House of Hendy

The Hendy Home Store opened its doors a few days before Christmas. Inside, as you would expect, is a meticulous attention to detail on all floors and every nook and cranny. Every item for sale (whether new and unashamedly utilitarian or found object) is displayed with precision and care - think Labour and Wait with a darkened interior with a little hint of Dennis Sever's house about it or perhaps a period interior from the Geffrye Museum. I did a double take as I thought, for a fleeting moment, Mr Hendy was Mark Gatiss serving in the shop, immaculately dressed in crisply starched and ironed apron and shirt. Here's the Hendy Shed for you to get the idea of the interior of the shop. Don't miss out on this labour of love if you are in the area.

Tambourines and Ribbons

I had meant to give this hand-painted tambourine by Claire Fletcher away as a present. But I decided it ought to stay with me. More of Claire's original work can be found at Made in Hastings along with Sophie Azimont's delightfully sinister paper map rabbits (of which I'm building up a collection of).

Winter Solstice

BBC4 appear to be celebrating a musical 'night' themed session to compliment this time of year - nice mixed footage including Mercury Rev's 'The Dark is Rising'. Happy Midwinter Solstice...

The Kitchen Jukebox

Is undergoing a revamp ready for the Christmas guests who are due to arrive in the next few days - a bit of Cocteau Twins and Pixies added maybe... and making a note to get the new Baxter Dury from record shop Resident in Brighton. (The three 45rpm Stiff label cover artworks you can just see is by graphic genius Barney Bubbles. I was obsessed with the Reasons To Be Cheerful cover artwork when it first came out and bought three copies one of which is above, one is in a box and the other was given to a friend Louise when I was at school).

Smog's 'Ex Con'

Another one from my record box: Smog's Ex Con has fabulously skewed lyrics if you haven't heard it. One of my many favourite tunes. Not sure where I first heard this. Probably John Peel's radio show, maybe...

Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing

Had a rummage round the house and started opening boxes of my vinyl 45 rpm records because I couldn't get two records out of my head which I knew I had - somewhere: Smog's 'Ex-Con' and Catchers 'Cotton Dress' which I fancied listening to. I came across my copy of Falling and Laughing by Orange Juice and have fond memories of using my school lunchtime (and dinner money) to catch the bus into Lewisham and buy records from a chap known as 'Swinging Cat' who served at the counter of HMV. It's one of my favourite covers. I vividly remember having a copy of this thrown out of a window at a party because the oaf whose party it was thought it was 'crap'. Shame on you. Ah, the olden days...

Hastings Beach

Caught the train down on Friday evening after work to Hastings. Amazingly sunny first thing on Saturday morning as I took an early morning coffee and walk from the Old Town via the beach. Not many people around as Christmas Shoppers had all headed off into the direction of the town centre.

Bracing in Hastings

Neil Jordan is in Hastings town filming 'Byzantium' with Gemma Aterton and Saoirse Ronan. Based on Moira Buffini's play "A Vampire Story".

Tree Biscuits

As I'm having a home day cooking I thought I'd try my hand at these All-spice biscuits. Folk are due over from Norway shortly and we'd thought we'd give these biscuits a go to hang as decorations. An outline in white icing would be a good touch, but the cupboard is bare in that department at the moment, so the next batch will be given the makeover treatment to glam them up a bit. (Don't forget, as I have done here, to make little holes at the top of the biscuit before you put them in the oven so you can thread ribbon or string through. I'm reliably informed by Thora, whose recipe this is, that a chopstick is the perfect tool to use!)

400g plain flour

100g butter

150g sugar

1 free range egg

4 tablespoons golden syrup

1 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

bake at 140℃ for approximately 30 minutes

Let There Be Lights

Liking this simple idea for delicate lighting in the home for this time of year as found on Scandinavian stylist Johanna's blog.

Calling All Loafers

I found this Wholegrain Spelt bread recipe courtesy of Doves Farm and it's brilliant if you are pushed for time as it only needs one proofing. So you can have a finished baked loaf from start to finish in 2 hours. It has a really great open crumpet-style texture.

Oven 220 ℃/Fan 180 ℃/400 ℉/Gas Mark 6

500g/1lb wholegrain spelt flour (Doves Farm Organic)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon quick yeast

1 teaspoon honey

400ml/14 fluid oz warm water

1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

1. In a large bow mix together the flour, salt and quick yeast.

2. Dissolve the honey in the water and roughly mix it into the flour.

3. While the dough is still craggy and in it's rough stage, add the oil and mix well.

4. Knead or work the dough for a few minutes then divide it between two 500g/1lb bread tins.

5. Cover and leave dough to rise for about 25 minutes in a warm place.

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes.

7. Et Voila - Enjoy!

Please Make it Stop

Got in to work at 8.30am and just 4 days into my new job only to find that the office had been fitted out with alarming decorations; yes, it's the 1st of December. However, there was one lone decoration I wouldn't have minded and that was a rather menacing and tatty Blair Witch/Wicker Man style pentagram star made from wonky sticks. I believe that intriguing number came from Poundland. I've now got to work hard on making highly plausible excuses for not attending the office parties. The Ramones 'I Want to Be Sedated' is my official seasonal theme tune. I'm dishing up Bah Humbugs by the kilo load.

Flaking Away...

There's a duff 'regeneration' programme going on in East Greenwich where every conceivable scrap of land is having a huge amount of bland high-density architecture slapped on it. Recently a hoarding was taken down exposing this bit of old hand-painted advert gently flaking away in the November sunshine.

The Girl With the Replaceable Head

The Girl With the Replaceable Head

Things

Managed to tidy up the top of the sideboard to give the impression to house guests that I am vaguely organised. But just open the cupboard doors and, hey presto, all manner of random hoarded tat drops out. Listening to the track 'Things' by Frightened Rabbit and this sort of sums things up at the moment.

The Charming Interloper

This Hastings-based feline interloper sneaked into the house while I was busy painting. I am guessing, as she knew her away around the house, that this must be Lilly who belongs to the previous tenant (aka 'Grinderman').

Hastings Old Town - Grinders Unite!

Managed to finish work and start a new job within a week and squeezed in three days of moving accumulated items back into the house in Old Town Hastings. Here's a view from the upstairs window looking out across the town. Painting, tiling and tidying up the house after it was rented out for 11 months. A few expected wear and tear scrapes and paint chips etc. The only oddity in the house were a set of basic plates (which I had left in the house) that appeared to have been, for some inexplicable reason, chipped and heavily grinded all around the rims. It looked as though the tenants had occupied their idle hours by fashioning themselves a grinding device in order to give an aged appearance to new objects. I then found a motley collection of ceramic jar lids which had the same worn down heavily nibbled edges. These were left staged on the window ledges as a 'charming' rustic decorative display. However, a productive few minutes with recycling bag put an end to Grinderman's artisan offerings. Thanks but no thanks.

Illuminate Your Bicycle

This image reminds me that on some Friday nights there's an illuminated cycle ride organised by Pier to Eternity and Hastings Urban Bikes around and about Hastings which adds a little touch of magic to the dark Winter evenings.

Cast Iron Bargain

Mid-week I had to go back to the house in Old Town Hastings as the tenants have bought a house and are just about to move out in the next week. On my way back to the station, I stopped off at a second hand shop I've not been in before on Cambridge Road. After wandering around three floors I came across these three fab french 70s burnt orange cast iron saucepans going for a song at £10. I got to the counter and before I had a chance to get out my wallet or utter a word the dealer quickly noted there was a chip on one of the lids - perfect otherwise - and promptly knocked the price down to £7. I wasn't going to argue with that. These little heavy weights will end up back in Hastings shortly when I move back in.

An Appointment with Fear

The charming Mark Gatiss is on Desert Island Discs talking about his love affair with horror and this prompts me to make a quick note about a copy of Michelle Paver's book Dark Matter which I bought a little while ago and carried it around in my bag with the intention to read it on the plane on a recent super short blink and miss it 2 day trip to Oslo. I've just got round to it and wished I read it earlier. Deliciously frightening and a perfect companion to have of an evening with the longer nights drawing and All Soul's Day shortly upon us.

The horror, the horror...

Just home from the horror of an 8am morning team training session start in Brighton - praise be that the workshop didn't end with the 'drumming in harmony' finale as was initially promised. Thankfully that was scrapped due to a 'regrettably small budget' (note: for once having no money ends in a positive result!). Oh, here's a photo of a nice bit of topiary going on in Kensington Place as I dashed it home this afternoon to the train for London Bridge.

Hats Off...

Had a bit of major tidy up this morning and and trying to pack up items to protect them moth damage over the Winter months. Here's another one of Sally-Ann Provan's hats before it disappears into its hatbox storage for a little while.

The Black and White Barometer

As the Autumn chill kicks in this lazy fellow is the best barometer there is - one hint of cooler weather approaching and its off to sleep for at least 7 hours or a 12 hour stretch if it's also raining, of course.

Luxton Lake

Tina Spangler's short film about Luxton Lake - check out more of her short films. There's an especially nice one of her giving a tour of her renovated Luxton Lake home.

Richard Tuschman

Feeling fuzzy from jet lag Friday eve but managed to attend the private view at the Dreamspace Gallery, Old St, EC1 organised by Millennium Images (as Richard was one of the judges). An open competition for photographers to submit work on the idea of book jacket images. The overall winner announced that evening was Richard Tuschman.

Spring Street Vampires

Last day in town and eating pizza on Spring Street and the unmistakeable shock of white hair sported by Jim Jarmusch strides by at noon in the unusually warm, but welcome, October sunshine - aching to take a photo but decide against it. Apparently John Hurt and Tilda Swinton will be feature in his next film which is vampire themed. Talking of vampires, this reminds me to make a note and find 'Nadja' by Michael Almereyda (produced by David Lynch) which is languishing in the cupboard which I haven't seen for a while. Just watching 'Rumble Fish' and had forgotten how good the soundtrack by Stewart Copeland is...sure that is on vinyl in the cupboard too, somewhere.

Photo Credit: Jim Spellman

Jacques de la Villegle

I've had a long term big adoration for Jacques de la Villegle - '122 rue de temple' (1968) is installed at MOMA. Tate Modern also holds his work.

Caught in Fluxus

My eyes (and wallet) popped to see it now costs a mammoth $25 for entry to MOMA so I was hellbent on venturing into every corner of the building to get every cents worth. Bless UK museum prices in comparator. Willem de Kooning was the main exhibition - a gorgeous visual feast. However, for me, the best gallery in MOMA is always the area dedicated to Fluxus.

A Little Bit of NYC Rabbit

Arrived in NYC on 1st Oct after a delay from Heathrow due to turbulence from hurricane Orphelia over New Foundland and then a lengthy tailback from JFK Airport trying to get to Broome Street, Lower East side - which we later found out that evening was due to the Wall Street protestors trying to make their way on to Brooklyn Bridge so we took a walk down Broadway to Battery Park to check out for ourselves what was going on. A walk back to Soho for something to eat in Wild Ginger and we got a sighting of the tall figure of Sam Shephard going about his business on Mercer Street.

Brown is the new Black in Old Town Hastings

All is revealed. I photographed this little brown shop at Number 36 High Street a year ago - see post 17 August 2010 - the image above was taken last week of the same shop/house undergoing the last stages of renovation. A rather helpful notice placed in the window now states that Alistair Hendy will be opening his new store in Old Town Hastings.

Marc

Some Marc Bolan today as it's 16th September.

Gypsy Tart: Thou Art Right Sweet

I kept thinking about this caramel pudding which was served up on rare occasions at school in the mid-70s and decided to give it a go while I was listening to Nurse with Wound and Jeremy Deller's Acid Brass Mix of What Time is Love. I used a tin of light condensed milk for this version to try to keep the sweetness down a little - a helping of creme fraiche will help balance the sugar. It was pretty straight forward to make as follows:

Ingredients:

500g shortcrust pastry

x1 410g tin of light evaporated milk

350g dark muscovado sugar

creme fraiche to serve

Method: Grease and line a baking tin with shortcrust pastry. Blind bake the shortcrust pastry at 200 degrees /gas mark 6. Use electric hand whisk to mix evaporated milk and muscovado sugar together for a good 15 mins to ensure a light texture. Pour mix into case and bake for 10 - 15 mins at 200 degrees/gas mark 6. Cool at room temperature and serve with creme fraiche.

Gruissan

Ventured out to Gruissan plage to take a look at the wooden chalets where 'Betty Blue' ( 37°2 le matin) was filmed. Not many examples left of the original design chalets remain as quite a few have been converted to make use of the space underneath the stilted huts.

Citroen Van Heaven

I'm recently back from a trip to Olonzac in the South East of France. Highlight of the trip (apart from an unexpected lift back in the local firefighter's truck to the airport due to last minute lack of transport) was finding this Citroen HY van heaven in a nearby village. Tucked around the corner was a collection of battered early vehicles including BMW and Citroen cars - my kind of va va vroom! On the flight home I noticed the well-dressed figure of 70s Poldark actor, Robin Ellis, a few seats ahead of me. Mr Ellis was trying to give off an air of dignity, but it is a little hard to remain resplendent on a Ryanair flight whilst you have an air hostess passing a ready made chicken salad sandwich from the clunking aisle trolley and a copy of Hello magazine over your head to the passenger in the adjacent seat. But I award 10/10 for his coolness and composure under this form of darstardly cabin pressure.

Power of Making

Jazz Domino Holly demonstrates some knitting 'making' (take a thumb through her 'Queen of Crafts' published by Penguin) - there's more making on show by artist Shauna Richardson of her hand made animal friendly crochet-dermy over at the V&A (running from September 5th until 2nd January). Meanwhile, keep an eye on the inventive Mary Jane Baxter and her workshops. Peter Pan collar making at tea emporium High Tea of Highgate (Sunday 11th September) is this weekend's hands on project which gives a face lift to a plain dress or jumper. Or check out Mary's book, Chic on a Shoestring, for more ideas on what to do with a needle and thread and a sewing machine.

Photo Credit: Andrew Crowley

F is for Martin O'Neill

One of my all time favourite cut it up masters, Martin O'Neill.

Buy a little something from his shop.

Illustration de Mathilde Aubier

And more from the rather splendid Mathilde Aubier...

Hey, Doll Face...

Liking very much this handmade Lady Doll from Timor.

The portrait illustration is from Mathildeaubier.com

Marty Feldman

Braving the heavy Summer downpours forecast for today to seek out the Marty Feldman: Biography of a Comedy Legend by Robert Ross, published by Titan Books.

Teabread (Bara Brith)

I couldn't quite get into the trend for chi chi cup cakes, although there is no denying they make nice window display fillers, as do the billowy clouds of sugary smash at the touch meringues stacked high and temptingly in the local Judges bakery. Sorry to say that I am stuck firmly in the old school camp of a decent hearty slice of fruit cake and a cup of tea every time. So imagine my joy at finding this nifty recipe by Jane Edwards for this rather fabulous Welsh teabread:

500g mixed dried fruit and peel

300ml strong hot tea (Yorkshire is my choice of brew in this instance)

250g self-raising flour (my preference is Doves Farm)

1 teaspoon mixed spice

125g dark brown muscovado sugar

1 free range egg

Soak fruit and peel in a large bowl in the black tea for at least six hours minimum. Sieve flour and spice into the soaked fruit (no need to drain off any excess liquid not soaked up by the fruit if any) and stir in egg. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Heat oven to 150 degrees C/130 degrees C for fan oven or Gas Mark 2. Grease a loaf tin with butter (or buttered baking paper) and tip in mixture. Bake for 1 and a half hours. The teabread should be well-risen, firm and brown. Cool and store for at least two days - try it - as the bread become richer in flavour and develops a lovely elasticity. Slice and serve with a smear of salty butter.

Deer Heart

Liking this image by Katrine Kalleklev.

Hastings Old Town

An early Sunday morning view of the High Street which I'm missing - but due to move back in at the end of November so not that much longer to go now. However, there is the Hastings Seafood Festival to look forward to on the weekend of 17 & 18 September where you can try out the produce from the local fishing fleet and makers of excellent cheese, bread or become refreshed by the wines on offer from the nearby vineyards in Sussex.

Sally-Ann Provan

My gorgeous hat which I bought from milliner, Sally Ann Provan. This never ever ceases to raise interest from strangers when I wear it. The most common comment is 1) where did I get it and 2) guaranteed every time is 'can I try it on?'. I first saw Sally's hats at the Origin show at Somerset House and they really stood out. I've got my eye on 'Seduction' from Sally's latest collection on her website, it was stunning when I saw it first shown at one of Sally's shows. Your first port of call should be Edinburgh if you are after a wise investment piece for a special event.

Reddress

The Finnish exhibition Reddress by Aamu Song is being installed at the York Halls in Bethnal Green as part as the London Design Festival during September 22 - 25. The event is produced by the Finnish Institute in London and it is part of the international programme of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012.

If you fancy something red and Finnish to take home, visit the Redshop which will be open to accompany the Reddress installation at the York Halls.

Photo Credit: Bernhard Ludewig

Window display with mirrorball

This house owner's display is rather more eclectic with shells on the window sill and completed with a number of random figurines.

Window Displays

What I'm missing about Hastings Old Town (now that I've rented out the property until the end of November) are the quirkly little window displays that are made in people's houses. This one took my fancy mainly because of the addition of the plastic soldiers and the use of scrabble letters. I'm promising myself that I will start cataloguing more of the displays when I'm back.

Sally Ann Provan's Hat at Chez Carthorse

The Genius of Anthony Newley

Just received an email from a friend who has tickets to see Anthony Newley in The Strange World of Gurney Slade tv series (written by Sid Green and Dick Hills - the chaps who wrote for Morecombe and Wise) where Newley casually trips in and out of reality. (This series was allegedly was an influence on Bowie). A great treat as I haven't had the opportunity to ever see this, so very much looking forward to Thursday evening at the BFI on the Southbank. I'm pleased to see that it is also released on dvd on 15th August so your chance to own a bit of Newley magic. Hats off to Network for getting this out...

Preferable Career Choice of the Week

I've always loved this beautiful image by Annie Leibovitz. Meg's disinterested gaze sums up the week in a look.  When the week is grey and slow at the office, I secretly harbour a desire for a new career at a 'Wings of Desire'/Carnivale style circus and to have a go at a spin on the knife thrower's wheel. However, I don't rate his chances on pin point accuracy with that wind speed if Jack's hair is anything to go by...

Photo credit: Annie Leibovitz Estate

Like Camper Van Beethoven

...I had a dream last night and in it art journalist/critic Andrew Graham Dixon had for some reason (as dreams go) temporarily replaced the fabulous Eddie Argos as Art Brut's lead singer. Yes, it may have been induced by the bottle and a half of Chateau de Caraguilhes I had indulged in because of a very terrible week at work you understand, but the more I think about it, I think Mr Graham Dixon would make a rather fine replacement (but heaven forbid the most lovely Eddie would ever leave, of course). And I've absolutely no idea what Mr Graham Dixon's singing talents are like, but he seemed like a nice bloke when he used to come in to our offices the Arts Council London in Great Peter Street, SW1 back in the day.

Photo Credit of Art Brut - I'm trying to find out (sorry photographer)

Alfa Bet: The Alfa Garage in Eye, Suffolk

Here's the ginger carthorse at Titus Rowlandson's Victory Garage in Eye, Suffolk after repair work. The garage is set in an old apple orchard (windfall apples were taken home and made into a crumble) and in the background there are a two Alfa's that are seeking total restoration attention and a Spider awaiting collection.

A Maxi-dent Waiting to Happen

The current vogue for dressing as The Good Life’s Margo Leadbetter ‘I’m off to an afternoon soiree with the 70s jet set’ maxi dress has apparently ended in minor fashion disaster for two women in the workplace here. We noticed a Health and Safety warning was issued after one had ‘sustained a stair injury’ after treading on the hem of their garment whilst another had ‘sustained shoulder lacerations’ after someone else had stood on the hem while they were ascending stairs putting pressure on the shoulder strap of said garment and inflicting injury’. Maxi’s are a great look on Jerry Hall in 1970s après a day on the beach in Mustique with an Anthony Price clad Bryan Ferry on her arm, rather less glam on the wind-blown, grey and rainy streets of London town with an umbrella waiting for a 188 bus.

Image Credit: Sassy By Design