Perfect Strangers

My daughter and I  recently participated in a project whereby you swap a shoe box of small gifts with a perfect stranger.  This project was organised by the magazine 'Oh Comely', which my daughter reads, and called 'The Perfect Strangers' project - fab name, it's a very cool magazine.  This week we got a box of gifts from our swap partner:-

Thank you Lizzie in Brighton for your lovely gifts

You were the perfect Perfect Strangers Swap Partner

My daughter and I really enjoyed putting Lizzie's box together:-

We were both able to introduce ourselves and the sort of things we liked when we signed up for the project.  Lizzie likes vintage and kitsch so we had a lovely time choosing gifts for her, I couldn't help myself but include some of my crochet, all gifts were approved by my daughter who has a good eye for gift choosing.

I have experienced lots of kindness from perfect strangers, and otherwise, in recent times - from Lizzie keeping her side of the bargain and putting such thoughtfulness and care into the presents she chose and the way she presented them, to the kind, thoughtful comments you lovely bloggers leave on my blog posts, to my son and I being welcomed into the home of perfect strangers in Berlin last year when we spent five days in that fabulous city. It really does help life along and I am very humbled and grateful for every kind act.

Stephen Fry on kindness: What I wish I'd known when I was 18

I suppose the thing that I would have like to have known or be reassured about is that in the world, what counts more than talent, what counts more than energy or concentration or commitment or anything else, is kindness. And the more in the world you encounter kindness - or cheerfulness which is its kind of amiable uncle or aunt - the more… just the better the world always is. And all the big words - virtue, justice, truth - are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness. 

Thank you kind, perfect strangers, one and all

and Happy Thanksgiving Day

 xx

A day trip to London

A couple of Fridays ago Mr NMDS, my daughter and I took a day trip to London to see the Poppies at the Tower of London, read more about the poppies at the Tower here.

It was a spectacular sight and I'm glad we managed to get up there to see it.

While we were in London we also went to see the Derren Brown portrait exhibition in the West End - read more about his exhibition here.  We have seen his stage show many times and his portraits were an interesting side to his many talents.

We wanted to see Grayson Perry's portraits in the National Portrait Gallery but we ran out of time as we had organised to have afternoon tea at the Wallace Collection, which is just behind Selfridges on Oxford Street - Wallace Collection link.  Unfortunately, they had run out of cake stands so our afternoon tea lacked a bit of theatre - as there was a  large group in that day, our french waiter also had to argue his case to get his hands on our cake and finger sandwiches from another waiter who wanted to take them to his large group - that was quite funny - not sure I would rush back for afternoon tea but it's a nice, calm venue (waiters' arguing aside) for tea and cake amidst the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street and we enjoyed ourselves at any rate.  Grayson Perry will have to wait for another time.

It was just getting dark when we left to go home so we managed to see the lights in Oxford Street and Selfridges' legendary Christmas window displays.

Selfridges' windows have a Paddington theme this year

It was good to get a city fix

xx

A trip up North and back to work

Although I am from the North of England, I don't get up there that much but last week I had the opportunity to take my daughter on a trip to show her a bit of her 'northern roots'.

She found the way everyone calls each other 'Duck ' and no one bothers with the word 'the' highly amusing.  She told me she thought these traits were over exaggerated stereotypes and didn't realise this is really how it is up North. 

Bakewell pudding in the town of Bakewell was approved of at the Original Bakewell Pudding shop Her first ever curry in a curry house in the village where I grew up went down well.  A quirky vegetarian cafe and a homity pie was also a hit in Beans of Bolsover

When we weren't eating we managed a walk around the estate grounds of Chatsworth:

Chatsworth House

Along with a mooch round two antique/vintage centres, which produced a find:

My daughter found the larger vase up North

and the smaller one locally when we got back

We had time to visit to the English Heritage Castle where her Grandad used to work and made an emotional trip to the Crematorium where her Grandma and Grandad's ashes are scattered.

We stayed with an old school friend and she and one of her daughters (my god-daughter) were able to take time off work so it was lovely to be able to spend some time with them both and the rest of her family.

A charity shop tour and visit to a fabulous tea room in the town of Chesterfield where we had a lovely lunch with my brother completed the trip:

Stephensen's Tea Rooms

(visit Chesterfield website)

I had the 'back at work blues' this week and it's taken me all week to adjust back into my usual schedule.

xx