All the fun of a Winter Wonderland

Hyde Park, London hosts Winter Wonderland every year which is a family event running over the festive season. There’s fairground rides for thrill seekers, Christmas markets for anyone looking for beautifully crafted gifts, and tasty food to make sure energy levels are topped up. Seeing as it looked like a fun evening out I went with my sister and her family to experience the sights, smells and tastes on offer.

I went on a ride or two with the kids, was distracted from stall to stall with the interesting and beautiful items on display and was awed by the pretty lights and great atmosphere.

I didn’t manage to experience everything as we ran out of time, but hopefully I’ll be able to return next year to enjoy more rides as well as see the circus show, the cool ice sculptures in the ice kingdom and take a spin on the ice rink. We left with smiles on our faces and our goodies from the markets but were absolutely exhausted, with the kids falling fast asleep all the way home.

Autumn has arrived

Summer has come to an end and Autumn has now arrived, here in England. Autumn is probably my favourite time of year, as the days are cool but still bright and there are less bugs around too which in my opinion is always good! The other things I love about Autumn are the beautiful displays of newly changed leaves, from luscious greens to fiery reds, yellows and oranges.

On one such bright a day, I decided to take a walk in one of the several parks near where I live. This particular park is lovely; it has a nice lake, a grand looking mansion with a pretty flower garden, and a boating and play area. Armed with my camera, I kept my eyes open for any new autumnal displays, and it wasn’t long before I came across lots.

The highlight of my walk was coming across some cute, late summer ducklings (I didn’t get too close in case their protective mother came after me) and several curious, cheeky squirrels who were very interested in my camera. I also loved seeing freshly fallen conkers reminding me of childhood fun-filled contests.

I really enjoyed my walk and as we go deeper into the season I’ll keep my eyes peeled for more interesting developments.

Italian gardens in London

Wondering around Hyde park earlier this year I came across the Italian Gardens. The Gardens have embellished statues, urns and large water fountains, all which create a really nice relaxing space.

The main water fountain leading to the top of the Serpentine lake was a combination of a group of boys holding a huge platter with a woman on either side holding an urn, all pouring water into the lake.

On the far side of the garden is a chapel with really pretty flowers planted on either side in neat geometric rows.

I thought the gardens were laid out nicely and kept in really good condition. I found them to be a calming space with the sound of rushing water from the fountains drowning out some of the background noise and pretty flowers soothing to the eyes. I’ll definitely look to visiting it again at some point.

Capturing artwork

I recently went to the National Gallery in London and since my last visit you are now allowed to take photographs. I would normally never take photographs of paintings as I always would want to visit and appreciate the work in person, but on this occasion I decided to take a few snaps as a nice reminder. The photos I took were of some of my favourite paintings by great artists that I’m lucky to have on my doorstep in London, namely The Waterlily Pond by Monet and Sunflowers by Van Gogh.

I always like to take a moment and think about how long it must have taken to create such a painting and what kind of person the artist must have been to paint in this way during their life, artworks that really stand the test of time. I love being able to see the textures of the layered paint and the colours, which close up looks quite messy but stand back and you see how great it all comes together and looks quite beautiful.

I hope to visit again at some point and enjoy all the great paintings that are luckily so easy for me to access.

Mad as a Hatters tea party

My younger sister decided to throw all the women in the family a tea party. She spent weeks and weeks secretly buying and making decorations and props to complete the look of her theme; the classic, Mad Hatters Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland.

We were all amazed at how much effort had gone into all the little touches; the tiny book cover cake toppers (which were my favourite), quotes from book Alice, the decorations made of book pages, a real top hat and more.

Aside from all the snacks on offer, which we had after lunch, there was lots of food to eat. We had pasties, sandwiches, pasta, chicken strips and much more that we all enjoyed. My sister also set up a photo board so we could take pictures against a pretty, floral background and everyone had lots of fun playing with the different face parts that she had made too.

We all had a fun afternoon, enjoying all the good food and especially the various cakes and desserts on offer. I’m sure that we’ll have more parties to come seeing how much everyone enjoyed this one. You can see my sister’s post and more pictures here

WPC: Close up

tulip

Those that have been following my blog for a while know I love a close up of a pretty flower. I especially like tulips which look elegant and fun, and come in an array of colours. This such flower has petals with interesting pink strokes, almost making them look like bird feathers.

Eid exhibit

At the end of Ramadan muslims around the world have a day of celebration called Eid-al-Fitr. Muslims have a great meal with family and friends, give each other gifts and money, and wear nice, often new, clothes. In preparation of Eid, my sisters and I went to an Eid exhibition in London to see what new designs of outfits were available to buy. The outfits available were designer pieces and more expensive than I tend to buy but it was nice to see what other styles were around. My photos didn’t come out too well as the lighting in the room wasn’t as bright as I would liked, but hopefully they give an idea of what was on show.

There was a nice range of beautiful outfits, from heavily decorated dresses with pearls and diamantes, metal and thread embroidery to less extravagant outfits with just thread work or prints. Some were more suitable for weddings than an eid celebration but it was nice to see the intricate work that went into making some of these outfits.

As well as clothes there was a section that had stunning metal clutch purses and colourful jewellery. And to complete the look there was also a makeup artist on hand to give beauty tips and makeovers to guests, which my sisters trialed. We were also treated to drinks and fancy cupcakes and biscuits to keep our energy levels up.

We didn’t end up buying anything in the end as although many of the outfits caught out eye they were just a bit too expensive and out of our budget, but we did enjoy talking to some of the designers and looking at lots of pretty things.