Weekend in London with Zoe & Steve

So this weekend I headed back to the smoke that used to be my home to visit old work colleague and awesome friend Zoe. We had lots of cultural things lined up like a writers walking tour around london, an exhibition of Charles Dickens that kind of thing. Our big mistake (and I see it now) was meeting in the John Lewis on Oxford Street. I promptly headed for the hebadashery department and pretty much from there on in we were DOOMED! I managed to get some very pretty cotton fabric for making a sun dress for our lastest new arrival Freya (daughter of Bec's & Dan who were in the photo's of May day), after John Lewis we headed for Topshop where I promptly fell in love with a strappy folky top. However I'm afraid it had to stay where it was as it had the magic Kate Moss label in it and I didn't like it that much... We headed down Berwick street to grab a bite to eat at my fave cafe don there and pop in on all the ex HMV'ers at Sister Ray. We also found a fabulous hat shop where I found the perfect top hat (just a cheap one, no lining or anything). It was slightly damaged round the rim meaning it fit my little head perfectly. I tried the 'ye old bartering trick' that always seems to work for my mum (I think they let her get away with it, she still has the slight school teacher edge to her voice that generally unnerves most people) anyway I clearly haven't inherited it as it didn't work for me... But I have great plans for the hat adding magpie feathers to the outside and maybe attaching a few beads as well.

I'd taken Zoe some Oxfordshire produce, a few leaves from our monsterous swiss chard plant, a few chives and flowers to put in salads, some eggs from Trish's chickens and some rubarb. The main point of this visit was not to shop but check out the flat that Zoe & Steve are now renting together (aww I'm so happy for them but they should have done it ages ago, everyone could see how besotted they were with each other). Steve is a great chap, as well as being very nice he is also a very keen gardener. He sent me home with a plant that he'd grown from a cutting and one of the nicest moments of the weekend was when he showed me a plant he'd started growing when Zoe & him started daing. All together now Awwwww.

Their housewarming present from me & witchcat was a squid whisk (this is an in joke possibly too complex to go into here) and a spurtle (Zoe got very intregued by mine last time she came to visit & I maintain no home should be without one!). The squid whisk was put to great use on the Sat night being used for preperations of various cocktails (Steve's other brilliant talent) and we stayed in watched film the wedding crashers and got nicely tipsy. Zoe used tolive in Tooting and where they have moved to now is a lot nicer. On Sunday morning they walked me to the tube station across lots of fields where multiple games of football were being kicked off. Despite not achieving that much sight wise I had a lovely weekend. It's their turn to come to me next (hopefully bringing with them a Harmonium that Zoe very kindly offered to pick up for me). My only hope is that it doesn't rain, last time they came it was sheeting it down...