PEDAL POWER

With London on our doorstep and a need to be more active post Olympics we headed to the city yesterday to test out the Boris bikes. We know they have been in action for a long time and we haven't cycled for donkeys years but as the saying goes; 'it's like riding a bike, you never forget' and after a few wobbly starts we were off. 

We had no route in mind but wanted to stick near to the river. This meant we were able to successfully criss-cross over the bridges to various tourist hotspots.  We've always walked or driven in London and feel we know the capital well but despite the thousands of times we've been there discovering it by bike yesterday was a whole new adventure. 

Most of our favourite views of London come from stopping on any one of the bridges over the Thames, looking left or right and seeing the skyline filled with iconic buildings.

We even stopped at The Horse Guards Parade (relived a bit of the royal wedding!) and then stopped at Number 10 Downing Street.

And no tour would be complete without seeing Big Ben.

Of course we saw so much more but we couldn't keep stopping to take pictures of everything - not yet advanced enough to do one handed cycling! So if you find yourself in London take the scenic route and cycle.

A WEEK IN PICTURES

One of the benefits of there being two of us at Clementine & Bloom is that we never have to close up for the holidays. So while one of us is working hard at the computer answering emails, sending out orders and manning the market stall the other one is working hard behind the camera taking snaps of local interest, sending out orders for bottles of wine and mussels and doing a great job manning the sun loungers!

Here are a few photos of what one of us has been experiencing this week whilst on vacation!

OH WE DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE

Out in the blogging world we keep reading about everyone's long weekend in seaside towns along the Kent coast. Margate appears to be the destination of choice at the moment but our tried and tested all time favourite that we just can't stop going back to is Whitstable. It's got everything - quirky boutique shops, great restaurants, the beach. But just the other day we found ourselves wanting of a proper day by the sea side; golden sand, gently lapping waves and an ice cream or two, almost like a real holiday! So we packed a picnic and headed to Westgate-on-Sea.

As you can see from our 'holiday' snaps the beach is beautiful and more importantly it's quiet.

There are a few small kiosks on the promenade where you can buy teas and ice cream and also another full of brightly coloured plastic buckets, spades and beach balls to keep the children happy. We've spent many a happy day splashing in the shallow sea here over the years and can definitely recommend it for a great family day out.

Although the beach and the small town of Westgate is quiet its neighbour is the more colourful and lively town of Margate so if you want to you can wander along the sea front and sample the Turner Contemporary gallery or visit the many quirky shops while sampling the local fish and chips.

But don't all hurry down at once, keep this little seaside gem a secret and we will see you there!

RESONANCE

We believe it's important to be out and about visiting new towns and cities, seeing new things and finding inspiration, especially when you work for yourself and don't get the input or general conversation from an office full of work colleagues. However it isn't always practical or even desirable to travel into the city to visit major galleries and large exhibitions, so it's great when you discover there are good local places to see interesting art work. 

image courtesy of Susie MacMurray

Yesterday we wandered along to the Rochester art gallery to see Resonance, an exhibition by artist Susie MacMurray. We first saw her work Widow at the Art Fashion Identity exhibition at the Royal Academy last year; it was beautiful and tactile but simultaneously repellant and thought provoking.

image courtesy of Susie MacMurray 

This is a small exhibition of large scale pen and ink drawings and sculptural pieces concentrating on material relevant to women (hair nets, bandages) and the connection to the various roles women play in life - as wife, mother, carer. These evoke memories from the past and consider what they represent.

image courtesy of Susie MacMurray

There is something beautiful in the simplicity of black line drawings on paper and we always love the use of everyday objects as subject matter. The delicate overlapping and movement of the lines give the works texture and depth.

This exhibition is on until 16th September 2012 and a great opportunity to see Susie MacMurray's work.

CATCH IT IF YOU CAN

Every week at Greenwich Market we like to stretch our legs and take a wander around the other market stalls; this is inevitably a dangerous line to walk as we usually come back with new found treasures by fellow designers and makers. This week however it was a bright sunny day so we ventured outside the market square and stumbled upon this gem of a pop up shop.

It is a collaboration of designers and makers from studios in London who have taken over the premises in Nelson Road until 23rd August. There is such a variety of products, beautifully displayed in this lovely old shop and if you're in the area you have to stop in and see them (in fact why not visit on a Friday and then you can come and say hi to us too!) 

On our wish-list are the ceramic pots by Amber Khokhar in beautiful blue glazes with hand painted lids and we're definitely going to drop by again before it closes as we have some important birthdays coming up.

Pop up @ SE10, 20 Nelson Road is open until 23rd August, go take a look and tell us what you think!

OUR LITTLE BIT OF GOLD

Things have been really busy for us at the moment - all that Olympics watching has been very time consuming for a start! But we decided we just had to make time to go on another exploratory outing and so yesterday we took ourselves along to the lovely city of Rochester. Not only does it boast a great little fabric shop but several quaint antique shops that are definitely worth a visit. We struck gold this time at two of our favourite shops Kaizen Antiques and Memories and here are the two beauties that we just could not resist.

This beautiful original bird cage is circa 1920 and made of metal fretwork coiled and twisted to form a delicate curvaceous shape. Although it needs a good clean (it currently boasts authentic remains from its days as a cage!) it will soon happily slip in amongst our other treasures in the home.

The lamp base is 1950's Rye Pottery in fabulous tones of green glaze which overlaps to form a tartan pattern and as soon as we saw it we knew we had to have it. The 1950's are one of our favourite eras for pattern; for us it's that perfect balance of organic and scientific. 

This base makes us think of images of a leaf under a microscope and of course it was crying out to be adorned by our very own St Paul's lamp shade in blue.

HOME SWEET HOME

Remember our tutorial on how to cover letters in fabric to decorate your home? Well here is the finished project in situ at our lovely friend Lisa's house. We love the mix of small simple prints with the typography fabric and the large bold design; the colour palette was dictated by the room - a soft dove grey with navy blue accents - and kept similar to tie the whole thing together.

We've been thinking how great would this look in a child's room spelling out their name?