Paris

Last Sunday I realised that the credit card I had used to pay for the Eurostar was the one I had lost so I emailed to find out how I was to access my ticket since they had insisted I collect them rather than have them sent. I needed proof of payment and a police number. I got the latter but failed to find the former. I was told on the phone that I would be lucky to have the ticket reissued and may have to pay for a new set. I went ballistic and on Monday decided to go to Kings Cross and have a face to face chat. This cost me time and money but I decided that I would not be very calm if I had packed and was ready to go on the morning and failed to board so this seemed the best way. I got to London Bridge and was told the whole of St Pancras was shut due to a bomb scare. I lived with the IRA for 20 years so I know the closures are finite so I went to Angel and walked slowly via the Gagosian to see Howard Hodgkin, which was OK but not overly fantastic. I then wandered to the station which was still shut but I knew it was not for long as various vehicles were drifting away. 30min's later I was in. The person at the desk gave me a duplicate ticket with very little trouble.

Home, pack and bed.

On the day of the trip we were up early, wandered to the station only to see that there were no trains! we got a bus to the only functioning station made it to London Bridge only to find the Northern Line was closed so 2 more journeys later we made it. Kitty was quieter than normal, said she did not feel too good when we got there she complained the room was not as nice as Austria and why was she here and where was Granny and Lucy and she was tired and bored etc etc.. and so what I perceived to be a lovely few days together turned into an endurance test of my patience. I had no cards only cash, we had 80 euros a day and trust me it was only JUST enough, the exchange rate is eye wateringly low. In GAP a top that retails £25 is 39 Euros which at today's exchange is £32+ so you can see how tough the prices are. The galleries all had huge queues, but I walked a number of journeys new to me and as usual never tired of looking and watching.

I will post more later but a week in Wales beckons WITH Granny, Lucy, Julia AND Ellie so hopefully that should shut her up!

The view from here

No, not Austria or an old photo from Christmas, but the view from my balcony at 9am this morning. What really is funny/tragic is that I had just piled up all my tweed and wool to be boxed up so that there was room for my spring clothes to breathe and then I wake up to this. I was so sad Leyla missed it, but it is thawing already so she will just have to make do with a photo.

P.S the photos are in colour!

Best laid plans

My aim was to get up early hoof it up to the Gagosian for 10am to see the Howard Hodgkin show then hoof it back to Oxford Street to mooch with Mum round Selfridges. But no, Instead of a leisurely cup of tea I waste half an hour looking for Kitty's MP3 player (not found) I then rush up to the library to return a DVD to avoid a fine, but I am thirsty to I go to the station via M&S to get a coffee then walk briskly to the station. BUT no purse, so I phone M&S convinced I left it on the counter, but no and finally the penny drops, on the way out I stopped to read the news paper headlines and and it was then my purse was stolen. Now I never put my keys in my purse but today I did why? so no purse and locked out. My purse had little cash, one debit card and a few membership cards so unless the thief was an art freak he was only £4 better off. But the fear they would find out where I lived meant I had to change the lock. £60 for a man to break into my house in 15 seconds and change the barrel in 5 Min's is seriously easy money. I then drive the car to my sisters where she buys me a train ticket and we finally make it up town for a delicious chilled glass of Champagne and lunch at Arbutus, wonderful as always. After we spent well over an hour in Liberty's. The top floor is a treasure trove of fabulous ginky old furniture, a joy to wander around, so not such a bad day after all.

Love at first sight

This skirt is so beautiful I could frame it, It is from a shop well out of my taste zone, how can shop famous for naff florals produce such a lovely skirt, and its all mine. This definitely ticks Ms Rouge's Paris box. This ruthless rule is a brilliant idea and one that has very much wormed its way into my retail brain.

Takashi Murakami

The most comprehensive retrospective to date of the work of internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Takashi Murakami includes more than ninety works in various media that span the artist’s entire career, installed in more than 18,500 square feet of gallery space.
You can see this fantastic artist here, I am very jealous, I love his work and saw some of it years ago at the Serpentine Gallery, this gallery is a bit too far to travel though.

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes

I have spent too much. I was duped by the Decleor lady, I asked for a richer cream for my eyes, they are so dry, so of course she recommended one and when I payed I realised that one teeny, tiny, intsy, bitsy little pot of cream cost more than my face cream. Sucker!
I have bought some very sensible foot wear Havianas and Birkenstocks. Zara home do a very groovy faux snakeskin Birkenstock.
Finally a mac, the jury is out, but the girls gave it the thumbs up. Bless them they told me to belt it then recoiled in horror at the sack of spuds effect, so we settled for a tight belting at the back.
I spent a fortune on revision guides for Daisy, with Daisy its not if she will pass, but what grade she will get, she is bright but lazy, so time will tell if my nest egg will be paying her Uni fees.
Finally a Chinese take away for Kitty and I and a copy of Vogue, and my excuse? Its my birthday!

Deep sigh

Well two more down, just Kitty and I left. Daisy has gone skiing in 70cm of fresh snow in Austria the dog has gone to Emin's sisters house, so no more mopping up pee and sick and picking up huge mountains of poo. I have had a week of deep exasperation, 4 days of GCSE exams incarcerated in a room of talentless numnty's well maybe not all, but some of the dialogue I have had to endure is beyond belief.
Leanne is a small mousey haired child without humour. She has a vicious tongue and is mostly very rude and rarely works without a fight. She missed the first day of the exam and the school had to threaten the mother with a fine to get Leanne to come in, which she did with a great reluctance.
Me "so Leanne what are you going to do for your exam?"
Leanne "don't know Miss"
Me "show me what you have done for your preparation work"
Leanne "I ain't done much Miss, well actually, I ain't done nothing"
Me "What question are you doing?"
Leanne "Japan"
Me "So what aspect of Japan would you like to paint? landscape, Pagoda's or blossom?"
Leanne " That mountain"
Me " Mount Fuji?"
Leanne "Yeah whatever"
So because I am nice and kind I go onto Flickr and search for photographs Mount Fuji, I print three photographs Leanne chooses one, I blow it up to A2 and she traces it. I explain she will have to flip it over and trace it onto her paper.
Leanne " But Miss It will come out the wrong way round"
Me Well that is what happens, is it a problem?"
Leanne " Yeah I want it the right way round"
Me " Well you will have to redraw it on the reverse and then trace it onto the paper"
Leanne " That will take ages"
Me "Yes Leanne but if you insist that it has to be the right way round then that is what you have to do"
Leanne, Big fat sigh " Great"
And so the lovely Leanne does just that
The drawing is complete and so Leanne enquires as to what paint to use, I suggest as she lacks confidence that she should use watercolour.
I turn my back for five minutes and she has plastered a great big splodge of blue paint on the right hand corner.
Leanne" Oh great now I can't see the lines"
Me "Yes you can"
Leanne "No I can't"
I then get the brush, water down the splodge and dilute the paint. I have very poor eye sight and the lines are clearly visible.
Leanne " No I still can't see them"
Me "Well I can and I am sure you can finish the wash of colour and then paint the line in Ink"
Leanne, Big fat sigh "I ain't doing this"
30 Min's later I see Leanne washing the tracing paper because she cannot rub out the back she scribbled on, then she stoically redraws the lines
Leanne " See I can see them now what do I paint them with?"
Me "Indian Ink"
Leanne "Does it come out your clothes?"
Me " No"
Leanne, Big fat sigh "great"
It took Leanne 2 whole days to trace an A2 photograph and paint it three colours, she is about a third of the way through applying Indian Ink to create the silhouette.
I have had over thirty students to supervise, trust me it was no picnic!