Thursday, February 11, 2016

A Bouquet and an Unsuitable Dog Toy


Just off Baker Street, near the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes and the building where my French class meets, a flower vendor sets up shop from a sidewalk cart every Saturday. A few weeks ago I popped into Pret after my class and grabbed a soup and sandwich, and as I sat in the window eating, I watched him making up bouquets for customers. I noticed he had some amazing lilies and blazing stars. They seemed to go well together.

(I was probably subconsciously reminded of the bouquets my mom gathered a couple of times in Florida when I was a kid, made of blazing stars and pine lilies.)

Anyway, I couldn't buy his flowers that day. But last weekend he had the same selection, so I stopped and bought some. He insisted on wrapping them up with eucalyptus, for the aroma. And now they're living on our end table and looking pretty amazing, I must say.


Also last weekend, Olga and I found this hollow rubber dog toy in the wilds of the West Heath. It is entirely too small and delicate for Olga, who would gnaw it to shreds within minutes (or possibly swallow it whole). I brought it home to photograph it, because I thought it was cute, but I plan to return it to the Heath in the hopes another more appropriate dog comes across it.

Dave and I are temporarily running low on TV shows to watch. We finished "Transparent," and watched a couple of episodes of the bizarre but interesting "Mr. Robot" (which, so far at least, has nothing to do with actual robots). We could buy the final season of "The Good Wife," but we'd have to pay extra for it, and it's sort of jumped the shark anyway. There's a true-crime show on British TV called "Wives with Knives," which is a terrifically campy title, but I don't really want to watch that.

Or we could turn off the TV, like we did last night, which probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Not so many years ago I didn't even own a TV, so for me it wouldn't be a major challenge. I got in bed at 8:30 and read for an hour, which was wonderful.

Oh, and I solved our candle drippage problem -- a glass pie plate! Hello!

14 comments:

alphabet soup said...

A glass dish! Well done you.

The flowers are lovely - and the eucalyptus add the finishing touch. Of course.

Ms Soup

Sabine said...

Season 2 of Happy Valley has just started on British TV and I recommend Deutschland 83 - fully subtitled and we binge watched it with visitors from the US who were thrilled to bits.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

My that's a massive wristwatch on your side table! Dave's wrists must be as thick as a gorilla's. And with regard to the dog toy - what a relief! I shall contact my old mate the former boxer Knuckles Freeman and tell him you have found it. He has been searching for it for days and getting angrier and angrier. His pitbull Tyson has been so inconsolable that Knuckles had to remove his leather muzzle. Just tell me your address and Knuckles will pop round.

Ms. Moon said...

Fresh flowers are the best. I try to keep something in a vase at all times in the house.
If you're looking for something very easy on the eyes to watch and sort of fun, try Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Pretty entertaining although it might not be your cuppa.

ellen abbott said...

the flowers are lovely. my son bought me lilies for Mother's Day one year and they filled the house with fragrance.

Sharon said...

That flower vendor has a talent, the bouquet is beautiful.

herding tapeworms said...

if you like mysteries and can handle a slower-paced show, I really liked Broadchurch (netflix). There's also The Fall (also netflix) in the same genre with Gillian Anderson as the lead. Another slowwww show, but I'm into that sort of thing. That ball looks like it would be Red-bait as well! but I dig the funny dog face.

jenny_o said...

That is a stunning bouquet! And a glass pie plate - genius - it's heat-resistant and FREE (assuming you already owned it) :)

Red said...

... and I don't watch one minute of TV a year. There's too much else to do that's way more fun!

Elizabeth said...

It's sort of gross, but I'm currently binging "Casual" on Hulu. Also, if you haven't watched it, the detective/police thriller with Gillian Anderson as the detective -- I think it's called The Killing? -- is addictive. I generally don't like thriller/detective stuff, but the acting is amazing, and I think it's free on Netflix. Books are good, too! :)

Elizabeth said...

Actually it's called The Fall.

utahDOG! said...

RE TV ideas...for Dave's Sci-Fi bug, try Dark Matter and Ascension. They were pretty neat. Also, I liked Bloodline on Netflix. You would probably hate it, but Kristen and I have also been watching The League and giggling like blithering idiots.

e said...

Great flowers! Still wheezing, sneezing and coughing---head and chest cold---have been attempting to sleep which has been pretty fruitless...I hope you find a good home for that dog toy. It looks like something my cat would chase...

Mwa said...

Gorgeous flowers. Makes me want to go out and get some myself. I may do that later. I nearly got some from my husband yesterday, but he wanted to wait until the end of our shop so they wouldn't get squashed and then we forgot - so romantic after being together a lifetime.
I want to see a photo of your candles on the pieplate!