My husband and I had a day in London yesterday. It only takes an hour by train for us to get to the centre of London but surprisingly we don’t visit very often so when we do it’s always a real treat. We had booked tickets to see a band we love, Mandolin Orange, who were due to perform in the evening but we headed up earlier to make the most of the day (on this occasion the children were left behind and taken care of by wonderful family… 🙂 )
I had no intention of writing a blog post about our day but my love of crochet and writing this blog seemed to influence how the day evolved…
Firstly I remembered a post by Wild Daffodil about beachcombing along the Thames…
https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/arranging-things/
…so when we saw the beaches along the Thames as we walked from London Bridge to the Millennium Bridge I felt compelled to go down and have a closer look. Wow- how much ‘River Glass’ we found! There were copious amounts in so many colours, shapes and sizes looking like precious jewels. I don’t know why it surprised me to see so much – I suppose it’s obvious that in a big city like London with millions of people who go by the river, all kinds of things, including a lot of glass bottles, must end up in the river!
We got chatting to a local lady who had just found the sole of a Victorian shoe!
After our little beachcomb we headed to 2 Temple Place http://twotempleplace.org/ which had a free exhibition called ‘Sussex Modernism’ with a collection of artworks from Sussex (which is where we live).
I must admit that when I visit museums and galleries I don’t always read all the explanations and I don’t look at every piece in detail- I prefer to just stroll and browse and am often as impressed by the actual building and surroundings. This was certainly the case here and the following photos are of the stained glass windows and staircase- so beautiful!
And then came a real highlight of the day… I had seen a photo shared on Instagram of a window display at Selfridges by Katie Jones http://www.katiejonesknit.co.uk/ so we took a detour especially to see it. Oh My Word- it was so beautiful and it made my day to see crochet in Selfridges in the middle of London!
It’s just so stunning… 🙂 🙂 🙂
Inside Selfridges by one of the entrances was an exhibition by Luke Stephenson http://www.lukestephenson.com/ and these photos of birds were so gorgeous and vibrant…
We then headed to ‘Loop’ in London, a yarn shop that I knew existed and have seen many advertisements for in magazines, but had never visited… http://www.loopknittingshop.com/
It felt like a little piece of heaven in that shop with so many beautiful yarns…
…and somewhere for my husband to sit! I must acknowledge at this point what a supportive husband I have- you may think I dragged him round all these places but he was a willing participant and kept reassuring me that he was happy to come along! But I did feel a little less guilty browsing for ages in that shop knowing that he was comfortably resting his weary legs!
The price tag on some yarns was too high for me so I settled for some gorgeous little 25g balls of Scheepjes Catona…
And here I am outside…
So you see that if it weren’t for others sharing through blogs and Instagram, we would never have searched for glass along the Thames or seen that window display in Selfridges… I’m so glad that we did!
And yes, we did get to see the band at the end of the day… they were wonderful too 🙂
Thanks for reading- I hope you enjoyed sharing a little of our day… 🙂 😉
What a lovely day you had- thanks so much for sharing
Thanks so much for reading it Jenny! Glad you enjoyed sharing a little of our day… 🙂 🙂
Fabulous day. Like you I was surprised by the glass by the Thames, but yes, when you think about it, of course they’ll be some 🙂
Absolutely Bekki- it really made me think about all that must be at the bottom of the Thames and what might sometimes wash ashore! 🙂 🙂
Eek! 🙁
🙂 🙂
Oh my goodness!!!!!! That is SO my kind of day!!!! Thank you so much for the shout out. What a fabulous haul of sea-glass!!!!! I must get up there again one day soon. Anf the crochet and the knitting —- thanks for letting us know about it, I will definitely be finding out more and trying to get to those exhibitions. GORGEOUS post!!!!!!!! <3
You’re more than welcome for the shout out and I’m so glad that you enjoyed the post! It’s only through your post that we thought to search for glass along the Thames so it’s so much thanks to you! 🙂 :):) Hope you get to see some of the things- the window display in Selfridges is only there until March… 🙂
What a great day out!
It really was Kay- thanks so much and I’m glad you enjoyed sharing a little of it… 🙂
Fabulous
Thanks so much Cathy- glad you enjoyed sharing a little of our day… 🙂 🙂
Wow what a wonderful day trip! River glass, and that stained glass is just stunning! 😊
Thanks so much- the stained glass windows were amazing (and luckily the sun just peeped through to enhance them further!) 🙂 🙂
What an amazing creative day. I love the sea glass! 💕
Thanks Sharon 🙂 yes it really was one of those lovely days with gorgeous things to see and be inspired by…:) 🙂
How much fun! I love the Selfridges display.
Thanks so much! Yes, it really was fabulous to see that display.. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the Katie Jones display in selfridges I love it, it is inspiring me keep learning new stitches and making new things.
Thanks Amanda- I’m so glad you feel inspired… it really was an inspiring display and so creative… 🙂 🙂
Sounds like a brilliant day out … the sea glass is beautiful and that window display in Selfridges is so inspiring. Lovely pics as always. 🌸🌸 x
Thank you Jenny 🙂 yes it was a great day with lots of lovely things to see… 🙂 🙂
Enjoyed reading ♡
Thank so much- I’m really glad that you enjoyed it… 🙂 🙂
OMG! Loop and Selfridges!! Sounds like a perfect day out!
I know Rosina! Really great things to see- our legs did ache by the end of the day!! 🙂 🙂
wow what a great day!! I want to go to Selfridges – it looks amazing. I love the picture of your husband, I am not sure mine would be so patient, he may have gone to find a local pub. 🙂
Thanks so much! Yes, he is very patient but he was just glad to rest his tired legs in this photo! 🙂 🙂
Wow! VERY few things make me want to overcome my London-aversion and visit, but I love your little beach-combing glass haul, and those stained glass windows are stunning. And the Selfridges window display. (Bit of a glass theme, here!) Thank you for sharing your brilliant day.
Thanks so much – I’m so glad you enjoyed sharing a little of our day… 🙂 It was certainly an alternative day out in London! 🙂