City and country birthday-s

One of my favourite places in the whole world is the V & A museum, and with the opportunity of doing "Something-nice-for-your-birthday" I decided ... hang the expense, I'm going on a London day out and that's that.

My buddy Cath and I decided we would go to see the Ballgown exhibition that's opened there recently.

We had a picnic in the central courtyard.

The exhibition was amazing. This was my favourite dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, completely covered in feathers.

Can you imagine how long this took to put together?
The display was pretty spectacular too. These photos are from this website.
And a brilliant blog here about the exhibition from a nine year old's point of view.

This complete marvel wasn't in the show but is one of my all time favourite works of art by Alexander McQeen, which I've been researching for this post

and this complete folly from his Savage beauty collection.

The show is spectacular but the regular exhibition that's on in the fashion section is just as good if not better. After soaking up satin and sparkle, it was out and about in London, the biggest smoke.

There were Union Jacks' everywhere for the forthcoming Jubilee.

A wonderful dinner at a very authentic mexican restaurant.

with a whole wall of chillie sauce bottles.

Then it was back home. Happily to a countryside that is bursting with spring. It's as if someone has poured cream over all the hedges

........ and sprinkled it over the fields
The weather has been spectacular lately and every lane and field is thrilling with flowers and birdsong.
My wonderful friends Kate & David have been having me over for dinner regularly on a Wednesday night ever since Ricardo died and I so look forward to it. Kate is a great cook and has usually whipped up some amazing feast with a miraculous icecream as well. One night it was pink grapefruit & 25 year old sherry. SENSATIONAL. I absolutely love the drive over to their house at twilight. It goes through the magical village and fields of Quidenham where there is a local tradition that Queen Boudica is buried. Past the round towered Church and on past this beautiful field. One evening in twilight I saw a girl riding a white horse bareback through this field and have wondered ever since if I dreamt it.

Here they are taking me on a guided tour of flowers in their garden. Complete with pink champagne.

Humphrey got in on the act too and was a delight as he showed me the smaller more unobtrusive flowers that some might call weeds.

Finally as a curtain closer here is a photo of the bouquet that came, perfectly timed for my birthday from my big sister. The smell of those peonies is incredible.

Thank you one and all for a most excellent birthday week.

Birthday lunch

Another of the anniversaries that I wasn't really looking forward to lately was my birthday. In the end it was truly wonderful. It kept on and on over the whole weekend and beyond with time spent with my lovely friends. On Friday, the day before my birthday, Clarissa and Lisa had organised champagne and cake in the backyard of Lisa's house, with bunting and sunshine.
The sun shone and a LOT of cake was consumed. Having a serious effect on my cleavage!
After I came home from the party, a large box was sitting on my doorstep with this bunch of spectacular flowers from my Sister Suez. How often do you get a bunch like this. Peonies, pink hydrangeas and pink roses with pale green edges.
Then on the saturday of my actual birthday, we went to a sculpture trail at a small village called Burgh Apton with Clarissa and Zebby and my gorgeous little buddy Grace. A picnic was prepared.
and a lot more cake was consumed.
The sun shone AGAIN and the air around the gardens smelled strongly of mock orange.
and cow parsley.

This was my favourite sculpture of all.
and here's Clarissa giving it all she's got. There is no way I can do this yoga move.
a long and tiring day but completely wonderful. Thanks gang.

More birthday

The birthday continued this weekend. (At this rate I think I could cope with a year of birthday celebrations).
As well as mine, we had William's and also Humphrey Bogart, William's dog (Humphrey was 100!). Here he is cutting the cake.It was the most beautiful day out but there was a lot of fun to be had inside the boat With Clarissa and the Zebedoodle and our lovely friend Grace. It was one of those times when your friends from very disparate groups all get to meet each other and you're hugging yourself as they actually GET each other the way you wish they would.

We went out in the boat on the sparkly water. There were just thousands of Damsel flies, and dragonflies some iridescent green and some blue. It was absolutely heavenly.
P.S. Not my photo click on it to go to the link

Butley Priory birthday

It was my birthday on Thursday; a rather auspicious one and it turned out to be an absolute beauty. Look what came through the door from my amazing sister. If I could have flowers every day, I'd have peonies in every single colour. They even smell, I didn't realise.
Here, bury your nose in this. Pinkness incarnate.
There was chocolate cake made by Clarries fair hands at 8am with pains au chocolat and Zebedee.
Then on Friday afternoon after a LOT of excitement we set off for a romantic weekend away in Suffolk to Butley Priory. Secluded, magical and so romantic. My darling Ricardo had booked the pink room. Please, if you are envious of the star that is Ricado, we are working on having him cloned; you can put your orders in here if you like.
There was a bottle of champagne in the room when we got there with 6 red roses. (I'd forgotten it was our 6 year anniversary as well). He had organised a masseuse to come to the room too. It's been soooo long since I had a massage that I'd forgotten how good it can be, I hope she managed to get the dribble out of the pillow!
The weather was unbelievably glorious. Waking up in the 7ft bed with the only sound being a bluetit feeding it's babies outside the window was heaven....only to be out done by hearing a nightingale when we came back from dinner at 11.15 pm on Friday night. I've wanted to hear one ever since I came to this green and pleasant land.
Look at that cloudless sky.
There was a grand piano too, here's Ricardo playing it.
There was a beautiful view out this window
If you click on the picture you'll be able to see a swing in the trees off to the right. Honestly it was heaven on a stick. Complete with cute dog too called Lilly.
We went for a really long walk along overgrown footpaths smelling of Hawthorn blossom, over Burrow hill across the river Butley (thanks to the volunteer ferry man) and on to Orford for lunch at the Jolly sailor Inn. The sunny weather made it the most idyllic walk. Has there ever been a Bank holiday weekend like it?
How's this for a picnic spot?
On our way back home after the most relaxing weekend we dropped in to the tiny village of Kelsale where Richard grew up and a lot of Ludbrook's are buried. The Church has this beautiful Arts and Crafts period Lych gate.Richard's Grandmother was buried here but it was hard to find her plot as she'd been denied a headstone on account of being a deserted wife! We found where we thought she was and gave her the roses to say thankyou.