last night I watched a great documentary on bbc4 called paul merton's weird and wonderful world of early cinema. i must admit first of all that i think paul merton is very funny and so my thoughts on the doco are probably a bit biased, but the film short he had selected were fantastically funny and his piece on max linder has stayed with me all day.

i hadn't heard of max before but i had seen pictures of his 'gentleman about town' character with moustache and top hat. what i didn't know was that he was really witty and clever and had me laughing out loud like a hyena. i am now on a mission to not only seek out some of his films - max's hat and what must be a horror film, max and his mother in law.

if you get a chance look him up.

treasures from charing cross road

who can resist 5 books for 4 pounds at second hand bookshops on charing cross road? and what's more, how exciting when you open your new little german phrase book to find...treasure! tickets to the theatre and hotel receipts from a moscow adventure.

combine this with the guide to 'what to buy in junk shops' from 1964 and I was a very happy woman. doesn't take much really!

saturday shopping

this saturday morning i didn't have any projects to sew so i have had a lazy morning with coffee, toasted hot cross buns and etsy shopping. seriously, i can get lost for hours in the etsy universe and this morning i ended up in barcelona lusting after goodies from ulala. i love her atom rings and the mexican inspired sacred heart pin is a rockabilly dream. speaking of which i saw two cool cats on the tube yesterday all funked up with leopard print, skulls and amazing fringes and there i was in my less than cool work clothes...need to get a new job...sigh...

goodbye central heating

today we turned off the central heating and embraced spring in all its colourful need to clean glory. went for a walk around the park, admired the crocuses and daffodils and then sat outside at the defoe for a pint of tribute and a portion of chips. isn't it cute they call it a portion of chips over here, cracks me up. I tried to explain the australian version of ordering by how much money you had and I was met with tuts.

extreme slr-ing

thank god for photojojo - bringing photo kit to my attention that goes straight to the must have list. i never got around to re-buying a gorillapod after an annoying 'fake' episode on amazon and I am glad I can now get a magnetic version...

large liberty parcel heading in my direction...

i had a bit of a mental today and ordered many many pieces from the liberty for target collection. the final basket included tea mugs with the garla print (right), some milk crates, a piggy bank and gardening gloves...what can I say, I am weak...

get some of the action while you can online before it touches down in the liberty store and people go mental - which you know will totally happen because even posh londonites love a bargain.

canteen me

i love getting parcels and when the envelope is from the book depository I get doubly excited. today my lovely friend april sent me the new canteen cook book which is hot off the press. she certainly is a tricky one and even more clever given she is ever so far away in australia! the book is gorgeous - a great hand held size with yummy photography and lovely matte paper, I don't know whether to read it in bed or in the kitchen! But what to cook first? duck, chestnut or prune pie? roast squash and fennel with spelt? cheesecake and hazelnut brittle? aaagggggghhhhhhhhh so many choices, this is not going to help my concentration at work...

really, i need this

it is too nice in london today and as a result I am at my desk but staring out the window...more than a little distracted. enter shelterpop.com and a posting on these amazing terrariums! more designs on her lovely site - www.litill.com

sunday in brick lane

good coffee used to be hard to find in london but now there are heaps of flat white emporiums for us to explore on lazy sunday afternoons. today we sampled nude espresso's wares and can report that their coffee is rather good. perfectly sized coffee with the obligatory antipodean coffee art touches - nice. next time you are in the hipster-ville that is brick lane check them out - nudeespresso.com

colours of the underground

i really love the tube. people in london bitch and moan about it but really, waiting for 3 minutes is no hardship after the abysmal transport in sydney and every station and train is a design icon. these beautiful tiles line the platform at clapham south and this fabric brightens the carriages and conceals the gunk of the northern line.

saturday morning purse

jus and i are going to two birthday parties tonight so i was up bright and early to make some pressies. first offthe rank was this purse using the pattern from 'meet me at mike's' - meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com

it was slightly tricky but oh so satisfying when it worked! the brilliant fabric is from the market at dalston. £5 for 6 yards - I know mental.

if you want to read a bit more about the fabric - it is called dutch wax - the wren has a good story with lots of comments http://bit.ly/9DvDfM