A change of plan!

I had planned to spend the day in London with R next Tuesday for belated birthday celebrations (my birthday was in February, so a bit late), which included a visit to the Fashion and Textile Museum.

A quick check last week on the dates of the Orla Keily exhibition caused a degree of panic, it will have finished by Tuesday!!!

Fortunately R is in London for an event this morning, so I met up with her at lunchtime in a coffee shop. We headed over to the Shard with the intention of having lunch on the 32nd floor.

A bit of a long shot as we hadn’t booked and being Saturday it was busy. After a quick view of the amazing sights through the rain, we decided to do this experience properly and book for afternoon tea at a later date. It was R’s first visit, whereas I been several times and know that she will enjoy it.

We headed for the Museum and the superb exhibition. R chose an Orla Keirly design for the dining room curtains in the ‘new house’, without realising the significance or history of the designer. Having lived through the 60’s and 70’s and worn the designs of that era I’ve always followed her work. I wasn’t aware of the extent of the handbag collection...!!!!! In extras.

We booked tickets on line yesterday to make sure that we got in, on the last but one day. It was superbly done, as are all exhibitions there. My first visit was in 2013 to see Kaffe Fasset - A Life in Colour....awesome !!!!

This blip will warm the heart and enthuse any one who creates and loves colour :0) I love the jars with the scraps of fabric, mine are in more utilitarian plastic boxes in a cupboard.

Next to Covent Garden for a cup to tea and some people watching. Then on to King Cross Station and dinner. It seemed sensible to get there and eat, rather than being delayed and rushing for the train at the last minute.

We were on the 8.30 train home, later than normal for me, but it was the time that R had originally booked for herself.

This gave us time to have a wander over to St Pancras Station at a quiet time. It is an awesome building and lighting in the evening highlights the architecture and construction. R took a superb set of pictures of the bronze relief frieze which surrounds the ‘Lovers’, an alternate name for the 9-metre high bronze statue named the Meeting Place. In extras. A tranquil experience at the end of a busy day.

The train journey home was lengthened by signalling problems near Peterborough. We were 29mins 30 secs late into Newark. The significance of the seconds is that delays over 30 mins triggers refunds on travelling costs. One large group of travellers were school children from Lincoln who missed their connection at Newark and were to be bussed the final leg, they would be lucky to be home before midnight!!