The summers are hot and full of activities! Click HERE to see 2025's trip to Sicily and the Auvergne, HEREfor 2024 (Europe), HERE for 2023 (Sicily, Paris), .HERE for 2022 (Amsterdam and Abruzzo), HERE for 2021 (Scotland, Paris, Kent), HERE for 2020 (Calabria and National Trusts), HERE for 2019 (London and Abruzzo), HERE for 2018 (Budapest, Le Marche, and Northern Ireland), HERE for 2017 (Paris and London), HERE for 2016 (festival and Chaps), HERE for 2015 (reunion and wedding), and HERE for 2014 (meeting the stars).
Blooming sights at our local National Trust house.
National Trust, homemade chocolate and hazelnut cookies like the ones we found in Paris, The Russell-Cotes gallery in Bournemouth, Boscombe Pier, and the annual wisteria and pink shirt photo
I first discovered Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies when I bought my mother a framed print many years ago. I didn’t realise that she was a local artist. Her work was on display at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth.
Top left: The importance of a clear font and the comical placement of a holly serif. The other photos are details of work from the Rusell-Cotes gallery.
I branched out and sold baked goods at the St Denys Carnival this year. Other photos are from Winchester. Founded in 1382, Winchester College is the oldest continuously operating school in England.
Winchester sights
I performed Fauré's Requiem with lockdown hero Gareth Malone at Winchester College. He confided to me that he would be appearing as the Sherriff on Tuesday at Park Theatre's Whodunnit Unrehearsed 4 in London. We're going to see the show for my birthday on Friday.
Theatre voucher in hand, we spent my birthday weekend in London, enjoying sights old and new (but mostly new).
Hot weather
On our way to The Brown Collection, we walked through the Mayfair area, spotting famous residences and buying a coconut scrub brush at the old fashioned hardware store.
We visited the Hoi Polloi exhibition at The Brown Collection, home of British artist Glenn Brown. The artist is known for the use of appropriation in his paintings.
The artist took ideas from 17th century engravings and incorporated them into his own strikingly modern works.
Stoke Newington, where we stayed, was a revelation. We had a fantastic lunch in the garden of Acoustic Brasserie and then picked up a peanut butter fudge cake at a nearby bakery and ate it in the park.
In the evening, we walked to the Finsbury Park area and had an authentic Italian meal al fresco at Osteria Tufo, run by a Roman chef and reviewed by Grace Dent.
My birhday voucher from 2025 was applied to the Park Theatre's Whodunnit Unrehearsed 4. Set in the Wild West, our special celebrity Sheriff turned out to be Tamsin Grieg.
The next morning, we went to London Fields, which AI told me would be good for people-watching. We'd been there before to flash the Invader shown, but today, there was a busy market.
The bass clarinet player with a loop pedal was especially impressive.
Thank goodness for Italian immigrants! The gelato was the best we've had outside of Italy.
Our host recommeded us to visit the V&A East Storehouse, near Olympic Park in Hackney Wick. It was like the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with priceless objects shelved away in rows.
The V&A East held Delft tiles, David Bowie memorabilia and the Firebird tutu, shown above.
We wanted a nice meal in 'Stokie' and booked into a pub for dinner. When we got there, it was full of Arsenal fans celebrating their recent victory. We cancelled and walked down the road to discover an outdoor table at Cálong (also reviewed by Grace Dent), which served Korean tapas dishes. Some of the tastiest food I can remember eating, we couldn't wait to recreate the flavours at home.
Because of the Arsenal celebrations, it was a long walk to the underground to get us to the National Gallery, but once there, we saw lots of amazing artwork, as shown above.
Some of my favourite baroque artwork, including Vermeer
