Shad Thames

I Never Knew That About London by Christopher Winn explains what 'shad' means. When I knew the Design Museum was in Shad Thames, I thought "What on earth is that?! A 'shad'?! Like a street or a road?". I would look it up again, but the book has gone AWOL (I'll blame the brother!) It's something to do with fish and the docks that were once there, but it's a really interesting little street, apparently Dickens set some of Oliver Twist there!

Yesterday we had a really good look around the Design Museum, there was just so much to see! First the Design Awards had such a range of furniture, architecture, graphics and above are some favourites. The David Adjaye photography exhibition had eye-opening snaps of all across the African continent.

The Sustainable Futures exhibition also included ways, on many scales, in which designers are becoming more sustainable; this is from whole cities in Brazil with incentives such as football tickets for recycling, to portable plants which clarify the air for astronaunts. Even the Design Awards had a wide range of sustainable prducts- which I find so great to see. I think I've become pretty hippie! ,

Check out: Edible Estates by Fritz Haeg, bamboo furniture by Grassworks, pallet furniture by Studiomama, folding plug by Min-Kyu Choi (Mum's favourite), repaired street benches by Linda Brothwell

Long Socks

Through some blog wanderings I came across kris atomic and then the embroidery of Susie Cowie, which is just so delicate. Do take a look! Tomorrow I'm thinking of popping along to the Design Museum to see the exhibitions they have on. The snap above, by pony_tail, has given me an idea of what to wear in this warm but chilly windy spring weather! I also want to make myself a dress. So much to do, so little time!

Guerrilla Gardening

I saw this book in the Design Museum shop and it's currently on its way to me from Amazon. I really enjoy cooking, Ma has really got into growing vegetables over the past few years and I seem to include allotments in my architectural design work, so I want to get into growing stuff.
The one (pretty large) problem is that I have molluscophobia, an irrational fear of slugs and snail! I've had it as long as I remember, I have no idea where it has come from but apparently Steve Martin has it too!
Anyway the book gives ideas from growing food in old cans and even welly boots - well away from any slimy critters?! Can't wait to get started!

Design Museum

Today Ma and I popped up to London to visit the Design Museum. I have really been wanting to go to see the current Form and Matter exhibition of the work of David Chipperfield Architects. The work was presented in many forms but the most striking and inspiring were the models.
I find London to have such an intriguing mix of buildings sitting next to one another, just like City Hall and Tower Bridge. Also alot of Christmas trees have been left abandoned in all sorts of places, waiting to be collected to be taken to the shredder... dum dum duuuuum!