Street Fashion...Eliza near Portovenere, Italy

Real People doing Real Things - A Day Out in London

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Hi, it's Bank Holiday weekend and here's a really good day out we did on Friday.

We took the train to Victoria and the 38 bus to Holborn.  From there we walked to Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields.  Sir John Soane, the son of a bricklayer,  was one of  England's greatest architects, his most famous design being the Bank of England.

The interior of the house has been restored to look exactly like the Victorian original.  To our modern eyes it seems gloomy, but fascinating.  There is much of interest to see inside.

We then walked down to Embankment Pier, taking the scenic route down the old cobbled road of Middle Temple Lane.  At the Embankment we took the Circular Cruise down the Thames which finishes at Westminster.  Then it was a walk back to Victoria station and home!  We were going to do a London Walk, see http://www.walks.com/, but felt we'd done enough walking.  It's a good job we didn't I'm still tired!

A wonderful day out, I really love London (we did stop to eat by the way).

Potty Edwards... A Book Review...

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Hi, I was reading my monthly edition of 'Market Times' and came across an article about a famous market family, the Potty Edwards.  Based in South Yorkshire they sold pottery, glass and china from 1910. 

Michele Lockwood-Edwards has written a book about her family's market history.  Set in a time gone by, the Potty Edwards would draw large crowds to watch them throw sets of best bone china across their stall as part of their sales pitch.  How's that for an alternative to TV?  I often wonder what these characters would be doing in the modern day world, what do you think?

Amazon is selling this interesting and entertaining book 'The Potty Edwards What a Way to Get a Living', see the sidebar for details.

I sell a few pieces of vintage china on my own market stall, and I'm making a start to see how it sells on my website too.  I'm putting my first piece on the website today and it's the vintage Royal Worcester english bone china pin dish in the picture.  Please go to www.arabellabianco.co.uk  for details of this, and gorgeous jewellery and fashion accessories.     

Real People doing Real Things - Italy

My son Gerald holding up the leaning tower of  Pisa!

Hi, I'm back from my holiday in Tuscany, Italy.

OMG - it was 2am and the trip began...the coach arrived at 4.30am in Bromley and took two days, with an overnight stop in France, to reach Montecatini Terme. It was a bit like Steven Spielberg's road movie Duel without the truck (this was Spielberg's first movie made in 1971, really gripping, see the sidebar to buy this movie through Amazon).

We were in tourist mode, and my favourite was the leaning tower of Pisa, which was bigger than I expected and much more beautiful.

We met wonderful people along the way, including Diane, David and Robert from Rugeley, hi there!

Some lovely Italian music was played on the coach including O Sole Mio (Just one Cornetto - remember those Wall's ice-cream adverts?) by Luciano Pavarotti.

Following is a video of a moving metal water sculpture my daughter Eliza made on our way to the Tetticcio Spa. It was her first go at videos. I made a video of the Frejus road tunnel which is 8 miles long and connects France and Italy, but it was too large to load and needed turning the right way up, oh well back to the drawing board with that one! Enjoy!

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A Popular Post ...

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Hi. 'Easter Wind Band Concert' back in April has proved to be a popular post, so here it is again with the addition of a couple of links to the music sold on Amazon (see these links and more music in the sidebar). Enjoy...

'I went to my son's Easter wind band concert last night, and it was both very enjoyable and nostalgic. They played YMCA by Village People which everyone loved and I was one of the few to remember it first time round! I never really did understand what it was all about, so I did a bit of research. Village People was a manufactured group like the Spice Girls, which was formed in 1977, and managed by two French musicians. The characters were based on men living in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. My favourite song of the evening, however, was Imagine by John Lennon, what talent!'

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Vintage Costume Jewellery...

Hello. One more book review today: 'Costume Jewellery' by Judith Miller. This is the definitive collector's guide for costume jewellery with full colour photographs. I use it all the time for my business, a beautiful book, and really useful if you're just starting out. What I love about vintage costume jewellery is that it is so well-made, available and affordable. You can buy yourself a piece of gorgeous jewellery for a reasonable price, or of course you can splash out on the more expensive creations. There are always exciting pieces to be found! I do have a few on my website, www.arabellabianco.co.uk, and I've also added some new rings to my website this week, all hand-made in India.

Details of all the books I've reviewed can be purchased through that stalwart of booksellers, Amazon. Details in the sidebar.

Have you got a book you'd just love to recommend? Please leave a comment and I'll publish your recommendation.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my book reviews, and I've helped you find something captivating to read over the summer holidays. Enjoy!