Those old melodies still sound so good to me

 Hello! It feels weird to be blogging again - I kind of assumed Christmas would last forever, but all of a sudden it's all done and dusted; I feel like it all happened way too fast. I had a wonderful one though...I got a semi-digital Polaroid camera from my parents, which I absolutely adore, and all of my family got me really thoughtful and special gifts that I am sure you will see on this page over the next few weeks. I hope you all had a lovely holiday too.
Today I woke up to a beautiful blue sky outside, and considering the awful weather we have been having of late, I felt it was absolutely necessary to go out and enjoy the fall while it lasts. We went for a lovely long morning walk over the heath and had lunch in Kenwood.

 I got this gorgeous orange satchel from my cousins for Christmas, and not only is it the exact ochre-ish colour that I am obsessed with at the moment (just look at the post before this one) but it totally matches my Suzy Bishop meets 40s schoolgirl vibe that I've been really into recently. I couldn't help but also bring my current prized possession too - an old storybook for girls that has been carefully inscribed with 'a gift from mother, 1913,' in pencil. It was another gift from my cousins, and I am still reeling from the thought that exactly 100 years ago, a woman gave this very book to her daughter. I keep thinking about whether it was a birthday gift or for a different occasion, or who exactly the girl was and whether she liked it. It appears well-read so I guess she, or another owner, did...and halfway through I found a really old pressed flower, so I like to imagine someone once took it to a park or something and used a flower to mark their place or remember their little reading session in the sun.

 My cardigan is from Blitz, shirt from Clothes Show, skirt from Rokit, shoes from Clothes Show and socks from Topshop.

My eye necklace was a present from Clothes Show and it perfectly matches the earrings my mum got me from a gorgeous little jewellery shop in Covent Garden. They really remind me of the 'evil eye' talismans that you often see on bracelets or keyrings, to protect you from harm or bad luck. Weather-wise, they definitely worked today.

We walked around the red arches and Viaduct Pond, before walking back around the heath to have lunch in the old kitchens in Kenwood. I had a spiced tomato and lentil soup with chunky wholemeal bread, and greek yoghurt with spiced fruits. I obviously also utilised their tea facilities as I am literally addicted, and had a nice little teapot of peppermint to myself. Lovely.

Afterwards we had a little look around Kenwood house itself. It is an old stately home which once belonged to Lord Mansfield, who helped begin the abolition of slavery by restricting the rights and power of slave owners. The house is now owned by English Heritage and can be visited for free, and is most well known for it's stunning library and extensive art collection, with pieces by masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt. I really liked the carpet in the library for some reason, hence the photograph above.

On Boxing day morning we went for a walk around Exmouth Market with the dog, and I got to test out my Polaroid a little bit. It's really cool as it's a normal camera, with a viewfinder, SD card, zoom, aperture and focus settings, whilst still being able to print selected photos like a normal polaroid. I took some sleepy pictures of the empty street, and of a cool bike I found tethered outside a church.

A few more polaroid experiments...from the top left clockwise: An amazing amazing amazing cake from Coco's Cakes (which I enjoyed with warm custard and nearly cried it was so good), me on Christmas morning (in my new christmas pjs), me on Christmas day looking adequately grannyish, and my amazing christmas dinner at my auntie's house (obviously smothered in ketchup because that is what I do to all of my food). 

Anyway, just to make this post even longer (I do apologise), I may as well tell you all about my trip to London Zoo on Friday. For my dad's birthday this year, my mum and I bought him a 'zookeeper for a day' experience, and I went along with him so he wasn't all alone. We had to be there at 8.45am, where we were met by a zookeeper, who led us around the zoo, letting us do typical zookeeping activities like mucking out the giraffe house, cleaning the penguin pool, and preparing food for the bearded pigs. We also got to feed loads of different animals and get up and close to species we would otherwise only ever see through glass. We also got to wear incredibly attractive boiler suits, so we looked fabulous (please notice my extreme sarcasm). They were pretty cosy though.

We got to feed lemurs, giraffes, giant anteaters, piranhas, meerkats, ring-tailed coatis, llamas, and meet Ricky the penguin...who apparently has his own facebook page?! There was also lots of opportunities to take photographs, and we learnt lots about the zoo and all of the different species we saw. The zookeeper that led us around was really knowledgeable, and it was lovely to be in an environment where everyone was so into animals and passionate about caring for and protecting them. We also got to meet some really interesting people in our group, and so it was a really refreshing and educational experience, with lots of wow moments that I'm sure I'll remember for a long time.

Basically I have been having a really good Christmas holiday, and am intending to enjoy this last weekend of freedom before next week begins and I have to start working again. I hope you are all having a good holiday too...and I haven't forgotten about the giveaway I promised...it's on it's way I promise! Also...thank you for reading to the end of this post, sorry it was a very long one!
hugs,

ellie xo