July is here

 I was thinking about what I would write about this morning. We are in the middle of a heat wave here and London is sweltering, a land of no air conditioning and just as everyone complains about the cold, they now complain about the heat! Wimbledon has started and you can hear the roars from the tvs around us with the open windows. 

My tiny garden is full of colour and my sweat peas are out, as are my new roses, I love pottering and watching it all take shape. The hydrangeas look wonderful and I am determined to continue to pick flowers to put into my flower press and on autumn days I can stick them onto card. Its such an easy hobby and doesn't cost anything. 

Making flower cards

Fresh flowers from my garden

I have been busy going to a few exhibitions in London, one of which was the Cartier exhibition at the V and A - gosh such beautiful things and I had forgotten how the Duchess of Windsor had panthers on every piece of jewellery. The tiaras were so beautiful too, it was a great exhibition. 

My reading list is now very long as there are some truly excellent books out there at the moment. I can't stop thinking about Flesh by David Szalay     his writing had me so transfixed. It's the story of a 15 year old Hungarian man groomed by his neighbour and the life that he lives afterwards. Its very masculine and spartan conversations but it works and it's a beautiful sad novel but truly brilliant. I recommend it for those with boys which are not really able to express their feelings! as a caveat, there is a lot of sex and it reads like a thriller.

Another one is - let me go mad in my own way by Elaine Feeney - its a classic Irish misery book (why are Irish novels always so miserable?) but very well written and kept me going. It is about a woman coming to terms with her past and her violent father and supressed mother. 

I am just about to finish this book - Amongst Friends Hal Ebbott - I was about to give up on it, a story of two couples who have been friends since college but then it suddenly changes and its very very good, I am looking forward to finding out what happens in the end tonight. 

My television watching has failed, I can't seem to find anything to get excited about and it all seems a bit same same, same actors, same plots. I did watch Bridget Jones mad about the boy but I just kept looking at all her botox and face fillers and just felt so sad for her and watching Hugh Grant be a letch with pretty young girls just isn't funny any more I don't think. I am a bit bored of the older women/younger men thing as I really do find it all a bit unbelievable unless you are famous or rich. 

Anyway, hope you have an amazing July ahead, let me know what you are up to in the comments 

Hello June

 How are you? I love May and June, the anticipation of long summer days and evenings where it is still light at 10pm. My garden is starting to bloom and it's a very tiny garden so I have decided to put everything into wicker baskets, its a work in progress and I already have a first bud on my climbing rose so I'm very excited. 

In other things happening, my mother turned 91 last week, she is actually on no medication which is amazing but she is a bit of a curmudgeon and I know she has every right to be at that age but it is exhausting! she wouldn't let me take any photos of her but I snuck in one of her granddaughter filming her blowing out the candles and thought it was interesting that there were three generations involved in the one photo.

I have been reading a lot lately, I decided to delve into the classics again and read James Baldwin - Giovanni's room -  It was so good. It is written and set in Paris in the 1950's and tells of a young American man who embarks on an affair with an Italian man. It caused such a stir when it was written and the writing is truly superb. It's a short novel but one to savour. 

I have also just finished Dream State by Eric Puchner this novel is an American one spanning 60 odd years and tells the story of a woman and two men who are in love with her and how this affects their lives. There is quite a bit of climate change stuff in it and in certain parts it did feel a bit padded out but it did keep me hooked and I would recommend it.

Last night I watched Something's gotta give I actually don't know how many times I have seen this movie but it still makes me laugh and I still love looking at the wonderful interiors and wish I lived in a house like that on the beach. It is such a good film and a perfect antidote at the moment.

I'm trying to get some inspiration for my photography, I'm back on instagram and it's not providing any but I feel I should start a project again, I have sort of given up on a photo a day and tend to take sporadic photos. 

Thats it for the moment, let me know if you have watched or read anything lately. 

Cornwall

 We just spend a few days in Cornwall on the south coast in a place called St Mawes. We actually went last year and loved it so much even though it poured with rain for a week. This week the sun shone every day and it was absolutely perfect. I love being by the sea and in nature and it ticked both boxes.