MISS MOOX: Weekend According To

We spent the day amongst the flowers as a group of new friends, talking, laughing and making. We became better acquainted and pledged to do it again. I hope that we do. That evening I went home, felt lucky to have new friends and put Fleetwood Mac on the record player. The perfume of the flowers still fills my home, nearly a week later, making me inhale deeply and smile each time I enter the room.
Sunday past, Anna kindly invited us into her home where we sat in (what felt like) the early Spring sunshine and commented on how welcoming her home was; filled with the scent of delicious food cooking in the oven and her son's artwork adorning the walls. Anna is a warm and wonderful soul who I am so glad to have met since leaving London, making this town a little more friendly each day. Meanwhile Charlotte showed us how to work with flowers (in this case all British grown, from The Great British Florist) to produce some always pretty and undeniably feminine flower crowns. Charlotte is a natural teacher, I could listen to her for days while she creates and talks... funny, clever and talented.
Michelle dutifully (and without complaint) took all our photos while we tried to pose and seem professional, although it mainly ended in awkward smiles and embarrassed expressions. Ok, that was just me, but still... The photos above of Anna (top right), Charlotte (top left) and myself are all taken by Michelle. I really think she is an incredible photographer. She did not lose her patience once, even when I was clearly unbearable in front of the camera. Michelle is one of those classically beautiful and charming women that I am so happy to call a friend (and she carried off a stack of flower crowns like no other as evidenced in the photo of her above, taken by Anna). (All other photos are mine, taken with my iPhone.)
I truly loved meeting everyone else for the first time too. Jo, Natalie, Elena , Hannah & Katie; what a great bunch of ladies to spend a day with!

Having (shamefully) never been to Bath, I was stunned at how much I fell in love with the city while I was there recently. The photos (while not wonderful & taken with my iPhone), hopefully in some way show the beautiful architecture and stone work there. Obviously the Roman Baths have a massive presence in the the city but there seems to be so much more than that. In many ways Bath reminded me of Edinburgh, where I used to live. It had a similar atmosphere too - isn't it funny how you can arrive in a place and instantly feel at home? For me, Bath was one of those places. I could have spent a lot longer there and will definitely be back, hopefully soon.

Have you been? Is there anywhere unmissable I should go next time? Perhaps a spot to get some lunch, a great little shop, local secrets? Fill me in! Oh and enjoy the weekend, friends!

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All images taken with my iPhone via Instagram

This weekend we looked after our young niece and nephew, which while tiring, was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be! I always imagined I'd be such a soft touch when it comes to kids and that I wouldn't be able to cope, but it turns out I'm a lot more in control than I ever thought I would be. Watching Bill with them was charming and heart warming - he really will make a wonderful father one day. Gives us hope for the future! Ha! We also spent time with the best of friends and their 9 year old son who is the best behaved, cutest boy. You can't buy good parenting! Aside from that we enjoyed some evening sun, good food and I did some painting (a snippet of which is bottom left). I hope you all had good weekends (and good Mondays). Here's hoping the summer arrives this week, yes?! (although I realise this only applies to the UK...not that I'm jealous or anything...)

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All images taken with my iPhone via Instagram

Yesterday we spent the day as tourists going somewhere we'd never been before, despite it only being an hour away. Waltham Abbey was built in 1060 making it nearly 1000 years old and the painting (above in the bottom right corner) was started at that time (and finished in the 1500s). I still find that incredible! The photo top left is of a tapestry draped over the alter which sat below the painting. It was beautiful and I particularly liked the contrast of the simple wooden cross sitting on top of such an intricately designed fabric.
I also took great pleasure in completing an ongoing job on Saturday, making my deadline just on time so I could enjoy my one day off yesterday! And now it's Monday so another job begins, and I get to work on something completely new again. I hope you all had lovely weekends?

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When I'm in the city I try to look up as much as possible. So many details are lost at street level - you'll see the shop front, but if you look up, you see (amongst other things) many original architectural features that could tell a thousand stories.I tend not to do this so much where I currently live as we don't have the tall, grand buildings there are in cities. But yesterday the sky was so blue I couldn't help it. It's interesting what you see if you take the time to look up.

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All images taken with my iPhone via Instagram

This weekend we had friends visiting, who after staying the night on Saturday, dragged (gently persuaded!) us back into London with them on Sunday to go to the Monocle Country Fayre where I bought my new favourite purchase - top left. I wish I had bought a whole set of these beautiful mugs, but as I could only stretch to one, it's being used on my desk, housing surplus pens. We then parted ways so Bill & I had a pre-birthday celebration in the pub for his birthday later this week; just the two of us, a couple of roast dinners and some great chats. I hope you all had wonderful weekends.

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All images taken with my iPhone via Instagram

This weekend the clouds were heavy, the wind was high and the rain poured as though we were entering winter, again. I was still unwell from last week. I am still unwell from last week. The roses took a battering as the elements did as they did, their heads bowed and in some cases snapped. I know how they feel. I hope to be back to my normal self very soon, but in the meantime here's hoping you all had wonderful colourful weekends!

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I woke on Saturday morning to sunlight pouring through the bedroom windows and was reminded of Susan's sweet post* from last week about gratitude. Cliched as it sounds, it made me realise how important the small things are. Constant sunshine and blue skies; the almond breakfast smoothie Bill made me so I didn't go to the studio on an empty stomach; freedom; and the artwork of my late Grandfather scattered around our home, serving as a constant reminder of where I come from. I hope you all had wonderful weekends too.
*I cannot get the link for Susan's exact post to work for some reason so the link above takes you to the top of her page for last week. Just scroll down to see the post 'Gratitude' from 24th May.

PS We're going to see Moonrise Kingdom tonight - did anyone catch it at the weekend? SO excited.

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Weekend according to is both late and a cheat this week, seeing as how I didn't actually do anything other than work this weekend. I've been flat out the past few days, barely leaving the house apart from a Sunday roast at the local pub (the best of all British traditions, surely?). So these photos are from mid last week when I was in London. I snuck in a quick visit to the V&A - probably my favourite museum in London & got stared at while eating lunch, alone. It's funny how some people still find this unusual! I belatedly hope you had good weekends / are having good weeks so far. I can see this week turning into another work heavy one for me but at least the sun is out (we even have the windows open it's so warm). YES!

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This weekend, the sun shone. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal but after more than a month of grey skies and rain it felt amazing to wake up to brightness streaming through the bedroom windows. Just being outside with the sun on my face lifted my spirits, although I did have a mad/wishful moment insisting we move somewhere sunnier than here. Ha! I'm not sure whether it was down to the instant healing effect of the sun or whether I am just built this way, with permanent itchy feet. I wonder if I'll ever feel truly settled & at home in one place? Always wanting to know what's out there, round the next corner...
PS - after taking the close up of my plant, top left, I couldn't believe how dusty it was - who knew you had to dust plants, that's a bit mental, no?!

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This is a belated weekend post, thanks both to the bank holiday on Monday & then having to catch up on things yesterday. We spent the weekend with family in the countryside which inevitably meant a fair amount of driving. I took these photos of the fields as we drove along (listening to a lot of Beastie Boys), to see how they'd turn out. I like how they almost look like painted stripes. The weather was pathetic, again, so I'm in serious need of sunshine. I hope you all had good weekends & that the weather was better where you are!

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I've been trying to use Instagram a bit more recently as frankly I'm terrible at updating it. I just can't seem to get into the habit of using it even though I do really quite enjoy it. So this weekend I took a few snaps in the studio and around town and noticed a few unintentional colour connections - turns out I must've been in a turquoise kind of mood! Hope you all had good weekends and hopefully had much less rain than we did... eurgh, seriously, when will this weather end and where's Spring gone?
PS More Instagram photos here.