Delights of the falling season

It’s hard to crack open the blog when I’ve spent a little while away from it. I forget what words unlock my voice. So instead of struggling to find something profound to say that will encompass the highs and lows of balance finding, I will share some fun things from the tail end of last year. (Last year already! Time flies on hummingbird wings.)

A Happy Meeting

I had the good fortune to meet with the lovely bloggers behind Happy Frog And I and HeArtfully Drawn. A few messages passed between us beforehand (I have long hair! I’m wearing a red coat! I have on boots!), the way they do when online acquaintances skip past the monitor and land in the real world as friends. We instantly got along, nattering and chattering and laughing and sharing stories, making our table nestled inside a Paddington pub a small beacon of happiness. All too soon it was time to wind scarves around necks and bid a fond farewell... until next time.

A Grand Evening

Ever since the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel threw open its refurbished doors I have wanted to wander inside and soak up its luxurious Art Deco atmosphere. Luckily two good friends felt exactly the same way, and since we were in a celebratory sort of mood, we made reservations at the Gilbert Scott restaurant. This was (and still is, in a way) the Dining and Coffee Room of the original Midland Grand hotel, with pillars of polished limestone and gilded capitals carved with conquers, pea pods, and bursting pomegranates. 

The decor of the bar area is magnificent. There is something about sitting in such a chic environment that makes backs straighten, and anticipation thread through the air like stardust.

The ceilings were a marvel...

...awash with colour and style...

 ...and blinking large bells!


We enjoyed a lovely meal and relaxed afterwards with their signature cocktail, the 1873. Again it was one of those sparkling evenings where time fooled us, skipping ahead around the corner before we realised it had slipped away.

Read a lovely write-up of our night by M at To Happy Vegans



 

A Classical Spectacular

One of my biggest indulgences is going to the Royal Albert Hall at least once a year to listen to amazing orchestras. My mum shares my passion, so we excitedly look forward to our treat – a day ‘up west’ window-shopping, a pause for a coffee and cake, and then dinner in Kensington before the show. A Classical Spectacular will be a night of very accessible scores – as well as Elgar, there could be Ravel, Handel, Verdi, the ‘infernal galop’ of the Can Can, a tenor singing Nessun Dorma... A beautiful evening lost in music, letting thoughts soar into dreams.

St Martin-in-the-fields

Yesterday I decided to try and get over this odd writer’s block with chapter 13 (sorry, C, still not done!) and go get inspired. Chapter 13 is all about the Queen’s Coronation Day in 1953. So good pal R and I decided to go and walk the route to see if I could pick up any hints and tips to work into the novel. And while we were up there milling around, someone pushed a leaflet into our gloved hands about a classical music concert at St Martin-in-the-fields.

I love that about London, the fact that there is always something going on around the corner, and it doesn’t have to cost your left kidney. Cheap tickets were £6, and although it is lovely to see the orchestra, it is not strictly needed, as you can close your eyes and drift into the music even from behind a pillar. As well as the fact that we are both pretty skint, so cheap seats it was.

And it was great! The orchestra was the Belmont Ensemble of London, and they were playing Bach, Mozart, Purchell, and building up to Vivaldi Four Seasons. We sat in the top aisle, on hard dark mahogany church pews, and the music simply soared around us in that beautiful church.

Classical music sings to my soul. It can be heartbreakingly beautiful, uplifting, fantastical… I gazed across the hall above the subdued lighting from the candelabras and my mind danced with dust motes in the light. I dreamt of creating oil paintings again, I imagined two girls sitting opposite were actually angels (as their white coats behind them almost looked like wings), I thought of the novel and that one day it will be a reality, I saw myself waltzing back down an aisle to Vivaldi, I pictured a studio filled with light, I imagined being a mother, I saw a theatre stage lit up in all its glory, I saw books stretching high to the ceiling, and a garden glimpsed through a window. I imagined a huge ensemble dancing for me, colours and light retreating and forming, patterns and shadows and half-lights...

And before I knew it, I was sketching again, something I haven’t done for years. It was near the end, during the Four Seasons L'estate, and I quickly sketched my view of the church on the back of the playbill.

And now I feel all inspired again - quick, chapter 13!