Not really.  It was the husband and I’s 18 year anniversary of the first time we met this weekend.  We decided to take the girls to the National History Museum and have a wonder around.  Babies first time on a train and the underground she was so overwhelmed she slept through it! Me being me I was nearly on my knees just getting there.  Walking with a baby in a sling after having a c section and gallbladder out means practically non-existent tummy muscles and backache but I powered through! (sympathy and adoration please) After doing the usual dinosaurs and bargain lunch we went up to the mineral gallery and vault where I was briefly allowed to look at all the pretty colours, shapes and forms.  These are my favourite photos but don’t really do justice to the colours and how beautiful they were.

I would love to make a quilt series inspired by these. I think they would be very modern and abstract seeming but ironic given the minerals are so old.    Well that idea has been adding to my rapidly growing ‘to experiment making’ to do list.  Never going to keep track of this let alone do it…. If only I was child free some of the time! I know I should really not wish this time away.  The past 4 months have flown by and I know I will not ever have a little baby again.  Loving the smiles chatting and almost giggling though!

Next we then wondered over to Hyde park (can you believe I have never been) and to the serpentine pavilion.  It’s a striking dark semi translucent structure with reflective surfaces inside with a water pool which big girl loved playing in and polished curved roof structure! Of course I took the classic arty architectural photos..

I love the use of roof tiles in an alternative way.  The translucency at points is also interesting.  It has made me think about how I could translate into a quilt somehow… thread only on wadding?, deliberately using back the of the fabric?, using a quilt in an external garment?… hardly revolutionary.

Obviously we had to have a play taking photos of our reflections!! Its also one of our first family photo’s while out and about.

We also popped over to the Diana fountain.  I could have watched all the children playing and the water flowing all day. A great place to cool off in summer. Homeward bound we strolled down the Serpentine Lake seeing the large installation – info here ( http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/christo-and-jeanne-claude-barrels-and-mastaba-1958%E2%80%932018 ) and lots of bird life.