My.Morning.Friends.

 An appealing breakfast? Mmm a generous portion of dried worms & sunflower seeds at 8.30am sound divine? I suppose it depends on one's hunger levels, or indeed one's skin to feather ratio. Every morning when I am in London I have various visiting fluffy friends who wait expectantly for this appetizing meal.

Two robins.                                       Two blackbirds.                                One very persistent squirrel who isn't such a fan of the Song Bird's tasty snack. If I havn't already put out a few sour cherries the cheeky chappy literally comes up to the window of our glass door onto the terrace, stands on his legs & looks in expectantly. Like a poor, starved creature he looks at me, until I have to give in & provide him with the whole cherry packet. It's those eyes - he's a true Darren Brown.

My VERY satisfied friend.

And sometimes there's even a bit of competition. Don't be fooled by the robin's size - he's quite a feisty little chap. Although the blackbird usually wins.

 

And sometimes this bloody massive pigeon comes along. Not ideal.
Babes you are NOT a robin or song bird okay?

Vin.ta.ge.la.la.

Second hand and vintage bit & bobs, as I've mentioned, are my favourite kind of bits & bobs. I absolutely love spending hour upon hour in charity and vintage shops, burring through a lot of tat to find a brightly coloured, sequin covered, carpet patterned gem - something I simply must have. I came to the realisation a while ago that my bedroom cupboards had reached the stage of being very pissed off with my frequent additions SO it was time to give them a bit of a break. I decided to start selling.
A buying and selling business. Bella's bits & bobs. Why not?

I began at Christmas time selling vintage jumpers. So hot right now. We all want to look like our great great great grandfathers, right? Right.

I now sell shirts & various other items as well as jumpers...even some fun boots ooh la la. I'll soon be posting photographs of some things which people can get in touch with me to buy. Keep an eye out.

I have recently discovered a kindred spirit in none other than Lily Allen babes, our very own 'When I see you cry-y-y, it makes me sm-i-i-ile' gal. She started a fashion ventured 'Lucy in Disguise', sourcing vintage clothes which she sells in her Covent Garden shop & is just launching a fashion line boutique in Harvey Nichols.

My friend Lilah modeled the clothes for the look book of this new boutique & invited me to the Harvey Nichols launch party with her.
Fashionistas & celebs galore. Not that I knew who was who - I was more involved in photographing the kitsch decorations & unusual nibbles. Too much fun.

 

Lily Allen in one of her dresses. A sexy green number.

 

Sophie Ellis-Bexter in a 'Lucy in Disguise' dress.

A.Little.Blue.

It was most peculiar.
I walked (along the road) listening to 'I walked' (by Sufjan Stevens from his new album 'The Age of Adz') when a wild haired, brightly dressed girl questioned me in the street about whether I walked (as a model on the catwalk), asking if I would walk (for her degree show at Central St Martins in two days time).
And there we go! A whole lot of walking, but why not?
So, I went to her studio that afternoon to practice my walk - her requirements were very specific making it rather tricky to get right...energetic, fluid, like water! Dynamic, gliding, no expression, showing inner freedom, strength, yet slow...GET IT?
Anyway, after about an hour, she was finally satisfied. See you on Thursday at 9am outside St Martins on Charing Cross road! Sorted.

The little question of what I would be wearing still remained...

Tights over wedges. For easy walking.

 
And the answer was, how can I put it...


Somewhat...


B.L.U.E.

So I don't want to knock tights - tights are great...but let's just say that after a few hours of restricted breathing because of the damn things, I think it's fair to say I'm happy to see the back of tights for quite a while. 

Forever would be better.

Oh, if it weren't for chilly legs in the bitter winter months, forever could be a reality.

Some.Beachy.Snaps.(with.Plato.&.Aristotle)

It was a very sunny day in Durham & the ice-cream van was out to play attracting local dwellers & frantic, chocolate craving students galore. Great news for the van, but not such great news for Hugo - Alex's VW Campervan - who's popularity was being put to shame. Why should he take this humiliation just for not providing sprinkles & flakes along with his rusty charm? Definitely time to get out of Durham & find his own source of appreciation.
This came in his ability to transport me & Alex to the beach. Perfect. Thank you Hugo.

Hanging out with our bezzie mates. Aristotle the Shark & Plato the turtle. They bloody loved a bit of beach.
No, we weren't reading philosophy books on morality & aesthetics, logic & science, politics & metaphysic.They are just finger puppets.

Every good beachy trip ends with a picnic. In a van. Of course.

Darling.TON.of.wonders.

I just love second hand. Not my second hand (I'm left handed so would consider my right hand to be my second one) but second hand things. Second hand clothes. Second hand bits & bobs.
My friend at photography college in Newcastle knows this, so when he found out that his friend's shop has a 'Flea Pit' he knew it would be my idea of heaven. He was right.
The shop is in Darlington, one stop south of Durham on the traaain, so I cruised along there with my chum to explore it's charms. It was magical. We then found an amazing retro shop AND a starbucks and realised that one stop south of Durham is the most hip & happening place in the North-East.
And most probably the world.

Since this visit I've been dying to return, so the minute I came across a free day in my Northern life, I was back in Darlington faster than Pippa Middleton's instant bum fame. (sexy minx)

The 'Flea Pit' is usually locked & is only revealed to those who feel ready to experience it's glory. I was definitely ready, so the door was unlocked & I was led down, past the shops mysterious 'wishing stone' & into a world of nooks & crannies filled with all manner of glorious and unusual things.

Could this be the most wonderful thing you will ever see? A ROCK CONCERT of rocks on a rock? It makes me so happy.

My next Darlington stop was the charity shop 'Age UK' which turned out to sell retro clothes. The owner explained that when any Age UK around the country is given bright, fun retro clothes they send them to the Darlington shop. It's then sold at charity shop prices. What could be better.

So many bright colours, exciting patterns & designs I was taking snaps like there's no tomorrow.

The shop assistant was like 'Why are you photographing everything in my shop pet?'

'Because I'm a part-time blogaar!' (obviously)

And that sorted that.

My final stop was lunch in a little cafe. I made bezzie mates with some Darlington locals. Perfect.