cambridge mint vs oxford blue: what a row

We're having such an English Sunday: an AMAZING Easter Service at our beautiful St. Marys in the Boltons church, then we thought we'd do what other people do. Make a roast lunch. But Sainsbury's was closed for Easter, so was Waitrose, so we got two skinless chicken breasts at Tescos and a ton of potatoes (sweet and regular) onions, carrots, bacon, created the most magic lunch.

Then the Oxford Cambridge (or is it Cambridge Oxford) boat race on TV.

And while both teams are Blue teams (I love blue teams), Oxford is the dark blue, Cambridge light. But I noticed, the light blue (as in the caps) has over the years morphed into what Brit-Stitch call grayed jade, or Celedon, or mint. And I've just spent half an hour trying to find images of the Wellies they wore. After a lot of searching to find you a photo, I found that Hunter does make a colour they call mint, but it looks totally aqua on their site.


And then I found a shot of the boots they wore. And something more (scroll to the bottom).

Thank you to the HuffPost for these shots -and for putting together such a great piece on today's race. It was moving, personally, to watch it: my good friend, Major Bobby Collins, who died 31st January 2012, rowed for Oxford, and was in the Olympics. As well as many wars. He was in his late 80s, and I wondered how he felt last year, when there was all that drama: the swimmer, and then, because of the swimmer, the conditions meant one of the team mates nearly died. But this year, they won.

I'm sorry Cambridge lost - Cambridge is where our other dear friend, Dr. Dennis McMullan, who co-invented the electron microscope, studied and worked, and the lovely Barbara Clapham, who created our garden square, is in hospital, aged 98. She's also from Cambridge and has had the most incredible life. Thinking of all these three dear friends and neighbours, one not with us, but very much in spirit. What a laugh.

He'd be the first to say, it's definitely not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.

brit-stitch: the milkman

It's rare I get excited about a handbag.

But I've been going thru a phase for months now, where I'm just not happy with my bags.

So when, the Saturday before last, I happened to be on facebook, and saw my friend Laura ('a daisy chain dream') posting about her new Brit-Stitch 'half pint' bag arriving in the post, I became.. okay, I became obsessed. Hers was pale pink, called 'chinz rose' - a pale English rose colour just perfect for her nearly white skin and henna red hair - she knows her own style, does Laura - but it's such early days for Brit-Stitch that their website isn't even up yet! Well, it is, but they're not yet selling bags on it.


I did learn some things about the brand - the back story with the milkman's bag, and the fact that the bags, all leather, are handstitched IN THE UK, and it's a family run business that goes back a few generations.. everything about this captivated my imagination.

And while choosing one style, one colour, was agony - I was up at night, torn between the leather shopper in warm sand & oil green,  or the leather laptop bag in caramel - I kept coming back to the Milkman. In 'grayed jade'.

Because as you might have noticed: it's a colour that makes me happy. Calmly happy. I've been looking all over for a brilliant book I've got, on colour - written also by an English girl, who travelled the world and told an incredible story about an emperor, and this soft, grayed jade coloured pottery, this Celadon glaze.. it was such a beautiful story, about how this emperor had everything, all the bling, but this one simple, humble bowl, with that colour glaze, embodied all that is good, and humble, and was worth more to him than all the dazzling other stuff.

All the bling in the kingdom. All the crazy expensive It bags.

I've also been playing around with this colour, and images from the Bowie V&a exhibition.. they're probably not letting the public take photos, so this is a real treat, to bring out my toys from the show. Like this image from a video, married with a sketch that Bowie did.




And in case you're not a grayed jade girl, there are lots of other great colours. AND they'll make anything, in any colour, if you can't find something you like. They even have - for those so inclined - a great tomato red. Which has already sold out: they can't seem to make these babies fast enough!

You can buy Brit-Stitch bags online thru The Hut. Or keep an eye on them thru their Brit-Stitch facebook page. Their prices are crazy cheap, for hand stitched real leather, and they're only just a baby, as a brand, so it might not stay this way forever. But there's something about the people behind the brand that is just so genuine, so heartfelt, that I predict they're going to be hugely successful. Like they said on the (unfinished) site: these bags are made with love.