bye bye chapel

It is a gorgeous, COLD, clear autumn day in Stanton St John. I just cleared a giant pile of leaves from the Chapel's front steps, in anticipation of the movers coming later this week.

The sparse tree branches out there are a good metaphor for what the Chapel looks like indoors - pretty sparse! Pictures are off the walls, bookshelves are empty, and all we have to show for three years of life in the UK is in four big boxes.

Maybe it's fitting then, that I finally show you all (those of you who haven't already seen these on FB) what the Chapel looked like at the height of summer - voila! a much overdue house tour, here on the front lawn!

Downstairs: Living, kitchen, entry and a little loo

Upstairs: one lovely big master suite with bathroom and dressing area (and my "office" of course). I'll miss coming to work here every day!

  

   

it's not the seaside, but...

My permanent life in England ends in exactly two weeks tomorrow and I'm making good progress on my to-do list—I cooked up a powerful rogan josh on Tuesday, I'm nearly finished the third of my four books, I've shot 1.5 rolls of film, tromped in the Cotswalds and visited some new London spots.

Tomorrow I'm spending the night with friends in London, after which I plan to cross items 1 (one last west end show) and 6 (Cath Kidston goodies) off my list.

So that leaves evensong at New College (Sunday!), the Ashmolean (maybe Wednesay when the Queen will be there!) and finally, a visit to the sea.

That last item will, sadly, remain uncrossed off, but with good reason - rather than chilling by the Atlantic, I'll be chilling (well, freezing probably) by the Danube! Dean and I just booked a weekend in Budapest with our awesome friends Chris and Heather. yippee!!!

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Moving sale update: the iPod dock has sold, and the Eames chair is off the market. We didn't really want to sell it anyway. The Habitat bench is still up for grabs at a reduced rate of £65. Any takers?

big top wedding

The photos from this NYC wedding made my morning. I sorta laughed my way through the entire slideshow, wishing I had seen this spectacle for myself!

[via Jeremy&Kathleen]

the seafarers

The Seafarers - Sea of Love from Eighty Four Films on Vimeo.

via we love you so

for sale!

If you live in Oxford, or even southern England, the following may interest you:

We're selling stuff!

Click on the listed items to learn more.

• Habitat oak Radius bench
• Eames eiffel dsr chair
• Philips micro hi-fi (iPod, CD, USB, bluetooth etc)

email me at thefrontlawn@gmail.com if you're interested.

2 down (8 to go) - Exmouth Market & IWM

A Swedish housewarming brought me to London this past week, and since I was making the trip anyway, I decided to make a day of it and cross another item off my leaving-England-to-do list: explore a new London neighbourhood.

I had three sites in mind, actually, and a view to take my time and see whatever I may along the way.

First, inspired by this photo and a recent interest in pie, I took myself to Exmouth market, near Angel. In the end I passed on the pie and instead grabbed myself a bagel, a cappuccino and a window seat at Brill - notably one of the best London coffee shops I've found (cosy, friendly, perfectly priced, delicious coffee and great tunes played at that magic volume for getting a spot of work done and brilliant eastend people-watching when you need a distraction). In addition to good coffee, Exmouth had some amazing stationery, gift and book shops: all the makings of a great London find in my books.

From there I ventured south of the Thames to the Imperial War Museum. This visit was partially inspired by some WWII posters I recently spotted in a mag, and my own research for an article that will be coming out here next week. This museum actually blew me away. There was so much more than I expected: a floor dedicated to the Holocaust, an exhibit on children in the war, the Blitz, spies in both wars and some incredible machinery. Not surprisingly, I actually spent the most time mooning over WWII and Cold War design and debating whether or not I have room for one more poster in my luggage.

I made one last stop on my way back to Baker Street, at Borough Market - one of my favourite corners of London - to pick up a housewarming gift and an overpriced cuppa from Monmouth. ah, bliss.

Now, admittedly, I'm a bit behind on my to-do list, but I have been doing plenty of other fun things in the meantime:

+queueing to see New Moon with all the pre-teens on Saturday night
+eating curbside falafels and chips
+meeting with sweet American friends for coffee
+having two lovely Londoners in Oxford for a day of clean air and hot drinks
+planning one last euro adventure before we leave (stay tuned!)

cotswold ramble (9 to go)

This weekend I crossed the first item off my to-do-before-leaving-England list! There are still nine to go but I can happily double some of them up (stay tuned).

On Saturday we headed to Linacre College to pick up our friend Jeremy and his lovely fiancee (in town for a visit), Maren. After grabbing some requisite lattes, we went for a long drive along one of my favourite routes from Oxforshire to Worcestershire: through the flawless village of Burford, the alliteratively splendid Stow-on-the-Wold, and finally stopped in 'the gem of the Cotswolds' Broadway for a tromp through the fields and a pub lunch.

Next stop was Tudor-iffic Winchcombe, for a rainy walk to the Sudeley Castle. the Castle was closed for the winter but I was hoping for some Blenheim-like grounds to roam. All we got was a glimpse into the gardens and the use of a free loo.

All in all, a worthy farewell to the Cotswolds.

J Tillman (eating my words already)

Dean got turned onto Robin Pecknold's side project White Antelope earlier this year but, as Camp Regier has been entirely oversaturated by Fleet Foxes, I didn't embrace it quite so wholeheartedly. It is good mind you, but I needed a break from Robin's admittedly wonderful vocals.

But it was definitely a treat today to discover another Fleet Foxes outpost courtesy of drummer Joshua Tillman. His tunes have some of that same FF fairytale quality, multi-part harmonies and 70s folk feel, but Josh's vocals are a refreshing change. and yes, Hillary, this is probably going to top Mumford and Sons in my 2009 listing.

Download his Daytrotter Session from SXSW here.

He is playing The Crocodile in Seattle on December 11th.

I suppose it would be foolish to attempt a drive down to Seattle on the very day I arrive from the UK?

Oxfordshire's (highly stylized) White Horse

On a cold and foggy Sunday afternoon, three kids set out to see one of Oxfordshire's oldest unsolved mysteries - the White Horse.

For fans of crop circles and other pastoral quirks: the White Horse is said to be roughly 3000 years old. No one knows why it's there, or if it's even a horse, but at least since 1072 it's been referred to as one.

Dean, Tenelle and I donned our wellies to go check out the phenomenon. The fog rolled into the Vale of the White Horse at the same moment that we did. And fog aside, we discovered that it is nearly impossible to see the full white horse from land. (Scroll down to see the full creature in an aerial shot.) An airplane not at our disposal, here's the best we did (that's a tail, hind leg and back you see):


Tenelle, expecting a truer depiction of a horse, was a bit mystified. Later, when we stopped for lunch we discovered that she wasn't the only one who envisaged something that looked a bit more horse-like:


To be honest though, horse or no horse, this was one of the most beautiful British landscapes I've seen outside the Lake District. We made a short walk of it, but on a sunnier day and in better shoes, I might have taken up the Guardian on this suggested 16km route.

Given the conditions we did have, the highlight of the day was a stop at an Uffington pub for Sunday dinner - fish and chips for Dean, pork roast for me, and for Tenelle, that British pub favourite: ham, eggs and chips!



The White Horse from above:

one month list

It's November 11.

Know what that means?

One month exactly until I leave the UK as a resident. Next time I set foot on this island I'll be nothing more than a tourist. An educated tourist, but a tourist all the same.

The last month has disappeared and I know that if I'm not intentional I will leave these shores with too much regret. Today I sat down and wrote a list - a list of all the (non-work-related) things I must do before I leave England.

Here goes:

1. see a West End show
2. tromp through a muddy field in a Cotswold village
3. go to the sea
4. cook lamb rogan josh for Dean
5. go to evensong at New College or Christchurch
6. purchase something in Cath Kidston's London print (see above!)
7. shoot 3 rolls of film
8. read 4 books
9. visit the newly remodeled Ashmolean museum
10. explore one London neighbourhood that I've yet to visit
bonus: book a bargain spa day in London :)

I better get moving. Stay tuned for progress reports!

Mumford & sons

Potential to be a 2009 favourite, and I'm not sure why I never got around to listening to them until now—Mumford and Sons just made my morning.

This is pure, good folk with a Fleet Foxes-esque sound, but also little hits of Damien Rice. Major bonus is the refreshing banjo that lends it a maritime vibe.

Do have a listen.

rwanda: hope rises

The other night we were showing some friends the trailer for a film that one of our most super-est talented-est friends has spent the last three years creating. It's like, the fifth time I've viewed this clip , but somehow it still always gets a reaction out of me.

Trevor made multiple trips to Rwanda with the help of his other super talented friends, to capture the story of a Rwandan couple who inadvertently found themselves on opposite sides of a tribal war - he is a Hutu and she is a Tutsi. They do an amazing job of capturing both the horror of those days, and also the hope and healing that Rwanda is experiencing now.

After years of watching latest edits and hearing about the evolution of this film, I'm happy to say it's finally available on DVD. I've already reserved my copy and highly recommend you do the same! Watch the trailer below or, better, watch it here so you can see the full screen.

Click here to learn more about the film and the production of it.

cruel

Walking down Cornmarket this morning, in the rain, after my soggy paper bag dropped, and broke, a fresh jug of milk all over the ground, a pair of buskers were playing Summertime on the trumpet. With no hint of irony.

two cities

I admit it, I'm a stalker.

I monitor with embarrassing frequency the goings on of one 'Vancouver, BC'

But ever since we got confirmation of our Toronto move, my attention has shifted (somewhat) to some preliminary TO research.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not only confessing, but also sharing my window into the lives of each lovely Canadian city.

Latest Vancouver reading:

Urban Outfitters' Vancouver blog - for art openings, fashion and general hipster fun

The Block magazine blog - I loved the Block, even when it attempted to be a hip suburban magazine, and I like it now, though it's maybe a bit too glitzy to truly reflect Vancouver style.

Latest Toronto reading:

From the guys who bring Beyond Robson to Vancouver, the slightly better BlogTO is keeping me apprised of relevant goings on in my future city.

Daily Dose of Imagery - the original photo blog, still going strong after all these years

And of course, I've been spending way too much time on CraigsList checking out flats for rent and mid-cen-mod furniture for sale.

seine, november 2006

found some old photos tonight.

gearing up to say bye bye to europe.

treat for Domino mourners

Sometimes Goop comes up with some great gems. Thanks Gwyneth!

In the latest issue i was tipped off to Lonny - a new web magazine from a former Domino editor and photographer. Yup, I'll still miss holding that glossy goodness in my hands each month, but I'll certainly take this as a next best!

from one big smoke to another

Answers to your questions:

Dean was offered a job at the University of Toronto. And he took it.

He'll be doing roughly the same thing he's doing now, for around the same salary, but said salary goes a lot further in Canada and he'll be the unit's lead health economist, and he'll have his own office (a big selling point for Deano).

I'll be... writing and editing still, I imagine! Freelance is keeping me steadily employed these days, but I am missing the creative collaboration of a team. I will probably start looking for something permanent in early spring when my two big current projects wrap up.

yes, Dean is sad to leave his beloved England (will the Torontonians appreciate his British style? and where will he wear his Wellies? he wonders) but I'm mostly just sad to be leaving behind a few awesome friends.

Yes, Oxford is beautiful, full of history, culture and great architecture, but it is certainly not home.

and again, yes, admittedly Toronto isn't home either, but it's a heckuva lot closer, and has all this stuff going for it:
+ it cuts the Christmas commute in half
+ it puts me in prime proximity of this gal who is having a baby in Pennsylvania in May
+ it's Canada's publishing mecca
+ it gets HOT summers
+ it's on a major body of water (the Thames is not a major body of water, so forget what you were thinking)
+ it's a really big and pretty cool city - a big mash-up of cultures much like London, but with more places to park
+ we know a few people there who we like!

so i guess this is a fairly awesome thing.

Our timeline at the moment looks something like this:

Dec 11. Amanda to Vancouver
Dec 16. Dean to Saskatchewan
Dec 22. Amanda to Saskatchewan
Jan 1. Dean to Oxford, Amanda to Vancouver
Jan 7-11. Amanda to TO for apartment hunting!
Jan 16. Dean's last day of work!
late Jan. Dean to Vancouver
early Feb. D+A move to Ontario!

We look forward to seeing MANY of you while we're in Vancouver, Sask, and before we leave Ox, and we will have a guest room in Toronto for all you visitors.

oh shoot, I forgot to mention

we're moving.

Details tomorrow.

anthropologie at last

I have been waiting a long time for this Regent Street shop to finally open, and open it is! Complete with suspended narwhale and a living wall.

Bracing for a visit next week. Londoners, please, don't push.

discovery weekend

In a very few days we will reach the 16 month mark in our Oxford life.

In fact, it's just over three years since I first picked up and moved to the UK to join Dean in his second year of PhD studies at the University of Aberdeen.

We've seen A LOT in our first couple years in Britain - most of Scotland, the south coast of Wales, we've seen Kent, the Dorset coast and the Lake District, we've rambled our way through nearly a dozen Cotswold villages, and I can now find my way around London without a map (sometimes)... but for such a tiny island, Britain has so much to see!

This weekend I started composing a mental list of everything I still want to do in England - starting with activities right here in Oxford, extending all the way down to the southernmost tip of Cornwall. Every weekend from now until December 11 (when I head home for Christmas), I plan to cross at least one item off my list.

And this weekend we crossed off two!

Saturday took us to the Oxford Botanic Gardens. Sure, it's autumn, but that doesn't make plants any less fascinating.





Sunday we Jazzed up to Birmingham to see if the Brummies are as dumb as they sound (just kidding! only some of them were) and if the shopping lived up to its own reputation. It did!