Pirate blog

I haven't mentioned it yet but this past month Jack and I have started living aboard Octavia: a very small pea green boat. It's a real adventure, we've had to sort out and improvise all those things you take for granted when you move into a flat. We've been fetching our own water, wiring up lights and a solar panel, working out tactics for washing (from 2 buckets) and generally having a nice time.

I love canal boats, they're relics of our industrial past yet so many have been transformed into modest and ecologically sound dwellings. Ours is very modest, any visitors have to sit on the end of our bed.

All our patterned possessions are suddenly squished up in one small space, not exactly chic or minimal but I like it, the welsh blanket came from Jacks parents and the rug from mine. I'm looking forward to tweeking and perfecting it, I'll have to hone my collecting habits to perfection. As a member of the boating community I hope to be able to snoop plenty of other boats, I'll post pictures when I do.

Best tile, ever.

Found this tile at the market and I absolutely adore it. It's a keeper for sure. It's thick and heavy and the black has a deep burnished quality. I don't know who made it, it could just be the result of an evening class, but they're a very clever artist. And I feel pretty clever for finding it actually. Smug.

Sonia Delaunay

Sonia Delaunay's work is both timeless and absolutely of it's time.

The moon and the Sledgehammer.

A fabulous film. Crusty, funny and beautiful in all the right ways. We should all watch it, then watch Grey Gardens and marvel at how normal our lives are.

A good bag

New space

I've got a new space for storing my toot in. I haven't shelved it out yet but I think it has a lot of potential, especially with the excellent greenhouse/lantern type affair going on in the roof.


This is what I saw on my first official visit: two people had plunged to their deaths from a roof above, their smashed up bodies splayed over the roof light. . . or maybe it was the man upstairs drying out a couple of his wet-suits.

Precious plunder

More market buying this week, plenty of plunder to run my fingers over. A lot of stuff from an old school, including the best bench/shoe rack ever. I think I will keep it in a shed until my hope of ever owning a house of my own has died.


My army issue plimsolls suit it very fine.


Ed demonstrated the joy a good kite can bring,


Whilst I gave this blanket a thorough testing in the garden.






Very handsome rusty hooks.


I also bought some things I certainly don't need, like these really nicely packaged lolly sticks, I just think they're brilliant so I bought 10. I'm going to write things on the paper band and give them as presents. It's always good to give a present that people can use or don't feel guilty about throwing away.


And this photo of Art Blakey caught up in the moment, it reminds me of my friend Matt who plays flamenco guitar and dribbles.

Bill Traylor

A new favourite artist for me. Maybe one day I'll get to see some of his work for real. I've already had small daydreams about digging through a box at a boot fair and finding a picture of his, or even a print, I'm not fussy.

Sifting through photos

I got a fantastic box of photos this morning, I just bought them without even looking because I was in a hurry and then had an excellent time sifting through them when I got home. My favourite is this odd cross dressing party. Click on it to get a good look.

And here's another brilliant fancy dress party held in the same hall. I especially like the costume on the left, Loads of effort.

This weeks haul.

I'm writing from Bean's studio today. She has a big warehouse space dedicated to performance art. performancespace.org. I would recommend befriending a performance artist, they make life much more interesting and I'm happy to be nuzzled right in the bosom of a whole load of them whilst I sort through my latest finds.