Cake

Cake. That is all.

Made by a very clever friend of Mama Robinson here in all her glory is a cake version of Helga. She tasted delicious. A very wonderful 30th birthday cake indeed. 

papergirls and paperboys

Another lovely day out for Helga which we've been miserably slow posting about was back at the end of August when she helped the Project Club with their Paper Girl Newcastle event.

Paper Girl, for those not in the know, is a truly lovely little little art give-away. In the style of American paper-boys, rolled up pieces of art (submitted for free by artists and designers) are distributed, by bicycle to passers-by across the city. Our job, alongside the very nice folks from The TeaShed, was to help feed and water the hungry cyclists mid way through their mission.

The Newcastle version, which started with complimentary breakfasts at The Settle Down Cafe and finished with bike decorating at Hey, Baby Chief Panda, was organised by the rather wonderful Carlos Rosati of The Cloud Commission and has been very nicely documented over several blog posts, including those by our lovely chum Victoria McParlin (lady illustrator extraordinaire) and the dapper chaps at Novel Magazine, who have put together this wonderful video. 

continental style

Jeeez, it's been a while. It's mid October and there's still no blog posts about all the lovely things Helga got up to this summer. Where has all that time gone!? Rather than type a ramble of where we went*, what we did** and what saw*** here are a few photos from the trip. Enjoy x

*  the sleepy little town of Verchoque in Nord-Pas de Calais, Metz, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Bruxelles and Brugge.
**stayed a week with J's family in a big old farmhouse and properly chilled out. Spent the following week bombing around Europe with Helga.
*** Some amazing countryside, architecture and caravans - and pretty much all of it by bike.

Helga goes to Kielder

Our pitch: Woodland 41

Last weekend we took Helga to Kielder for a few days. We knew the weather forecast was for rain, lots of it, but we weren't perturbed. We knew we'd be mainly in the caravan finishing off a few things here and there, sewing curtains, painting the bathroom, etc, so we went expecting rain and expecting to be indoors *most* of the time. What we weren't expecting, were thousands and thousands of midges. 

We'd read in the Caravan Club book (yep, we're now officially members) to be prepared for midges during the summer but we really weren't prepared for the masses that greeted us on arrival nor the hundreds that managed to creep through closed windows - it was like something from a Hitchcock film. But we survived, thanks to Jungle Formula (and Jonathon's foresight to bring it). 

Saturday the rain cleared a little and we spent the day wandering around the lake and seeking out some of the art work. Kielder has an amazing art and architecture programme, including work by James Turrell, sixteen*(makers) and Simparch. My favourite piece is Freya's Cabin by Studio Weave. The story of Freya and Robin is really lovely and I left feeling inspired to do some illustrations based around their tale.

Midges aside, we had a really lovely, relaxing time at Kielder and I would definitely recommend a visit, the landscape is beautiful, the staff are super friendly, there's loads to do and there's a a cute little pub:)on site. Only, if you're camping, we'd suggest you arrive at Kielder before 6pm and to stay in your caravan until mid morning. Oh, and arm your self with some formula... 

Life saving stuff, Jungle Formula insect repellent

The very beautiful Freya's Cabin, Kielder

The Ironing Centre (expect no less of a 4* caravan site)

Making curtains

What caravans are made for

Snug

A little peep at Liberty

 

Liberty hasn't had much attention over the past few months so we thought it only right to take a few snaps of her during the refurb.

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After laughter comes tears...

Happy Tears by The Bloody Wonderful Josie Brookes

Our very clever doodler friend Miss Josie Brookes is playing a lovely self-initiated game to spur on her drawing talent, called The Question Project. Everyday Josie listens out for the most captivating question which is asked of her (or her present company) and turns it in to cheeky (see day 3!) little typographic masterpiece. Last night's installment came out of a conversation between Josie, our mutual friend (and website design extraordinaire) Alan Sawyers, the brilliant Bethan Laker and equally wonderful Clare Armstrong (from girlie drawing collective, Set of Drawers). Our verdict? Two thumbs up :-)