Arty Farty

Love this art installation in Belgium. Via Cup of Jo.

Just Wow!

Thank you to my cousin Elanor for sharing this on facebook - I can guarentee that your mind will be blown by the principle dancer's beautiful and completely implausible moves!

Pelican

I can't remember where I found this image of a pelican, but I like it.

Song of the Day

Thanks to the lovely Elliott Smith I've been using Spotify alot since I got to Norway. My most played song is A Case of You by Joni Mitchell because a) I love it and b) it reminds me of singing along completely out of tune and at a ridiculous volume with Naomi in the car "oooo-ooo-oh Caaa-naaaa-daa-aaa".

I Arrived.

Well, here I am. In Stavanger, Norway. I've been here for 4 weeks now and slowly but surely I'm finding my feet and my way around.

The city centre is between the harbour and a lake

There are lakes everywhere, this one is 10 minutes walk from the house

The 'Old Town' looks like something from a fairy tale

I'm still getting used to my new job, looking after a toddler (and occasionally a 5 year old) is worlds apart from being an Account Manager but I think that I'm going to really enjoy the rest of the 10 months that I'll be spending in Stavanger, and after that - who knows!

Ready for a Change

In the words of Queen, I want to break free.

I am so, incredibly, absolutely ready for my upcoming change of scene.

I just can't wait!

Annie Leibovitz

The National Portrait Gallery had an Annie Leibovitz retrospective last year and Naomi & I spent a few hours having a good look around.
I was expecting a lot of glossy celebrity photos (and that would have been fine by me) but I was surprised to find that amongst the magazine cover shots there were some very tender portraits of family members, as well as a moving series of photos chronicling her long term partner Susan Sontag’s battle with terminal cancer.

The two photos that I found most compelling were those that bridged the gap between celebrity glamour & intimacy – a shot of Kate Moss and Jonny Depp taken just at the time when they were in the middle of their very public engagement, and a photo of John Lennon & Yoko Ono, taken only hours before he was killed.

Norway

In exactly four weeks I will fly to Norway to live there for a year. I'll be an au pair in Stavanger for a lovely French family, looking after their 5 year old son and 18 month old daughter - I can’t wait!
I've got a lot to do between now and then to make sure I've handed everything over at work, successfully sold / given away / palmed off most of my possessions and packed the rest to either store with kind family members or take with me in my two suitcases.

I’ll use this blog to keep everyone up to date with what I’m up to & to share some pictures of the new places I’ve visited.

Exciting times!

p.s. Norway isn't actually that far from the UK...