Royal Chelsea Flower Show 2014 - Part 2

As there was so much material to show you at the flower show,

 I have tried to post the highlights but please remember that if you are a gardening enthusiast you may want to read further and browse on the official website here.

The flower shows off the best of each type of plant such as these amazing lupins.  

My imaginary garden has loads of these.

But I can't help but feel sorry for some other plants.

Nothing wrong with topiaries and the lovely plants below 

but it is like being a vanilla pod in a chocolate convention.

Vogue France May 2014

Do you like Sophie Marceau?

I adore her.

She was my teenage girl crush.

She didn't make it huge in America but she was all the rage in Europe and Asia with her film, La Boum.

Can you believe she is 47?

I love women who give growing old a good name.

Okay okay...I know she has had a few fillers but 

I have known people to have proper nose jobs to no effect so 

I won't hold a few fillers against anyone.

David Austin Roses and their Other Collections at the Chelsea FlowerShow

Even before I ever went to the Chelsea Flower Show - there was always a certain flower that I always had my eye on.  Of course my eyes were one of millions of fans for the roses grown and cultivated by David Austin that won a gold medal again this year.

I remember having a catalogue of the amazing range of flowers as a coffee table book.

So it was only natural that I visit their stand and am sharing for fellow fans of their flowers.

David Austin produce a new rose variety every year and this year one of them was the Olivia Rose Austin.

Heidi at Adelaide Villa and the Hostess of the Humble Bungalow also have amazing varieties of David Austin roses and like many others might be interested in this year's new varieties but

 I could only find one of the new roses to show you here.

The other two might have been either hiding or they didn't exhibit.

I thought they only did one so didn't even know to ask but I went to their website and saw they have two more.

Please click here to see the other two new roses.

It is a perfect powdery pink in real life.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014 Part 1 -The Show Gardens and Best in Show WInner

I went to the Flower show this afternoon.

The last twenty years I have walked by Sloane Square during the show, I have never known the show not to be sold out.

I have tried my best to take pictures for you to get a gist of the mood and angles that aren't always the most photogenic.

But for those of you who are hard core gardening enthusiasts, please click onto the official RHS Chelsea Flower show website for more picture and more in depth information on planting.

There are three main sections to the show so I shall start with the show gardens.  

The first one was the M&G Garden ( more and much better pics on the link) designed by the now legend Cleve West.  

He has won best in show twice recently!

This year he won a gold medal to add to his awards.

Interestingly this garden epitomized the trend seen elsewhere where it was rather wild and loose with a lot of long grass planting.

Sorry if I have offended gardeners with my very raw, basic and inarticulate description.

The next garden of note was the BrandAlley show garden ( please click for more information on the garden) that won a bronze.  I quite liked it but the designer was interviewed by Monty Don and expressed his disappointment which is rare because garden designers rarely admit things like that!

Architectural Digest June 2014

Yes, I know.

Nothing for a while then like buses two come at once.

But I didn't want the May issue go to waste so it's there

 if you feel like it.

Those of you who are on Pinterest know that I love leopard.

But I don't know if I love it enough to spend $902,000 on this chair.

I reckon I could buy a patch of land and raise a couple of 

live leopards for that amount.

Hasn't Art Deco and mid century furniture just shot up in value more than the homes it furnishes?

Another case in point is below.

Mind you with names like Gio Ponti and Fornasetti this dining suite was bound to go for more than estimate.

I do wonder how much more it would have gone for it the color was more neutral.

I only added some tips about outdoor living for those of you who are lucky to live in applicable climes.

Architectural Digest May 2014

I was going to do a May issue but then the June issue came out the same day so I thought I would just do both for your viewing.

I gotta tell you that I am obsessed with trays.

Can't explain it but I am not sure if there is a branch of psychiatry that helps solves these riddles.

Half the inital joy of watching Downton Abbey was to see all those trays everywhere...

While I understand that not everyone will share my fetish for trays  I know some people who don't like pearls!

Some are rather superstitious about this precious object and wouldn't dare use it as an engagement ring.

This pearl necklace did rather well at auction by 25 the estimate!

I don't understand Jeff Koons but that didn't stop him for selling this egg for 20 million dollars.

Imagine how much the omelette would have been?

May 2014 Instagramy Post Part 1

Is it me or has it been crazy for everyone recently?

I blame it on the Grand Cardinal Cross malarky.

I am cheating a little but I am starting in late April just before 

I went to Korea.

A friend visited from Hong Kong and we decided to go to the Wolseley for breakfast.

She is French but she agrees that the Wolseley does 

THE best croque madame around.

Better than any cafe in Paris.
All 4 of us ordered it.

We had some good weather in April so 
I opened up my windows on my new terrace.
House still not done yet making do.

Millie likes it and doesn't seem too fussed that furniture placement is still very wonky.

I have sudden yet very few urges of craft and the like.
But I had so many tins of tester paint that I decided to make use of it on an old chest.

A Quick Tour of Luxury Shopping in Seoul

Part of the reason from my extended absence was I had to go to Seoul, Korea to take care of a few things.

There are so many facets to the city that I hardly know where to start.

Instead of trying to pack a hugely edited potpourri of tidbits, I plan on sharing aspects of the culture and city in several posts to share with those of you who may be interested.

One aspect I found interesting myself was shopping in Seoul.

Seoul has always been a market town for hundreds of years and is the same today.
It has famous street markets but also has created a shopping niche that I have only seen in Tokyo.

Luxury shopping around the world in this postmodern age of globalization has become so universal.
If you enter a high end brand boutique anywhere around the world, it is the physical embodiment of CNN - you could be anywhere.

But in Seoul, they take luxury shopping to the next level.

A boutique doesn't suffice, they make stand alone buildings.

Vogue USA May 2014 Review

So we went from Kim Kardashian on the cover to someone called Emma Stone.

I am sure she is nice enough but who is she?

Forgive me but I knew she wasn't a model - not that means I didn't think she was attractive but we all know that a model looks a certain way.

But the real problem is that I have no compunction to read the several page spread to find out who she is.

Anna Wintour misses.
Again.