I Love Brockley

Happy Bank Holiday weekend! It’s a 3 day weekend here in the UK and we finally have some sunshine and warmer temperatures!

While Charlie was working his socks off today, I had a relaxed morning with a cup of coffee before trotting to our local Brockley Market.

It’s a fair walk to the market since we moved house a little bit further, but it was rather enjoyable in the sunshine.  Although I was struggling at times to take pictures with a smoothie in one hand.

Lavender on the window sill

This is my personal favourite.  I just about noticed it, the house was buried in the greenery.

Welcome to Brockley Market!

I was very very tempted!

But then I was intrigued by another stall! ‘Horse Powered’ guys were making a variety of smoothies from some healthy stuff.

‘Horse Powered’ in action.

And here it is – my Berry & Bee Pollen smoothie made from summer berries, Poli-Floral Romanian bee pollen, ground linseed, oats, bananas and rice milk. The other options were ‘The Velvet Underground’ made from beetroot, apple, lemon and Spirulina or you could enjoy ‘The Emerald Zinger’ made from Apple, Lemon, Ginger, Spirulina and Camu Camu. Rose Lemonade sounded very refreshing and Vanilla Maca Maca seemed very sweet.

I also bought some fruit, veg and a bit of organic beef for tonight’s dinner, a very English dish – Cottage pie with garden peas.

Simple, but very time consuming, definitely worth the effort.

Jive Night at The Rivoli Ballroom, Brockley

Seriously, if you want to lose weight, go jiving! It’s so intense and so much fun! It’ the second time we went jiving to The Rivoli Ballroom. It’s the only 1950s ballroom remaining in London and it literally sits on our door step in Brockley!  How can you not go!? It’s famous for it’s original and very red decor and recently has been used as a film location to shoot The Muppets.

The Rivoli Ballroom hosts monthly dance events with live jive and swing music, I promise you, it’s ace!

Here is my outfit for the night. I was very happy with my hair. It brought me back to my childhood; I used to wear my hair like this when I was a teenager.

The building itself might look a little bit grotty from the  outside, but it’s all fast forgotten as soon as you walk into the dimmed reception with the red wallpaper and sparkly chandeliers.

Very nice 50ies touch!

Most of people make the effort to follow the 50ies theme and everyone looks amazing.

Charlie’s accessories.

Look at that shiny ‘John Travolta’ hair!

Lovely Jackson Sloan – amazing r&b and Jazz performer, greeted us as we were walking into the ballroom.

 The atmosphere was really hot, by all means. The night kicked off with a little one hour lesson where we tried to learn some basic Jive moves. Not an easy stuff!

And then it got hotter and hotter… Lots of dancing, skirt swinging and laughing.

The bar with the tall red leather seats reminded of  American diner.

A classic Gin&Tonic combination was very appropriate for the night. I also discovered my new favourite drink – Gin, Ginger cordial and sparkling water. Very refreshing!

Charlie and I having fun on the dance floor.

If you fancy something different and fun, definitely book your ticket for the Jive night in Brockley, they sell out quickly.

The Ancient Town of Godmanchester

There are so many places in the UK that I’ve never heard of, let alone visited them! While in Cambridgeshire on the Bank Holiday weekend, I was taken to another amazing place called Godmanchester. Never heard of it before! It’s a very small town, but full of character! The name comes from Anglo-Saxon name Godmundceaster, meaning a “town or Roman buildings associated with a man called Godmund” (Wikipedia). As well as very pretty it’s an ancient town too, evidence of the town exists as early as the year 1212.

We started our little trot by crossing the main landmark of the town, Chinese Bridge, which stood there since 1827, designed by architect James Gallier.  The 4th edition of the bridge is pictured below.

Across the bridge is Godmanchester Park. The passing boats and swans reminded me of Richmond a little bit.

This building dates back to 1899! I love the chimneys, so pretty!

This way to Cambridge!

Sneaking into people’s gardens…

Godmanchester has a full variety of architectural styles – more than 400 years of architectural history in such a small town.

This bright yellow house is my personal favourite.

Beautiful timber frame building  - another personal favourite in the town.

Stop here for a minute if you are driving through, it’s a beautiful place!

Holme Fen, The Lowest Point in Britain

When in Cambridgeshire last weekend, Charlie’s parents took us on a little road trip to the lowest point in Britain, Holme Fen. Who knew it was so close to Gorefield!

Driving through the flattest part of the country, through the scenic Cambridgeshire countryside, up and down the bumpy road soon enough we reached Holme Woods, the most westerly end of East Anglia fens.

As soon as I got a chance to pose for a picture next to the pole that marked the lowest point in Britain – 2.75 meters below sea level, it, of course, started raining cats and dogs! As it pretty often happens on Bank Holidays here in the UK.

To escape the rain we got back into the car and drove for some lunch to the nearest little market town Ramsey in the historic County of Huntingdonshire.

After the rain stopped and the clouds cleared away, we decided to go back to the woods and have a proper look around.

Bird watching…

or just posing in my case…

It was so refreshing to walk through the lush green carpet of moss, breath in fresh air and listen to the birds.

Great escape from London. If you find yourselves nearby, pop in, it’s a lovely place!

Just a Casual Day in London

Last week was great, I had 3 days off of work and a long Bank Holiday weekend which I enjoyed in the Cambridgeshire countryside.

And did some local shopping.

Having a Monday to Friday day job, you do forget how much fun it is to have a day off on a week day and see what’s happening in the day time. I had two visitors from back home staying with me for 2 days. And when you have guests from Lithuania, most of the time you get this taken out of the travel bag:

A bottle of nice drink and proper Lithuania rye bread is always welcome in every Lithuania’s house, not to mention all the other wonderful presents I was given.

The girls were so lucky with the weather, however, this visit being a business trip, we didn’t have time to enjoy the sunshine. Nonetheless the clear sky made our busy days more enjoyable! After the lengthy business meeting, a cup of nice coffee and a piece of amazing peanut butter cheesecake at Bea’s of Bloomsbury at St Paul’s, we decided to have a slow trot along the river Thames.

London’s South Bank is definitely a good place to take your guests for a pleasant walk on a sunny day. Not only to see the Houses of Parliament and London Eye, but also street entertainment.  Last Thursday we enjoyed the street dancers, at times, painful to watch!

After dropping the girls at the airport and saying our goodbyes as the sun was just rising (at 5am!), Charlie and I continued our trip toward Cambridgeshire. And as it always happens, Charlie’s parents took us on a little road trip to a few places they thought would be good for my little blog.

Medieval National Trust Property: Ightham Mote

Here I am again, sitting and reminiscing about the time spent at this gorgeous moated manor house near Ightham village in Kent. I loved the place before I even stepped foot in to the grounds of the National Trust property.

As it often happens, Charlie and I randomly decided to have a Sunday away from London. The sun was shining and promising another great weekend. We took off early in the morning towards Sevenoaks, Kent, to the lovely English countryside  where we met up with friends for a little stroll around the medieval 14th century manor house and a little picnic/lunch in the picturesque garden.

The house, built nearly 700 years ago is absolutely amazing and definitely worth a visit.

There is something very romantic about these old houses preserved in time. Every time I go to places like this, it helps me to put a clearer picture about the English heritage.

There is so much history and architectural variety of 6 centuries, definitely something to suite everyone’s taste.

Hand painted Chinese wallpaper

 One of the highlights – Tudor painted ceiling in The New Chapel

Getting ready for the medieval dance

We also got to watch the performance from the top of the Gatehouse Tower.

Craziness at Columbia Road Flower Market

It was supposed to be easy and enjoyable, but Transport for London decided to make the warmest and sunniest day in months a bit of a struggle.  From where I live, it’s nice and easy to get to Columbia Road in Hoxton, one train journey and I am there… but when I checked the trains this morning, tfl.gov.uk suggested to take 2 buses… oh no… I so don’t like buses… but never mind the buses, it also suggested the most ridiculous route to get there! But what a girl won’t do for a bunch of fresh flowers…

My trip to Whitstable fell through as Charlie had to do some last-minute work, so I thought it would be nice to trot and wander around in a market full of colourful flowers. I also wanted to pop into ‘Beyond Fabrics’ and buy a piece of fabric for my Jive Night skirt, which, by the way, I will be making myself… Very ambitious, but also very doable!

Right, enough moaning, I managed to get a replacement bus on the way back home which was nice and easy for a change. I am back home now, resting on a deck chair in my little garden in the sunshine with a cup of lovely coffee. So after all the adventures on the road, It was fun to push my way forward through the crowds of people trying to buy some flowers or just take some pictures. I was doing both and last time I recall being at the market, it wasn’t soooo busy… Must be the sunshine and the temperatures! +20 today! If you are planning to go to the Colombia Road Flower Market, I suggest you go there for 8.00 am while everyone is still enjoying a Sunday morning lie in.