Toast at Kettles

Ahhh, we just had an amazing couple of weeks at Kettles; putting our classic Hunters on for the first time this year and walking through the leaves. There's nothing like it.
Ludo's friend Carlotta is a stylist with Toast, she came to Kettles once and was inspired by its scruffy, bohemian, Bloomsbury set-esque aristo charm so they came down to shoot their latest catalogue and here are some of the pics:

Ma's Ghanaian nickety nackety drawers.


Me in my socks (our table was at old Mr Entwhistle's for a bees wax so we had to have our toast and Bonne Maman on the original stone floor...Again!)


Gracie having a rest while sweeping the flour mill.


Pa's odd socks.

A notice:

Pippa is ever so tired after giving birth to her blessing and will be back as soon as she possibly can.
Thank you.

Email from MdlC

To: pippa@weekendbirdie
From: maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE: hola

or maybe bonjour pippa

i come back from paris today showing my stuffs at the shows. so tired how are you and el pequenito? i can't wait see him in few weeks.

anyway paris was good. i find some new accounts for va va voom, some new concept store. now concept store is everything, everyone tell me "i have concept store, i have concept store" - what is concept store? i no undestand it but is good i think.

i see anton and andres at shows - they are good and tell me hi to you. one night i go with them to le marais to meet some friends at la perle, some grungy bar with germans smoking and talk about more "concept"! i think some your friends like this bar. maybe even ludo.

anyway, i come to london very soon. i call you

besitos a ti e a la familia!!

bel

x

Owen Wilson delivered my baby! (almost)

I write to you from my Eames daybed, sipping a light decaf lemon tea and nuzzling into my new, organic cotton Marimekko-swathed little boy.

There I was at my ICA opening night, making my little speech, flanked by Charlotte Gainsbourg one side and Zadie Smith on the other, when out of the blue I began to get a horrendous stomach cramp. I had been getting them most of the day but I thought it was just the bad Gouda from Cheese Appreciation Level 4 the night before. It wasn't just the bad Gouda (must stop trying to blame cheese for everything), it was my boy trying to sally hello.

Suddenly, just as my waters broke all over the Chapman Brothers' shoes (shame), Wilson swept in and caught me as I collapsed in agony, falling off the podium.

Luckily my baby guru Gowri was also at the opening (she's very supportive of my work) and took over. Ludo was marvellous of course but he kept yelling in Finnish (he's fluent in several European languages) which wasn't at all helpful.

So alas my glorious natural home birth was never to be. I was rushed to hospital, drugged up to the eyeballs and the little fellow popped out in record time on baby blue polyester hospital sheets. I do hope he doesn't get a rash.

Well, I suppose I ought to tell you his name. We decided to mix our names so he has my surname as a first name and Ludo's as his surname. He is:

Bonhomie Lovesunday Jansdotter.

Or Bon-Bon for short. Not too silly is it? A little eccentric maybe and ever so slightly 'best in show' but I think it's just perfect. And so is he, my little Bon-Bon.

Gosh! What a year it's been. This time last year Ludo Jansdotter was the handsome and talented ex of my goofy friend Nancy. Now he's over there, across the room from me, asleep in his Alvar Alto Paimio, slumped over a copy of Architectural Digest.

Turned out nice again. (Did I just quote George Formby?)

Baby shower

It was my baby shower yesterday.

I don't want to sound ungrateful but when your best friends invite Margot, your arch nemesis to your baby shower, you know it's going to be interesting. Luckily it was all made up for by Celine and mdlc flying in especially for the celebrations.

We had a darling picnic by the Serpentine in Hyde Park with cakes provided by Zoe of Bake-a-boo bake shop and tea room. They were divine, never let it be said that gluten-free cake is inedible, the brownies were out of this world and the cupcakes....well I never!

We played some odd games; my favourite was "Make My Baby!" where they split into 3 groups with a pile of magazines and had to cut out pictures of babies faces and put them together to make a picture of my baby. I chose the winner. Look away if you are of nervous disposition.

I made up for Margot being there by taking a quick tour of the Serpentine Gallery shop and accidentally happening upon a copy of Weekend Birdie (they have just started stocking it). She was positively green!


My show opens at the ICA on Thursday, I am very nervous about it. I do hope it doesn't bring on labour.

Directional type

Oh Lord, I'm under pressure to update Weekend Birdie's look to something more 'directional'. I'm not the directional type however and this font quite frightens me.

i facebook you!

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:honeymoons!

hola pippaaaaa

i come back from the honeymoons on saturday. dios mios what a travel - was amazing pippa, i cannot believe so much fun.

in sydney we are stay in the W hotel like you tell me, they upgrade we to honeymoon suite - big view, big tv, big everything. one night we have dinner in iceberg restaurant and esteban say me oh my god, look bel and i look and on the next to table is nicole kidman, naomi watts and david lynch.

esteban sister now is living in australia with the baby and her boyfriend and he is very rich (lucky for she) so we meet them in whitsunday islands for sailing, swimming etc.

then finally we stay in the bloomfield lodge in the rainforest - so beautiful and so relax pippa.

now reality again and busy busy. oh pippa, steven meisel send me the fotos from the wedding - so beautiful.

i come in london at end august. i facebook you.

besitos

bel xx

ps quincy jam rock!!! quincy jam yeah!!! LOVE IT!!!

England in a flask

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:celine@bicyclettebleu
RE:England in flask!

the OH my pippa! I cannot believe with what a sweet you are, almost to have a baby and time to have always to send this beautiful flask to me of cold of quince, packed so much admirably too!

Agnes and Etienne eat it for the breakfast each morning and also in the school in their boxed lunch that all their friends are very jealous! You must send even more the nextest time you see old Mme. Bell in bottom of the lane.

Soignoise,
Celine
xxxxxx

Weekend at Kettles

Ahhh, there's nothing like a weekend at Kettles to get over all this death nonsense and put a spring back in one's step. It was so lovely to spend time with Ma and Pa and Ptolemy and Gracie. On Saturday we went to the village fete where old-Mrs-Bell-down-the-lane had some glorious quince jelly; I bought a whole box! I'm going to package it up all modern-pretty with brown paper and raffia and send it to all my friends overseas, they'll love my little bit of English countryside in a jar!
We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and playing pooh-sticks...oh...England!

On Sunday, we all had a paddle in the river at the bottom of the garden (which was surprisingly warm), then Ludo, who was luckily shooting a story for Lula nearby, managed to pop down for a few hours. The menfolk went to the pub while Ma, Gracie and I talked about my baby shower, which I have reluctantly agreed to. Gracie's a darling but rather eccentric and I fear some random party games involving lucky rabbit's feet.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, Ludo's watching Battleship Potemkin again and I don't much fancy it.

So Long Lee Hazlewood (my, what a week!)

It's been a terrible week for us here at Weekend Birdie...first Ingmar, now Lee (not to mention Antonioni). We knew it was coming but it's still awfully sad. I've given everyone the afternoon off to go and weep over a few bourbons. So Long Lee, we love you.

So Long Ingmar

I can't even begin to tell you how exhausted I am...what a night!

As you will see there are two Issue 13 1/2 covers, this is because our favourite gloomy Swede, Ingmar Bergman just passed away at the age of 89 (weep) and we decided, 3 hours before the print deadline, to change not only the cover but the whoooollllle magazine.
Off came Werner Herzog (Graziella is devastated, she put a lot of work into her Aguirre: The Wrath of God photo story, but no fear, we shall reinstate him next month) and on went Bergman.

We dedicated the whole issue to him, a loony idea and commercial suicide I know but sometimes you have to follow your heart and I know, Weekend Birdie's not exactly OK, but if we lose a few readers this month it shan't matter, I shall just throw a bit more money at it next month and we shall be back on form.
Big sigh...we are all in mourning here at Weekend Birdie HQ. Ho-hum.

Gasp!...Just realised something...calling it issue 13 1/2 didn't make a jot of difference after all, what bloody bad luck.

Original draft cover

Pippa's Icons #3 - Jean Seberg

Need I say more...

Tagged by a bunny!

The divine (but ever so slightly cuckoo) Fifi Lapin (she’s a rabbit you know) tagged me, which means I have to reveal seven random facts about myself on this here, my personal weblog. Ho-hum…here goes…Gosh! I really don’t know if there’s anything I haven’t already told you…ummm…

I was the under 12s ukelele champion of Great Britain 1978. I was on Blue Peter. I got Lesley Judd’s autograph and Shep pooed on my shoe.

When I was a child, I was obsessed with the Mitfords and used to imagine I was a long lost sister.

I have a small collection of early Picassos that I keep in a vault in the bank. Don’t tell anyone.

Jake Gyllenhaal once asked me out for a drink. I said no because Kirsten (blimey!) is a good friend of mine and I know she’ll never truly be over him.

My middle name is Genevieve, after my mother’s favourite film. Not very romantic to be named after a car but hey-ho.

I’ve been featured on The Sartorialist like 17 times.

Oh yes…I’m having a boy!

Doctor's orders

Been overdoing it lately so my baby guru said I need to take a week off. Plus, topshop are having a sale and it'll take at least a week to go through the racks.
Back soon, ta-ta. x

Wowy!

Wowy! as Maribel would say...what an amazing wedding that was.

It was a two-tier wedding which seems to be all the rage these days...no-one has a one hour wedding in a church anymore. So, first we all flew to Morocco to Ouarzazate for the small evening boho desert wedding; I say small, we were 130. They'd set up these huge Bedouin tents and Maribel and Esteban appeared over the dunes on white horses. We all clapped and fireworks went off. They stayed on the horses for ages. They had to do all their vows up there and everything. Maribel said she had a very sore bottom afterwards. Luckily it was an evening do or else we would all have died of heat exhaustion. My blessing was not happy.

The next day we flew to Madrid for their official wedding (700 people). It was at the Catedral de la Almudena, which shouldn't strictly have been allowed but her husband Esteban is a distant cousin of the Royal Family or something, plus the Pope said it was OK so hey-ho.
The reception was at the Casa de Madrid, which is only in Conde Nast Traveller like every month. We had a right old knees-up...Gwen Stefani jumped out of a cake! And I don't mind telling you, the Olsen Twins were hammered!

Anyway, feeling muy retro since I saw some dear little Italian school children on the tube with Invicta rucksacks (my, they still really love those things), so I think I'm going to go to bed, listen to the Betty Blue soundtrack and weep a little.

Email from mdlc

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:besitos!


hola p
you can believe i am married at the weekend? so sorry i am so quiet at the moment but so busy with esteban and his mother - ooh la la - planning all the things.
anyway you must to come to the chicken night (so strange this term) i have on friday. my friend blanca will to telephone you to say you the details but will be so especial night. how is your stomach - i'm sure so big now.
anyway all is perfect. celine will sing some jazz and weather is so sunny and hot now. my dress is so beautiful pippa i can't wait you see it.
o dios mios pippa, i am too busy now with massaje and pedicure and hair etc etc.

besitos
bel

x

Interlude - Graziella's Top Pop Picks!

Blah

Everything's a bit blah. Had a few meetings at the ICA recently and they're all 'Wow!' about the show but I don't feel it's working, it's just not cohesive, you know? I thought we had everything straight, Parker Posey Eating a Strawberry on the left, Mark Ruffalo Doing Sudoku on the right, Lou Doillon Walking Her Cat on the far wall...all fabulous. Then Vanessa Paradis Chasing a Bagel Down a Hill threw it all out of whack and since then, nothing's working.
Plus I've got Nancy emailing me about whether I'm using one of the pictures from her Lovely Legs shoot (um...no!) and even Natalie, who is so over-exposed at the moment it's crazy, asked me if her Vanity Fair shoot is gonna be in there! The cheek! Then I'm soooo behind with issue 13 1/2 it's ridiculous and it's MDLC's wedding at the weekend which I know will be physically exhausting, if from the air kissing alone.

Ho-Hum...I need a little Pippa time...and that doesn't include doing my birth rehearsal because if I have to visualise my cervix opening one more time, I think it actually will and my blessing will pop out all over Ludo Jansdotter's new Paul Smith rug.

I seem to be complaining a lot at the moment. For that I apologise. I'm going to bed with a large mug of Charbonnel et Walker and a Radio 4 podcast. Postmodern.

And a hoot at that!

What a show, what a show and a hoot, at that!
Had a lovely time with Ma and Gracie; a super lunch at LUNCH* and then a glorious spa , followed by a hot stones massage, flotation and Indian Head massage at Glo(w). By the end of it, my dopamine pathways were so open I was utterly drunk, all of which added to a fabulous evening at Loretta's new show, which again is soooo clever. Who else could turn an unknown beat poet's short story about a gas station romance into an interpretative dance? And not just one dance mind you; there was classic disco, street jazz, the polka, highland fling, pagan flag-waving and of course the pogo...and then we all joined in during the audience participation 3-legged merengue. Nancy's soft rock ballet stole the show of course...I simply cannot understand how she hasn't been snapped up by the William Morris Agency or something.

Then we all dashed over to Voltaire for Vodka Highfalutins (alcohol free for me please) and more polka. I don't mind telling you I was absolutely done in!

The poster

Loretta's new show opens tomorrow.

Oh the ennui

Well I've been absolutely snowed under. Issue 13 1/2 (I know it's a gimmick but I can't face the worry about unlucky number 13 and all the boring comments) is vaguely underway.
I've had to give Graziella more responsibility and so far she has been to three Werner Herzog films and a Slovakian ballet so there's hope. She's completely in love with my typesetter Toby Van Cleef, which is a slight distraction but I've decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Oh yes, I passed Progressive Urdu level 3 with flying colours! What a relief.

I am starting to feel a tad heavy and unattractive (oh the ennui) so Ma and Ptolemy's girlfriend Grace are coming up at the weekend to take me out to lunch and then for a pampering somewhere. Divine with a capital D!

Weekly planner

As I said, I'm taking this blessing very seriously indeed.

Lovely

What do you think of 'Lovely'? As a name I mean. Do you think it's a bit much? I don't think Ludo will like it since he's stuck in the 'old Norse' section of 1000 Baby Names. I wonder how we will ever agree. Lovely is for a girl by the way, not a boy. No, that would be silly!

Anyway, of to meet Natalie for a room temperature water at the Brick Lane greasy spoon.

Issue 12

Gazpacho

I'm in one of my tizzies! Having people over for gazpacho tonight, then we're all going to a Folk-Thrash bash in Tooting of all places (where the hell's Tooting?). So I've got to go down to my Spanish deli in Soho to pick up ingredients. Then I've got to swing by B-Store to pick up my Karen Walker playsuit that'll be ever so comfy-cosy for my growing bump this summer and I've still got to fit in half an hour self-hypnosis for Gowri, my baby guru, and she'll know if I haven't been practising.
Ahhhh!...Soup spoons! I knew I'd forgotten something.

Oh barnacles!

Hmmm...so much for Ludo massaging my sacral iliac, I spent most of last night massaging his calves after the Marathon. So glad it's over. He ran it in around 3 and a half hours which is a little slower than he'd hoped because he passed a darling little antique shop somewhere near Greenwich and stopped to have a look. And I'm currently scraping barnacles off a bit of old driftwood he picked up by the Thames that he's going to turn into some kind of distressed sculpture.
Very distressed if you ask me.

Who's Jorge?

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: Who's Jorge?

Who's Jorge? You know, my Romanian beau. I know his name is Bogdan, but we really can't have that and he doesn't seem to mind being called Jorge, so hey ho.

Loretta x

Jorge

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: Jorge

Having a gay old time with Jorge. I've managed to squeeze him into The Gay Guy Drinks Coffee - an interpretative dance. He's going to play the balalaika during Nancy's soft rock ballet.

Loretta x

Cleansing

Well, I reluctantly did Nancy's Wyoming shoot. Got paid a pittance but it's nice to do a friend a favour every now and again and it wasn't exactly a stretch.
Off to see Gowri my new baby guru later. She thinks I need to cleanse my uterus so I've had to cut out my triple whipped double choca mocha vanilla lattes. Bums. Then Ludo's got to massage my sacral iliac for half an hour. I'm taking this blessing ever so seriously, in case you hadn't noticed.

Ouch!

Ouch! Keep bumping into Ludo's Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona chair. Oh well, it's not all bad, I've just spent an hour in the spa downstairs while Ludo's out training with his best friend Giovanni and Jaarko...only 2 weeks till the Marathon!

So guess who was at antenatal yoga today? No, not Zooey Deschanel, although I am meeting her later at 1920's Photo-montage Propaganda (intermediate). No, it was Margot! I didn't even know she was with child but I suppose it has been a while. Anyway, you wouldn't know, she's still stick thin and not a little odd. There was some chit and then some chat and then some chit-chat...I do hope it doesn't get awkward.

Just shoot me

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:nancy@a-zmodels
RE:just shoot me!!!

Hey you! I've had my contract renewed for the Lovely Legs Stocking Co, Wyoming. Will you shoot it? Money wouldn't be great but it would be so much fun! Hey, good news about Loretta asking me to do The gay guy drinks coffee - an interpretative dance, no? I told her I did Jazz tap from the age of 5. I think that's what clinched it.

*****NANCY*****
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Modern architecture

Ooh I've had a lovely week with Celine and the bebes but really ever so tiring (and Agnes and Etienne are such darlings but tri-lingual don't you know, which I find not a little exhausting), all culminating in a children's architecture workshop, where Ludo helped them build the Trellick Tower out of stickle bricks.

A little catch-up

Goodness, I know I haven't been around for a while but I've been keeping my head down working on Issue 12. Spent most of last week visiting the various poetry slams of Greater London. Illuminating.

And Celine gets in later today so I imagine I shall be frequenting a lot of cafes, Baby Gaps, and random children's art workshops on the South Bank for the next few days. I'm bracing myself as we speak.

A little catch-up:

As you read, Loretta has finally asked Bogdan out for coffee (yes, this is his name. I think Lol was hoping for something a little more romantic but them's the breaks). She also finally asked Nancy to be part of her new production TGGDC - an interpretative dance.

Ludo is in Peru on a Gaultier shoot. He hates Gaultier poor love but the money's ridiculous! The marathon grows ever closer and he's threatening to jog the Inca trail for a bit of extra training.

Haven't seen Natalie for ages. She wasn't at French Scrabble last week but she's been ever so busy working on her new underwear line. She's awfully defensive about it and can't understand why the literati are berating this new avenue.

Such is life.

All a-quiver

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: coffee

Got bored of hiding in bookshop. Been through all random art photography section near window 7 times so I went back to Bungees for a lactose-free frozen yoghurt and asked him out for coffee! Gosh, I'm all a-quiver!

Loretta x

Pippa's Icons #2

#2 - Great fringes of the 20th Century.

Louise Brooks, Anna Karina, Elina Lowensohn (is this the best arthouse haircut you've ever seen?)

Visitors

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:celine@bicyclettebleu
RE:We come!

Hé Pippa, I come to London with Agnes and Etienne thus we can rub your bomp! You see Monday!

Soignoise,
Celine
xxxxxx

Scan

Hey! Had my scan yesterday. Here's my little blessing.


.

Just for the record...if you ever see me getting out of a 4x4 wearing a pair of Boden wellies, please kill me.

The committee

Ugh! Had this hideous committee meeting last night in my block where I had to raise the issue of Ludo moving in and guess what? It was bloody rejected because of Jaarko, his bloody afghan hound! Seems I may be leaving my pseudo north london village for a mid-century penthouse overlooking the heath. Ho-hum.

Stalking II

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: re stalking

Well ok, not 'stalking' exactly - whatever you want to call it. So you think I should leave the shop and accidentally on purpose bump into him?

Stalking

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: stalking

Hey Pip,

When you were stalking old Ludo Jansdotter, what did you do exactly?
So far I've only stood in the window of the photography bookshop opposite bungees in a large fedora and my nose in a cindy sherman.

Loretta x

Mahjong Madness etc.

Met Loretta at Bungees Coffee House & Folk Cellar the other night. It began as a coffee (decaf for me thank you very much, I'm taking this blessing very seriously) and turned into a night on the tiles which was hilarious as Lol can be such a loon - she can come across as a little abrasive and very serious about 'the work' but deep down she's a darling and a real scream.
We talked about all manner of things including whether she should ask Nancy to be part of her new production. She was such a hit but they didn't exactly get on. Sometimes I think I just need to bang their heads together.

Anyway, after an organic 3 bean salad and a gluten free baklava, the handsome Romanian waiter came on stage to play the balalaika and he sang so tenderly, Lol was positively swooning! She even tried to get him to come along to Mahjong Madness but he was working till 3.
The lovely thing about being out with Loretta is that you can feel drunk as a skunk even when you're completely sober. Luckily she was drunk as a skunk and I beat her 14/8 at Mahjong. She jumped on the table and demanded a rematch. Then she was sick all over my repetto flats.

Ho-hum...I have a feeling this isn't the last we've heard of the Romanian crooner.

Email from Loretta re Bungees II

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: re bungees

Ah well, no panic, I shall have to get a few gitanes out of the way before you arrive.

Email from Loretta re Bungees

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:loretta@yellowclog
RE: bungees

Listen, can we meet for dialogue at Bungees coffee house and Folk cellar instead of Starbucks? My new production 'The gay guy drinks coffee - an interpretative dance' is set in beat-era San Francisco and I need to get into the zone. And you can still smoke there which is a blessed relief. Oh dear, will a smokey, damp cellar be bad for your blessing?

Loretta x

Issue 12 ideas

Legwarmers, whittling and Scarlett Johansson

Ugh, still feeling grim, hope this morning sickness passes soon. And it doesn't help that Ludo wakes me up every morning at 6.00 to go running (he's training for the marathon, the crazy fish). He's such a picture in his yellow leg-warmers and earmuffs. Oh, I do love him so.

He's being ever so sweet about the baby - talking of whittling him a bow and arrow in the woods, making camps in the trees. I think he secretly (or not so secretly) wants a boy as he never speaks of girl related things.
This week is half term and he's teaching a children's graphic illustration workshop at the Design Museum!

Anyway, haven't even thought about Issue 12. I hope I'm not already losing all my creativity because of said blessing. Must crack on. I shall begin tomorrow...Oh no, tomorrow I'm off to Tokyo to shoot Scarlett Johansson dressed as a Harajuku girl for Vogue Italia. Next week then.

Nice for Nance

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:nancy@a-zmodels
RE:elle deco!!!

Hey Pip! You'll never guess.....my papier-mâché tea light holders are going to be in Elle Deco! They contacted me this morning for pics and info!

Thanks for believing in me.

*****NANCY*****
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


And I thought they were just a fire hazard.
Well, I suppose what with Yo Beowulf - a shadow puppet cabaret coming to the end of it's run, it's nice for Nance to have something exciting in her life.

...in with the new

Ludo Jansdotter stopped me mid-sentence the other day and said "Pippa, don't you think since we are going to have a child together it's time you stopped calling me 'Ludo Jansdotter'? 'Ludo' will do."

I suppose he's right. He's not really 'Ludo Jansdotter' anymore anyway, not the Ludo Jansdotter I used to google, and keep cut-outs about from Design Week and follow around at photography exhibitions. He's just my Ludo, and I should embrace that.

Pippa's Icons #1

Hey, here's the first in my new series (as if I have the time) 'Pippa's Icons'!
#1 Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde.

Isn't this the most modern yet timeless outfit you've ever seen? The beret, the mustard cap-sleeve jersey...sooo A/W 06-07!

And as if it couldn't get any more this season...a trench!

Never mind

I failed Prog Urdu level 3. Not embarrassingly just a possessive pronoun mix up...again!
Oh well, I've too much on my plate at the moment what with Nancy moving out, Issue 11 and the whole baby thing. I simply couldn't concentrate.
Shan't give in however, I will try again next month.
Never mind.

Out with the old...

Nancy is moving back in with Pedro this weekend which is a blessed relief. Ludo Jansdotter and I haven't actually discussed it yet, but if he does move in, it doesn't seem right that Nancy would still be there. Their history doesn't bother me, he just has a slightly nervous energy when she's around and she's an incorrigible flirt!

Anyway, I shan't miss her random origami birds cluttering up my mantelpiece, nor her decorative bowls of lemons, nor her growing collection of Jo Malone scented candles - what a stink!

Storm in a soup bowl

Quite a late night last night but it's so nice to be able to thank my team personally for their hard work on Issue 11. My sun-speckled bream potage went down a storm! And I do believe I detected a mild flirtation between Graziella and my typesetter Toby Van Cleef!

Issue 11 Ahoy!

I'm in a flap, Issue 11 comes out today and I've got to dash to the printer and then on to the ICA. Then I've got to get some things for a little soirée I'm having tonight and I've still got to squeeze in some Progressive Urdu revision.

Anyway, here (finally) is Issue 11.

Kettles

You know when you're flicking through the Observer Magazine of a Sunday and you turn to the fashion pages, hoping to see the latest To'sho' tunic dress and instead it's a story called 'The New Gent' featuring tall, angular male models wearing cravats and carrying man bags?
That's Ludo Jansdotter.

When he picked me up to go to Kettles, he was wearing his paisley tank top and orange slacks and I thought 'Oh dear, is this really how I'm going to introduce Ma and Pa to the father of my child?' I mean, I love that LJ's a natty dresser but sometimes it's a little OTT and I don't really want to be the one to tell him that the 1970's pimp look is passé.
However, Pa always refers to me and Ptolemy as 'you arty types' so i suppose he was expecting nothing less.

M&P were very welcoming and asked Ludo Jansdotter very many questions about his work as an art director/photographer/graphic artist/illustrator David LaChapelle-type and seemed captivated (although Ma found his accent a little thick and kept having to say "I'm sorry Ludo, which anorexic supermodel?", "I'm sorry Ludo, which German performance artist?").

After lunch Ptolemy and Ludo Jansdotter played backgammon while I went with M&P to pick blackberries and visit old Mrs Bell down the lane. On the way back I told them the news.
Both were a little taken aback of course as they had only just met LJ but after the dust settled they seemed rather chuffed and when we got back, Pa walked me round the garden and showed me where we used to make camps and have treasure hunts.

The next day Ptolemy took us all off to the farmer's market where Ludo Jansdotter was very impressed with the range of organic preserves and pâté.
Later, Ma spent quite a long time telling him about all the different types of bird that come into the garden. LJ was awfully kind to humour her so and even talked quite knowledgeably about the birds native to Finland.

The day ended with a jolly visit to the pub and a hilarious game of charades which Ludo Jansdotter found infinitely confusing.

What made the weekend was Ma telephoning me after we got home to say that she and Pa thought Ludo Jansdotter was charming and delightful and that they were sure all would be well.
How lucky I am to have been adopted into this joyous and jolly family who love me so unconditionally.

Poor old Margot

Bumped into Rolf+Margot this morning at the ICA. I was there for a meeting about my upcoming show, they were there for the London International Mime Festival.
Margot's fringe doesn't seem to have grown a millimetre. I can't help thinking she went into the salon with a picture of this:

And came out looking like this:

Email from MdlC

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:maribel-de-las-casas@vavavoom
RE:wowy!

pippa

i cannot believe!!!! you crazy lady no? so many news and now who i can drink the champagne with celebrating? maybe you can have some little glass with me and esteban. when you have the baby? esteban tell me good idea for you - you MUST to come to puerto banus in july with me and the esteban for relaxing before baby. esteban mother house very beautiful with big pool and many room for you and big stomach!!!

felicitaciones

besos

bel x

Telling Nancy, Loretta and Natalie

Well, the darling girls were ever so supportive, although Loretta has some concerns regarding work and how I could possibly juggle everything. I told her that I shall just have to prioritise and maybe (though I dread the thought), Graziella will have to take on a bit more responsibility.

Nancy was most excited and her knitting circle, Knit-a-go-go are meeting next week to start booties and such like!

Most surprising was Natalie, who positively melted and confided to me that she had always wanted to write a children's book and that maybe one day we could collaborate.

Well, I do feel relieved.That's Ludo Jansdotter and the girls told. Next weekend I shall go back down to Kettles with Ludo Jansdotter in tow to tell Ma and Pa and Ptolemy. (I imagine Ptolemy will be one of these very exciting and slightly mysterious uncles who the little one will be enthralled by!) What fun all this will be! I do hope Ma and Pa will be pleased. I know it's a little left-field but I like to think of M and P as modern, forward-thinking people and hope they will embrace the idea.

ps. There was a slightly frosty atmosphere between Natalie and Loretta but it thawed after my news and I hope they will be able to resolve their issues in time.

Holy Cow!

To:pippa@weekendbirdie
From:natalie@nataliespooner.com
RE:re: News

Holy cow! I'll see you later. Salman and Zadie can wait!

Oh fiddle-de-dee

TO:pippa@weekendbirdie
FROM:natalie@nataliespooner.com
RE:News

Oh fiddle-de-dee, can't you just tell me the news now? I don't really need to sit in a bar with crazy Loretta shooting me evils all night after that whole dada poem episode. And I'm having dinner with Salman and Zadie later (Grrr...Zadie Smith, my arch enemy) so I'd only have time for the one Mohair Russian anyway and what's the point in that?

Natalie Spooner
Author