Persephone Book Shop, Take A Look With Me

Persephone Book Shop

If you have never visited the online store for Persephone Books you really must, it's quite delightful, also they have a wonderful catalogue spelled the English way,  that you may see online and  they will mail at request and if you buy a book.

Persephone Books is in Lamb's Conduit Street, so Jean had mapped this out as part of our walking tour and you will see it marked on previous posted maps.   

I did treat myself to one book, how could I go there and not do so, I bought Good Things In England  a delightful book written by Florence White in 1932.   Florence White was a free lance food journalist.  Wonderful old English recipes and she makes some very interesting comparisons between English, American and French cooking.  I will in future posts write about some of the interesting things Florence White says.

Some of the good old fair of English cooking is the Meat Pie in umpteen varieties and variations, my next post will show you one that we had for lunch.

The other thing I like about Persephone Books is that the inside end papers are always from the time period the book was written in.  Quite often a fabric print which represents the era and is book appropriate.  Lovely little paper book-marks in the same design.

So I was very happy to actually visit the shop for Persephone Books. Jean and I looked and looked, it was hard to come out with just one book.

Christy

LYDC London And T K Maxx Not T J Maxx

My LYDC London Bag

While visiting Cambridge I thought let me stop off in the Cath Kidston Store, and although very eye catching I'm always disappointed when things are so expensive.

So after wandering around Cambridge all day and on making a slow amble back to the bus station I saw T K Maxx and I thought let me have a look.  Now if you know me you will know that I'm very partial to bags.  In fact in our last house we had a little cranny cupboard in the attic and my husband called it the bag graveyard.  And there in the store were two bags one in white as you see above and one in a deep pink.  I had seen a bag in Cath Kidston store very similar design in green with white polka dots and of course many of her other designs are the flower designs.  In any case the polka dot bag was sixty-nine pounds sterling, now I think that's a bit steep.

It was very hard to make a decision on the bag in T K Maxx I even asked someones opinion and she said the white one, but in the end I decided on the pink, but when I got it to the counter it was four pounds sterling more than the white one.  So I questioned this and was told that's the way it was, so on principle I did not buy it and walked out the shop.  Even though at twenty-four pounds it was a lot less than the Cath Kidston, but the white one was nineteen pounds.  After walking away I wondered whether I had made the right decision by leaving it behind, and maybe I was being a little too principled, but to late, I was so tired I was not walking back for it.

Fast forward to the end of my visit, where I spent a day in Ely and on the way there we passed through Newmarket and in Newmarket they have a T K Maxx, so I stopped off and there was the bag in white and I bought it.  I'm glad I did and at a third the price I love it and the tag, lining and London on the strap.

As I'm sure you worked out T K Maxx is the USA's T J Maxx.

Christy

St Pancras Eurostar and Shops

St Pancras International

High speed rail arrived at St Pancras International on 14 November 2007. All Eurostar services now operate to and from St Pancras International, our central London home. Explore the station, and read about the history of this iconic London landmark.

We said a fond farewell to Waterloo International on 13 November 2007, 13 years and 81,891,738 travellers since Eurostar’s maiden voyage in 1994.

The move to St Pancras International heralded a revolution in travel between the UK and Continental Europe. St Pancras International, in the heart of London, offers better connections throughout the UK and is home to the faster Eurostar. What’s more, all Eurostar journeys are carbon neutral– at no extra cost to you.

Reduced journey times:  Eurostar journeys are at least 20 minutes faster from St Pancras International, on the UK’s first high-speed line.

Shopping at St Pancras

There is much to do at the station and shopping is defiantly one of them, with a massive range of clothes shops, games shops and any other shops that you could think of. St Pancras International has great retail offer, with well known high street names and independent retailers. The station has well over 30 shops to choose from including brand names such as Marks and Spencer, WH Smith and Boots.

Wild Violets Tea Garden Cafe, Hulmeville, PA

My friend C. by an old horse hitching post.

I love the tall windows.

The high ceilings and weatherboard walls.

C's teatime plate, scone with strawberry jam.

My teatime plate, scone with lemon curd.

Our table.

My friend C and I had a wonderful tea at "Wild Violets Tea Garden Cafe" in Hulmeville.  It was just what we needed to sit chat and have girl talk.  We hadn't got together for a while because of our schedules and distance.

The tearoom is in an old building, with a French style; which also houses a couple of antique shops.

The owner made you feel very welcome and our sandwiches were delicious and fresh, plus we enjoyed our traditional tea scone.  C had Shannon River Tea and I had Fresian.  My tea had a slightly smokey taste and it was a good pot of tea.

Afterwards we visited the antique shops, and I bought something I couldn't resist.  I will show you this another day. 

Christy

Weaver's Orchard Shop Produce

On the pie plate stand are Shoofly Pies, very Pennsylvania Dutch.

I tried maple walnut fudge.

Ever since I went to the orchard shop last weekend, I've been thinking of making fudge.  Fudge is easy to make and soo good.  I always made it as a child, along with peppermint creams, toffee and coconut ice.

Christy

Project for this Weekend to Sew One Cushion Slip Cover

The project is to sew one bottom cushion slip cover for the above sofa.  Totally finished with piping and zips.  I've never made slip covers before.  I do have the one lot of fabric cut out, so must, must not procrastinate and get this done.

I have the Chinese tapestry fabric which matches up with the above chair, which I must admit to having professionally upholstered.

The sofa above was given to me about five years ago.  It is soo comfortable.  It came out of a house on the Main Line, a very affluent area and was given to a friend and when they moved back to the Scotland, they gave the sofa to me.

So I am bound and determined to keep it and to tie it in with a matching slip cover.  You can see the two fabrics above.  I do not have enough of the tapestry so bought the white material from Jomar, the crazy miss match store with great sewing buys.  $1.50 per yard.  I bought the whole bolt, because you will not get another one.  Just love that store.  Plus I bought four zips at .50 cents each.

My plan is to do the four cushions in the Chinese tapestry, with off white piping and to do the balance of the sofa in the off white fabric with Chinese fabric piping.  That's the plan for now, it may change.

Slap me on the hand if I do not get it done.

Christy

Squirrel Broach and Items on Clearance

Little framed squirrel broach.

I came across some fabric with little winter animals on, it was just so sweet that I had the idea to make them into little broaches. I know we should be thinking of spring.

I chain stitched them with metallic rainbow thread, just to see how it would look. Creations are always a work in progress.

I will put this in my Lil Bit Brit Corner Store.

This is the thread I used, it was on clearance, along with these little items below.

Christy

Dunken Donuts on a Snowey Day

I thought I'd show you an American icon, Dunkin Donuts. When ever I go home to the UK I take a dozen with me, I should probably take two dozen. My favourite donuts are a powder donut with white cream and a crueller. Bo likes Boston creams.

I always like to look around the shops when I visit other countries, enjoy the atmosphere and compare items and prices.

So when nothing was on the roads, Bo and I decided to walk over and buy a couple of pounds of coffee beans and some donuts to take home. They were mightily enjoyed.

Christy

Elsenham Sweet Shop

When I was in my early teens, I would ride my bike to visit my friend who lived in Tye Green. She lived in a large old tudor house, with wonderful beams and a thatched roof. I especially remember the orchard in blossom, on a wonderful spring day.

On a Saturday afternoon we would ride our bikes to the sweet shop in Elsenham.
The building above was where the sweet shop used to be. What fun we had with all those large jars of sweets, where you would order a quarter of this and a quarter of that. Our favourites were lemon sours with sherbet inside them, and bon bons, which were toffee with a sugar powder on the outside.

We would ride up this road from Tye Green.

To this intersection, and cross the road to the sweet shop.

It was a little sad to see that the shop is now empty. These little village shops are hard to keep going. I think those wonderful front windows are just crying out for some creative enterprise.

Christy