A Loverly Time!

Before anyone points out the error in the title of this post, can I just say that the typo (in this case anyway!) is completely intentional. Saturday saw me catching the train to London for my Mother's Day present, viz. a trip to the Coliseum to see 'My Fair Lady'.

L met me at Paddington and, after popping into her chambers to drop something off, we walked through Covent Garden to get to our pre-matinee lunch at a South Indian vegetarian restaurant called 'Sagar'. The masala dosa was, unlike the ones I attempt at home, wafer thin (can anyone else not say that without pronouncing it like in Monty Python?!) and the mixed Uthappam - a sort of lentil pizza topped with onion, tomato and coconut - was delicious.

Then it was a quick walk to the theatre where a 'loverly' time was indeed had by all. The Coliseum is a stunning bit of architecture and the play/musical was brilliant. Amara Okereke as Eliza could belt out a tune effortlessly and Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Higgins and Sharif Afifi as Freddy were none too shabby either. I had been complaining of a slight bout of conjunctivitis in my left eye (note to self: don't rub eye with soil-encrusted hands whilst gardening!) and had spent the previous 2 days vainly trying to make myself cry in order to irrigate it thoroughly. Well, 'My Fair Lady' did the trick and it is now much better. :O)

We treated ourselves to an interval cocktail. Our 'Flower Girl' (one glass, 2 straws!) was a mixture of violet liqueur, elderflower and prosecco. The first sip was a little startling - think an alcoholic version of those parma violet sweets (do they still make those?) and you'll get the idea. Once the taste buds had got over the shock, however, it slipped down rather nicely.

After the play, we had time to grab a takeaway coffee and sat by the river in the sunshine, people watching and catching up some more. Then I headed back to Paddington for the train home and L met J (and her rucksack) at St. Pancras and caught the Eurostar for a few days in Paris! 

Other happies this month:

A trip to Bristol to see E. I admired her new flat - lots of light and a view to die for - then we had a lunch at 'the laundrette' - this was actually much classier than it sounds! There are indeed a few washing machines at the back but it is more a trendy cafe with yummy food, and drinks served in homemade pottery mugs.

Then we did a tour of the local plant shops and I treated E to a plant and 2 plant pots as a flat-warming present. 'Wild Leaf' was amazing and it's probably a very good job that I don't live closer!

A walk and a picnic around Ashampstead and Yattendon:

Our local vegan market, where we treated ourselves to some surprisingly nice vegan 'cheese' - if that isn't an oxymoron! 

Trying my hand at more macrame - inspired by the Bristol plant shops:

The pilea peperomioides in the above shot is a baby from one of the plants that CJ kindly gave me last year. I'm hoping that they all take. I do have a bit of a problem with fungus gnats at the moment - I think they arrived in a bag of compost, as it was only the plants that were potted on that were affected. I've tried sticky traps, Ceylon cinnamon, 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, bottom watering and letting the plants dry out more than I normally would ............. and the little blighters are still breeding! So, if anyone has any surefire way of eliminating these pests, all suggestions would be very welcome!

Trying my hand at making injera. They were very nice but, a bit like with dosa, the restaurants must have very large pans to make them big enough.

An evening of Opera at Dorchester-on-Thames:

We had a picnic by the river beforehand and then sat in the most beautiful garden listening to 4 singers and a pianist perform operatic highlights. To add to the joy, a local robin joined in..... all the way through!

Making lots of pottery blobs which my tutor kindly smoke fired in her garden - the plan was always to hang them from one of the apple trees but, as the smoke marks will gradually fade when exposed to the elements, I hung a few up inside:

Lastly, another picnic and walk at Fawley:

My favourite rape against a stormy sky:

Well, that's my camera unloaded for another month. I hope things are fine and dandy at your end and please do let me know if you have a cure for fungus gnats. It's like a flamenco event here at the moment with people suddenly clapping without warning!

Toodle pip for now. x