Shoe Tree

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

As I stopped to take this picture, an elderly woman carrying a small painting came up to me on the sidewalk and spoke in a thick accent. I didn't really understand what she was saying at first, so I just said "no thanks." Dumb, huh? Turns out she's 82, hails from Portugal, has a cat named Lucy, and this is her garden. She told me it's no good now because there are no flowers. She's going to take all those boots off the tree, repaint, replant, and rehang them. I'll go back over the summer to check on her progress.

Whitstable

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Last weekend we spent 5 days in and around Whitstable, which is an hour and twenty minutes east of London by train. The town is well-known for many things, including native oysters and these beach huts. On Monday morning we learned that artist Margaret Salmon lives there, because there was an article about her in the Independent. Of course, that might be an English Fact.

Luxury is a Chocolate Biscuit

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

We were recently having a discussion regarding what constitutes luxury in this country as compared with the USA. I was saying that from a British perspective, everything in America is luxurious because here, luxury is... Matthew finished my sentence: "a chocolate biscuit." Here is proof. In case you can't read the fine print, it says that John Lennon once requested payment in these particular chocolate biscuits instead of money. £7.50 for a tin, btw. I imagine they must be pretty darn luxurious.

Here, kitty kitty

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

From the Chapman Brothers’ excellent show of corrugated cardboard animals at Paradise Row.