and did those feet in ancient time!

Union Jack Tapestry Cushion Cover

Today I want to write a post about England, because as any reader of this blog will know I'm going back soon.

However as I’m in New Zealand I can’t really write anything without a mention of the devastating earthquake that hit Christchurch yesterday. I don’t want to harp on, clearly the news is very sad. I have not personally been affected but people around me have. It’s been a pretty horrible 24 hours and I can’t imagine what those caught up in it must be going through. On a totally selfish note I had one of those strange moments of clarity, that if the earthquake had hit in the same way at the same time in Wellington I’m pretty sure I would have been dead. I find it liberating those rare occasions that I truly except I’m mortal it makes me less scared of life and more scared of not living.

Anyway back to England where I am unlikely to encounter an earthquake- no, we just have friendly old terrorists. Beyond obviously family and friends, here’s a brief list of things I love about my native land

Accents, we have loads of them all different and rich, how I miss those long vowels and lazy consonants or my own Somerset accent. Nothing in this world says home to me like hearing my Dad on the phone swearing like a farmer.

BBC Radio Four, I miss you every single day. I’m so so dyslexic it’s the easiest way for me to keep updated on news, learn about history and generally sound like an all round know-it-all.

Manners. I truly love that very English trait of walking into a lamppost and apologizing.

The Key To My Heart Forgives - Rob Ryan

Feeling like the centre of everything wonderful. Great music, art, fashion, design. This is a big one for my business as I'm slowly finding myself on the same role call as my hero designers. (Every time I visit to dry for’s site and see my work along side Rob Ryan my heart does a little pitter patter.)

But the really big thing I miss is living round history. My family home is set in the quintessential rural idyll, our house it’s self is so old that the stone steps have all been worn down in the middle from thousand or foot steps over hundreds of years. It makes me feel part of the pass and part of the future all at once and I love that feeling.

So, really going home isn’t all bad, in fact it’s a lot of good and I have many lovely events to look forward to including a friends wedding and for once I have the outfit sorted including a fine pair of gold heels. Tickets to see Rufus Wainwright at the royal opera house two nights in a row – am I a crazy stalker fan? Finally a trip to Paris so I can visit my spiritual home land Colette I can almost hear the angels sing when I say the name.