New Years Day

Arrival of sister and husband on New Years Eve bearing more lovely gifts in time for quick fabric shop before they closed, helped fill the hole made by those who'd just left. (I hate when everyone goes home after Christmas.) Prawn and garlic spaghetti with lots of Chilli for supper, and Carva to toast in the new year.

New Years day - grey but warm, walk on Port Meadow then along the river to the

Ashmolean.

First things first......home-made Bakewell tart and the most aromatic Sensha tea in the Ashmolean Cafe....the coffee and hot chocolate are good too.....

Inspired by this Persian plate...I just wanted to go home and start drawing......
Had a look inside the Japanese tea room - made a mental note to check when they do the Tea Ceremony. H has been going on about it since she went to Japan last year...it'd be a great surprise treat when she's home some time, she's been working so hard at Uni.
...love the way that textiles are so important in Japanese prints and paintings...

Sister and I wanted to check out some of the 1010 examples of Islamic Embroideries whilst the men were looking at coins...I think....

....and this lovely little English waistcoat.....

Walked back through town rather than river meant a chance window-shop on Walton Road in Jericho as everywhere was closed and the opportunity to check out Liscious's quirky window display. The shop is so much nicer than the website. It's so theatrically staged that it's more like a filmset than a shop, albeit a rather over-the-top eclectic one....that also sometimes has the feel of a taxidermist parlour!