356 days

Zucchini quiche I find some of the new food photography from those super-food-blogs and also in flickr a little too standard pretty, too fussy, too folksy. I quite like pictures that show "realistic food", that anyone can cook. Naturally, there is also a type of food photography that turns food into something else, into art, like Cesca's breakfasts. What I don't like is the little bows, the uselessly added ornaments, the decorative containers you would never normally use: to quote Adolf Loos "ornament is crime". But I am, of course, also a little jealous of fotos that are perfectly styled, with perfect depth of field, perfect everything, something I haven't learnt just yet. And my food somehow never turns out like those lovely bokeh-ed dreams from blogs like La Tartine Gourmande, or deliciousdays (see in my links). chocolate coated shortbread

Ha ha ha - capitalism imploding - era of the hedge fund is over - banks being saved with public money - ha ha ha. Naively, I used to think these people knew what they were doing. I have little to lose myself, and I haven't heard of any bankers jumping out of windows just yet. Good bye, Lear jet, good bye Porsche, hello bicycle. And hello, best bakery in München! Neulinger, 2xin der Volkartstrasse in Neuhausen, einmal ganz oben beim Rotkreuzkrankenhaus, einmal unten durch den Mittleren Ring.

When I visit my Mother, sometimes I walk past farms and fields to the next station. This is what I saw today. It's just like that, nothing special but for me it's essence of home and countryside.

Getting round to reading all those books at last. Cycling with gloves. Socks in bed, radiators on, windows shut, pumpkin soup, balcony bare, sunshine lowslung, afternoons on the sofa, packets of tissue, woolly cardigan, hello autumn!

Little shop in Port Appin my feet in a little mountain stream (hallo Luisa!) on the way to Easdale, Isle of Seil I am resisting making that step back into the workaday, the autumn, the end of swimming and sweating. Only now that I am back and once more "chained" to my desk am I truly appreciating the taste of being outdoors all day in Scotland, how delicious the fresh sea air was and the clean smell of mint, the colours of the flowers and the heather. Even the slight grey mist and the drizzle seem so mild and benevolent. Here the sun is out today, and it is cold. Crocuses in An Cala Gardens near Easdale, on the Isle of Seil in Argyll, Scotland Honeysuckle in Port Appin

While I was in London, a scientific debate was raging about which type of stripe makes "voluptuous" women look slimmer: vertical or horizontal. The correct answer is now: horizontal. Fashion magazines have long been telling hapless fatties to wear lengthwise stripes - which, according to the latest "scientific" findings, makes them look even fatter. Anyone who shops in department stores has known this for a long time - who hasn't seen the dreadful rows of jolly sailor-stripe bags otherwise known as fashion for the larger size? I decided to try it out on myself today. Better hoops or stripes? By the way, black is recommended as the elegant way out (I would never have guessed). Maybe the solution is: some up, some down, and black and white Archive picture from 2002, with my Mummy wearing no stripes at all.

Hampstead Heath Manor House tube station the Clock Tower, Crouch End A couple in Hampstead Heath Workmen's cafés aren't what they used to be - check the sign for Mocha Caffe Latte! They say when you are tired of London, you are tired of life. I say, you never get tired of London, just tired of living there. The poet William Blake wrote about London in his "Songs of Experience": I wander thro' each charter'd street, Near where the charter'd Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. No "Songs of Innocence" for London.

I said I would be back when autumn has landed - scarily true, it is cold and miserable now in München. Now, after a flight followed by two train journeys and another flight, I am back home with a suitcase full of pictures (I am beginning to have a frightening photography habit) and some excellent adventures. They included: two parties in London, an overnight train journey in a sleeper cabin (height of luxury and fun), a full-blown gale during the first night on the boat, a couple of all-day hikes, eating handfuls of blackberries, talking to long-haired cows, eating fish and chips three days running, staying in four different hotels, visiting two galleries in Edinburgh and being met at the airport with meatballs. Despite not very nice weather, Scotland was quite warm. As the planned boat trip turned stormy, I ended up with a hotel crawl in Oban, helped by my friend S. I love staying in hotels! It gave me a chance to watch English and Scottish TV - which seems to consist completely of ...

Travelling isn't getting any easier with old age! Today I felt sick all day, I am sure it's because I am changing location for a few poxy days. Flying to London for a birthday party and to see my friends, and then off to Scotland to go sailing. I hope! if it rains, it will be more like driving around in the rain. But no matter - I am very excited to see a few lochs and drink a few whiskies and go shopping in Tesco. Will be back when autumn has landed.

...tea from old china cups and cakes are taken outside in the sunshine, under autumn leaves. and this picture is not creepy, simply funny.

a monday, and a rainy one to boot. get used to the idea of the big sunny holiday being over (temporarily). make a wholesome soup. read up on population data. read the paper. remember a tremendous cake I ate on holiday. produce paragraphs. look out of the window. relax.