Summer on "The Heath" - London

From the archives......can't believe I've never posted these pictures!  (Things get lost, don't they?)

One of the very best things to do in London in the summer..... is to go to the Heath.

Hampstead Heath.  It is an atmosphere at once

 convivial and intimate.

  

A place to find company if you are on your own.

Or a place to flee company if you've had too much of it.

Stay, doze, visit, read.  Watch the clouds go by..........

 

Just watch out for stinging nettles.  And make sure you've got a good pub not too far away picked out.

For after.

Monday Bites - Maldon Oysters, Duke of Yorks Square, London

For those of you who are headed to London sometime soon........(and I know someone who is!) don't forget the Saturday market at the Duke of York's Square in Chelsea.  Also posted about here.

Yes, huge wheels of Comte just across the Channel from France, West Indian and Portuguese specialties, salumi, and Spanish hams, fresh handmade pasta, Alfajores from Argentina.  And that's just to start with!

Bon appetit Sophie!  And Bon Voyage!!!!!!!  To all you other travelers and sojourners too: Don't forget to stop back by here and tell me about your adventures!

Words Can't Describe - Sepia

Well, not my sepia, and not quite sepia, but this great picture appeared in the New York Times yesterday:

Terry O'Neill/Getty Images

HBO will be broadcasting Martin Scorcese's "Living in the Material World" next weekend and I guess it's already in movie theaters in the U.K.

Do I need to tell you who this is?  My favorite Beatle!!!!!!  (Could those be Kickers he's wearing?)

Can't wait, can't wait!  Anybody seen it?

Emil Nolde - Do You Love Him?

One of my very favorite artists from the old art school days.  Emil Nolde.  I love how he was able to get such intensity of color and form from watercolors which are usually used in rather more sedate styles.  He is may be less popular in the mainstream these days because of his emphatic support of Nazi philosophy.  He was, however, very publicly rejected and condemned by the Nazi regime for producing "Degenerate" art.  Accordingly, he was prohibited from making art when the Nazis were in power, but succeeded in making these beautiful watercolors in secret.  He was a huge admirer of Vincent Van Gogh, with whom he shared similar humble beginnings.  Someone gave me some sunflowers this week.  They have such energy, no?  They do still look just a little like this:

(So beautiful, isn't it?)  Hey, have a great weekend everybody!

If You Could Only See It..........

It is

Hollywood

after all.

A world of fantasy.  And delight.

And sunny days.  All year long.

Corner View - Silly

Walking through L.A.'s "gift district"

it's hard not to be reminded that notwithstanding the

charm and cheer that an individual gift item might represent...... 

when you see it in really great numbers, i.e., as the "commodity" that it is, and scale it up to a global obsession with consumption.  It really starts to seem quite "silly"!

What do you think? 

North Shore Oahu - Shall We Try Again?

This is what we call an "upcountry" drive on Oahu.

Even when the clouds are low

it's all about

full spectrum color.

(Just in case it's raining where you are and the summer vacation is a distant memory.)  Have you started planning next summer's yet?

Yes, this is what I tried to post last week.  I got my pictures back - woohoo!