heard some of the music and knew that the performance had had amazing reviews. I can honestly say that this show is truly brilliant. Most of the cast are wearing animal costumes which are stunningly realistic. The movement is wonderful and the special effects are better than anything I've seen so far in London. The show literally took my breath away and at times even brought a lump to my throat.

 The opening scene roared into action with the animals appearing on stage. The most impressive being the gigantic elephant which lumbered from the back of the theatre down the aisle and up onto the stage. There are masks, puppets, dancers and a whole menagerie of animals in the performance. It lacks a little bit of momentum during the second act but the special effects more than compensate for the slightly weak storyline towards the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon in London :)

A Full Easter Saturday Line Up...!

Today began with a trip to the London Transport Museum which was much more enlightening than I had imagined. Best bit was the video about the railway company that became a property developer as early as 1920's, advertising new properties for sale within commuting distance from the centre of London. 'Metro-land' was the advertising slogan developed to entice workers from the built up areas of London.

 The museum is well worth a visit and is handy for Covent Garden, which although very busy, is still an entertaining place to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Inspired by...

E O Hoppe Portraits - Society, Studio and Street

Margo Fonteyn at 16 by E O Hoppe

Street scenes by E O Hoppe

Photographs can be hugely emotional and this exhibition of over 150 photographs, many of which have never previously been exhibited, is a real gem for artists, photographers and historians. E O Hoppe, born in Munich in 1878, was one of the original celebrity photographs of the early 1910's and 1920's. Hello magazine thinks it invented celeb photographs but Hoppe had the rich and famous, including royalty, queuing outside the door of his studio housed in a 33-room Kensington house as early as 1913 to be photographed. His portraits include sittings with Margo Fonteyn, David Lloyd George, Vaslac Nijinkskym Kind George V and George Bernard Shaw. Not content with just the scalps of the 'it-people' of the 1920's, in 1922, he produced a book called the Book of Fair Women, which included a compilation of women he considered to be the most beautiful on earth. He included 32 photographs of women from 24 different countries. Hoppe then went on to create a stunning collection of street photographs often hiding his camera in a bag so that he could photograph his subjects in secret. The result is a living museum of stunning photographs that depict people carrying on their daily lives in the 1920's and 30's.

Art Fest - Is photography art?

Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer and one of the most distinguished and gifted photographers in England - "Artist with a camera" is how one newspaper described her work, following the first major photographic exhibition to be held in a London gallery back in 1960. Born in Armenia, Kar lived in Paris before settling in London with her English husband, Victor Musgrave who ran 'Gallery One Off' off the Charring Cross Road. Throughout the 50's and early 60's she had sittings with a whole host of notorious artists, authors including Bridget Riley, whose exhibition I've also been to see this afternoon. I've been on an art fest and experienced a visual feast of paintings, portraits and photographs in the National Galleries. Being able to view the photographs of such amazingly talented artists such as Henry Moore, TS Eliot, Somerset Maugham, Dame Barbara Hepworth,

She was a photography who was said to be forever at home among the artistic misfits.

Bridget Riley - a blast from the past

I studied Op Art when I was at college so the name Bridget Riley is very familiar to me. In fact, I still have some of my black and white creations which were 'inspired by' her work. She experimented with light, shapes to fool the brain into creating movement where there was none. Standing in front of some of her pieces you could be forgiven for feeling quite queasy - they really do have the effect of making you feel seasick as the shapes and lines appear to move in waves as if on the sea. I don't think I appreciated the complexity and care she took to create each masterpiece when I was in my teens but having seen them today - possibly for the first time - I can see why I spent hours pouring over Op Art.

The NEW All Bar One in Cheltenham

IS FAB!

They make a lovely Pimms and the Nachos are truly divine! I'm not a nacho person - they're too messy and usually too spicy for me. But these are heavenly - so much so that me and Lisa polished off the lot YUM washed down with a wonderfully fruity glass of pimms :)

 And the waitress was exceptionally helpful, friendly, smiley and that's why we'll go back :)

What kind of cupcake are you?

Are you a soft blueberry cupcake - mysterious fruity with sweet blueberry flavoured buttercream and a sugar crunch on top? Or are you a mixture of moorishly intoxicating orange buttercream with a sweet strawberry centre and candid peel crown? The swallow bakery in Cheltenham is my new best friend. The cupcakes are heavenly and I can think of nothing better than sitting in the park in the sunshine eating a cupcake and whiling away a weekend with a good friend. All good friends and family are welcome and I'll even match you to your cupcake if want me to! My fav so far has to be the red velvet. It's red sponge is a hint of chocolate and the buttercream is laced with soft cream cheese - it really is yum! I think they must be the secret to my diet :) she hopes - "Skip a meal and eat a cupcake" that's my new skinny motto and it seems to be working :)

A day by the lake

My Genealogy Class

My new home... :)

 Mmm, well it will be for a few days! How gorgeous it this? It's 8:30pm in the evening and I'm on an ancestry course, searching for lost relatives! I'm currently trying to work out how to prize segments of chocolate orange off without waking up the residents in the next room! I had never really given that much thought... but then again, as I must be the youngest person on site, I don't imagine I need worry - most of them will have removed their hearing aids by now!

Ha ha.. they may be old but they're lovely! I love coming to things like this where I can meet new people and learn something that I didn't already know. This morning, I also went to Cirencester for a little wander and a gander in White Stuff.. oooooooer,

I left the shop with a white top, a cardi, a skirt.. well, suffice to say I managed to spend more than double the worth of the skirt that I was returning :) it was great fun though and it meant I could come away with new clothes.. yippee xx xx ps after the busy weekend I've had, I've come here for a little rest :)

3 blossom babes :)

Saturday was such a glorious day, I drove to Cheltenham with Becca and Lilia to visit the lovely Lisa. We sat on the grass in the park eating yummy swallow bakery cupcakes whilst Lilia tucked into a cheese straw and chased the birds. The blossom was so amazing I had to stop for a snap or two!

Lunch by the river

I love catching up with my friends and the family I think of as mine - well, almost! It was wonderful to see Tash and Naomi at the weekend. Naomi had a + 1 (the lovely David!) and Tash was ... just sweet, positive Tash :) they lead such busy lives and I don't see them nearly as much as I'd like but the next best thing is for us to catch up over lunch. The spyglass BBQ and grill on the riverside in Bristol did us proud and as you can see, we all brought our smiley faces with us :) xx xx

Ted says "Better Kate than never"

Here's a quirky modern classic which is jam packed with lashings of style and good humour. I spotted this fabulous little Ted Baker Mary Royal wash bag in John Lewis and I just couldn't leave the shop without it. It is truly adorable and in my opinion, a wonderful tribute to this most British of royal occasions. Printed with sweet roses and whimsical butterflies, this eye-catching little bag celebrates the Royal Wedding with elegance and dignity - and without the faces of our beloved Kate and Wills emblazened all over it! Every piece in this special collection by Ted Baker includes the words 'Ted says better Kate than never" on the reverse and the tag inside (though some are different) is printed with the message "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" It's just the most perfect gift for any little princess.

Firsts, lasts and one hundredths...!

How about this for a notable last? Tonight I was actually the last person out of the car park. I'm often within the first 6 cars in the morning but it's quite a feat to be the very last, lonely car left standing on a Friday afternoon. It's also the first time this year the temperature outside my car registered 21 degrees. It was a lovely sunny drive home and the lake looked beautiful. Even though it was 7pm at night, it was still sunny, warm and it felt like the beginning of a great weekend.
Here's a first... I bet you didn't realise that Monday will be 100th day of the year. One hundred days, 2,400 hours and I still feel that the year has hardly begun.

Beside the seaside...

Today was a brilliant day for a trip to the seaside. It's been the hottest day so far this year, peaking at 21 degrees in the car on the way back from Highcliffe. The sun always shines on the south coast :) Lunch was at the usual place Pebble Beach which is one of the top 100 best restaurants by the sea. I dined on fresh crab, smoked salmon, avocado along with a complimentary glass of champagne.

Ingredients for happy crafting...

Happy hearts and flowers

I am loving my blog right now - as if you hadn't noticed! It's great to be at home and have time to write and even better, time to craft. I've always been an even numbers person so making sets of 4 makes me happy.

Shabby chic birthdays

 And being the domestic goddess that I am, I've super-blogged, cooked dinner, made cards and created this cacophony of tropical fruit for Carmen Miranda when she comes back from her travels. I'm hoping that I'll have sweetened her up enough to share the Green & Black chocolate eggs I bought her with me :-} ha ha

Never a dull moment... !

I awoke this morning, went to make coffee for the Little Princess and tea for me and heard Ginger shouting "There's a dead stickman in my room!"... so I ran to see if we needed to send for an ambulance or a priest.

"Where's Dyson? He's hanging on by a thread and I'm about to suck the life out of him!" 

It's been a cupcake of a day.. !

I've had a great day today. I got up late, played with paper + glue then went over to Cheltenham to meet the lovely Lisa. We wandered into town and stopped for coffee and cake in the Birdie Bakery (Swallow!). Oh what a fabulous selection of little cakes to behold. I had to buy a couple to bring back for Ginger, who was working today. I waited.. and waited for her to come home until I could wait no longer. I swear these little delights were whispering to me "Eat me"... :-} I thought it best to try a tiny bit of each one because it would have been rude to eat one without sharing it. They were both so yummy... mmm, tasty, words just can't describe how delicious and sweet they were. I've finally found a solution to my 'crispy creme' donut dilemma. Not being able to eat anything with yeast in, I've had to forgo any temptation to eat a crispy creme donut when I go to Selfridges or Paddington Station. They are the most notable CC outlets. I'm was not previously a donut fan until I discovered CC - courtesy of my daughter. Now I can't eat them but who cares now that I've discovered the Swallow Bakery. I think, when I go to heaven I want to come back as a cupcake. My life may be short-lived but I'll be guaranteed a lifetime of sweet adoration - until I get eaten!

"What would you do for a cupcake... mmm?!"

One of my adoring fans.. !

It's amazing how a few hours in a restaurant will bring out the 'Italy's got talent' in any waiter. We only went in to this restaurant for a drink and ended up staying for almost 3 hours. I was totally schmoozed by this place and their delicious antipasti! I should have known when I ordered a glass of fizz for me and a bottle appeared in an ice bucket by the side of our table, mmm. I think that was the moment of truth. Bearing in mind, someone else was drinking red and had a bottle to himself, this was going to be a long, sweet evening.
It may have been the size of his salami that lured me in (wey hey!) or the selection of delicious, oiled vegetables, who can tell. All I know is that the halo of Saint Aunty Pasti just kept whispering "Come on down and take a look".. so after two sips of fizz, I was there, arms out-stretched like I was sleep walking (ha ha, only joking on that bit, keep up!) and hey, I wasn't disappointed.

  I know why I have gut instincts and at times like this, I can hear them whispering in my ear. It didn't take me long to decide on some veggie antipasti plus a selection of cheese and I was delighted to be presented with this mini feast. Of course, once we'd started we couldn't find a reason to stop so continued our journey through some ravioli and one of my all time favs, aubergine paniagana.. mmm! Our waiter was a delight. His attention to detail was simply perfect and I for one thoroughly appreciated all the effort he went to. I get such a buzz from tasting great food which most importantly has been lovingly prepared - and, I'm particularly grateful after a whole bottle of fizz :-} xx xx