Hampstead Heath and that rare, elusive creature - a balmy June evening in London formed the perfect mix for the first ever GROW London event.

We went to the Charity preview as  guests of Simply Roses Company, whose beautiful stall was almost hidden to view by the crowds surrounding it. I did manage to get a few pics...

Met the talented Julia Clarke who sculpts pleasing organic shapes from willow

This is the one that came home with us....

Found some sweet seedboms which turn your garden into a meadow....

I loved these giant felt pebble cushions for the garden...

and these simple, beautiful pots....

The whole event felt carefully curated, with some very lovely things and some nice English bubbly to go with it.  It was a far cry from the opening day at Chelsea, where the gardens are the main draw (that and the French bubbly at the Moet garden) but none the worse for that.  There were some similarities in that any garden event calls for wedges not heels, and this being North London, my pale green zip Paige jeans from Trilogy, favourite jeans store...

instead of an Erdem frock. Still there was room for a little bit of bling with my new ear cuff from Ryan Storer, it can never be too casual for a rhinestone or two....

Six Degrees of Separation....

Life sometimes seem to mimic a giant Venn diagram hastily drawn by a team of toddlers.  Overlaps and connections, hidden and then suddenly revealed, these  came to the fore again and again this week.

It all started when the beautiful artist, Sarah Pickstone and her husband came over to have dinner with some friends a few weeks back.  

Perhaps inevitably, a hidden join was revealed and just like that, a whole slew of new connections bubbled to the surface.

 This week, the launch of her new book, Park Notes 

which combines Pickstone's paintings with the writings of artists and writers centering around London's Regent's Park,  was held at the  Daunt bookshop in Marleybone. Delectable writer Ali Smith and  gorgeous Irish actor Lisa Dwan were there giving readings....

and yet more dormant connections were laid bare.

It seems within certain spheres, the whole idea of six degrees of separation is excessive and one degree would be just fine....

It made me realise how successfully the whole Venn diagram/Six Degrees can be applied across our personal universes.  It works seamlessly within the world of inanimate objects and a clear trail can be laid between the ridiculously lovely printed leathers from The Deep Print Movement 

to the waterfall of sequinned fabric I bought in a little shop on the Seven Sisters Road a few days ago,

to the wonderfully named Supermend,

 my  magic go-to glue powder for making delicate, metallic lace overlays on my chiffon scarves, this one silver on grey...

and black on violet chiffon

to the practically perfect new J choos I bought for this weekend....

I suppose the real wonder would be discovering someone or something with whom you have nothing and nobody in common with, when the Venn became a sad set of individual spheres -   surely not possible.  Or is it?

How to Shop....

I started the day. as most of my days do, here

on Hampstead Heath, with the best brown dog and view to kill for.  

The tiled bit in the foreground, looking a bit like the floor of an unearthed mansion, is unofficially 'the Place Formerly Known as The Pagoda'.  For reasons only known to the good rulers of the City of London (who maintain the Heath), the little Pagoda that reigned over this hill was taken away, never to be seen again.  All that is left are the tiles, and a pre/post split of what used to be and what is (or is not) now.  

Which made me ponder the sudden advent of seamless, super-fast deliveries that can be had online. and the equally speedy demise of what used to be known a 'Shopping'. 

After all, these days it can sometimes feel like it is online or nothing. Amazon one-click, Mr. Porter same-day and all the rest have a lot to answer for.  But it is true that sometimes I relish the prehistoric feeling of actually seeing  my purchases in their original habitat.  Finding the perfect...something...on its home ground.  Sometimes, seeing a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional screen does not always feel quite complete,  no matter how convenient it may be.  

With this in mind,  I went along to the opening night of the Cockpit Arts Open Studio to shop the old-fashioned way.

And found...

Mary Kilvert's ultra-appealing dachshund cushions, and her ultra-sweet sheep

which really, you would want to have just because.

And Laura Gravestock's name rings, necklaces and bracelets...

and my lovely friend, Aline Johnson's almost edible glassware...

I ended up here, eyeing the prettiest map of London I have seen from Josie Shenoy

I liked all her detailed work that had curiously attractive modern/medieval feel.

A few carrier bags later, I tottered home on my platforms (bought online), with my Georgina Scott earrings (bought in the ancient ways,  in a shop) glinting in a very late afternoon  sun. (Photo below, courtesy of GS's website.)

I realise, having been swept away by the tides of online shopping, I had been missing the sheer luxury of actually seeing things up close, in person, and not once removed.  Pre/post...the art formerly known as shopping has moved on, but there is still room for both.  (Though I am waiting to see what the Amazon drones will be like....)

A Tale of Two Boxes

A very large box arrived for me and no, it was not a deliciously discreet Net-a-Porter number, but a simple corrugated job which opened to reveal (ta-daah) a kilner jar.  Before you let escape a little sigh of exasperation, this was not just any old kilner jar (however redolent of lemon sherberts and humbugs they might be) but a super-size me kilner with a cunning tap fitted at the front, utterly perfect for dispensing cocktails at my soon-to-be very own knees-up summertime shindig.

The best type of summertime shindig incorporates perfect weather (an impossibility to predict in London, and all the more reason to get the rest right), a delicious and copious variety of drink (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), finger-lickin' good food, by which I mean morsels of food that can be picked up with two fingers while balancing an icy drink, napkin, and handbag without the risk of coating a new summer frock in accidental sticky sauce run-off, and that are truly and completely yummy.

I went to one recently where all of the above miraculously conspired to produce a magical evening (and where a second, very different box was on display.)  

It was the 25th Anniversary Gala of the National Centre for Circus Arts . With an auction including pieces by Julian Opie, bespoke Blahnik shoes and an evening at the Box, it was always going to be special, but there was a serious level of energy and creativity in all the young artists there - inspiring, and not just because they could arrange themselves in a human pyramid.  In the box above were several of those inspiring artists and a better view of some of their faces below

There was a welter of glam dresses on show, (probably many of them originally emerging from said Net-a-Porter boxes) but I decided to go all 70's in a black strappy pantsuit and white YSL silk jacket, sky high Jimmy Choos (drat those Hoxton cobblestones) and inwardly channelling Bianca Jagger the whole while.

I discarded a metallic clutch in favour of my black suede 'Leigh' and felt very glad I was not asked to join in the antics on stage, in or out of the box.