Circular rug, in progress...

Here it is - the thrift store fabric-fest of a rug, currently a mix of six blankets, throws and tablecloths. Of course I have a plan and that plan is fairly colour specific! Solid colours, no earthy tones and a Marimekko Melooni aesthetic that challenges my suppliers - the good folk of Richmond VA.

Have 6 foot (!) ambitions and red is up for sourcing next. Then I can justify this IKEA classic rocking chair to complete the look or maybe its non rocking, cheaper alternative.

Proper Pie

New to Richmond this month is the aptly named Proper Pie Company. Hailing from New Zealand these guys have a buzzing busy shop and we struck lucky getting window bench seats.

The Cornish Pastie was sold out, but they had warm soup, sausage role, Chicken & Kumara pie (pictured) and Chili Bean (in my tummy). To follow we enjoyed the Mixed Berry Streusel and thorougly recommend the Treacle Tart.

The staff were great, graphics and atmosphere were fantastic and we'll be back for more pie.

We followed the lunch with a walk to the end of East Grace Street for an amazing panoramic view of Downtown and a city information panel describing it all, including the site at the centre of the slave trade - a particularly grim spot known as Devil's Half Acre.

Thrifting

For The Love of Jesus Thrift Store, is open 7 days a week -- who needs a rest?!

Our search continued for material for C's rug, and we actually found some bright orange fabric, amongst retro furniture, plastic princess castles and more Patricia Cornwell than I cared to count. We were also kind of not surprised to be greeted by an assistant wearing a "Satan Sucks" t-shirt.

The rug consumes amazing quantities of material retrieved from thrifting. Some discarded Snuggies are enjoying a more dignified re-use, but  I think the donor of a beautifully ironed and folded red Christmas table-cloth and placemats might be rather dismayed as this less formal re-purposing.

Five minutes further down Midlothian Turnpike is Goodwill Thrift and their outlet centre. It's the thrift store of unsellable left-over thrift stock, the buckets and bins of possible treasure, silently and slowly being sifted for items of use or value. For a country of consumption, there are places where nothing goes to waste.

Yorktown in winter...

It was chilly but beautiful, so we English took to the beach once more. Sand was eaten, paddling was endured and the Delly, with the 'y' was open and serving fries - what more do you need on a winter's day?

NB: M's necklace - designed and made herself using 'ironing-beads'.

Christmas day, RVA

Before breakfast... wooly mammoths, polar bears, chocolate reindeer poo (that J cautiously resisted, until force-fed), deafening bird whistles and peanut shells under the duvet.

Before lunch... the Queen's Speech (!) with neighbour and Prosecco, then on to the great James river, miniature pineapple chucks, freezing paddling and actual sunshine.

Before the turkey (over-brined!)... the park for an inter-generational assault course, much panting, then plenty of TV panto time.

Bed for all at 9pm and no stirring 'till twelve hours later - utter bliss!

Nativity Pageant, St Mark's

Baby Jesus can crawl, the lamb wore sheep-skin slippers, the kings were down to two and Joseph was absent! St Mark's cutely ramshackle nativity had everyone chucking once more. We love it there.

Under the stars the night before we gazed up as 200 Richmonders  did the Nativity in splendour on the ramparts of the Carillon. Angels sprung up on queue, wobbling a little and in the stillness a lone voice sang out - it was breath catching, though I've forgotten which carol it was...

Vintage Barbies on Boulevard

I love Barbie and this is her original home, with an elevator and a Calder mobile on the wall. How cool is she?

Plus how cool is the mum, now granny, who saved these for her grandchildren?!

PS: They also had my old Fisher-Price house. I may have to sneak back to play again.

Tacky Lights, Take 2

They're still out there and as whacky and fab as ever. Started just a few blocks from home with this joyful icicle house. Our van was full and M plinked on her Birthday ukulele to each festive tune the local radio station could muster - it was a tad trying by the end. J was on lookout duty, crying out 'House with Lights!'  every few blocks.

All drowned out, just once, by the euro beat from a home with its own radio frequency in tune with some pulsating light choreography - intense and crazy stuff. Bring on the Moscow Mules and real-life Santa babies (we kid you not).

The 'Roadtrip' party...

... happened amidst loud, chaotic shrieks (of joy!).

We covered ground whizzing from ice cream for breakfast c/o Bev's, with Pizza Angel soundtrack special, on to a London Olympic Park assault aka obstacle course in the back yard with ramps, paddling pool, mini car, bikes, bean bags and planks across treasure pits.

Before 3-D art map production with reversed cereal boxes for each child's home (a late-night challenge even with double-sided tape), plentiful paint and a giant map of the Fan.

Finally P's Florentine Pizzeria delivered, the Prosecco & pomegranate appeared, cake candles were lit and the child-to-adult ratio rose, before peaceful life resumed.

Phew!

The Great 12/12/12 Birthday Bake-off

The birthday menu was specific and considered so I got in the kitchen early with sous-chef J and we began the process of whipping up some 24 mango yellow and dirty lavender  iced cupcakes with sprinkles, mainly on floor. Then added in one felt & pipe cleaner fairy I'd manage to create late one night. Brushed off the Union Jack cake stand and got out the IKEA turquoise bird napkins - an aesthetic cacophony that I may need therapy for.

Next was the chorizo soup with chickpeas aka garbanzo beans and kale with home-made stock - we did it all! Consumed communally and with little ceremony in the basement of the school, amongst a rising tide of noise.

Then back home for the brewing of a bolognese sauce and vegetarian equivalent, before I went on strike, bought a greek salad from Shields Store and left the pasta to the master.

Phew... next the full-proof, family-recipe Birthday Cake for the party, but not today!

Seasonal craft

Some giant maple leaves distracted us on our way to school today. Cycling whilst grasping one proved a challenge for J. We drew round them and went for bright orange, then mixed up brown and finally cut around them, once dry, with banana bread in the oven and sun beams out.

Elongating Fall continues with my addiction to silver, asthma-inducing spray and anything organic - this year more pumpkins, magnolia leaves, pine cones and rocks!

Carols and company

In an almost English cottage, with an almost real fire burning and quite the most delightful guitarist, the girls and assorted parents sang their first carols of the season. The instrument of choice was the sliding penny whistle...

Back with the Southern Baptists the night before the coffee cup and harp had featured in a high octane, slick concert that might have overwhelmed us, if it hadn't been for a familiar face in the choir and its annual event status - we were late for the second year in a row thanks to a fab pre-concert Chinese.

Baywatch Clubhouse, Phase 3

Under warm, grey and decidedly damp Virginian skies P proceeded with the clubhouse this weekend. Skinning and roofing being the critical targets. So now we have a post-modern concentration-camp aesthetic that hopefully, with a dash of paint, might seem more Malibu-esque.

J's tour is audible until the sawing cuts in, though I think we can all see the lack of decent ablutions is a design omission.

GardenFest of Light 2012, Lewis Ginter

It wasn't the National Trust and the night was a balmy 25C... an LED-fuelled bout of homesickness descended.

The only magic we found was subversively achieved by crossing barriers to hug this lion and a fabulous model railway scene with tiny houses made from things found in the garden - complete with minature clothes on a washing line and acorn cups for seats.

Signs on Floyd

"No more letters?!",  J exclaimed in utter horror on spotting this sign at the end of our street.

No more leaves and some creative back alley parking is the reality, as well as a very swanky smooth, new road surface.

Home-schooling just got even better thanks to the input of these guys - we know about little millers and big millers, dump trucks and something I couldn't translate that scraped the surface clean.

PS: Raking our leaves street-ward was darn hard work.

Baywatch Clubhouse, Phase 2

Power tools, tight-rope planks and fab IKEA chairs - who needs an actual playhouse?!

Some minor structural oversights to be addressed before next weekend's push to clad the walls... than it's the summer sky exterior paint, spider-proof mesh and a roof that can bear child-weight & weather.

Christmas Parade, Broad

The festive season started today at 10am EST down Broad... Our first repeat event of Year 2 Stateside and the fabulous Dave once again held our curb-side spot, so we could leisurely wander in with coffee.

It's a truly crazy concoction of Richmond folk from energetic Bolivians, fully-feathered Native Americans, calming Falun Gong meditators, sinister Star Wars' storm troopers and the Shriners - Masons with fez and tiny cars!!!

The highlight was definitely the Norfolk State Band's  take on Earth Wind and Fire classics, plus watching the giant inflatables pitching under the traffic lights.

As with the world over there were plenty of bored teenagers shuffling along, mal-coordinated kids and massive sponsorship logos. Everyone behaved and we wore T-shirts in the December sun.

Open Late, Sponge HQ

Back at the Sponge HQ this Friday night, we got to re-live the MoMA moment with relics and tales from the Prototype for the Phylum Porifera. Live mould castings of polyurethane sponge forms,  bouncy 'till cured and ready for more needle felting - this time it was lavendar wool, with M & J handling the sharps well.

The home hive had ceased to buzz after multiple stresses - building work and a slight location shift amongst them. So Hope harvested and it was a fabulous sight - oozing, golden honey glowing in the evening lamplight and large chucks of strikingly geometric honey-comb heaped in buckets. M & I got to taste it all straight from the hive and it was delicious.

There were lots of folk to chat to as this was a shared potluck and late night with the Portrait as Community students.

Things evolved and all was lovely...

Fall at Maymont

We caught the end of the afternoon sun and it was like dancing through a Merchant Ivory film. The girls curled up in immense trees, like we did as kids in Arderne Gardens, then gathered bamboo for rods to catch fish in the Japanese Garden, thankfully unsuccessfully and finally ran up through the woods to watch the sun set, whilst practicing their Kung Fu - panda style! We screamed as dusk arrived and headed home as the temperature plummeted and the promise of Jamie's bake beckoned.

Baywatch Clubhouse, Phase 1

 ... so when you want a treehouse but your home is temporary, the next best thing is a clubhouse on stilts. Designs are being finalised, modelled on Zuma Beach's lifeguard towers, but with no prospect of David Hasselhoff for the grand opening on M's Birthday. P still has his tangos though!

Thanksgiving turkey

If you're living the American dream then there's got to be turkey at Thanksgiving and it's got to be done according to Alton Brown. So there was the brining... and then the speedy cycle to the shop at 4pm on the given day for a thermometer and finally the roasting... to the desired 161F for the breast meat and voila, the perfect meal for three, plus the man with the Tofurkey!


All was peaceful and quiet down the street.

Thanksgiving fruit

So we flouted convention and thought apple not pumpkin pie and headed for the mountains... In clear sunshine we careered down through the orchards towards the pink ladies and gathered them in until our bags sagged. Then climbed back upwards and lay on a grassy slope recovering and chomping our way through our fruits and offering directions to the other assorted families heading steeply downwards.

M pulled off a great sweet shortcrust when we got home and made this brief introduction to her Thanksgiving table...

Muesli breakfast

A Jamie Oliver + Whole Foods triumph - home concocted muesli NOT granola and utterly delicious!

Only eight year's in aspiration and many boxes of Dorset later. Now all we need is a big IKEA cereal dispenser and we'll be like some Swiss alpine chalet of a morning...

• 8 large handfuls of organic rolled oats
• 2 large handfuls of ground bran
• 1 handful of chopped dried apricots
• 1 handful of chopped dried dates
• 1 handful of crumbled walnuts
• 1 handful of smashed or chopped almonds, hazelnuts or brazil nuts

Date Night

Date night with a bit of Dale (Chihuly!)... wandered the crisp, chilly streets of the Fan hand-in-hand, before exiting the deep darkness for the glow of the VMFA and in its dignified halls. Saw Egyptian little-guy figures and miniature Japanese gold-coated envelopes with tiny flower paintings... my festive gift of choice, if raiding the VMFA was a social norm.

Didn't do the full Dale show - really, $20/£12.60 each!! Plus last visit started (!) with an official reprimand. Escaped notice tonight and sought refuge from the dropping temperature in Mom Siam, ending with crispy banana and sticky rice - content and sleepy we headed home.

El Anatsui, High Line, New York

Early one morning just as the sun was rising I was wandering up the High Line savouring its seemingly effortless gorgeousness when I came across an El Anatsui work being installed. Sadly he was not commanding the team but a man called instructions from behind a bush, while El's assistants precariously lurched across the wall -crumpling or angling flattened tin sheets on command. Broken Bridge II shimmered and gleamed and was perfect in this context.

It's almost a year since I first made this walk with Team Yau-Stephens. This time was faster-paced, very peaceful and a lot warmer though I grinned at the memory of their great company...

Prototype for Preserving the Phylum Porifera, MoMA

I got to relocate to New York with VCU's Sponge HQ. Crammed in a van we absorbed passages of sponge biology, sounds of incisive needle felting from the back seat and much music. Momentum built as we neared the struggling post-Sandy city. With tense focus we unpacked, straight into MoMA and the vast open studio space of our host, Mildred's Lane.  

Out came our distinctive pops of color, landing as Hope's felt rug was unfurled and bright bee boxes found their place. Our materials were seriously mixed, from natural sea sponges – our conceptual starting blocks - to their lurid foam evolutions and glowing bronze and beeswax casts. At hand - giant balls of burnt orange and deep lilac wool.

Children swarmed in, utterly intent on needle-punching sponge forms and, like the best fairytales, someone’s thigh got pricked. Our story continued on screen, looping with shots of the HQ’s beehive, neon tetras and gushing water - immaculately edited and scored, of course. Everything connected – not just the living, breathing turtles wallowing in the Mildred's Lane interior and the Reggio Children’s reef scene - we had dive visuals too, including Kalymnos, Greece - the sponge stores now bereft of native samples and forced to import from the Caribbean.

Interaction was plentiful - yes, some 98 folk stopped by to chat, potter and savor our HQ honey.  We made friends, brewed tea on a massive braided rug (thanks Fritz Haeg),  and lived the gestalt - trans-disciplinary and cross-generational; multi sensory and just plain multiplied. It all happened and we gave gifts – a bronze sea sponge and our best ephemera, all now safely archived.

At the close of the day we got back in our van and headed off for much needed nourishment in the East Village's Banjara.

PS: Word is I'm the front of VCU's Commonwealth Times - cover girl at last!

Post-Sandy Road Trip, Richmond VA to NYC

Super Storm Sandy had left its mark on our route and destination... In New Jersey petrol was restricted to even number plates on our arrival day and we spotted some black marketeering as we squeezed slowly through the back streets of Soho.

Taxis were hard to find, bags of refuse were piled on the pavements, credit card payments were not a given and my Hudson riverbank hotel's basement was full of flood-recovery kit plus the wireless internet was out. Superficially though life was normal and the odd pile of snow melted as the sun came out.

I assumed dramatic power-issues in my room, only to find I needed to insert my key to achieve full light and appliance function - 24 hours of darkness preceeded this discovery.

Down on the river... North Bank Trail

A bit of wintery sun and zen like rock piles right out in the flow of the James... We couldn't reach them but added to our own on the shore and generally paddled about, with no major incident. The water level is incredibly low.

Last day of being 44, for man below.

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