All apologies

Huge apologies for not posting for months - I was hoping to sneak in a post in August, but no.

I have been busy with uni work, and once I found I'd passed all of the components I needed to pass, I was in shock. Then my cousin visited from Australia, and she kicked me into celebrating! She's a lovely person, really laidback, super-smart, and ever so kind. I'm missing her at the moment because she's travelling around Europe for a month, but she will be going to university in the UK for a semester, so I'll get to see her again before she returns to the other side of the world. There's less happy things that have been happening as well, such is life, but I'm trying to find some balance.

This week and last I've been on leave, but only went away on Saturday - visiting friends in York, then Sara of My Flower Patch let me visit her beautiful flower farm. I'm back for a day, then off again tomorrow to see my old supervisor Ann from David Austin Roses. I can't wait to see the rose gardens in summer. Ok, I know today is officially the first day of autumn, but I'm in denial.

Purple hyacinth: not the most summery or autumnal of blossoms, but it means "I'm sorry" in the language of flowers.

Sunshine, roses, and Emma Bridgewater

The sunshine and warmer weather is a relief after the gloom of last week. I was thoroughly miserable and felt like hibernating until September or whenever the summer decided to turn up. Fortunately I didn't have to wait that long.

The roses and escallonia are out at last, and the nigella and aquilegia have come back again, which is lovely.

I delivered this scented posy full of roses, sage and mint on Saturday, and reused a beautiful Emma Bridgewater bag to keep them safe on the train journey.

I also cut some flowers for me, and used my Black Toast Emma Bridgewater vases and a teeny Jo Malone bottle.

My huge pink Cariad roses are the only David Austin roses I have that have survived the last few years - poor Jude the Obscure and William Shakespeare 2000 have met a sad end. Which is kind of fitting for those writers of tragedies, Thomas Hardy and William Shakespeare.

Font Sunday: Alice in Dreamland

I have been wondering whether to share these photos or not.

Today I joined in with the Design Museum's Font Sunday (on Twitter but also Pinterest) and I loved seeing so many different book covers, and sharing some of the ones on my shelves. I did a post on Font Sunday last year when the subject was tea tins, and I've posted about book covers here, here, and here. Today's Font Sunday was hosted by Penguin.

When I worked at Penguin's sister company ten years ago, we had charity book sales a few times a year, and we were like kids in a sweet shop. We waited for the email to say the book sale was open, and raced down the stairs to battle for Penguin Classics, children's audio books, and £20 cookery books that we could buy for £2.

One of the books I bought remained on a shelf or packed in a box for nine years. Every so often I would take it out, consider unwrapping it from its shrink wrap, but fearfully put it away again. It was a Penguin "Design Your Own Cover" edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - I loved the idea of designing the cover for a book I adore so much, but the pressure was too great. What if my design was terrible? I wouldn't be able to change it and I'd be stuck with it.

The solution came once I knew I wasn't going to keep the book; I was going to design the cover and then give it as a present. It's back to front, really - surely that would put me under more pressure to design a "perfect" cover? Somehow it didn't work like that, and it took the pressure off.

It was quite special to finally unwrap this beautiful book, with its blank cover save for the Penguin logo in the corner.

I had a few ideas for the cover, and thought I would be safe and draw the queen finding her white roses painted red, but then I thought of Dreamland in Margate. If you've never heard of it (and if you're not from the south east of England it's quite likely you haven't), Dreamland is a theme park in Kent. We went there on a school trip in 1991, and I can't really remember much about the park. I'm fairly sure we were slightly disappointed that it didn't seem as big as Chessington or Alton Towers, but we were kids and it was a day off school, so we were happy. Our clothes were awful - I was talking to a friend about this recently, and we both can't bear the thought of sharing photos from the 90s because our clothes (and NHS glasses) were so bad. Neons were a big thing...I'm sure we all wore neon pink or yellow on this school trip. And we definitely sang The Shoop Shoop Song on the coach.

It was harder to draw this than the queen and roses picture - that felt more intuitive and a bit wilder, whereas this felt structured - straight lines and perspective aren't my forte. I was pleased with it in the end, even if it is a bit wonky. And I'm pleased I bought a neon pink pencil - I knew it would come in useful!

Oh, and I really love rabbits. I have not shared enough rabbit photos on here - that needs to change.

Stay beautiful

This is one of those things where I look back at and think, "I could have done better". The fact it was for one of my favourite lecturers and from the whole year group at uni (yikes - pressure) probably adds to that. But she seemed delighted with them, which is the main thing. She has taught me over four years, and she mixes pink and red, sometimes with animal print, to gorgeous effect - hence the combination of flowers and the tiger-print wrapping (from Paperchase, if you want some for yourself).

Scented 'Kate' David Austin roses, red sweet peas, and pink clematis (which symbolises "mental beauty" in the language of flowers - buy some for yourself if you've got end of year exams or coursework!) were from Dennis Edwards at the market. Our lecturer grows clematis but had never seen it as a cut flower before, which was nice.

The rest was from the garden or foraged. Apple blossom smells incredible when first cut, but doesn't last very long, unfortunately. The sudden heatwave last week didn't help the flowers, although the sunshine was much appreciated and long overdue. Blue flowering rosemary (for remembrance) combined with the roses and sweet peas made for one sweet-smelling bouquet.

I used a Charbonnel et Walker tin - but I'd already aqua-packed the bouquet, so I can't guarantee if the tins are watertight. They are too beautiful to keep hidden in a cupboard though!

I cannot believe I spent three hours sunning myself outdoors with a friend on Sunday. I know it's not great for florists, but bring back the sunshine! (And sorry, but it's been a while since I've shamelessly used a Manics song or lyric for a title. To be fair, they do love their animal print as well.)

Tulips I was given last Thursday

Shakespeare 400: The (in)Complete Walk

After I posted yesterday's Shakespeare musings (which had several typos that have now been corrected!), I got the train to London Bridge and met my friend who was trying to negotiate his way down to Southwark Cathedral. We walked along the river, and came across the first of many screens showing short scenes from Shakespeare's plays. This was Timon of Athens, and we were surprised that we had a good view - we expected it to be much more crowded. I apologise for the generally fuzzy quality of these photos - I only used the camera on my phone and I was pretty hasty.

As we got to the underpass, the crowd got bigger. Everyone was watching Twelfth Night apart from a handful of people who were trying to squeeze past. I pitied anyone who'd arranged to meet friends in Wagamama, not knowing what was going on today.

We went round the back streets and saw the site of the original Globe. It's one thing I love about London - it's so big and so steeped in history, you can often see things you'd never noticed before. Neither of us had noticed this before.

We went to the original Rose Theatre, where Shakespeare first put on his plays. After it had been developed in the 1500s, other theatres were built in the surrounding area, and the Rose Theatre declined in popularity and shut down (I worry the same thing will happen to the Bromley Empire cinema when the new multiplex is completed on the other side of town). They are raising money to preserve the theatre's history and develop it as a visitor attraction. They have open days every Saturday and put on performances at other times.

We saw Suzanne Marie perform Henry VI part I Act V scene III. She was captivating, but the intimate setting meant you could see nearby audience members' responses. There were two young children at the front who were nervous of her intensity and stifled giggles at her wailing. I liked their honest reactions. Then we saw Frank McHugh and Ellie Mason play a spellbinding and sexy Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act I scene VII, when (spoiler alert!) he wonders if he is really prepared to kill Duncan, but his wife mocks his doubting. Personally, I hear her words differently from how they were perhaps intended. For me:

Lady Macbeth:  ...I have given suck, and know

How tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me.

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums

And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this.

isn't a sign that she was born the devil incarnate (a phrase from Titus Andronicus, fact fans!), but a woman who experienced a horrific loss that has eaten up her soul. I've just done a bit of research and have found Jude Kelly's production that considers just this.

We needed tea afterwards, and went to the cafe at Shakespeare's Globe theatre, where there was standing room only. We people-watched while we drank - it was during the interval of Hamlet, but even so, I don't think we've ever seen The Globe so heaving during the day. It was brilliant.

There were several people outside carrying a white or red rose. Not sure who was giving them out, but presumably something to do with The War of the Roses, the Houses of York and Lancaster, and St George's Day or Shakespeare's history plays? Anyhow, a lot of people decided to leave their rose on the gates of The Globe, which was a beautiful sight.

We carried on walking and watching the short films that formed The Complete Walk. Unfortunately many of the screens outside Tate Modern weren't working, so we missed out on Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Henry V. But we saw Hamlet!

At this point I became a bit of a wuss re: the cold. I had dressed warmly, but didn't wear gloves (it's the end of April! Midsummer is two months away!) and despite keeping my hands in my pockets, I was starting to feel uncomfortably cold. We headed back towards Borough, and joined this huge crowd watching Othello. "It's like a football match," said my friend. We didn't attempt to navigate through the crowd, but went up and down the stairs to Southwark Bridge instead.

And finally, this was a lovely end to the day - Elbow in Measure for Measure making the crowd laugh outside the FT building. It was the end to my day, anyway; after my friend and I had something to eat at Borough Market, he headed back to join the queue for returns at The Globe. I went home and warmed up with a coffee!

Elbow: If it please your honour, I am the poor Duke's constable, and my

name is Elbow; I do lean upon justice, sir, and do bring in here

before your good honour two notorious benefactors.

Angelo: Benefactors! Well; what benefactors are they? Are they not

malefactors?

Elbow: If it please your honour, I know not well what they are; but

precise villains they are, that I am sure of; and void of all

profanation in the world that good Christians ought to have.