May 7, 2022 at 7:15 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Links, Places, plans, postaday, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: art, Bloomsbury, British Museum, exhibits, London, memories, nostalgia, photo challenge, Saturday
This is self’s post for Debbie Smyth’s Six Word Saturday challenge.
Self started going to London regularly in 2015. She visited every year and stayed at The Penn Club on Bedford Place, in Bloomsbury. The Penn Club became her home away from home, a place where she formed fast friendships. In 2020, the pandemic killed it. Most of its patrons were elderly. She hopes they didn’t get covid, but she suspects many of them did. After a hundred years in Bloomsbury, The Penn Club closed its doors, permanently.
Now, self is back in London. She couldn’t imagine staying anywhere else but in Bloomsbury. Another of her favorites, a French restaurant on Hanway Place, had closed. She spent days walking up and down Great Russell Street, dropping by the British Museum, seeing their special exhibits (Right now the special exhibit’s about Stonehenge), dropping by the London Review Bookshop.
An architectural firm used to be next door to the bookshop, but the large windows through which self had peeked many and many a time to watch people industriously working at giant drafting boards were boarded up. She was so relieved to see the Contemporary Ceramics gallery on Great Russell Street was still there! She wandered in. Several other people were there — most young. Wonder of wonders, they were buying!
Self wanted to buy a piece, too. But she is traveling, and her bag is already quite heavy. In fact, the airline slapped a HEAVY BAG sticker on it, when she checked in at Belfast on her flight to Heathrow. But if people are buying fine ceramics, the gallery will make it.
The ceramic artist whose works are on exhibit is Ruth King. Her works stay up until May 21. Here’s a quote from the flyer the gallery gave out:
- Ruth’s sculptural forms and vessels are fashioned from soft sheets of clay cut and assembled to wrap and define a space. The surface is then enriched by the passage of salt vapours in the firing reacting to each twist and turn of the form adding colour, texture and articulation.
Leave a Comment
May 4, 2022 at 10:18 am (destinations, Links, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: Bloomsbury, breakfast, London, memories, nostalgia, photo challenge, Water Water Everywhere
Happy to spend this morning in the green tranquility of Russell Square.
For years, The Penn Club, on Bedford Place, just off Russell Square, was self’s London nest. It shut its doors forever in 2020.
Today, self passed by. Aside from the dead plants in the window boxes, it looked exactly the same.
Posting for Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere Challenge.
2 Comments
March 12, 2022 at 10:43 pm (destinations, Family, Food and Drink, Links, Places, postaday, Recommended, Surprises)
Tags: Avila Beach, Cal Poly, California, coffee, indulgences, memories, nostalgia, photo challenge, road trip, San Luis Obispo, summer
March 12 is a Letter, the Letter K.
Here’s the full list of March Colors and Letters.
Self’s letter K is KRAKEN.
Specifically, KRAKEN COFFEE COMPANY, which has a store on Avila Beach, in Central California.
Avila Beach, which she remembers from when son was in college in San Luis Obispo. She visited again last summer, her first stop when California’s mandatory lockdown ended. (And already, last summer feels sooooo long ago)
Avila Beach was a little more crowded, a little more commercial than she remembered from 15 years ago. But she went early, and found parking right in front of the beach. She entered the coffeeshop and asked the young woman behind the counter, “Is it too early for ice cream?” The young woman responded, “It’s never too early for ice cream.”
Leave a Comment
December 28, 2021 at 11:20 pm (Books, destinations, Family, Food and Drink, Links, postaday, Recommended)
Tags: Cee Neuner, concerts, Events, memories, music, nostalgia, photo challenge, restaurants, San Luis Obispo, summer
Thank you, Cee Neuner, for another great CFFC!
For her “four colors or more” post, she will focus on food presentation! Maybe that’s because in her current read, A Woman in Berlin, food is front and center on every page. It’s April 1945, and the citizens of Berlin are starving.
As she reads, self is constantly reminded how lucky she is, despite everything.
During her most recent visit to San Luis Obispo, a few months ago, she decided to look for an old favorite: Thai–rrific on Higuera. She was so happy to find that it had survived!
Summer concerts in Stafford Park were a quintessential part of self’s summer for over 30 years. Then, the pandemic happened. This year, the concerts came back! YES! And with them, a taco truck. Self tried the lengua taco. Dee-lish!
2 Comments
December 6, 2021 at 10:18 pm (destinations, Family, Links, Places, postaday, Weather)
Tags: Avila Beach, California, memories, Mondays, nostalgia, photo challenge, road trip, San Luis Obispo, summer
It is cold today in Mendocino.
For the WWE Challenge, hosted by Jez, self picked an image from this past summer. California was slowly opening up after more than a year of lockdown. Self drove to the central coast for a change of scene.
Long ago, son was a student at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, so self headed there and spent a blissful few days visiting old haunts.
Leave a Comment
November 29, 2021 at 1:43 pm (destinations, Family, Filipino Writers, Links, Places, postaday)
Tags: Carlos Bulosan, memories, Mondays, nostalgia, photo challenge, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo
The host of the Water, Water Everywhere Challenge is Jez.
Pismo Beach was the emptiest she’d ever seen it, one day in mid-August.
Pismo Beach is important to self’s emotional life, not just because son attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and was here a lot: because Carlos Bulosan wrote a harrowing story about being a migrant worker here (in the 1940s) and feeling cold and isolated and weary.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
2 Comments
November 19, 2021 at 10:50 pm (destinations, Holidays, Links, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: Christmas, Fridays, London, nostalgia, photo challenge
Still playing catch-up with the Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) co-hosted by Cee Neuner and Marsha Ingrao. From Marsha’s blog, Always Writes:
- Public art encompasses any form of art you see in a public place, large or small, statues, murals, graffiti, gardens, parks, etc. The art should be visible from streets, sidewalks, or outdoor public places. Let your imagination and photographic eye show us diverse samples all over the world.
Self has been feeling quite nostalgic about London. She took these pictures December, 2018. Christmas decorations are public art, right?
She took the picture of gold paper chains through the front window of the London Review Bookshop, one of her favorite hangouts: It’s on Bury Place, off Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury.
4 Comments
November 8, 2021 at 2:56 pm (destinations, Links, Places, postaday)
Tags: concerts, memories, nostalgia, photo challenge, Redwood City, summer
This is only self’s second time posting to the WWE Challenge (The first one she had to make PRIVATE because she noticed it was getting a lot of hits from some dodgy sites, and you can never be too careful)
Anyhoo, self took the picture below in July 2019, which was the last normal summer. Courthouse Square was full of life, there were events and concerts every weekend. It was fun to just hang out. Will we ever get back to that? She sincerely hopes so.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
Leave a Comment
October 25, 2021 at 2:12 pm (destinations, Filipino Writers, Holidays, Links, Lists, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: Airbnb, California, life of B, memories, Mondays, nostalgia, photo challenge, road trip, San Luis Obispo, summer
The minute California started coming out of lockdown, self threw a few clothes into her car and drove south, listening to The Bangles and Wilson Phillips on her car radio. (“Someday somebody’s going to make you want to turn around and say goodbyeeeee!”). She passed all the old, familiar sights: Paso Robles, Atascadero, San Miguel, San Luis Obispo!
Posting this for the Past Squares challenge, hosted by Becky at Life of B.
2 Comments
October 12, 2021 at 2:56 pm (destinations, Links, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: Dublin, inspiration, Ireland, life of B, memories, nostalgia, photo challenge, spring
Self misses travel soooo much.
Grateful to Becky at Life of B for coming up with the theme of Past Squares. Self is really having fun going through pictures of her past trips.
These are from May 2017.
Self loves parks, all parks. She loves green, and she loves people-watching.
2 Comments
« Older entries